SMS verification for OpenAI API

Complete OpenAI API SMS

Lease a one-time number for OpenAI phone verification - required for your first API key, and sometimes for Codex. OpenAI decides which numbers it accepts - no one can promise acceptance.

Phone verification is not generally required for ChatGPT itself - only for your first API key and possibly Codex. Landlines, VoIP, Google Voice and premium numbers are not supported, and the number cannot be changed later.

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One Code, One Time

A one-time activation receives one code. Once it arrives, the order is complete - keep a number you control on accounts that matter.

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Code In Your Dashboard

Your number receives the OpenAI & ChatGPT SMS like a normal phone, showing your code as soon as the sender delivers it.

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Refund If No Code Arrives

No code? Cancel between 2 and 20 minutes after purchase for a refund, or let the number expire and it refunds automatically.

How to Verify OpenAI & ChatGPT

Pick the service, enter the number where OpenAI & ChatGPT asks, and watch your dashboard for the code.

1

Select Service

Log in to your SMSOTPS account, choose "OpenAI & ChatGPT" from our active platforms list, and pick your target country.

2

Submit to OpenAI & ChatGPT

Copy the assigned virtual phone number and enter it in the OpenAI & ChatGPT signup screen to trigger the SMS code request.

3

Copy & Activate

When the code arrives it shows on your dashboard. Enter it promptly - codes expire.

OpenAI asks for a phone number in two places: your first API key on platform.openai.com, and Codex in the ChatGPT desktop app. Plain ChatGPT signup usually needs no number at all. On one of those screens, order a one-time number here, paste it in, and read the code on your dashboard. One code completes the order.

When does OpenAI actually ask for a phone number?

Most pages selling OpenAI numbers get this wrong.

OpenAI's Help Center says phone verification is not generally required to create an OpenAI account or use ChatGPT - you sign up with an email address. The screen shows up in two places: generating your first API key on platform.openai.com, where OpenAI mandates it, and opening Codex in the ChatGPT desktop app, where you may be asked (OpenAI Help Center, read 2026-11-07).

OpenAI is also testing sign-up with just a phone number instead of email, rolled out mostly to new users in the US, the Netherlands, France, Spain, the UK, Poland, Germany, Japan, India, Pakistan, Algeria, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

Chatting only? You need no number at all. First API key, or Codex asking? That is what this page is for.

What happens on the verification screen?

You type in a mobile number with its country code. OpenAI sends a one-time code by SMS or, where offered, WhatsApp - never by email and never by phone call. WhatsApp verification is available in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam.

The number has to be a mobile number. Landlines, VoIP, Google Voice and premium numbers are not supported - OpenAI says so plainly, because those number types show up more in fraud and abuse.

Type the number in international format - the +, the country code, then the number with no leading zero - and paste the code in as soon as it lands.

Why does the code never arrive - or get rejected?

The number type is the first cause. VoIP, landline, Google Voice and premium numbers are rejected before a code is ever sent. If the screen says the number is not supported, get a different number.

The number's history is the second. A phone number can only ever be used for phone verification up to 3 times, and OpenAI says there are no exceptions. A recycled number that three other people already used is dead before you start - which is why a free public inbox is the worst option here.

When a verification fails, OpenAI's advice is to try another supported mobile number you control while staying signed in to the same account, and to follow any waiting period in the error message. If your number is from a supported country and still fails, contact OpenAI Support with the exact error message, copied word for word.

The number sticks. Read this before you buy.

OpenAI does not offer the option to change or update the phone number on your account - for ChatGPT or the API. Once verified, it stays there (OpenAI Help Center, read 2026-11-07).

A new device, a password reset, a security check - each sends a code to the number on file. A one-time number receives one code, once, then it is gone. If the account asks again in six months, the code goes to a number you no longer control.

So the trade-off is plain. A one-time number fits one job - a single verification you do not expect to repeat - and it is a poor fit for an account you intend to keep. For those, use a number you will still control in a year.

One more number: the 3-use cap. Deleting an account does not free a number up - with one exception: permanently delete your ChatGPT consumer account, and as long as it was not disabled for a terms violation, OpenAI removes the number after 30 days (OpenAI Help Center, read 2026-11-07).

How ordering works on SMSOTPS

Pick OpenAI from the service list and a country, and the live price and availability show before you pay. The number is a one-time activation: one received code completes the order. See the how-to-buy guide and live prices.

If no code arrives, you can cancel the order yourself between 2 and 20 minutes after purchase, as long as no code has arrived. If the number expires without a code, the refund is automatic. Once a code arrives, the order is complete.

Stuck? Email support@smsotps.com or Telegram @sms_otpsbot. The FAQ has the details.

If the account matters, use the number you will still control in a year. If it is one API key and one afternoon, a one-time number, one code, and move on.

Frequently Asked Questions

Get answers regarding temporary phone numbers for OpenAI & ChatGPT.

Generally, no. OpenAI's Help Center says phone verification is not generally required to create an account or use ChatGPT. The phone screen appears when you generate your first API key on platform.openai.com, and may appear for Codex in the ChatGPT desktop app.

That is the main case where one is needed: OpenAI mandates phone verification for an account's first API key generation. Later keys on the same account do not need it. Acceptance is OpenAI's decision - no number is guaranteed.

The number type is the usual cause: landlines, VoIP, Google Voice and premium numbers are not supported. Try another supported mobile number you control while staying signed in, and follow any waiting period in the error message.

No. OpenAI does not offer the option to change or update the phone number associated with an account, for ChatGPT or the API. Keep that in mind before verifying an account you plan to keep with a one-time number.

You can cancel the order yourself between 2 and 20 minutes after purchase, as long as no code has arrived. If the number expires without a code, the refund is automatic. Once a code arrives, the order is complete.

OpenAI allows a phone number to be used for phone verification up to 3 times, for first API key generation, and says there are no exceptions past that. Recycled numbers that have already been used can fail. This page is written for one reader verifying their own account.

In 12 countries: the UAE, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam. Codes are never sent by email or phone call.

It is the weakest option. The numbers are shared, anyone can read the inbox, and the number has usually been used before - OpenAI counts uses, up to 3, and recycled numbers can fail.