# Look up a phone carrier

Check carrier and numbering information, use your monthly free allowance and recover API requests without duplicate charges.

2026-10-11 · SMS.Red

## Check a number

Open [Tools → Phone Carrier Lookup](/en/dashboard/user/tools/phone-carrier-lookup). Enter a phone number including its country code, such as +1 for the United States. Spaces, hyphens and parentheses are accepted. Review the price on the lookup button, then submit. This tool does not send a message or place a call.

## Free allowance and wallet charges

Each account has three free dashboard lookups per UTC calendar month. The allowance resets at 00:00 UTC on the first day of the next month. After those three lookups, each dashboard lookup costs $0.05 from the wallet. Every API lookup costs $0.05; API requests do not use the dashboard allowance. A completed result counts even if the number is not recognized or carrier information is unavailable. Technical failures restore the free slot or refund the charge. Add funds through [Wallet](/en/dashboard/user/wallet) when the paid lookup is unavailable because of insufficient balance.

## Read the result

The result shows recognized-number status, carrier, number type, country, location and available formats. Missing information is shown as Not available. Numbering and carrier information can be incomplete and does not confirm that a number is active, reachable or able to receive SMS. Check the number before submitting another lookup.

## Use the API and retry safely

Create an API key through [Developers](/en/dashboard/user/developers). POST an international number to /api/v1/developer/tools/phone-carrier-lookup with X-API-Key and a unique Idempotency-Key. The wallet belonging to that key is charged $0.05. Reuse the same key and number after a timeout; do not issue a new key for an uncertain request. GET the same path followed by /{key} to recover its result without another charge. Results are retained for 24 hours; an expired result cannot be retrieved again. A new request uses a new key and costs $0.05. Read the [API reference](https://sms.red/docs/ai/phone-carrier-lookup.md).