We’ve updated how long-term phone number rentals are priced and displayed. The goal is simple: one upfront total per commitment period, no mental arithmetic, and no surprise "per month × months" math on checkout. Short-term rentals are unchanged. This post is about long-term numbers, the ones with a dedicated gateway where your real number shows as the sender.
The short version
- New long-term rentals start at a 3-month minimum (default tier).
- You choose a prepaid bundle: 3, 6, 9, or 12 months—not arbitrary month counts.
- You pay a single flat total for the bundle (rounded to whole euros), not “monthly rate × months.”
- Short-term stays 1–12 months with the same volume discounts as before.
- Existing long-term numbers on the old pricing model are grandfathered until you extend or change tier.
- Stripe subscriptions remain short-term only; long-term is prepaid credits.
What changed?
Before
Long-term pricing behaved much like short-term: pick a number of months, multiply by a monthly rate, optionally apply a length discount. The UI often showed a per-month figure even when you were committing to several months at once. Recommended durations on marketing pages could imply 7–12 months, and some flows allowed awkward combinations that didn’t match how we actually wanted bundles to work.
Now
Long-term uses prepaid bundle tiers:
| Commitment | How the total is built |
|---|---|
| 3 months | Starter bundle — flat total from a bundle factor (not 3 × monthly list price) |
| 6 months | Mid bundle |
| 9 months | Extended bundle |
| 12 months | Best-value bundle |
Each tier has a fixed price factor applied to the country’s base monthly unit. For example, at a €12/month unit price, a 3-month starter bundle might be €16 total, not €36.
Totals are rounded to whole euros so checkout shows clean numbers like €16 or €23, not €15.96.
You still see an effective monthly figure for comparison, but what you pay upfront is always the bundle total.
Why bundles instead of “× months”?
Long-term numbers cost us more to operate (dedicated gateway hardware, longer SIM commitment). Flat bundles let us:
- Quote honestly — the price on the tier picker is what leaves your balance.
- Reward longer commitments without hiding the math behind a monthly line item.
- Align buy, extend, and reserve flows so every path uses the same tiers and validation.
We internally nicknamed this “McNuggets pricing”: you order a 3-piece, 6-piece, or 12-piece box—not “3 nuggets at list price each.”
What you’ll see in the product
Buy wizard & number settings
- Tier picker shows 3 / 6 / 9 / 12 with the bundle total for each option.
- Long-term is prepaid only; subscription billing is not offered on these numbers.
- Minimum 3 months on new purchases and new reservations.
Extend
When you extend a long-term number, you pick a new bundle tier (again 3–12 months). Pricing uses the same engine, including a small loyalty discount if you’ve held the number for a long time (up to 5% off the bundle total).
Reservations (out-of-stock countries)
Reserving a long-term slot now asks for your commitment tier up front. The hold charge matches the bundle you selected, not a legacy one-month placeholder.
Landing page & FAQ
Public copy now states short-term: 1–12 months and long-term: 3–12 month prepaid bundles so expectations match the app before you sign up.
Short-term (unchanged)
| Short-term | Long-term | |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | 1–12 months (any integer) | 3, 6, 9, or 12 months only |
| Pricing | Monthly rate × months, with volume discounts at 4+, 7+, 10+ months | Flat prepaid bundle per tier |
| Gateway | Shared (sender may show as “SMS”) | Dedicated (your number as sender) |
| Subscription | Available via Stripe | Prepaid credits only |
Existing customers
If you already rent a long-term number:
- Nothing changes automatically on your current renewal date or stored rate.
- Legacy numbers remain on the previous linear model until you extend, restore, or otherwise enter a flow that applies the new tiers.
- When you do extend, you’ll choose from the new bundle options and pay the bundle total shown.
We’re not retroactively re-billing past periods.
Unused number returns (24 hours)
The 24-hour unused return policy still applies to eligible long-term numbers (no messages sent or received). Refunds are based on what you actually paid for the bundle, subject to the same fee schedule for repeated returns.
Partner-provided numbers follow the same customer-facing rules; partners are notified when a number returns to the available pool.
API note
The User API buy and extend endpoints accept tier_months for long-term rentals and enforce the same 3–12 month tier rules. Reservation and unused-refund endpoints are still catching up in a few places—use the web app for long-term reservations and unused returns if you rely on API automation today.
Summary
| Topic | New behaviour |
|---|---|
| Minimum commitment | 3 months |
| Maximum tier | 12 months (16-month tier removed) |
| Tier choices | 3, 6, 9, 12 only |
| Checkout display | Flat bundle total (whole euros) |
| Subscriptions | Short-term only |
| Existing numbers | Grandfathered until next extend/change |
We think upfront bundle pricing is easier to trust than a monthly headline that doesn’t match the charge. If a tier total looks wrong for your country or you’re on a grandfathered number and need clarity before extending, open a support ticket and we’ll walk you through it.
— The Crypton team
