Rebtel is a legitimate international calling app run by a registered Swedish company, and its per-minute rates to Mexico, India and the UK are very low. The catch is the shape of the product: it leads with subscriptions that renew every 30 days, unused plan minutes disappear at each renewal, and many of its bad reviews are about charges people did not expect. If you understand those rules, Rebtel is good value. If you do not, it can cost you more than it should.

Is Rebtel legit?

Yes. Rebtel is a Swedish company based in Stockholm, registered under company number 556680-3622 according to its own website, and it publishes full terms of service and a refund policy. Its Android app has about 188,000 ratings on Google Play with an average of 4.6 out of 5 as of October 2026.

"Legit" and "trouble-free" are not the same thing, though. On Trustpilot, Rebtel scores 3.2 out of 5 from 10,618 reviews as of October 2026. Most reviewers are happy (56% give five stars), but 19% give one star, and the one-star reviews cluster around billing. Rebtel even has a help article titled "I don't use the Rebtel app anymore, how can I avoid being charged?".

So the fair answer is: Rebtel is a real company that delivers real calls at low rates. The risk is in the subscriptions, not in the calls.

How Rebtel works

You download the Rebtel app on iPhone or Android, sign up with your mobile number, confirm it with an SMS code, and buy either a subscription or Rebtel Credits. Then you dial from inside the app. The person you call does not need Rebtel, a smartphone or internet. They just get a normal phone call.

The app lets you choose how each call connects:

Phone Lines. Your phone makes a local call to a Rebtel access number, and Rebtel carries the international part. Your carrier bills it as a local call. This only works in countries where Rebtel offers it.
Wi-Fi and Mobile Data. The call goes over the internet, so your carrier only sees data use.
Auto picks the strongest connection.
Travel Mode forces Wi-Fi only, so you do not get hit by roaming charges abroad.

If your phone is too old for the app, Rebtel offers shared local numbers: you create a local number for each contact on the Rebtel website, then dial it from your registered phone. It is a clever feature for people without a smartphone.

Rebtel pricing: three ways to pay

What you buy	Example price (US, October 2026)	What happens at the end
Rebtel Credits (pay as you go)	$5 or $10 packs	Credit stays while you are active; expires after 12 months with no activity
Country subscription	Mexico Unlimited $3 a month, UK Unlimited $6 a month, India Unlimited $14 a month	Renews automatically every 30 days; leftover minutes are removed
Limited subscription	Philippines 120 minutes for $12 a month, Nigeria 140 minutes for $12 a month	Renews every 30 days; unused minutes do not carry over
Global Unlimited	$14 a month for any phone in 47 countries	Renews automatically until you cancel

Some plans also come in 90-day and 180-day versions. The UK plan, for example, is $14 for 90 days or $23 for 180 days, and India is $30 for 90 days or $55 for 180 days.

New users usually see a trial: a free week on most subscriptions, two free weeks on the Nigeria plan, or a one-time welcome offer such as 30 minutes to the Philippines for $1. Rebtel's expiry rules say plainly that after a trial "the subscription will be charged at full price and it will be renewed every 30 days." That single sentence explains a large share of the complaints.

Rebtel rates to 5 popular countries

These are Rebtel's pay-as-you-go rates as shown on its rates pages in US dollars, as of October 2026. Prices vary by your location and currency, and Rebtel adds VAT for customers in Europe and Australia.

Country	Mobile	Landline	Subscription option
Mexico	2.42¢ a minute	1.21¢ a minute	Mexico Unlimited, $3 a month
India	2.89¢ a minute	2.89¢ a minute	India Unlimited, $14 a month
United Kingdom	2.42¢ a minute (4.84¢ to 3 UK and O2)	2.42¢ a minute	UK Unlimited, $6 a month
Philippines	19.24¢ a minute	13.19¢ a minute	120 minutes, $12 a month
Nigeria	17.55¢ a minute	17.55¢ a minute	140 minutes, $12 a month

Two details matter here. First, the "unlimited" label does not apply everywhere: the Philippines and Nigeria plans are minute bundles. At $12 for 120 minutes, the Philippines plan works out to 10¢ a minute only if you use every minute. Second, UK calls to O2 and 3 mobiles cost double the headline rate, which is easy to miss if you call family on those networks.

The fine print worth reading

Billing is per minute, rounded up. Rebtel's terms give the example of a 7 minute 10 second call billed as 8 minutes.
Credits expire after 12 months of inactivity. Rebtel says credits have no expiry date while you are an active user.
Plan minutes do not roll over. Whatever you have not used at the end of the 30, 90 or 180 days is removed.
Subscriptions are not refundable, except when they have not been used, and refund requests must be made within 90 days. Unused Rebtel Credits can be refunded within 90 days of purchase.
Starting a chargeback locks your account, according to Rebtel's refund policy. Contact support first.
Fair use applies to unlimited plans. Rebtel reserves the right to block numbers with unusual patterns, such as lots of very short calls or call forwarding. Premium, special and non-geographic numbers are excluded.
Auto top-up refills your balance when it drops below $1 if you switch it on. It is optional and can be turned off in the app or under Account settings on the website.

