Top 10 Best Phone Unlocking Services
Best Phone Unlock consist of a team of experts that review and rank the best phone carrier SIM unlocking services so you don’t have to risk using an unreliable or scam provider.
The best phone unlocking service providers allow you to easily unlock Android Phones or iPhones to use with any carrier globally, with quick, remote, permanent, and risk-free IMEI-based unlocking and a 100% money-back guarantee.
Here are the top website we’ve tested with the highest reliability in unlocking SIM-locked phones, and best customer service and guarantees.
1st
- Best Overall Online SIM Unlocking Service
- 200+ phone/carrier unlocking services
- Fast! < 48 hours for 91% of unlocks
- Works for AT&T, Verizon T-Mobile, Xfinity & more.
- Utilizes multiple unlocking methods
- 100% Money-Back Guarantee
2nd
- Best & Fastest Verizon Unlocking service
- Safest Official IMEI Unlocking Method Only
- Reliable! 97% unlock success-rate
- Only unlocks US-based carriers
- Super friendly support (live chat & email)
- 100% Money-Back Guarantee
3rd
- Best Cheap Phone Unlocking services
- 180+ phone/carrier unlocking services
- Fast! < 48 hours for 88% of unlocks
- Best iCloud & FRP unlocking service
- Excellent & fast customer support
- 100% Money-Back Guarantee
4th
- 100+ phone/carrier unlocking services
- 3 to 10 days for most unlocks
- iCloud Unlock / FRP Unlock services
- Customer Support via Email Only (24-72 hr avg.)
- 100% Money-Back Guarantee
5th
- 100+ safe & remote unlocking services
- Unofficial unlocking services available
- Lower prices when unlocking multiple devices
- Slow! Unlocks can take up to 30 days
- Customer Support via Email Only (12-24 hr avg.)
6th
- 100+ Safe & Remote Unlocking Services Available
- 1 to 28 days for most unlocks
- 5,000,000+ Unlocks / In Business since 2007
- Good for unlocking International Carriers
- Customer support via email & live chat
7th
- Permanently & remotely unlock, you do nothing
- Lightening-fast unlocking speed: all orders will be complete within 24 hrs
- Support unlocking 100+ networks
- 100% Money-Back Guarantee
- Email Support only. Slow to respond (3+ days)
8th
- Permanently & remotely unlock, you do nothing
- Avg. Turnaround time between 1 to 35 days
- Support unlocking 100+ networks
- 100% Money-Back Guarantee
- Email Support Only (1 day/avg response time)
9th
- 100+ carriers unlocking services
- Avg. Turnaround time between 1 to 35 days
- Bait & Switch Pricing Tactic ($26 is not final price)
- Limited Refund Policy for Unlock Eligibility Check
- Good email support & order tracking
10th
- Unlocking services for most Android devices
- IMEI Cleaning & Blacklist Removal
- Accepts 5 payment methods (including Crypto)
- Requires Windows PC & Remote Access Software
- Complicated website & process
- Some unlocking methods may not be safe
What Are Phone Unlocking Services
Phone Unlocking Services offer a convenient and reliable path to unlocking your SIM-locked phones from any carrier in the world remotely. The top providers have relationships with hundreds of cellular phone carriers around the world and can safely and permanently unlock individual or bulk-quantities (100s to 10,000s) of iPhones, Samsung, other smart phones and even legacy flip phones with just their IMEI number.
Why Use A Phone Unlocking Provider
Why should you use a Phone Unlocking provider? Excellent question! If you have you have one or more phones that need to be unlocked, they’re on different carriers and you have no time to be calling either carrier to unlock them — using a third-party unlocking provider is the #1 way to go. Authentic, legal and convenient unlocking for busy owners. Spend less than 5 minutes ordering the unlocks and save countless hours unlocking them yourself.
Unlocking services are also very useful for complex situations where you have locked phones from multiple mobile carriers, countries and owners. It makes unlocking as simple as ordering on Amazon.
Are Unlocking services safe?
Are network unlocking services safe? The answer is yes — authentic and legit SIM unlocking sites are 100% safe, legal and will actually save you time and energy unlocking phones. They have partnerships and authority to unlock your phone and do so remotely and permanently with just your IMEI.
Unfortunately, like any industry, there are plenty of bad rotten eggs out there. Among all of the authentic unlocking providers, there are scammers and cheats who promise everything and deliver nothing, or worse — steal your info. These are the guys we help you avoid with our reviews and recommendations.
