Everything you need to know about phone number rental types and how they work
We offer two rental types for phone numbers, each designed for different use cases:
⭐ Long-term Rental Full SMS capabilities with a dedicated SMS gateway powered by Shadow. Your number shows as the sender.
⏱️ Short-term Rental Receive SMS and send via shared gateway. Sender may appear as "SMS" instead of your number.
The key difference is how outgoing SMS messages are handled:
Long-term Rental: Uses a dedicated SMS gateway powered by Shadow. When you send SMS, recipients see YOUR phone number as the sender. Perfect for business communication and 2FA.
Short-term Rental: Uses a shared gateway service. When you send SMS, recipients may see "SMS" or a generic sender instead of your number. Great for receiving verification codes.
Choose based on your needs:
Choose Long-term if you need:
Choose Short-term if you:
No, rental types are set when you purchase or reserve a phone number. If you need a different rental type, you'll need to purchase a new phone number with the desired rental type.
A dedicated SMS gateway is a device powered by Shadow (shadow.is) with your SIM card installed. It handles all SMS sending and receiving for your number, ensuring your number always appears as the sender.
Yes! With long-term rental, your phone number will always appear as the sender when you send SMS messages. Recipients will see your actual number, not a generic "SMS" sender.
Very reliable. Each long-term number has a dedicated device, so there's no sharing of resources. Messages are delivered directly through the mobile carrier network, just like from a regular phone.
Long-term rental includes a dedicated SMS gateway device (powered by Shadow), your SIM card in a dedicated slot, and guaranteed delivery with your number as sender. The higher cost covers the exclusive infrastructure and premium features.
Short-term numbers use a shared gateway service (like Vonage) for sending SMS. Multiple numbers share this infrastructure, which keeps costs lower but means your number may not appear as the sender.
Short-term rentals use shared gateway services that prioritize cost-efficiency over sender ID. The recipient may see "SMS" or a generic sender ID instead of your number. Receiving SMS always works normally.
Absolutely! Receiving SMS works perfectly with short-term rental. You'll get all incoming messages immediately. The limitation is only for outgoing SMS sender identification.
Yes, short-term rental is more cost-effective because it uses shared infrastructure. It's perfect if you primarily need to receive SMS (like verification codes) rather than send with your number as the identified sender.
No. They are two separate services with separate checkout, billing, and support. Crypton Travel eSIM is prepaid travel data with a fixed allowance and validity. Crypton Mobile is an ongoing mobile line (permanent eSIM profile) with recurring SIM maintenance, optional US/UK numbers, and data top-ups—managed apart from Dashboard → My eSIMs (Crypton Travel eSIM orders).
Crypton Mobile is our subscription-style mobile product: a permanent eSIM with voice, SMS, and optional data top-ups, plus an optional dedicated US or UK number. It is not the same product as one-off prepaid Crypton Travel eSIM regional or global data plans.
A long-lived eSIM line kept active by maintenance fees, mobile data top-ups as you need them, voice and SMS on the mobile service, and optionally a US or UK number where offered. See the Crypton Mobile marketing page and checkout for current pricing.
Crypton Travel eSIM is usually a single purchase (data + validity). Crypton Mobile has ongoing network/SIM fees, optional annual number charges, and separate data top-ups. Treat them as different subscriptions in your account.
Crypton Travel eSIM (data-only) cannot receive SMS. Crypton Mobile is a full mobile service that supports SMS on your line, subject to carriers and each app's rules. Verification is never guaranteed for any number type—use the product that matches your risk tolerance.
Open the Crypton Mobile section from the public site or your dashboard. It is separate from My eSIMs / Crypton Travel (prepaid Crypton Travel eSIM).
The API works the same for both rental types. The only difference is how outgoing SMS are delivered - long-term uses dedicated gateways, short-term uses shared gateways. All API endpoints and features remain consistent.
You can see your rental type in multiple places:
Yes, webhook payloads include the rental_type field for phone number related events, so your application can handle different rental types accordingly.