App, website and calling without data

Rebtel is built around its phone app, which needs iOS 15 or Android 7.0 or later. The website is for managing your account, buying products and setting up shared local numbers. Rebtel's help center does not describe any way to place a call from a computer browser, so if you want to call from a laptop, Rebtel is not the tool.

On the other hand, Rebtel can do something most calling apps cannot: with Phone Lines or shared local numbers, you can call abroad with no internet connection at all, as long as you are in a country Rebtel supports and your local minutes are cheap.

What users praise and what they complain about

Reading across Trustpilot, Google Play and the App Store, the same themes keep coming up.

Praise:

The app is simple, and calls connect quickly.
Voice quality is clear on most routes.
Rates to popular countries are very low, so calling family every week is affordable.
Some reviewers say support fixed their problem quickly.

Complaints:

Charges people did not expect, usually a trial that turned into a paid plan, a plan that kept renewing, or a double charge.
Difficulty cancelling, and frustration with automated support replies.
Login and verification-code problems.
Dropped calls, busy tones or lost audio on some routes.
Fair-use limits on "unlimited" plans that felt unclear.
Credit that expired without the reviewer noticing.

Trustpilot shows that Rebtel has replied to 98% of its negative reviews, usually within 24 hours, mostly by pointing the reviewer to support.

Who Rebtel suits

Rebtel is a strong choice if:

You call one country for hours every month and that country has a true unlimited plan. At $3 a month, Mexico Unlimited is hard to beat.
You want the lowest pay-as-you-go rate to Mexico, India or the UK and you are fine using a phone app.
You need to call abroad without data, using Phone Lines or shared local numbers.

It is a weaker fit if you call irregularly (a subscription charges you in the months you barely call), if you want to call from a computer, or if you do not want to keep an eye on renewal dates. If you do sign up for a trial, set a reminder for the day before it converts, and cancel in the app or on the website if you do not want to keep it. Uninstalling the app does not cancel anything.

When BoraPhone is the better fit, and when it is not

Rebtel's pay-as-you-go rates are lower than ours to every country in the table above, so if you are happy with a phone app, Rebtel Credits will usually cost less per minute.

BoraPhone is a different kind of product. It runs in a web browser on a laptop, desktop, tablet or phone, with no app to install and sign-up by email only. You buy pay-as-you-go credit from $5 and see the rate before every call. There is no subscription, so nothing renews. Billing is per minute, rounded up, the same as Rebtel.

	Rebtel (PAYG)	BoraPhone
Mexico landline / mobile	1.21¢ / 2.42¢	$0.04 / $0.11
UK landline / mobile	2.42¢ / 2.42¢	$0.04 / $0.07
India	2.89¢	$0.11
Where you call from	iPhone or Android app	Any web browser
Subscriptions	Pushed first, auto-renew	None
Calls without internet	Yes, in supported countries	No

BoraPhone rates are at the time of writing (October 2026); check the live UK rates or Mexico rates before you call.

In short: BoraPhone fits if you want to call from a computer, cannot install an app, or make occasional calls with no plan to manage. Rebtel fits if you call one country a lot, want the lowest per-minute rate, or need to call without internet. Our Rebtel alternatives page and the subscription-free options guide go further, and the post on hidden fees in cheap calling apps explains rounding and renewal costs across the category. If you are also weighing up Talk360, see our Talk360 review.

Frequently asked questions

Can Rebtel be trusted?

Rebtel is a registered Swedish company with a large user base and public terms, so your calls and payments are real. The trust issues people raise are about billing: trials convert to paid plans and subscriptions renew every 30 days until you cancel. Read the plan terms before you buy and keep proof when you cancel.

Which country is Rebtel from?

Rebtel is from Sweden. Its website lists Rebtel AB in Stockholm, registered with Swedish company number 556680-3622.

How much does Rebtel cost?

The app is free. As of October 2026, US prices start with $5 credit packs, country plans such as Mexico Unlimited at $3 a month or UK Unlimited at $6 a month, and Global Unlimited at $14 a month. Pay-as-you-go rates run from about 1.2¢ a minute to Mexican landlines to around 19¢ to Philippine mobiles.

Is Rebtel free for US calls?

No. Rebtel is built for international calls, and its terms say the service is not intended for domestic calls. For calls within the US, your normal phone plan is the right tool.

Rebtel Review: Rates, Subscriptions and Who It Suits