How It Works?
Here’s how phone unlocking services actually work:
- Choose a Unlocking Provider and place an order to unlock your phone. To do this, you’ll need to find and enter your phone’s IMEI number. Dial *#06# on your phone to pull it up.
- The Phone Unlocking provider you choose will check your IMEI to ensure its able to unlock your phone (ie. It’s not blacklisted, stolen or under contract).
- Once cleared, the unlocking provider sends a special request to the carriers or phone maker the phone was locked by
- The request is made to remove the locked flag for the IMEI and carriers notifies the phone manufacturer to remove the restrictions.
- The restrictions are either removed remotely (such as iPhones) or via Unlock Code which the maker would send your Provider, who then provide you with it.
- When the restrictions are removed, you can can activate your phone with any other carrier’s SIM card. Viola! Boom! DONE. That’s all she wrote.
Most of this happens automatically via software and API connections, so your personal information is never accessed or revealed to third-parties. Some unlocks need to be performed manually or require additional steps or methods. Since mobile carriers provide the authorization to unlock or whitelist phones to these third party providers, is an authentic and convenient method to unlock your phone(s) permanently.
The average cost of unlocking a phone
The average cost of unlocking a phone varies based on the phone model, carrier it’s locked to and quantity of phones. Prices range from a 10 cents, all the way to $300 for some rare cases. On average, consumers pay $15-30 to permanently unlock their phones, while wholesalers & resellers (100 to 10,000 unlocks monthly) can expect to pay around $1 to $20 per phone.
- Unlocking Services for Older Smart Phones & Androids are generally cheaper, ranging around $5 to $20 per phone.
- Unlocking iPhones are generally more expensive, with prices ranging from $15 to $130 per iPhone
- Unlocking Factory Locked Phones that require an Unlock Code usually cost around $10-20, but can range from less than $1 to as high as $50 based on the phone make and country.
The Best Phone Unlocking Service in 2023
The process of unlocking the phone can be quite daunting if you don’t know which company is more reliable and secure to work with. Keeping this problem in mind, I have made a list of the most reliable phone unlocking providers based on customer’s reviews, quality of services they provide, guarantees and user reviews & feedback.
PriorityUnlock
PriorityUnlock is the best unlocking provider for USA iPhone and Samsung unlocks, with the most reliable and fastest unlocks for AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Metro and Claro that we’ve tested. They offer a 100% Money-back guarantee if they can’t unlock your device and the customer support is friendly and prompt. PriorityUnlock is has a 4.8 star rating among customers and is highly recommended.
- Services: iPhone Unlocking (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.) and Samsung Unlocking
- Order Process: Online order form, or Customer Dashboard
- Keep Your Phone: Yes. Unlocks are done online remotely. You can keep & use your phone the entire time.
- Average Turnaround: 6 hours to 14 days
- Payment Methods: Credit card & PayPal
- Refund Policy: 100% Money-Back Guarantee if unable to unlock
- Customer Support: 24/7 Email & Live Chat; guaranteed response within 24 hours
PriorityUnlock provides professional customer support and a reliable service with a 94% success-rate. They offer a money-back guarantee if they are unable to unlock your phone within 30 days, and offer a Best Price Guarantee where they’ll price match any other provider. Highly recommended for Unlocking iPhones on AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile !
UnlockBoot
UnlockBoot is a top rated unlocking provider for over 100+ US and international mobile carriers for iPhone, Samsung, LG, Motorola, Huawei, and Xiaomi. They offer a reliable and transparent unlocking services, with turnaround ranging from 24 hours to 30 days. Your unlock order from UnlockBoot is backed with a 100% refund policy if they are unable to unlock your device. Customer support is great — very easy to work with if you have an issue or question.
- Services: iPhone Unlocking (100+ carriers); Samsung, LG, Motorola, Huawei, & Xiaomi Unlocking (any carrier)
- Order Process: Online Website
- Keep Your Phone: Yes. Unlocks are done online remotely. You can keep & use your phone the entire time.
- Average Turnaround: 6 hours to 30 days
- Payment Methods: Credit card & PayPal
- Refund Policy: 100% Money-Back Guarantee if unable to unlock
- Customer Support: 24/7 Email & Live Chat; guaranteed response within 1 business day
UnlockBoot is the recommended choose for those seeking to unlock their iPhone or Android phone reliably without much hassle. Being the most reliable service with a 96% unlocking success rate, UnblockBoot is the most most sure fire way to unlock almost any device from any carrier.
