eSIM with a phone number
Every travel eSIM sold by anybody is data only. That is not a limitation of one company, it is what the product is. The useful question is what you actually need a number for, and there are three different answers depending on which it is.
01The three answers
You need people to keep reaching you: nothing to do
Your own SIM stays in the phone and keeps its number. A data eSIM sits alongside it rather than replacing it, so calls and texts arrive abroad exactly as they do at home. Turn data roaming off on your own line, leave the line on, and you are done.
You need a second number people can dial: rent one
A number in the United States and Canada for $5.00 a month, which rings in your browser wherever you are and stays yours between trips. Not a local number for the country you are visiting, and for most reasons people want one, that turns out not to matter.
You need to call local numbers: use the data
The balance that buys the data also places calls to any phone number in the world, at rates published in full before you sign up. That is the half a data-only seller does not have, and it is usually the thing people actually wanted when they went looking for a local number.
02By destination
The answer where you are going
Each of these covers why people want a local number in that country, whether it matters in practice, and what calling its numbers costs per minute.
03Questions
Can a travel eSIM give me a phone number?
Not a local one, and not from any of the international sellers. A travel eSIM is a data profile: it carries internet and nothing else, which is why none of them advertise a number. A number in a given country is issued by an operator there, usually against local identity documents in person. What is possible is a rented number that rings wherever you are, and a way to call any number in the world over the data.
Do I lose my own number when I use a travel eSIM?
No, and this is the answer most people are actually looking for. The eSIM is a second connection on the same phone and your existing SIM stays exactly where it is, so calls and texts to the number your family and your bank already have keep arriving normally. Switch data roaming off on your own line so it cannot bill you, and leave the line itself on.
Which countries can I rent a number in?
the United States and Canada, and that is the whole list. A rented number rings in your browser wherever you are, so a US number works while you are in Tokyo or Lisbon, and it stays yours between trips rather than expiring with a plan. It is $5.00 a month from the same balance as the data.
Can I use one of these numbers for bank verification codes?
No. Banks and most large platforms reject numbers of this kind on purpose, whoever you buy them from, so if that is what you need this will not do it. We would rather turn the sale down here than take it and have it fail at the moment you need it.
Data first, number if you need one
Pick a destination and a plan. The number is a separate thing you can add whenever it turns out you want it.