Rebtel Review: Is It Good Value for Calling Ordinary Phones Overseas from Hong Kong? Rates, Monthly Plans, Roaming Traps and the US$10 Invite Credit

Rebtel is an international calling app operated by the Swedish company Rebtel Networks AB (company number 556680-3622, Jakobsbergsgatan 16, Stockholm). After buying prepaid credit (Rebtel Credits) or a monthly plan, users can call ordinary mobile and landline numbers overseas from within the app; the person called does not need to install Rebtel or be online. The same credit can also top up prepaid mobiles in more than 150 countries. Rebtel's money transfer service was discontinued on 15 March 2025.

Rebtel is neither a bank nor a Hong Kong telecommunications operator. Its terms of service state that Rebtel Credits are not cash, cannot be exchanged for cash or transferred, and may be used only for Rebtel's own products. When this site checked the list of Services-Based Operator licensees published by the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) on 13 October 2026, Rebtel Networks AB did not appear on it; the terms also state that users outside the United States are subject to Swedish law, with disputes settled by the Swedish courts and the Stockholm District Court as the court of first instance. It is therefore prudent to treat the balance as a prepaid voucher and to avoid topping up a large amount at once.

The terms also state that Rebtel cannot replace an ordinary telephone service: it does not support emergency calls, so users must make other arrangements, such as calling 999 on their existing telephone service, and it does not support operator or directory enquiry services. The service the terms describe is for making outgoing international calls; to call Hong Kong numbers while in Hong Kong, use your existing telephone service.

In the app's call settings, you can choose to connect over phone lines, Wi-Fi, mobile data or "Auto"; there is also a "Travel Mode", which connects only over Wi-Fi. Calls over Wi-Fi incur no additional charge, while calls over mobile data use your data allowance.

Phone lines are Rebtel's distinctive feature, and the option that most needs to be understood. Your phone first places an ordinary local call to a Rebtel access number, and Rebtel connects the international leg, with no internet access needed at any point. This method is available only in the 47 "Rebtel countries", of which Hong Kong is one. In addition to Rebtel's charge, your mobile network will charge for a local call of the same length; if your monthly plan includes enough local minutes, the effect is limited. A small number of networks charge extra for calls to access numbers; the terms also warn that once a Rebtel-provided number connects, your network may charge even if the other line is busy, and some networks restrict internet calling features. It is advisable to check with your network before use.

When abroad, the settings matter more than the rates. Rebtel states that when you are abroad, calls over phone lines, mobile data or shared local numbers will "very likely" incur roaming charges from your network. Switch on Travel Mode before departure; alternatively, buy a local SIM card and add its number to your account, provided the destination is a Rebtel country: Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada and the United States are on the list, whereas Taiwan, mainland China, Macao, South Korea and Thailand are not. After changing SIM cards, you must log out and log in again with the number currently in use; the Rebtel help centre cites a user who was charged more than €500 by their network after failing to log in again.

Android users should also note that on Android 15 or later, Rebtel's function for intercepting calls made from the system dialler no longer works properly. International numbers dialled from the phone's built-in dialler may be connected by your network at its international rates, and Rebtel states that it is not responsible for such charges. Always dial from within the Rebtel app, and switch off the intercept function in the settings.

Rebtel does not offer Hong Kong dollars. The accepted currencies are US dollars, pounds sterling, euros, Polish złoty and Australian dollars (another help article lists Swedish kronor); an account's default currency depends on the country of its phone number and can be changed under My profile in My Rebtel. This review uses US dollar prices. Rebtel sets its prices separately for each currency rather than converting at market exchange rates, and paying in US dollars with a Hong Kong dollar credit card may incur a foreign currency transaction fee from the card issuer. VAT is charged only to users who live in Europe or Australia; users in Hong Kong do not pay it.

Credit comes in two amounts, US$5 and US$10, which at the European Central Bank reference rate of 12 October 2026 are about HK$39 and HK$78. The per-minute rates shown in Rebtel's US dollar rate tables on 13 October 2026 were: Canada and the United States 1.0¢; mainland China 1.5¢; the UK 2.0¢, but 4.0¢ for Three and O2 numbers; Malaysia 3.17¢ for mobiles and 2.11¢ for landlines; Japan 5.0¢ for mobiles and 2.5¢ for landlines; Indonesia 5.5¢ for mobiles; Australia 6.0¢ for mobiles and 2.0¢ for landlines; Taiwan 9.0¢ for mobiles and 1.5¢ for landlines; and the Philippines 15.9¢ for mobiles and 10.9¢ for landlines.