For short-term and virtual numbers only
When you rent a short-term or virtual number and send SMS to certain countries, the message is delivered via a secure web link instead of a regular text message. This is because some countries have strict rules about SMS from online services.
Short-term & Virtual numbers: Use secure link delivery for restricted countries.
Long-term numbers: Not affected! They use real SIM cards and send regular SMS to any country, just like your personal phone.
Many countries have laws to prevent spam. They require businesses to register before sending SMS. Since our short-term and virtual numbers use a cloud service (Vonage), they're treated as business messages and face these restrictions. It's not something we control - it's how phone carriers work.
Instead of your message appearing as a regular text, the recipient gets a short SMS with a link to read your message on our secure website. They can view your full message and reply - either through the website or by SMS.
They receive: "[Crypton.sh] You have a new message! View it here: https://crypton.sh/msg/xxxxx"
When they click the link, they see your full message and can reply directly.
Rent a long-term number! Long-term rentals come with a dedicated device and real SIM card. They send SMS just like a regular phone - no restrictions, no secure links, direct delivery to any country.
Yes, absolutely! These restrictions only affect outgoing messages. You can receive SMS from anywhere in the world without any issues.
Currently 67 countries require secure link delivery for short-term and virtual numbers. This list updates automatically based on carrier regulations.
Direct messaging blocked (9 countries): These countries don't allow text messages from online services to reach personal phones directly.
Reply SMS not available (58 countries): These countries don't support receiving reply messages through cloud services.
Direct Messaging Blocked (9):
🇺🇸 United States 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 🇵🇭 Philippines 🇹🇷 Turkey 🇯🇵 Japan 🇮🇹 Italy 🇧🇩 Bangladesh 🇵🇰 Pakistan 🇰🇪 Kenya
Reply SMS Not Available (58):
Middle East (10):
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates 🇶🇦 Qatar 🇰🇼 Kuwait 🇧🇭 Bahrain 🇴🇲 Oman 🇯🇴 Jordan 🇱🇧 Lebanon 🇮🇶 Iraq 🇮🇷 Iran
Asia (12):
🇨🇳 China 🇮🇳 India 🇸🇬 Singapore 🇮🇩 Indonesia 🇰🇷 South Korea 🇲🇾 Malaysia 🇻🇳 Vietnam 🇹🇭 Thailand 🇹🇼 Taiwan 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka 🇰🇭 Cambodia 🇲🇳 Mongolia
Europe (12):
🇬🇷 Greece 🇷🇴 Romania 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 🇭🇷 Croatia 🇷🇸 Serbia 🇸🇰 Slovakia 🇸🇮 Slovenia 🇧🇾 Belarus 🇱🇻 Latvia 🇺🇦 Ukraine 🇲🇩 Moldova 🇬🇪 Georgia
Africa (12):
🇪🇬 Egypt 🇳🇬 Nigeria 🇬🇭 Ghana 🇺🇬 Uganda 🇹🇿 Tanzania 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe 🇩🇿 Algeria 🇹🇳 Tunisia 🇱🇾 Libya 🇸🇳 Senegal 🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire 🇨🇲 Cameroon
Americas (7):
🇵🇪 Peru 🇪🇨 Ecuador 🇻🇪 Venezuela 🇺🇾 Uruguay 🇯🇲 Jamaica 🇨🇺 Cuba 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Central Asia & Caucasus (5):
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan 🇹🇯 Tajikistan 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan 🇦🇲 Armenia
Long-term rental typically costs more due to dedicated infrastructure. Pricing varies by country and operator. You can see exact pricing for both rental types on the purchase page before buying.
No, you cannot convert an existing number between rental types. Rental type is permanent for each phone number. If you need a different rental type, you'll need to purchase a new number.
Refund policies are the same for both rental types. Please refer to our Terms of Service for detailed refund information. Generally, unused time may be refunded within the first 7 days of purchase.
