Tinder Phone Verification Without Your Personal Number

Tinder asks for a phone number before you can start matching. If you’d rather not give a dating app your personal number, a temporary non-VoIP number can receive the verification code for you.

This guide explains how Tinder uses your number, which numbers to use, how to verify with a temporary number, and how to make sure you can still get into your account after the number is gone.

Why does Tinder ask for your phone number?

Tinder’s help center lists the sign-up steps in the app: tap Create Account, then “Enter your phone number and verify”. After that, Tinder may ask for an email address too, and you can connect an Apple or Google account for faster logins. On Tinder.com you choose a sign-in method first and verify a phone number and/or email address “if prompted”.

The number does more than open the door. You can log in with it, and Tinder sends an SMS code to it each time. It also limits each number to one account: “An email address and/or phone number can only be verified on one Tinder account at a time.”

This guide is about privacy, not extra accounts. Tinder’s terms allow one active account per person, and a new phone number won’t bring back a banned account.

Which numbers work for Tinder?

Tinder doesn’t publish a list of the number types it accepts. Its troubleshooting advice is to make sure messages to your number aren’t blocked, which tells you what matters: the number has to receive SMS reliably.

A non-VoIP number is a real mobile number from a carrier, so it looks like an ordinary phone to Tinder. Read more about VoIP vs non-VoIP numbers, or see how to check if a number is VoIP.

How to verify Tinder with a temporary number

1. Create a free PVADeals account and add credits: crypto from $3, or a card through Stripe from $5.
2. Choose Tinder and the United Kingdom as the country.
3. Pick a rental length. A short-term number lasts 20 minutes; a long-term number lasts 3, 7, 14 or 30 days.
4. Tap Create Account in Tinder and enter the number with the +44 country code.
5. Copy the code from your PVADeals dashboard, where it appears as soon as it arrives, and enter it in Tinder.
6. Add and verify an email address when Tinder asks for one. It’s your way back in if you ever lose the number.

Tinder is also rolling out Face Check, a short video selfie, for new members in more and more places, including the UK and parts of the US. A phone number doesn’t replace it, so be ready for both steps.

Short-term or long-term: which should you choose?

A short-term number (20 minutes) is enough to receive the sign-up code, and it costs the least. After that it’s gone, and reuse after the rental isn’t guaranteed.

That matters on Tinder because your number is also your login. If you can’t receive codes on it any more, Tinder’s help center gives you two routes:

• Account recovery. Tap Log In, select “Trouble Logging In?” and enter the email address on your account. That’s why step 6 matters.
• Update your number while you’re still logged in: Settings, Account Settings, Phone Number, Update My Phone Number. Tinder then sends an SMS code to the new number.

A long-term number (3 to 30 days, renewable for as long as you like) stays yours, so you can keep logging in with it and receive Tinder’s codes whenever they come. If you plan to use the account for a while, this is the safer choice.

UK or US number?

PVADeals offers UK numbers for Tinder, and they work from anywhere in the world. You don’t need a UK SIM card, because the code appears on your dashboard.

In the US, Tinder isn’t offered as a per-website rental. Instead, the All services plan gives you a US number that works on any website. Learn more about our US non-VoIP numbers.

If Tinder still won’t accept the number

• Give it a little time. Tinder says “sometimes there are delays in delivery”.
• Check the country code. A UK number needs +44.
• Already verified on another account? Each number works on one Tinder account at a time, so try a different number.
• No SMS at all? If an eligible number receives no SMS during the rental, its cost comes back to your balance automatically as store credit.

Keep your personal number private

Your phone number is one of the most personal things you can share on a dating app. A temporary non-VoIP number from PVADeals keeps it out of your Tinder account, so you decide if and when a match gets it.

See the prices below, or read our guides for other dating apps: OkCupid, Hinge, Bumble and Match.