The short answer
Most people should start with the free tools they already have. Pay for an app only if calls keep getting through.
Your carrier blocks or labels a lot of spam for free, and recent iPhones and Android phones can screen unknown callers on their own. If that is not enough, the four best-known apps each do one thing well:
- Truecaller is best at putting a name on an unknown number.
- Hiya is the cheapest paid upgrade, and its data already runs inside many Samsung phones.
- RoboKiller answers spammers with bots and filters spam texts.
- Nomorobo is the low-cost robocall blocker, and the one of the four that covers some home phone lines.
All of them work on the phone they are installed on, for the person holding it. If you are looking after someone else’s line, such as a parent who answers every call or a landline at their house, that is a different job. We explain the difference at the end, and we sell the service that does it, so weigh our view accordingly.
Start with what is free
Your carrier
The three big US carriers screen calls on their networks before they reach you, and the basic tier costs nothing:
- T-Mobile Scam Shield labels likely scams as “Scam Likely”. Scam Block, which stops those calls before they ring, is free too: dial #662# to turn it on.
- AT&T ActiveArmor blocks fraud calls automatically and warns you about suspected spam.
- Verizon Call Filter detects spam and sends high-risk spam calls to voicemail.
Each sells a paid tier (Verizon Call Filter Plus is $3.99 a month per line; AT&T ActiveArmor Advanced is $7 a month). The paid tiers mostly add caller names and identity extras. The free blocking is where most of the protection is.
iPhone
On iOS 26, open Settings, tap Apps, then Phone, then Screen Unknown Callers, and choose Ask Reason for Calling. Your iPhone answers numbers that are not in your contacts, asks the caller for their name and reason, and shows you the answer as text. You pick up or you don’t. Choose Silence instead and unknown numbers go straight to voicemail. Contacts ring as usual either way.
This is free, built in and private, and it does much of what paid screening apps charge for. Its limit: anyone can answer “hello” or “it’s the bank”, and the decision is still yours, on the spot.
Android
In the Phone app’s settings, look for Caller ID & spam (on a Pixel, Spam and Call Screen) and turn on spam filtering. Pixel phones can also answer unknown callers with Call Screen and ask what the call is about. Samsung phones label spam through Smart Call, which uses Hiya’s data. Menu names differ between phone makers.
Truecaller
What it does. Truecaller is a caller ID app first. When an unknown number calls, it shows a name and warns you if other users have reported it as spam. You can also look up a number before calling back.
Price. The basic app is free, with ads. On the US App Store, Premium is $9.99 a month or $74.99 a year and adds automatic spam blocking, unlimited lookups and no ads. Truecaller also sells an AI assistant, at $9.99 a month, that answers calls and asks the caller what they want.
Strengths. A huge directory. It names more unknown callers than any other app here, and it is rated 4.4 on the App Store from more than 250,000 ratings.
Limits. Premium is the most expensive of the four. And the directory that makes it strong is also what people worry about.
Hiya
What it does. Free caller ID and spam warnings. Hiya Premium adds a Call Screener that answers unknown calls and asks for a name and reason, plus warnings during a call when it hears signs of fraud or an AI-generated voice. Hiya AI Phone, a separate app, answers calls for you and summarizes them.
Price. Free for basic protection. Premium is $3.99 a month or $24.99 a year on the App Store. AI Phone is $9.99 a month.
Strengths. The lowest price for real screening, and a great deal of call data: Hiya’s technology runs inside Samsung’s Smart Call and AT&T’s spam labels, so many people already use it without knowing.
Limits. Hiya says Premium cannot be shared through Family Sharing, so each person pays and sets it up on their own phone. We found no landline option. Our PhoneShield vs Hiya page goes into detail.
RoboKiller
What it does. RoboKiller blocks numbers on its spam list and recognizes robocalls by their recorded audio. Its best-known feature is Answer Bots: recorded voices that pick up spam calls and keep the caller talking, wasting their time. It also filters spam texts.
