How to validate phone numbers in bulk (and find the mobile ones)
Short answer
Parse each number against its country's official numbering plan: that tells you whether it is valid, its standard E.164 form, and whether the range is mobile, landline, VoIP or toll-free. Dialvett on Apify does this for lists, free text or a dataset column at $0.0006 per number; duplicates and blanks are free.
- Paste your numbers (any format) into phoneNumbers, or pick a scraper dataset and set phoneField (phone, phoneNumber, contact.phone).
- Set defaultCountry for numbers written without a + country code (US, GB, DE, BR ...).
- Turn on onlyValid and onlyMobile if you only want SMS-ready numbers.
- Run. Each number comes back as valid/invalid with the reason, e164, international and national format, type, country, carrier, location and time zones.
- Import the e164 column into your CRM or dialler: it is the format every phone system accepts.
Copy-paste code
Python (pip install apify-client)
import os
from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient(os.environ["APIFY_TOKEN"])
run = client.actor("cybermax/phone-number-validator").call(run_input={"phoneNumbers": ["+1 650-253-0000", "020 7946 0958"], "defaultCountry": "GB"})
for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
print(row)Chain after any scraper (Apify Integrations -> Run Actor)
{
"datasetId": "{{resource.defaultDatasetId}}",
"phoneField": "phone",
"defaultCountry": "US",
"onlyValid": true
}No code: n8n, Make or Zapier
n8n: HTTP Request node (or the Apify node, action "Run an Actor and get dataset")
Method: POST
URL: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/cybermax~phone-number-validator/run-sync-get-dataset-items
Auth: Header Auth -> Authorization: Bearer <your Apify token>
Body: JSON {"phoneNumbers": ["+1 650-253-0000"], "defaultCountry": "US"}
Make: Apify app -> "Run an Actor" (Actor: cybermax/phone-number-validator, wait for finish = yes) -> "Get Dataset Items"
Zapier: Apify app -> action "Run Actor" (cybermax/phone-number-validator) -> "Fetch Dataset Items" -> your app
Runs longer than 5 minutes: start with POST /v2/acts/cybermax~phone-number-validator/runs and read the dataset when the run finishes.From an AI agent (MCP)
# Any MCP client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code): Apify's hosted MCP server
{
"mcpServers": {
"phone-number-validator": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=cybermax/phone-number-validator",
"--header", "Authorization: Bearer ${APIFY_TOKEN}"],
"env": { "APIFY_TOKEN": "<your Apify token>" }
}
}
}
# The agent sees one tool, cybermax--phone-number-validator, with the Actor's input schema.| input | valid | e164 | type | country | carrier / location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +1 650-253-0000 | true | +16502530000 | landline_or_mobile | US | Mountain View, CA |
| +61 491 570 006 | true | +61491570006 | mobile | AU | Telstra |
| +49 30 901820 | true | +4930901820 | landline | DE | Berlin |
| 555-0100 | false | US |
Source: Dialvett (Apify Actor cybermax/phone-number-validator) README, real Apify run on 10 Nov 2026
Valid, possible and connected are different things
A possible number has the right length for its country. A valid number is also in a range the country has assigned. Neither proves the line is connected today: only a call or a carrier HLR query can, and those cost far more per number.
Why E.164 matters
E.164 (+16502530000) is the one format every CRM, dialler and SMS gateway accepts. Normalising to it also reveals duplicates written two ways, such as (650) 253-0000 and +1 650 253 0000.
Mobile or landline
Most countries give mobiles their own ranges, so the number shows the line type. The US and Canada do not: their numbers come back as landline_or_mobile.
Good to know
The carrier is the one the number range was first assigned to; ported numbers keep their original carrier in this data.
Dialvett never looks up who owns a number.
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Runs on your own Apify account, pay per result; failed results are not charged.Questions
Is it free to try?
Yes. Run it with no input for a free demo; Apify's free plan includes $5 of monthly credit, enough for about 8,000 numbers.
Can it read numbers from my Google Maps scraper results?
Yes. Pick that run's dataset and set phoneField to phone; each row comes back with phoneValid, phoneE164, phoneType and phoneCarrier added.
Which countries?
Every country in the international numbering plan.
Can an AI agent use it?
Yes. Apify's MCP server exposes it as cybermax--phone-number-validator.
Free: the Free API Starter Kit
Copy-paste calls for 4 APIs with free daily tiers (CVE priority, VIN recalls, US duty rates, email checks), then 5 short emails on KEV/EPSS, MCP and free data.