Unlock your phone without any fuss, UnlockBoot is the one you can trust!
Highly Recommended!
DoctorSIM
DoctorSIM is among the most trusted and safest phone unlocking providers, first founded in Spain in 2006. The company claims that their services are the cheapest among all and if you find the same services at a cheaper rate, then they will gladly refund the difference. doctorSIM has a 4.7 stars out of 5 rating on Google, Ekomi, and Trustpilot, with over 20,000 reviews.
- Services: iPhone Unlocking; Phone Unlocking by Code; Remote Desktop Unlocking; IMEI Phone Checks
- Order Process: Online order form, or Reseller Dashboard
- Keep Your Phone: Yes. Unlocks are done online remotely or remotely via PC. You can keep & use your phone the entire time.
- Average Turnaround: 2 to 30 days
- Payment Methods: Over 30, including credit card, Paypal, bank transfer or deposit, Bitcoin, Ether, and Cash to name a few.
- Refund Policy: Full Refund if they go past guaranteed delivery time or if Unlock Code don’t work (requires video proof)
- Customer Support: 24/7 Email, Live Chat & A.I; guaranteed response within 24 hours
DoctorSIM provides top-notch customer support and a reliable service with a 90% success-rate. They offer a money-back guarantee if they are unable to unlock your phone within the guaranteed delivery time for the service (between a few minutes to 20 days), and offer a Best Price Guarantee where they’ll price match any other provider up to 24 hours after ordering.
Cell Unlocker.net
CellUnlocker (cellunlocker.net) is known for providing the fastest results to unlock your phones safely. They have a team of certified technicians who can unlock your phone when you have tried and tested other service providers. Their competitive pricing and 100% money-back guarantee makes them a reliable source of unlocking your phones.
- Unlocking Service: All Services Offered.
- Experience: 9 years
- Pricing: $10 — $69
- Order Process: Order Form or Dashboard
- Average Turnaround: 1 ~ 30 days
- Policy: 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee if unable to unlock.
Whether you want to change your service providers or enjoy international roaming without paying heavy fees, Cellunlocker is the trusted choice of the people. Once unlocked, the phone will be permanently unlocked to be used on all GSM carriers all over the world.
UnlockBase
Unlockbase has 4.4 stars rating out of 5 on across Trustpilot, Google Reviews, and review sites. You will get your money back if the provided code fails to unlock your phone and they have a safe and secure method of payment to ensure that you are in professional hands. Your phone will be unlocked to all GSM carriers and without any further roaming charges.
- Services: iPhone Unlocking; Phone Unlocking by Code; Remote Desktop Unlocking; IMEI Phone Checks
- Order Process: Online order form and Reseller Dashboard
- Average Turnaround: 1 ~ 30 days
- Payment Methods: Over 10, including credit card, Paypal, bank transfer, and popular cryptocurrencies
- Refund Policy: Full Refund if they are unable to unlock or if unlock code don’t work (requires video proof)
- Customer Support: 24/7 Email Support; guaranteed response within 24 hours
IMEIGurus
IMEIGurus is a well known service provider, offering IMEI Repair, Cellular Unlocking and FRP removal services. They’re based out of India and work with both retail consumers and wholesellers. They have various 5 and 4 star reviews on TrustPilot and Facebook, with an average rating of 4.5 stars. They’re prices are higher than average and they have a messy ordering process but are known to deliver reliably. Customer support inquires are slower than other providers. They also offer shady
- Services: iPhone Unlocking; Phone Unlocking by Code; IMEI Cleaning, FRP Removal
- Order Process: Online order form, WhatsApp, Google Spreadsheet
- Average Turnaround: 1 ~ 42 days
- Payment Methods: Credit Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon
- Refund Policy: No refunds unless you really put your foot down
- Customer Support: Email Support, Live Chat, WhatsApp
IMEIGuru is a well known provider and reseller with tons of industry connections to get the job done. Because they use a lot of third-parties for unlocking, their delivery times are longer than average. They are not our first choice but you can negotiate for a better price for unlocks if you take the time.
UnlockRiver
UnlockRiver is another very popular Unlocking provider, in business since 2007 and based in the US. They have been unlocking phones for clients successfully for 14 years and offer a easy and convenient unlocking process for clients all over the world. They can unlock iPhones, Samsung, LGs and other phones remotely with just an IMEI number and have hundreds of 5-star reviews from customers on Google, TrustPilot and other review sites.