Price. There is no free version. After a free trial it renews automatically. The US App Store lists membership prices from $9.99 to $89.99, roughly $10 to $13 a month or $80 to $90 a year. RoboKiller raised its yearly price sharply in 2024 and some long-time users complained, so check the price shown before the trial ends.
Strengths. Rated 4.5 on the App Store from more than 400,000 ratings. Calls and texts in one app. The Answer Bots are satisfying, if that matters to you.
Limits. The price, and no free tier. It protects the smartphone it is installed on; we found no landline option.
Nomorobo
What it does. Nomorobo checks incoming calls against its list of known robocallers and blocks the matches. It began as a landline service and still offers one.
Price. On mobile, Basic is $2.99 a month or $19.99 a year, Max is $59.99 a year, and a Family plan covering four devices is $79.99 a year. All have a free trial.
Landlines. For years Nomorobo protected internet home phone lines for free. That ended on January 1, 2026. Landline protection now costs $39.99 a year per line and works only on internet and digital voice lines, the kind a cable or internet company provides. Nomorobo says traditional copper landlines from the phone company generally don’t work. It uses simultaneous ring, so the phone can ring once before a robocall is cut off.
Strengths. Cheap, simple and quiet. It is the only one of the four apps with a home phone option.
Limits. It blocks from a list. A caller who is not on the list rings through, and nobody asks them what they want.
Side by side
| Price (US) | Free version | What it does with a call | Landline | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrier tools | Free; paid tiers $3.99 to $7 a month | ✓ | Labels or blocks spam on the network | Depends on the provider |
| iPhone (iOS 26) | Free | ✓ | Asks unknown callers their name and reason | ✗ |
| Android | Free | ✓ | Filters spam; Pixel Call Screen asks why they call | ✗ |
| Truecaller | Premium $9.99/month or $74.99/year | ✓ With ads | Shows a name, warns about spam; Premium blocks it | ✗ |
| Hiya | Premium $3.99/month or $24.99/year | ✓ | Warns about spam; Premium screens unknown callers | ✗ |
| RoboKiller | About $10 to $13/month or $80 to $90/year | Trial only | Blocks spam, answers it with bots, filters texts | ✗ |
| Nomorobo | From $2.99/month or $19.99/year | Trial only | Blocks known robocallers | Internet lines only, $39.99/year |
| PhoneShield | $29.99/month or $299/year; further lines $19.99 | ✗ | Refuses labeled and reported scams, asks strangers why they call, a live assistant takes messages | ✓ Any line that can forward its calls |
Prices checked on October 9, 2026. App prices change often; the price shown at checkout is the one that counts.
Who should just use a free app
Most people. If these sound like you, keep your money:
- The phone is your own smartphone, and you are comfortable letting unknown numbers go to voicemail.
- Most of your unwanted calls already show up as “Scam Likely” or “Spam Risk”.
- You have an iPhone on iOS 26. Screen Unknown Callers does for free what several of these apps sell.
- You mostly want a name on unknown numbers. The free versions of Hiya and Truecaller do that.
Turn on your carrier’s free blocking and your phone’s screening first, give it two weeks, then decide. If calls still get through, Hiya Premium or Nomorobo is the cheapest next step.
Where PhoneShield is different
Every app above protects the phone it is installed on, and asks the person holding that phone to make the call: answer or not, trust the label or not. That works for most of us. It works badly for the people scammers aim at, who answer every call, will not open an app and may not read a transcript.
PhoneShield is a service a family runs for someone else’s line. The line is forwarded to PhoneShield once, and from then on PhoneShield answers its calls:
- Labeled scams are refused. Calls the carrier marks Scam Likely, Spam Risk, Fraud Risk and the like are turned away, unless the caller is a favorite, a contact or someone with a pass.
- Reported numbers too. Numbers on the shared scam list, and numbers repeatedly reported to the FTC, are refused before the phone rings.
