Least cost paths to full VOIP

I'm posting here to share what I have found & if anyone knows of better/cheaper sources - please do chime in ??

VOIP can be funny as well as confusing because it has so many permutations like free incoming with paid outgoing and vice-versa, etc., etc., etc...learning the acronyms alone can frustrate folks enough to turn them away from using it & going with more expensive options like Ooma or Vonage.

Example:
For incoming calls to reach you, a DID is required - which is just a fancy way of shortening 'incoming number' !!

Careful reading of what is offered by any provider & maybe even asking for help is always a good idea when seeking FULL services (both incoming & outgoing like 'normal' phones have...).

Since beginning to use VOIP some years back I've kept watch & find that several providers are the only ones that have shown themselves to be solid & reliable.

That having been said - my personal favourite remains Circlenet because not only is it inexpensive (see Sam's info in another thread...), but it is a small, family concern & I personally think very highly of Sam.

These others are bigger companies with pros & cons, as follows:

VoIP.ms ( https://voip.ms/ )
They provide about the fanciest, most feature filled services which can be made into a substitute for a full blown business phone system (PBX) if desired.
They even offer SMS (texting) & SMS-to-email on most numbers.
Considering their services vs. most others & especially vs. landlines at $4.25/month per number is a steal.
They do not have their own dedicated smartphone app, but can work with most any softphone or device as shown on these pages:
https://wiki.voip.ms/article/Softphones
https://wiki.voip.ms/article/Devices

Here's the short list of their offerings:
Per Minute Plan (Residential or Commercial)
$0.85 per month & $0.009 per minute right now

Monthly Flat Rate Plan (residential)
$4.25 per month & $0.00 per minute right now

Next I mention Callcentric ( https://www.callcentric.com/ )
This is because they are definitely good, decently priced & easy to get going with.
They also offer 100% free NY state DIDs (disclaimer - must be in use or they tend to go poof !!).

Sadly, they do also cost a bit more, as shown=>
Pay Per Minute - $0.015 per minute + $1.95/month & a $3.95 'setup fee'
-OR-
Personal Unlimited (residential) $5.95/month + $5.95 'setup fee'

They also have free porting for all numbers right now, their own smartphone apps, and great support for just about anything ( Support ).

Last AND least I will mention Localphone.
It is mentioned that way because it is the most confusing of the lot here - grasping their rates can be started with their US DID charges of $0.99/month with a 'setup fee' of $3.00 - but then it gets hard to follow;
Have a look at this page & you'll see what I mean by that=>

They do have their own smartphone apps, as well as pretty good help in using their services on most things, here: Device Guides | Localphone

My own conclusions regarding all of the above:
If I had to choose from those 'big 3' it would likely be voip.ms that I'd use - but I have a better solution that suits our needs the best, which goes like so=>

We use google voice numbers to actually give out to any potential callers & each have our own number as well as a 3rd 'public' number for craigslist & such uses.
All the GV numbers can accept SMSs, VMs and they email us about anything that comes in, then:
We have Obi boxes for our preferred landline type phones that use Circlenet at home.
The GV numbers forward directly to the Circlenet numbers which are set up to provide caller ID of the GV numbers for outgoing calls so as to keep the confusion to a minimum.

That may sound complicated - but it isn't - and it preserves all the desired functions at the lowest possible costs.
This is especially good in allowing us to keep our older (obsoleted) Obi box in use rather than spending ~$60 for a new Obi box just to keep using GV.

So there it all is as I see it - I hope this may help someone here & that anyone with a better method of their own will pitch in here & share that !!

I have used TextNow in the past for voip use. You get a real number and all texts and calls to the US and Canada are free.

Thanks for mentioning TN 112059.
It was used here via an Android device, daily, until a day or so ago.
I'm right on the verge of ditching TN altogether. (There was another like it whose name I cannot remember...that other one got ditched a long time ago as it was a PITA in the same manner.)
Their policies of killing off numbers has worn out my patience as my long standing TN number that got daily usage just got deleted with ZERO notice or warning.

For me that signals that it is time to consolidate & ditch the remaining things which are too demanding in favour of the very low cost & free services I've mentioned here in the OP.

Lots of stuff is now extinct as results of the changes recently made by GV - that has provided the needed impetus.
Rather than making ONLY the adjustments needed to keep the GV services working, it is time to spend a little more effort cleaning up all the VOIP stuff & narrowing it down to what is easy & still works well with minimum attentions.
That is what works best for me - of course YMMV !!