Is Rebtel worth it? Calling the UK, Canada and mainland China from Hong Kong: 10 things to know first

Rebtel is an app for international calls, run by the Swedish company Rebtel Networks AB (company number 556680-3622, Jakobsbergsgatan 16, Stockholm). Buy prepaid credit (Rebtel Credits) or a monthly plan and you can call ordinary mobiles and home phones overseas from the app; the other person doesn't need Rebtel or an internet connection. The same credit can also top up prepaid mobiles in 150-plus countries. It used to have a money transfer service too, but that shut on 15 March 2025.

Worth knowing: Rebtel Credits aren't cash. You can't swap them for money or transfer them to anyone, and they only work on Rebtel's own products. When we checked OFCA's list of Services-Based Operator licensees on 13 October 2026, Rebtel Networks AB wasn't on it; the terms say users outside the US fall under Swedish law, with disputes going to the Swedish courts and Stockholm District Court as the court of first instance. So treat it like a prepaid voucher and don't load up a big amount in one go.

A few things it can't do: it can't call 999 or other emergency numbers, so keep your normal number; and it can't reach operator or directory enquiries. The terms describe a service for outgoing international calls; to call Hong Kong numbers while you're in Hong Kong, just use your normal phone.

The app's call settings give you a few options: phone lines, Wi-Fi, mobile data, Auto, plus a Wi-Fi-only "Travel Mode". Calling over Wi-Fi costs nothing on top of Rebtel's charge; mobile data eats into your own data.

Phone lines are Rebtel's signature trick: your phone first makes a local call to a Rebtel access number, and Rebtel connects the international leg for you, with no internet needed at any point. This only works in the 47 "Rebtel countries", and Hong Kong is one of them. The price: after paying Rebtel, your mobile network also charges you for a local call of the same length; if your monthly plan has more local minutes than you'll ever use, that hardly matters. A few networks charge extra for calling the access number; the terms also warn that once a Rebtel number connects, your network may charge you even if the other line is busy, and some networks restrict internet calling. Check with your network before you start.

Abroad, your settings matter far more than the price. Rebtel itself says that calling over phone lines, mobile data or shared local numbers while abroad will "very likely" get you roaming charges from your network. So switch on Travel Mode before you leave and only call over Wi-Fi.

The other option is to buy a local SIM and add that number to your Rebtel account, but only if the place is a Rebtel country: the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Singapore are on the list; Taiwan, mainland China, Macao, South Korea and Thailand aren't. After swapping SIMs, remember to log out and log back in with the number you're now using; the Rebtel help centre mentions a user who didn't, and got charged more than €500 by their network.

Android users, take extra care: on Android 15 or later, Rebtel's feature for intercepting the system dialler no longer works, so international numbers you dial from your phone's built-in dialler may go out through your network at its international rates, and Rebtel says that's not on them. Always dial inside the Rebtel app, and switch off the intercept feature in settings while you're at it.

Rebtel has no Hong Kong dollars. It takes US dollars, pounds, euros, Polish złoty and Australian dollars (another help article says Swedish kronor); your default currency follows your phone number's country, and you can change it under My profile in My Rebtel. Everything below is in US dollars. Rebtel sets its own price for each currency rather than converting at market rates, and paying in US dollars with a Hong Kong dollar card may cost you a foreign currency fee from your bank. VAT only applies to users living in Europe or Australia, so Hong Kong users don't pay it.

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

Special numbers cost a lot more: UK special-rate and freephone numbers are 49.0¢ a minute, personal numbers 89.0¢. Calling home to Hong Kong from a trip is 2.8¢ a minute to mobiles and 2.0¢ to landlines; but the Hong Kong rate table only lists those two, so we couldn't verify whether special numbers like 800 numbers work, or what they'd cost.

One more thing: every call is billed by the minute, and any part-minute counts as a full one. The terms' own example: 7 minutes 10 seconds is charged as 8 minutes. Make lots of short calls and it hurts more: ten calls of 2 minutes 10 seconds add up to under 22 minutes of actual talking, but you're charged for 30.

