How to Make Free Phone Calls to the US and Canada

Free international calling is possible and easy with tools like Skype and other VoIP apps and services, but you the calls need to be to people using the same service. However, when you make calls to landline and mobile numbers, you have to pay, but VoIP makes it much cheaper than through the traditional phone system. There is, fortunately, a bunch of tools and services that allow you to make free calls to any landline and mobile phone, i.e. to people not using VoIP, in the US and Canada. Some services offer these free calls from within the North American territories only while others offer the calls from anywhere in the world. Here are some you can consider. Note that for most of the services below, you will need an Internet connection, WiFi, 3G or 4G for your smartphone.

Google Voice 

This very popular service comes with many features, including the possibility to ring multiple phones on one same incoming call, and a handful of others, which include the ability to make free calls to US and Canada numbers. 

iCall 

iCall is a softphone app that has a version for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android. Among all the other features that normally come along with the trending VoIP apps, there is the possibility of making free calls to US and Canada numbers. However, the call cannot be longer than 5 minutes.

VoipYo

VoipYo is a mobile VoIP app for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows that gives quite cheap international calls to many destinations worldwide. Calls to the US and Canada are also free. Last time I checked, VoIPYo international rates were among the cheapest on the market. You can make calls to most destinations worldwide with under a cent a minute, including VAT. You have to download and install their app your smartphone and buy some credit.

Ooma

This is a very popular residential VoIP service in the US, and is only for Americans. It gives you unlimited free calling to any number in the US and Canada, but you need to spend some money on the acquisition of the phone adapter called the Ooma Telo and special phones that go with it. It can replace your home PSTN phone. It has a premium plan, international plans and also a business plan. The Ooma hardware costs around $200-250, depending on where and when you buy it.

MagicJack

MagicJack has more or less the same business model as Ooma, but the hardware is smaller and cheaper. It is a small jack the size of a USB pen drive, whose magic is nothing but pure VoIP. It gives you free calls to North America, but the big difference from Ooma is that it needs to be plugged into a computer to operate. If it works, and it does, then it is worth it, but still you need to depend on a running computer to make and receive calls, which is quite a burden, and it does not replace the residential phone system as Ooma does. But the MagicJack is ten time cheaper than the Ooma hardware.

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