How to Use ChatGPT & OpenAI Without a Phone Number

• In some countries, you can verify your account using WhatsApp instead of a phone number.
• You can use ChatGPT without signing up by using Bing Chat, Snapchat, or Discord.
• Use a ChatGPT alternative, like Bard or Perplexity, with no phone verification.

Why does ChatGPT want my phone number?

ChatGPT requires a phone number to create an account for security reasons. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, uses your phone number to verify that you're a real person. Your phone number is also used to identify the country you live in, which is necessary because ChatGPT isn't available in all countries. Unfortunately, you can't use ChatGPT until your account is verified. It's not possible to sign up with a landline or most VoIP numbers. This means you can't use Google Voice, Dingtone, TextNow, or other online phone number services to create a ChatGPT account.

Using ChatGPT Without a Phone Number

Use WhatsApp (in some regions). In certain countries where ChatGPT is not officially available, you can use WhatsApp instead of a phone number to verify your account. WhatsApp will appear as a verification option if you live in India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Ukraine, Malaysia, Egypt, or Turkey only. And while WhatsApp does require a phone number for sign-up, you can use a landline or VoIP number. When creating your ChatGPT account, select your country from the drop-down menu. If you select one of the WhatsApp-supported countries, you'll see "Do you have WhatsApp?" below the phone number field. If you don't see this option, it's usually because you're using a VPN server in a different country. Disable your VPN, or switch to a server in your own country. Tap Yes, then tap Send code via WhatsApp to receive your code. Finally, enter the code to verify your account and start using ChatGPT.

Try an online SMS verification tool. This trick does not always work, as ChatGPT has blocked most of these services. However, some users report success with services like SMSPool.net and Autofications.com, both of which provide phone numbers from real cellular carriers instead of VoIP. These services, and others like them, are not free, so try them at your own risk.

Use Bing. Microsoft's search engine now has its own version of ChatGPT that you can use without verifying your phone number. You will need to have a Microsoft account, but unlike signing up through OpenAI, you can get a Microsoft account using a VoIP phone number (like the free ones available through Google Voice). To get started, go to https://www.bing.com/new.

Chat with ChatGPT in Snapchat. Snapchat now features its own AI chatbot called My AI that's powered by ChatGPT. And unlike ChatGPT, Snapchat doesn't require a phone number for sign-up. My AI is a bit more limited than the full version of ChatGPT, as it's designed for mobile use. However, now that Snapchat is available on the web, you can chat with the chatbot on a computer by signing in to https://www.snapchat.com.

Join the Reddit ChatGPT Discord channel. The folks over at the /r/ChatGPT subreddit have a publicly available Discord server with ChatGPT bots. To join the server, go to https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT, click the Discord tab at the top, then click Accept Invite. Once you create your Discord account (or sign in to your existing account), you'll see a list of chatbots, including ChatGPT-1, ChatGPT-2, Bing-AI-1, and Bing-AI-2, all of which you can chat with without providing a phone number. If you're not signed in to Reddit, the Discord tab will be on the right side of the page. If you're using the Reddit mobile app, tap See community info at the top of /r/ChatGPT, tap Menu, then tap Discord.

Use a friend's phone. Even if your friend already has their own ChatGPT account, you can ask them to verify your account for you. Each phone number can be verified for 2 ChatGPT accounts. While this trick does work, there is a drawback—your friend can gain access to your account by resetting your password. Only use this trick with someone you really trust.

ChatGPT Alternatives with No Phone Verification

Perplexity. This completely free AI chatbot uses OpenAI's language model just like ChatGPT, but doesn't require you to create an account. Unlike ChatGPT, Perplexity can even cite sources for its answers, which means it'll be a little easier to use for writing essays than ChatGPT. Chat with Perplexity at https://www.perplexity.ai.

Google Bard. If you have a Google account, you can try Google's AI chatbot without providing a phone number. Bard is based on Google's own LaMDA language model instead of GPT-3, and is a bit more limited than ChatGPT. For example, Bard can't help you write code. Still, it can be a great introduction to AI chatbots if you don't want to give your phone number to ChatGPT. Visit https://bard.google.com to try Bard.

You.com. This AI-powered search engine offers ChatGPT access without providing your phone number. With the free version of You.com, you'll have unlimited ChatGPT 3.5-powered searches, plus the option to pay for access to GPT-4. You can also generate 10 pieces of writing and 10 images, though you'll need to pay if you want to generate more content. To see what You.com is all about, head over to https://you.com/

Character.ai. If you want to chat with AI versions of famous people like Billy Eilish, Sigmund Freud, Elon Musk, or Kanye West, you'll love playing around with Character.ai. In addition to emulating conversations with famous people, you can also use this chatbot to create your own character to chat with. And the best part—you don't need to provide a phone number or any other information to use the tool. Go to https://beta.character.ai to start chatting.

Neeva. This alternative to Google's search engine now has its own AI chatbot that you can use without providing a phone number. You will need to use an email address to sign up, but there are no restrictions on which email addresses you can use. Once you create an account, you can use the AI chatbot at the top of the search page to ask the same types of questions you'd ask ChatGPT. Check out Neeva at https://www.neeva.com.

ChatSonic. ChatSonic is a GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 powered AI chatbot that doesn't require a phone number for sign-up. Once you create an account, you can use the free version of ChatSonic to generate up to 10,000 words using GPT-3.5 (like ChatGPT), or 5,000 words using GPT-4 (like ChatGPT Plus). You'll need to pay for an upgrade to get more replies per month, but the free trial gives you the opportunity to test out the service. Go to https://writesonic.com/chat to learn more.