- Strangers are asked why they are calling. Unknown and hidden numbers meet a front desk. A real reason rings through with the caller’s name; a scam pitch does not.
- A live assistant. Nora answers callers’ questions and takes a message with name, number and reason, and the family sees it.
- Landlines included. A forwarded landline is screened, and the calls that pass ring the PhoneShield app or a second number.
- The family can look. Every call is listed with what happened and why.
On iPhone, the PhoneShield app also filters texts from unknown senders. The Android app is still in testing.
It is not free and not cheap: $29.99 a month or $299 a year for the first line, $19.99 a month for each further one. No service catches every scam, and we don’t claim to. If the phone is your own and the free tools are working, you don’t need us. If the phone belongs to a parent you worry about, here is how the setup works, and here are the plans.
Questions people ask
What is the best app for blocking spam calls?
For your own smartphone, start with what is free: your carrier's spam app and your phone's own settings. On an iPhone with iOS 26, Screen Unknown Callers asks strangers why they are calling before your phone rings. If calls still get through, Hiya is the cheapest paid step ($3.99 a month), Truecaller is strongest at putting a name on an unknown number, RoboKiller adds bots that answer spammers and a spam text filter, and Nomorobo is the inexpensive choice that also covers internet home phone lines. For a parent's phone or a landline someone else looks after, an app on the phone is the wrong shape; that is the job PhoneShield does.
Is there a free spam call blocker?
Yes, several. T-Mobile's Scam Shield, AT&T ActiveArmor and Verizon Call Filter all have free tiers that label or block spam calls. iPhones with iOS 26 can screen unknown callers for free, and Android's Phone app has a spam filter. Hiya and Truecaller both have free versions with caller ID and spam warnings.
Is Truecaller safe to use?
Truecaller is a large, established company, and the app does what it says. The concern people raise is its directory: names are crowdsourced, and reviewers note that your number can end up in it because a Truecaller user has you saved, even if you never installed the app. Truecaller says users' phonebooks are never made searchable or public, and anyone can remove their number at truecaller.com/unlisting. Read its permissions before you allow access to your contacts.
What is a good alternative to Truecaller?
Hiya is the closest: free caller ID and spam warnings, with Premium at $3.99 a month. If you only want spam calls stopped and do not care who is calling, your carrier's free app or your iPhone's Screen Unknown Callers may be all you need.
What is a good alternative to RoboKiller?
Nomorobo blocks robocalls for $2.99 a month or $19.99 a year on mobile, far less than RoboKiller. Hiya Premium screens unknown callers for $3.99 a month. RoboKiller's Answer Bots and spam text filter are its own; if those are what you want, there is no close substitute.
Does Nomorobo work on landlines?
Only on internet and digital voice home phone lines, and no longer for free. Nomorobo's free landline service ended on January 1, 2026; it now costs $39.99 a year per line. Nomorobo says traditional copper landlines from the phone company generally do not work.
Why does PhoneShield cost more than a call blocker app?
A call blocker app labels or blocks calls on the phone it is installed on. PhoneShield answers the calls on a line a family looks after, landlines included: it refuses labeled and reported scam numbers, asks strangers who they are and why they are calling, and has a live assistant who takes messages. That is more work done for the person, which is why it costs $29.99 a month rather than a few dollars.
Sources
Read on October 9, 2026, except Hiya, read October 7, 2026. Features and prices change; check each maker’s site for the latest.
- Truecaller on the App Store: prices, features, rating
- Truecaller: unlist your number and ConsumerAffairs on Truecaller
- Hiya on the App Store and Hiya AI Phone
- RoboKiller on the App Store: prices, features, rating
- Nomorobo pricing and Nomorobo landline protection
- T-Mobile Scam Shield, AT&T ActiveArmor, Verizon Call Filter
- MacRumors: Ask Reason for Calling in iOS 26
- Google: caller ID and spam protection in the Phone app