Can I use Google Voice in the UK?

Not with a personal Google account — personal Google Voice has only ever been offered in the US, and UK signups see "Google Voice is not available in your country". The only official UK route is Google Voice for Google Workspace, which needs a paid Workspace plan plus a Voice Standard or Premier add-on, set up through an admin console.

Is Google Voice free in the UK?

No. The free product doesn't exist here. Getting a UK number through Google officially means Workspace Business Starter (£5.90/user/month) plus the Voice Standard add-on ($20/user/month, billed in dollars) — roughly £21–22 a month at July 2026 exchange rates, before any promotional discount.

What is the UK equivalent of Google Voice?

There's no single official equivalent — the closest matches are UK virtual-number services that give you a second number over your existing mobile. As of July 2026: BoltNum (£9/month, voicemail transcription and press-1 included), Air Landline (£9.99 +VAT, porting supported), CircleLoop (£5–15/user +VAT, includes SMS), and SwitchboardFREE (free core service on an 084 number).

Why is Google Voice not available in my country?

Google has only ever offered the personal Google Voice product in the US — its help pages state plainly that "Voice Starter standalone subscriptions are only available in the US". Other countries, including the UK, are served solely through the paid Google Voice for Workspace product, which requires a Standard or Premier add-on and admin setup.

Can I get a UK number on Google Voice?

Only through Google Workspace. The UK appears on Google's supported-countries list for Voice, but UK numbers require a Voice Standard or Voice Premier add-on, and provisioning happens in the Workspace Admin console — there is no consumer signup. Budget for the Workspace subscription plus the dollar-priced Voice add-on, roughly £21–22 a month combined.

Can I keep using my existing US Google Voice number in the UK?

Yes. An existing US Google Voice number keeps working from the UK through the app and web, though calls made while abroad are charged at international rates. What you can't do is provision a new number from the UK — availability follows where you signed up.

Does Google Voice work in the UK with a VPN?

Not usefully. Signup requires a US phone number for verification, so a VPN alone doesn't get you an account — and even a working US number is the wrong tool for a UK business, since UK customers would be making international calls to reach you. Voice's SMS support is US-only too.

Why did the free second-number options disappear?

The era of free-ish secondary numbers largely ended in 2025: Skype — including Skype Numbers — was retired by Microsoft on 5 May 2025, and Google Voice's free tier never launched outside the US. That's why UK searches for alternatives keep landing on paid-but-cheap virtual number services instead.

Prices checked July 2026, from each provider's own pages

Google Voice never came to the UK. Here's what to use instead.

The short version: Google Voice for personal accounts is US-only — UK signups hit "not available in your country", and that's been true since launch. The only official UK route runs through Google Workspace and costs £21–22 a month per user at list prices (£18–19 on the current promo), billed partly in dollars. For a one-person business that just wants a second number with voicemail that behaves, the realistic UK options cost £5–10 a month. We've put five of them — including ours — in one honest table below.

By Chris Rowe, founder of BoltNum · Published 18 July 2026

Why can't you just sign up for Google Voice in the UK?

Most pages ranking for this search fudge the mechanics, so here they are, sourced from Google's own documentation as of July 2026:

Personal Google Voice is US-only. The personal product has only ever been offered in the US; sign up from a UK account and you get "Google Voice is not available in your country".
The UK is Workspace-only. Google's supported-countries list includes the UK — but only with a Voice Standard or Voice Premier add-on, provisioned by a Workspace admin in the Admin console. Even the cheapest Voice tier doesn't travel: Google's help pages state "Voice Starter standalone subscriptions are only available in the US".
A VPN doesn't fix it. Signup verification requires a US phone number, and even a working US Voice number is the wrong tool here — your UK customers would be dialling America to reach you. (If you already have a US number, it does keep working from the UK via the app, at international call rates.)
Texting doesn't travel either. Google's Voice FAQ states SMS is currently supported only in the US — so even the paid Workspace route won't text your UK customers.

It's worth saying why this search got busier: the free-ish second-number era mostly ended. Skype — and Skype Numbers with it — was retired by Microsoft on 5 May 2025, and Google's free tier never crossed the Atlantic. What's left in the UK is a market of small paid services, which is not a bad thing: the good ones cost less than a takeaway and actually answer like a business.

How much does Google Voice actually cost in the UK?

If you genuinely want Google Voice in the UK, the arithmetic — from Google's own pricing pages, July 2026 — looks like this: Google Workspace Business Starter at £5.90 per user per month, plus the Voice Standard add-on at $20 per user per month (Google prices Voice in dollars even on its UK pages; there's a $16 EMEA promotional rate at the time of writing). At July 2026 exchange rates that's roughly £21–22 a month all-in per person — around £18–19 on the promo — with part of your bill floating on the exchange rate. You'll also be administering a Workspace domain to run one phone number.

For an IT-managed team already on Workspace, that can be fine. For a plumber, a cleaner, or a freelancer who just wants their mobile to stop being their business number, it's the wrong shape entirely — you'd be paying double the going rate for the privilege of running an admin console. Which brings us to what the search is really about.

Five UK alternatives, one honest table

You didn't want Google Voice — you wanted what it represents: a cheap second number that takes messages properly and keeps your personal mobile private. These are the five realistic UK routes, priced from each provider's own pages in July 2026, with the add-on catches that roundup listicles skip. Yes, we're in the table; we've marked where the others beat us.