30-day unlimited plans on a Hong Kong account: Canada US$2, the US US$3; mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, the UK and Australia all US$5; Indonesia and Hong Kong US$10. The UK also has 90 days for US$12 and 180 days for US$20. The Philippines has no unlimited plan, just 120 minutes every 30 days for US$10.

Global Unlimited is US$12 a month for unlimited calls to mobiles and home phones in 50 countries and territories, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but not the Philippines or Macao. Do the maths: the UK, Australia and Canada single plans add up to US$12 as well, so if your family is spread across a few places, Global gives you more flexibility. Rebtel isn't even consistent itself: the Global page says 50 countries, while the individual rate pages say "46 other countries".

"Unlimited" comes with fair use: Rebtel says it's meant for "normal residential, non-commercial and personal use", and looks at how many different numbers you call, how many devices you use, whether you forward calls and how many minutes you rack up. Unusual use, like lots of conference calls or forwarding, loads of very short calls, or calling lots of numbers in a short time, can get you blocked. Special, service and non-geographic numbers aren't included, and unused minutes don't roll over.

How do you know if it's worth it? Divide the monthly price by the per-minute rate to get the break-even line: 250 minutes a month for the UK, about 333 for mainland China, about 56 for Taiwanese mobiles. Call less than that and paying by the minute with credit works out cheaper.

You sign up with a mobile number: choose where you live, enter the number in international format, then confirm with the SMS code. The website and the app use two different login PINs, and one account can hold up to five numbers. Save your contacts with + or 00 and the country code, or calls may not go through. No smartphone? In Rebtel countries you can call through a shared local number.

Most plans come with a 7-day free trial. The Rebtel help centre is blunt about it: after the trial you pay full price, and it renews automatically every 30 days. If you only want to try it, cancel before the 7 days are up.

How to cancel: in the app, tap your account and choose "Your Subscriptions"; or log in on the website and pick that service's box. Deleting the app doesn't cancel anything, and Rebtel suggests deleting your saved credit cards too. To ditch the whole account, log in to My Rebtel, go to My profile and tap "Delete Account"; deleting the app doesn't delete the account, and if you want a refund on unused credit, sort it out within 90 days of buying and before you delete the account.

Sign up through this page's invite link and buy credit, and Rebtel adds US$10 of Rebtel Credits to your account. The help centre says that once the invited person's first payment is at least US$1, you both get US$10; but the invite terms and invite page say US$5. To be on the safe side, buy at least US$5 of pay-per-minute credit, and don't use a free trial instead: the terms say free credit, promotions and trials don't count.

The link opens Rebtel's web sign-up and top-up flow, so do the sign-up and first payment on the web rather than buying inside the app; buying through the Apple App Store adds Apple's charges. One Hong Kong App Store user said in August 2025 that the invite credit only worked on the web version; we couldn't verify that.

Other conditions: it's only for brand-new customers who've never used Rebtel; opening several accounts with different phone numbers to "refer yourself" counts as abuse, and Rebtel can take the reward back; Rebtel can also end the programme at any time. The credit isn't cash, can't be refunded or transferred, and can only be used for international calls and mobile top-ups, and Hong Kong numbers aren't on the top-up list.

When does it expire? Rebtel isn't consistent: the help centre says only after 12 months in a row with no account activity; the terms of service say credit from invites has its own expiry rules, and another help article says bonus minutes usually last only 30 days. To see the actual date, tap "Services" in the app, then the credit message at the top, and check "Expiring Free Credits". To play it safe, use it all within a month.

Full disclosure: the link on this page is our Rebtel invite link, so after you pay, our account gets US$10 of credit too. Each Rebtel user can invite up to 50 people; if the credit hasn't shown up after your first payment, ask Rebtel first instead of topping up again straight away.

