How to Make a Match Account Without Your Personal Number

Match.com asks every member to verify a mobile number by text message. If you’d rather not hand a dating site your personal number, a temporary non-VoIP number can receive the code for you.

This guide explains why Match asks for a number, which numbers it accepts, and how to verify your Match account with a temporary US number in five steps.

Why does Match.com ask for your phone number?

Match’s help center says: “Verifying your account with a phone number allows us to make sure you are you.” It also promises: “We never share your number with anyone and will only use this number to secure your account.”

The check isn’t optional if you subscribe: “For all subscriptions, SMS Verification is required.” Once you’re verified, your profile shows a small mobile-phone badge “so other members know you’re legit!”

Which numbers does Match accept?

Match is unusually clear about this. Its help center says that “Landline numbers can’t be used for SMS Verification” and that “VOIP (Voice Over IP) carrier numbers can’t be used for SMS Verification.” Its troubleshooting page sums it up: “We don’t accept VOIP or landline numbers. Mobile numbers only, please!”

A non-VoIP number is a real mobile number from a carrier, which is exactly what Match asks for. If you’re not sure what kind of number you have, see how to check if a number is VoIP, or read our guide to VoIP vs non-VoIP numbers.

How to verify Match 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 Match and the United States as the country. Choosing a US state or area code is optional.
3. Pick a rental length. A short-term number lasts 20 minutes; a long-term number lasts 3, 7, 14 or 30 days.
4. Sign up on Match.com or in the app. When the verification pop-up appears, tap Continue, enter the number and tap Continue again.
5. Copy the 4-digit code from your PVADeals dashboard, where it appears as soon as it arrives, enter it and tap Continue to finish.

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

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

Match’s help center doesn’t say when, or whether, it will text your number again after you’ve verified. It does say it uses the number “to secure your account”. So if you’re paying for a subscription and plan to keep the account, a long-term number (3 to 30 days, renewable for as long as you like) is the safer choice, because you can receive Match’s codes again whenever they come.

Either way, sign up with an email address you check, so you can always reach your account.

If Match still won’t verify the number

• Request the code again. It’s the first thing Match’s troubleshooting page suggests.
• Clear your cookies, or reinstall the app. Both are on the same list.
• “This phone number cannot be verified” is the message members most often report. Match doesn’t explain it, but its rules point to the usual causes: a landline or VoIP number, or a typo in the number. Check it, or try a fresh mobile 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 site. A temporary non-VoIP number from PVADeals keeps it out of your Match account, so you decide if and when a match gets it. Learn more about our US non-VoIP numbers.

See the prices below, or read our guides for other dating apps: OurTime, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish and Zoosk.