Calls to special numbers cost considerably more: in the UK, for example, special-rate and freephone numbers cost 49.0¢ a minute and personal numbers 89.0¢. Calling Hong Kong from abroad costs 2.8¢ a minute to mobiles and 2.0¢ to landlines; Rebtel's Hong Kong rate table lists only these two types of number, and this site has been unable to verify whether calls to special numbers such as 800 numbers can connect, or what they cost.

Calls are charged in whole minutes, with any part of a minute counted as a full minute: the terms give the example of a call lasting 7 minutes 10 seconds being charged as 8 minutes. The difference is greater for frequent short calls: ten calls of 2 minutes 10 seconds amount to less than 22 minutes of actual talk time but are charged as 30 minutes.

30-day unlimited plans for Hong Kong accounts cost US$2 for Canada and US$3 for the United States; US$5 each for the UK, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and mainland China; and US$10 each for Hong Kong and Indonesia. The UK also has a 90-day plan at US$12 and a 180-day plan at US$20. The Philippines has no unlimited plan, only a limited plan of 120 minutes every 30 days for US$10.

Global Unlimited costs US$12 a month for unlimited calls to mobile and landline numbers in 50 countries and territories, including the UK, Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and India, but excluding the Philippines and Macao. The three single-country plans for the UK, Australia and Canada also add up to US$12, so for those whose relatives and friends are spread across several places, Global Unlimited offers more flexibility. Rebtel's own figures are not consistent: the Global page says 50 countries, while the individual rate pages refer to "46 other countries".

"Unlimited" is subject to fair use. Rebtel states that plans are intended for "normal residential, non-commercial and personal use", judged by factors including the number of different numbers called, the number of devices used, call forwarding and minutes used; unusual patterns of use, such as heavy conference calling or forwarding, large numbers of short calls, or calls to many numbers within a short time, may be blocked. Plans do not cover special, service or non-geographic numbers, and unused minutes do not roll over to the next period.

Most plans come with a seven-day free trial. The Rebtel help centre states that once the trial ends, the full price is charged, and the plan then renews automatically every 30 days. Those who wish only to try the service should cancel before the trial expires; deleting the app does not cancel it.

Whether a plan is worthwhile depends on your call volume: dividing the monthly plan price by the per-minute rate gives the break-even point. This is 250 minutes a month for the UK, about 333 minutes for mainland China and about 56 minutes for mobiles in Taiwan. Below the break-even point, paying by the minute is better value.

The invite credit is denominated in US dollars. Going by the "minutes for $10" figures in Rebtel's rate tables, US$10 buys 1,000 minutes to Canada or the United States, 666 minutes to mainland China, 500 minutes to the UK (250 minutes to Three and O2 numbers), 200 minutes to mobiles in Japan, 166 minutes to mobiles in Australia and 111 minutes to mobiles in Taiwan, but only 62 minutes to mobiles in the Philippines; these figures do not account for rounding up to the whole minute.

This site has been unable to verify whether the US$10 is added on top of the US$5 you buy. The web page description of Rebtel's invite page reads "Buy US$5 credit, get US$10", and both readings are possible; if the total is US$15, it would cover about 750 minutes to the UK or about 94 minutes to mobiles in the Philippines. You can confirm this by checking your balance in the app after your first payment.

In other words, the invite credit is enough for several hundred minutes of calls to the UK or the mainland, ample for a trial, but it is a one-off. Whether Rebtel is worth using in the long term still depends on the rates to the places you call and on whether you can manage the settings described above.

If you register and buy credit through this page's invite link, Rebtel will add US$10 of Rebtel Credits to your account. The help centre says that both parties receive US$10 once the invited person makes a first payment of at least US$1, whereas the invite terms and the invite page set the threshold at US$5. To be safe, buy US$5 or more of pay-per-minute credit rather than starting a free trial: the terms state that free credit, promotions and trials do not count.

The link opens Rebtel's web sign-up and top-up flow, and it is advisable to complete registration and the first payment on that web page rather than in the app; purchases through the Apple App Store also incur Apple's charges. One Hong Kong App Store user said in August 2025 that the invite credit could be used only on the web version; this site has been unable to verify that claim.

Other conditions: the offer is limited to new customers who do not use and have never used Rebtel; opening several accounts with different phone numbers to "refer yourself" counts as abuse, and Rebtel may reclaim rewards already issued; Rebtel may also end the programme at any time. The credit is not cash, cannot be refunded or transferred, and may be used only for international calls and mobile top-ups, and Hong Kong numbers are not on the top-up list.