Going by the "minutes for $10" figures on Rebtel's rate tables, US$10 gets you 1,000 minutes to Canada or the US, 500 to the UK (250 for Three and O2 numbers), 666 to mainland China, 200 to Japanese mobiles, 166 to Australian mobiles, 111 to Taiwanese mobiles, and just 62 to mobiles in the Philippines; and that's before part-minutes are rounded up.

One thing we couldn't verify: whether the US$10 comes on top of the US$5 you buy. The description on Rebtel's invite page says "buy US$5 of credit, get US$10", which reads either way; if it adds up to US$15, that's about 750 minutes to the UK or about 94 to Philippine mobiles. Check your balance in the app after your first payment and you'll know.

Bottom line: this credit gives you hundreds of minutes to the UK or mainland China, plenty for a test run, but it's a one-off. Whether Rebtel is worth it long term comes down to where you call and whether you'll bother to get the settings right.

Rebtel takes credit and debit cards including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, UnionPay and JCB, plus PayPal and the Apple App Store, and the help centre even explains how to set up Apple Pay. Buying through the App Store adds Apple's extra charges, and refunds then go through Apple, so you're better off paying on Rebtel's website.

Refunds: unused credit you bought can be refunded if you ask within 90 days; welcome offers, deals and credit from vouchers can't. Monthly plans generally aren't refundable unless unused, and you have to ask within 90 days of buying. Ask for a refund by email in English, Spanish or French, or tap "Report a problem" in the help centre. Rebtel says that if you raise a dispute with your bank or ask for a chargeback, your account gets locked.

Expiry: credit you bought only expires after 12 months in a row with no account activity, so keep using it and you're fine. Turn on auto top-up and Rebtel charges your saved card when your balance runs low, as early as 24 hours before the top-up.

Topping up others: the credit can top up prepaid mobiles in 150-plus countries, including the Philippines, Indonesia, India, mainland China, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam; Hong Kong, the UK, Japan and Taiwan aren't included. Double-check the number before sending, because once it's gone you can't cancel it, get a refund or move it to another number; some local networks take a cut from the top-up, so the other person may receive less, and Rebtel doesn't show that when you pay.

On 13 October 2026, the Rebtel app (version 6.85.0, released 28 September 2026) scored 4.59 on the Hong Kong App Store (522 ratings), 4.71 in the UK (20,613) and 4.82 in the US (125,674). Google Play Hong Kong shows 4.3 (updated 6 October 2026), with about 188,000 ratings worldwide and more than 10 million downloads. Trustpilot is cooler at 3.2 out of 5 (10,618 reviews in total, 494 in the last 12 months), with 19% one-star, though Rebtel replied to 98% of the negative reviews.

The overall scores aren't bad, but recent reviews skew negative: of the latest 50 reviews on the UK App Store from January to September 2026, 29 gave one or two stars. On the Hong Kong App Store between August 2025 and March 2026, people complained that the Apple Pay button did nothing however many times they tapped it, that calls from Japan to Hong Kong landlines wouldn't connect, that they got logged out after subscribing and then couldn't receive the verification code, and that an account got restricted right after its first call.

Other themes that keep coming up across platforms: getting charged the moment the free trial ends; calls that won't connect or keep dropping; roaming charges from forgetting Travel Mode, including a user on a Hong Kong SIM in the UK who said in July 2026 they got a $475 bill; credit disappearing or expiring; customer service that starts with a chatbot and replies slowly; and "unlimited" plans held back by fair use.

Use it if: your family is in the UK, Canada, Australia or Taiwan and not all of them are used to internet calls; your elderly relatives on the mainland only use a home phone; you need to call Hong Kong landlines (banks or organisations, say) while travelling and will definitely remember to turn on Travel Mode; and you're happy to note down when your trial ends.

Skip it if: everyone in your family already uses WhatsApp on a stable connection; you mainly call Philippine mobiles (15.9¢ a minute, and not in Global Unlimited); you don't want to keep an eye on subscriptions; or you travel a lot and worry you'll forget Travel Mode. Want to compare another international calling app with invite credit? Check out our Yolla review.