Service	Price / month	Voicemail → email	Press-1 menu	Outbound with business caller ID	Keep existing number	Contract
BoltNum	£9 flat (300 inbound min/mo fair use)	Included — transcribed & emailed in seconds	Included (press-1 urgent call-through)	Included (one-click call-back)	No — fresh number only	None; 14-day money-back
Air Landline	£9.99 +VAT	Included (transcriptions)	+£4.99/mo switchboard add-on	+£7.99/mo app add-on	Yes — ports numbers in and out	None; 7-day free trial
CircleLoop	£5 +VAT (PAYG, unlimited inbound) or £15 +VAT unlimited, per user	Included (voicemail-to-text)	Not listed on its pricing page	Included (from 3p/min on PAYG); SMS 4p/msg	Yes	None; 7-day trial, no card
SwitchboardFREE	Free core (084 number) — mobile redirects 10p/min, or from £10.96 unlimited	Included	Included (call queuing/options)	No on free core	Not stated on its pricing page	None on free core
bOnline	£7 +VAT Starter (100 outbound landline min); Unlimited £9.95 promo → £13.95 +VAT	Included (voicemail-to-email)	Included (IVR on paid plans)	Included (within plan minutes)	Yes	12-month contract

Prices as listed on each provider's site, July 2026; VAT treatment shown as each provider displays it — check the provider's page for your total. One caution on "free": SwitchboardFREE's free core service uses an 084 number, and under Ofcom's call-cost rules 084 calls carry an access charge plus a service charge for the person calling you. Your customers pick up the cost instead. A local 01/02 number is typically included in your callers' phone packages.

Which one should you actually pick?

You need to text customers from the business number → CircleLoop. It has SMS at 4p a message and proper desktop and mobile softphone apps; we have neither, and UK Google Voice can't text at all.
You have an existing business number to bring → Air Landline. It ports numbers in and lets you take them with you if you leave. BoltNum only issues fresh numbers.
You're hiring and want desk phones, queues, and seats → bOnline (or CircleLoop). That's a real phone system, priced per user, on a 12-month contract at bOnline. BoltNum is deliberately one number, one person.
You want free and your callers won't mind an 084 number → SwitchboardFREE. A genuinely free core service — just know your customers pay the 084 service charge, and redirects to your mobile cost 10p a minute.
You want the Google Voice idea, done for a UK sole trader → BoltNum. A local number live in minutes, a studio-quality AI greeting (six voices, British and American — here are the scripts we voice-tested), every voicemail transcribed and emailed within seconds, and a press-1 lane that rings your actual mobile for the genuinely urgent stuff. £9 a month, everything included, no contract.

On transcription, one first-hand note: when we built BoltNum we tested Twilio's built-in transcription against OpenAI's Whisper and shipped Whisper, because reading a voicemail only works if the transcript is actually right. It's the difference between "Jamie from Fern & Twig wants a weekly delivery quote" and a paragraph of guesswork — and it's why callers who introduce themselves get saved to your contacts automatically.

Still weighing up whether you need a separate number at all? Start with our honest guide for UK sole traders: do sole traders need a business phone number?

Questions, answered

Can I use Google Voice in the UK?: Not with a personal Google account — personal Google Voice has only ever been offered in the US, and UK signups see "Google Voice is not available in your country". The only official UK route is Google Voice for Google Workspace, which needs a paid Workspace plan plus a Voice Standard or Premier add-on, set up through an admin console.
Is Google Voice free in the UK?: No. The free product doesn't exist here. Getting a UK number through Google officially means Workspace Business Starter (£5.90/user/month) plus the Voice Standard add-on ($20/user/month, billed in dollars) — roughly £21–22 a month at July 2026 exchange rates, before any promotional discount.
What is the UK equivalent of Google Voice?: There's no single official equivalent — the closest matches are UK virtual-number services that give you a second number over your existing mobile. As of July 2026: BoltNum (£9/month, voicemail transcription and press-1 included), Air Landline (£9.99 +VAT, porting supported), CircleLoop (£5–15/user +VAT, includes SMS), and SwitchboardFREE (free core service on an 084 number).
Why is Google Voice not available in my country?: Google has only ever offered the personal Google Voice product in the US — its help pages state plainly that "Voice Starter standalone subscriptions are only available in the US". Other countries, including the UK, are served solely through the paid Google Voice for Workspace product, which requires a Standard or Premier add-on and admin setup.
Can I get a UK number on Google Voice?: Only through Google Workspace. The UK appears on Google's supported-countries list for Voice, but UK numbers require a Voice Standard or Voice Premier add-on, and provisioning happens in the Workspace Admin console — there is no consumer signup. Budget for the Workspace subscription plus the dollar-priced Voice add-on, roughly £21–22 a month combined.
Can I keep using my existing US Google Voice number in the UK?: Yes. An existing US Google Voice number keeps working from the UK through the app and web, though calls made while abroad are charged at international rates. What you can't do is provision a new number from the UK — availability follows where you signed up.
Does Google Voice work in the UK with a VPN?: Not usefully. Signup requires a US phone number for verification, so a VPN alone doesn't get you an account — and even a working US number is the wrong tool for a UK business, since UK customers would be making international calls to reach you. Voice's SMS support is US-only too.
Why did the free second-number options disappear?: The era of free-ish secondary numbers largely ended in 2025: Skype — including Skype Numbers — was retired by Microsoft on 5 May 2025, and Google Voice's free tier never launched outside the US. That's why UK searches for alternatives keep landing on paid-but-cheap virtual number services instead.

The £9 version of the thing you searched for

A local UK number, a greeting that sounds hired, and every voicemail in your inbox — live before your coffee's cold.

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