Prank call apps in 2026: PrankDial, Ownage Pranks and when prank calls are illegal

The two big prank call apps still running in 2026 are PrankDial and Ownage Pranks. Both play a pre-recorded joke, voiced by actors, to a friend’s phone and save the reaction for you to hear. PrankDial gives you three free calls a day on Android, iPhone and the web, and Ownage Pranks hands out daily free credits on Android. A joke call a friend laughs at is a long way from what the law targets, but a prank call becomes a crime when it harasses or threatens someone, and the recording these apps make can break the law in states that require everyone’s consent.

How we put this together: on 24 October 2026 we read both apps’ Google Play and App Store listings and their terms of use, plus the federal law on harassing calls, the FCC’s caller ID rules and a 50-state guide to recording laws. We didn’t send any prank calls, so we can’t rate the jokes, and none of this is legal advice.

Which prank call apps still work in 2026?

App	Where	Free calls	Google Play rating	Last updated
PrankDial	Android, iPhone, web	3 a day, then paid tokens	2.7 stars, 7.31K reviews	4 October 2026
Ownage Pranks	Android; not on the US App Store when we checked	Daily free credits	4.1 stars, 18.2K reviews	9 February 2025
Fake incoming call apps	Android, iPhone	Usually free with ads	Varies	Varies

PrankDial

PrankDial, made by Kickback Inc, calls itself “the original and best prank call app” and says more than 200 million calls have gone through it. You pick one of 150 or more scripts, such as “You Hit My Car”, type in a friend’s number, and PrankDial’s system plays the recording and “knows when to speak”. The reaction is saved to your call history.

The Google Play reviews are rough. The three reviews Google Play showed first all complain that a call answered by voicemail still used up a free call or a paid token, and the developer’s replies ask those users to email support.

Read the terms before your first call, because they say more than the app does. You must be 18 or older, and you can’t call anyone under 18. PrankDial records every call. You promise the person you’re calling isn’t in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania or Washington. And PrankDial keeps the right to “publicly post the recording from any telephone conversation initiated through PrankDial”, so your friend’s reaction can end up on its site.

Ownage Pranks

On Google Play, Ownage Pranks is listed as “Prank Call Voice Changer App” by Ownage Labs Apps. It works the same way: pick a pre-recorded prank by a professional voice actor, choose a contact, and send. Calls go out over Wi-Fi from Ownage’s own phone numbers, so your number stays hidden, and recordings are saved in My Pranks.

Its last Google Play update was in February 2025, and the US App Store showed “page not found” for its iPhone app when we checked, though Apple’s Canadian store still lists it. The listing’s disclaimer puts it plainly: “Users of this app accept full responsibility for the consequences.”

Fake incoming call apps

Many apps with “prank call” in the name don’t call anyone. They make your own phone ring with a fake caller name and photo, which works for a joke in the same room and involves nobody else’s phone, number or voice. If that’s the prank you have in mind, it’s the version with no legal questions attached.

Is prank calling illegal?

A prank call becomes illegal when it’s meant to harass, threaten or harm, when it’s repeated to bother someone, or when it’s recorded without consent where the law requires it. Four sets of rules matter in the US.

Harassing calls

Federal law, 47 U.S.C. § 223, makes it a crime to call “without disclosing his identity and with intent to abuse, threaten, or harass any specific person”. It also covers making someone’s phone ring “repeatedly or continuously” to harass them, and repeated calls made “solely to harass”. The penalty is a fine, up to two years in prison, or both. States have their own harassment laws on top.

Fake caller ID

FCC rules ban showing misleading caller ID “with the intent to defraud, cause harm or wrongly obtain anything of value”, with fines of up to $10,000 per violation. The FCC reads “harm” broadly, to include emotional harm, and it has found a campaign of spoofed calls to an ex-spouse illegal under the same law.

Recording the call

Prank apps record by default, and about 11 states mainly require everyone on a call to agree before it’s recorded, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Its list is California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington, and it notes that Connecticut and Nevada also need everyone’s consent for phone calls. Those are the 13 states in PrankDial’s terms.

Who you call

PrankDial’s terms ban calls to emergency lines, health care facilities, government agencies, law enforcement and schools, and any use meant to “annoy, abuse, threaten, harass, or make repeated telephone calls to another person”. Treat that as the floor for any prank app.

How to keep a prank call friendly

• Only call an adult friend you know will laugh, never a stranger or a business.
• Make it one call. Repeated calls are where a joke turns into harassment.
• Tell them it was you straight after, and ask before you share the recording anywhere.
• Skip it if they live in an all-party consent state, since the app records the call.
• Never use a prank that mentions police, an accident with injuries or a medical emergency on someone who might believe it.

How to stop prank calls to your number

If you keep getting PrankDial calls, its Block My Number page stops future pranks to your number, and PrankDial’s support says a block can’t be undone. For any app, block the calling number on your phone. If the calls are threatening or won’t stop, keep a record of the dates and times and report them to your phone carrier, the police or the FCC.

Frequently asked questions

Is PrankDial free?

Partly. Everyone gets three free calls a day, and more calls cost tokens. The App Store listing showed 20 tokens for $5.99.

Can the person tell it’s a prank call app?

With Ownage Pranks they see one of Ownage’s numbers, not yours. PrankDial asks for a “sent from” number, and its developer suggests using a verified one, so check what your friend will see before you send. Either way the voice is a recording, so it can’t answer anything unexpected they say.

Are prank call recordings made public?

They can be. Both apps have feeds of reactions shared by users, and PrankDial’s terms let it publicly post the recording of any call made through it.

Can you go to jail for prank calls?

For calls made to abuse, threaten or harass someone, yes: the federal law allows up to two years in prison, and states add their own penalties. Repeated calls and calls that scare someone are the riskiest kind.

What to do now

If you just want a laugh in the room, use a fake incoming call app on your own phone. If you want to prank a friend’s phone, read PrankDial’s terms first, check that your friend isn’t in one of the 13 states it lists, and tell them it was you as soon as the call ends.

Sources

• PrankDial on Google Play and the App Store, its terms of use (last updated May 2018), Block My Number page and support article on unblocking
• Ownage Pranks on Google Play and Apple’s Canadian App Store
• 47 U.S.C. § 223 (Cornell Legal Information Institute)
• FCC: caller ID spoofing and unlawful communications enforcement
• FCC consumer complaint center
• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Reporter’s Recording Guide

Changelog

24 Oct 2026: rewritten with the prank call apps still running in 2026 and the laws that apply. It replaces an older list of prank call apps for Android.