Rebtel's statements on validity are not consistent. The help centre says invite credit remains valid until the account has been inactive for 12 consecutive months; the terms of service, however, say that credit earned through invitations is subject to separate expiry rules, and another help article says that free minutes are generally valid for only 30 days. The actual expiry date can be checked in the app: tap "Services", then the credit message at the top, and look under "Expiring Free Credits". To be safe, use the credit within one month.

Disclosure: the link on this page is this site's Rebtel invite link, and once you complete your payment, this site's account will also receive US$10 of credit. Each Rebtel user may invite up to 50 people; if the credit has not appeared after your first payment, contact Rebtel before deciding whether to top up further.

Rebtel Credits can also top up prepaid mobiles in more than 150 countries, including the Philippines, Indonesia, India, mainland China, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam; Hong Kong, the UK, Japan and Taiwan are not on the list.

Check the number before sending: once sent, a top-up cannot be cancelled, refunded or transferred. Some local operators deduct a fee from the top-up amount, so the recipient may receive less, and Rebtel does not show this fee at checkout.

Rebtel accepts credit and debit cards including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, UnionPay and JCB, as well as PayPal and Apple App Store payments, and the help centre also explains how to set up Apple Pay. Purchases through the App Store incur additional charges from Apple, and refunds must then be requested from Apple, so it is preferable to pay on the Rebtel website.

Unused purchased credit can be refunded on request within 90 days of purchase; credit from welcome offers, promotional bundles and vouchers is non-refundable. Monthly plans are generally non-refundable, except that an unused plan may be refunded on request within 90 days of purchase. Refund requests must be made by email in English, Spanish or French, or through the "Report a problem" function in the help centre. Rebtel states that disputing a transaction or requesting a chargeback will cause the account to be locked.

Purchased credit expires after 12 consecutive months of account inactivity and does not expire as long as the account is used during that period. With auto top-up switched on, Rebtel charges your saved card to top up when the balance runs low, and the charge may be taken up to 24 hours before the top-up.

As at 13 October 2026, the Rebtel app (version 6.85.0, released on 28 September 2026) was rated 4.59 on the Hong Kong App Store (522 ratings), 4.71 in the UK (20,613) and 4.82 in the United States (125,674). On Google Play (Hong Kong) it was rated 4.3 (listing updated on 6 October 2026), from about 188,000 ratings worldwide, with more than 10 million downloads. Its Trustpilot score is lower, at 3.2 out of 5 (10,618 reviews, 494 of them in the past 12 months), of which 19% are one-star; Rebtel replied to 98% of negative reviews.

Although the overall ratings are high, recent reviews are predominantly negative: of the latest 50 reviews on the UK App Store (January to September 2026), 29 gave only one or two stars. Complaints on the Hong Kong App Store between August 2025 and March 2026 included an Apple Pay payment button that did not respond, calls from Japan to Hong Kong landlines that failed to connect, being logged out automatically after subscribing and not receiving the verification code, and accounts being restricted immediately after the first call.

Other recurring issues across platforms include charges taken immediately after a free trial ends; calls failing or dropping; roaming bills received after not switching on Travel Mode, including one user with a Hong Kong SIM card in the UK who said in July 2026 that they had received a bill of $475; credit disappearing or expiring; customer service handled first by a chatbot, with slow replies; and "unlimited" plans being limited by fair use rules.

Registration requires a mobile number: choose your country of residence, enter the number in international format and confirm it with an SMS verification code. The login PINs for the website and the app are different, and up to five numbers can be added to each account. Numbers in your contacts should be saved with + or 00 and the country code, or they may fail to connect. Those without a smartphone can also call through shared local numbers in Rebtel countries.

To cancel a monthly plan: in the app, tap the account tab and select "Your Subscriptions"; or log in to the website and select the tile for the relevant service. Rebtel recommends deleting your saved card details at the same time.

To delete the account: log in to My Rebtel and select "Delete Account" under My profile. Deleting the app does not delete the account; if you wish to have unused purchased credit refunded, make the request within 90 days of purchase and before deleting the account.

Suitable for: Hong Kong residents who regularly call ordinary telephone numbers overseas, for example where family members who have moved to the UK, Canada, Australia or Taiwan do not use internet calling, or elderly relatives on the mainland use only a landline; travellers who need to call the landline numbers of Hong Kong banks or organisations and will switch on Travel Mode; and people prepared to note down when a trial expires.

Not suitable for: those whose contacts habitually use internet calling such as WhatsApp on a stable connection; those who mainly call mobiles in the Philippines (15.9¢ a minute, and not covered by Global Unlimited); those who do not wish to manage subscriptions; and frequent travellers who may forget to switch on Travel Mode. For a comparison with another international calling app that offers invite credit, see this site's Yolla review.