What number shows up on the recipient's phone?
What appears on your recipient's phone when you send a free SMS.
The message is sent from a shared gateway number: that's what appears, never your personal number. To be contacted back, leave an email address or other contact detail in the text.
The free SMS doesn't go out from your personal line but from a shared sending gateway. It's this gateway's identifier that shows up on the recipient's side, and not a number you might have entered.
The answer in detail
A regular SMS carries the sender's number in its header. Here, the technical sender is the gateway: the message shows a short number or a generic label, shared by all sends. The form doesn't even ask for your own number, only the recipient's.
Since this sending number is shared, the recipient can't use it to call you back: a reply to this identifier doesn't reach your phone. It's the logical trade-off of a free, sign-up-free service.
If you want to be contacted back, the solution is simple: state a way to reach you directly in the text of the message — an email address, a handle on a messaging app or any contact details you're willing to share.
Concrete examples
›Reply to a listing
You write to a seller and add "reply to me at my.email@…" to receive their answer.
›Let a loved one know
The message arrives with a neutral sending number; leave contact details if you expect a reply.
Takeaway
It's a shared gateway number that shows up; to be contacted back, leave an email or contact details in the message.
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