- Services: iPhone Unlocking; Phone Unlocking by Code; Remote Desktop Unlocking; IMEI Phone Checks
- Order Process: Online order form
- Average Turnaround: 1-28 business days
- Payment Methods: Credit Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay
- Refund Policy: Highly restrictive refund policy. Must have video proof of unlock not working.
- Customer Support: Email support only. Slow 2-3 day response time.
UnlockRiver has proven to successfully unlock phones we’ve tested, but are much slower than other providers with the quickest unlocking turnaround being 3 days for us. However, their restrictive refund policy does turn us off. While they’re far from a scam provider, we believe there are better options.
UnlockPanda
UnlockPanda provides quick and easy solutions for SIM unlocking for all carriers and phone brands around the world. They promise to deliver the fastest unlocks, with lowest prices and a money-back guarantee. UnlockPanda is a relative new provider, founded in 2015 and based out of Coral Gables, Florida and have run by a tight-knit team.
- Services: iPhone Unlocking; Phone Unlocking by Code
- Order Process: Online order form; No Wholesale/Reseller Dashboard
- Average Turnaround: 1-29 business days
- Payment Methods: Credit Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay
- Refund Policy: 100% Money Back Guarantee if unlock code doesn’t work.
- Customer Support: Email support only.
UnlockPanda is new but popular Unlock Provider in the South Florida area, though they have clients all around the world. They work primarily with individual clients, as opposed to other providers in the industry that work more-so with resell / wholesale clients.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re searching what is IMEI, we have the answer you’re looking for. IMEI stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity and is a unique number for identifying a device on a mobile network. Think of it as your phone’s VIN number or Tax ID. Every IMEI is 15 digits long, and is assigned to every mobile phone, including CDMA phones, which call it a MEID number.
An IMEI number can be used to identify and discriminate against a phone if it’s lost or stolen. It can be used to assign virtual SIM cards, and be blacklisted or whitelisted by a mobile carrier. IMEI information is available online so with just those 15 numbers, you can check whether a phone has been reported lost, is blacklisted, was subject to an insurance claim, or is totally clean.
The IMEI number also reveals loads of other details about a phone. These include the brand and model, year of release, and specifications. You can try this out by visiting IMEI.info and typing in your phone’s IMEI number — it’s free.
A PUK code stands for “Personal Unlock Key.” It’s a unique code that is linked to your mobile phone’s SIM card and is usually 8 digits long. You will need the PUK code if you have set a SIM Card lock and entered the wrong passcode 3 times. Your phone will become locked, and you will need the PUK code to unlock it.
A PUK code is the unlock code you need to unlock your phone.
Insert a SIM Card from a different carrier than the one your handset is using. When power up is complete the handset will display a message like those below if it SIM locked :
– Enter Subsidy Code
– Enter Unlock Code
– Incorrect Sim Card
– Insert Correct Sim Card
– Invalid Smart Chip
– Phone Restricted
– Sim Network Unlock Code
– Sim Network Unlock Pin
– Special Code Required
– Wrong Sim Card
– Network Lock Control Key
– Sim Password
– Incompatible Sim
– Enter Subsidy Pin
Sometimes. It depends. You can unlock your phone for free by calling your carrier and checking if you qualify. You’ll usually have to wait on hold for awhile and can only do so if you meet certain requirements such as being the original owner, the phone is paid off and you don’t have a contract or commitment with the carrier.
It’s 100% legal to unlock your phone in the United States, so even if your carrier doesn’t want to unlock your phone or if you have multiple phones from various carriers — you can still unlock your phone by using a third-party unlocking service. These aren’t free but will save you time and hassle by doing all of the leg work for you.
If you’re looking for a cheap iPhone unlocking service because you’re on a budget, you may just end up paying more in the long run. Most cheap unlocking services use “hacking” techniques to unlock your phone, which is usually temporary and may even VOID your warranty. That is if it works. Often, cheap services are scams or will trick you into thinking you are paying for an unlock service, when you are paying for an unlock eligibility check, and surprise you with a more expensive unlocking fee afterward.
If you’re looking for cheap unlock codes for your Android device, click here. We’ve reviewed and tested hundreds of unlocking services and providers, and can help you find the cheapest unlock codes for your exact device and network.