Hiya API vs CallerAPI

A partner with API access to Hiya helped us dig deeper. For every number, we could read the reason behind Hiya's verdict instead of just the verdict, and we looked up the same numbers on CallerAPI the same evening.

Hiya's side of this table comes from its voice protection guide, its SDK signup page and its partner page. The $20,000 figure comes from the MVNO that received the quote.

The results

We count a number as flagged by CallerAPI when its live score is above 0. All 31 numbers we flagged scored 63 or higher. Two numbers with only old reports scored 0, so we count them as not flagged.

Hiya agreed with us on 15 of the 31 numbers we flagged. It left 16 at uncertain, and it flagged 4 numbers we had no report on. The sections below go through each group.

How we tested

Every lookup on this page ran on both services on the evening of 7 Nov 2026. We did not draw a random sample. We built the batch so that each group of numbers answers a different question:

• 13 numbers we had already flagged in our 31 Oct YouMail study
• 4 lawful callers from that study: a political text, a debt collector, a real estate office and a jail calling notice
• 6 numbers from YouMail's public lists on which we had no recent report in October
• 2 numbers from that study outside North America, one in London and one in São Paulo
• 1 more Canadian number from that study
• 12 numbers that joined our spam file on 7 Nov itself, from the US, the UK, Brazil, Poland, Germany, Colombia and Mexico
• 4 of our UK honeypot numbers, and 1 number that called our UK honeypot
• 1 UK number from the range Ofcom keeps for TV and radio drama
• 2 well-known US toll-free support lines

We did not test Hiya's audio products or its speed, and we did not test every country.

New numbers come back spam

This is the finding that matters most if you sell call protection.

On two US numbers, Hiya's whole reason for the spam verdict was one rule: the number sat on a carrier Hiya rates as high risk, and Hiya had never seen it before. It called each number immature, with no profile behind it. In plain terms, the number was unknown to their network, and that was enough for a Suspected Spam label.

We had a report on both, so on these two the verdicts happen to agree. The reason is what should worry you. Nothing in it depends on a complaint. A legitimate business with a new number from that carrier fits the same rule, and its customers would see Suspected Spam until Hiya's network gets to know the number.

Unknown to Hiya did not always mean spam, though. Six numbers came back with an unknown profile, and Hiya left all six at uncertain, including two that we scored 100 that day.

In Canada we saw a third kind of default. Hiya marked 236-707-9242 as spam because it treats the carrier as high risk by default. We had no report on it. YouMail's public lists had called it a loan robocall in October, so here the default may well have been right.

Outside the US, new numbers did not come back spam in our test. Four of our UK honeypot numbers came back uncertain on Hiya and clean on CallerAPI, including two we added on 27 Oct 2026 that have never rung. So did 07700 900123, the Ofcom drama number.

Numbers Hiya flags and we leave clean

Four numbers came back spam or fraud on Hiya with no report on our side. All four were on YouMail's public lists in October. On these, Hiya and YouMail agree, and we were the ones missing a report.

On North American traffic, that makes Hiya a reasonable second opinion next to us. It is not a reason to block every number Hiya has never seen.

Numbers we flag and Hiya leaves uncertain

This is the bigger gap. Hiya left 16 of the numbers we flagged at uncertain. Here are six of them.

The loudest is 800-942-3767. We hold 1,163 reports on it and score it 98. Hiya showed it under a county name as a vetted business and left it at uncertain. The London and Brazil rows repeat what we saw with YouMail in October: we have the report, and the other service does not treat the number as spam.

Hiya agrees with us often, too. 15 numbers, including 681-688-7044, came back spam on both.

Lawful callers

In October we left four lawful callers alone on purpose. On 7 Nov they looked the same, and Hiya did not flag them either.

If you block on our score or on the 15-day file, all four calls get through. If you block on the spam flag alone, the old report stops the jail notice, so pair the flag with the score.

Spoofed support lines

Two well-known US toll-free support lines were in the batch. Hiya marked both as fraud and gave spoofing as the reason. These lines take calls rather than make them, so a call that shows either number is almost certainly spoofed, and Hiya is right to flag it. We flag both as well, because people report the number they saw on their screen.

Outside the US

Unlike YouMail, Hiya does answer for numbers outside the US. YouMail returned nothing for the UK and Brazil numbers in our October study. An answer is not the same as a block, though.

We flagged 13 numbers outside the US in this batch. Hiya called 5 of them spam, including four mobiles that joined our file that day, one each in Brazil, Poland, Germany and the UK. It left the other 8 at uncertain, including the London number +44 20 7536 3415, two Canadian mobiles, two Brazilian numbers, a Colombian mobile and a Mexican number.

Underneath CallerAPI sits the October file: 330,380 numbers in 192 regions on 31 Oct 2026, with more than 7 in 10 of them outside the US and Canada. The product covers 195 countries. Our YouMail comparison breaks that file down.

How a CallerAPI score works

• A score of 100 means the newest activity on the number is from the last few hours.
• The score halves about every 30 days and reaches 0 after 180 days.
• A stored report of any age still sets the spam flag to yes. Only the score falls.
• A number joins the block file when a report on it was created in the last 15 days.

That is why we suggest loading the file into your switch and keeping a live lookup next to it for older reports.

What you pay

Hiya's SDK covers iOS and Android. You fill in a form, and once Hiya has onboarded you, it sends repository access and keys. Its Protect API isn't self-serve either. Hiya runs a know-your-customer check before it hands over a key, and it asks you to send call events back.

Hiya doesn't publish its prices. A startup MVNO told us on a call that Hiya had quoted it $20,000 a month for the integration alone. The MVNO had no revenue at the time, and it was not happy about the quote.

Our SDK covers iOS, Android, React Native and Flutter, and the integration is about 10 lines of code. Lookups on the handset are anonymous. You pay nothing while you build and test, and nothing for subscribers on a free trial.

Every price we quote is negotiable, and we can go lower than the figures below. We work out each deal with the operator or vendor in front of us, because the feature has to make money for your business.

A revenue share

Say you sell the feature as a $3 monthly add-on. On a 30/70 split, you keep about $2.10 a month per subscriber and we keep about $0.90. With 10,000 subscribers using it, that's $30,000 a month coming in and $21,000 staying with you.

A price per device

At volume, most deals move to a price per active device that drops as you grow. A typical starting list looks like this:

These are starting points, not a rate card. In the millions of devices, a flat monthly fee can make more sense for you, and we negotiate that with you like everything else.

Four examples

These use the starting list and the $3 example. Your own figures depend on your deal. They are illustrations, not customer reports.

If you are a startup MVNO

Hiya quoted the startup we spoke to $20,000 a month while it still had no revenue. With us, 10,000 subscribers using the feature would cost $5,000 a month at the starting price. At $3 each they bring in $30,000, so $25,000 is left after our fee. On the 30/70 example you would keep $21,000. Building and testing cost you nothing, and neither do trial users.

If you are an established MVNO

80,000 of your subscribers use the feature. That falls in the 50,000 to 99,999 band, so you pay $0.28 a device, or $22,400 for the month. At $3 a subscriber, the feature brings in $240,000.

If you are a legacy MVNO short on profit

You have 400,000 lines, and 2.5% of them have taken the feature, so 10,000 subscribers. You pay for those 10,000, not for the 390,000 who never turned it on. At the starting price that's $5,000 a month, and trial users are free. A fixed integration fee like the $20,000 Hiya quoted the startup is owed whether anyone buys the feature or not.

If you are an MVNE behind 20 MVNOs

Each of your 20 MVNOs has 10,000 subscribers using the feature, 200,000 in all. Counted together, that's the 100,000 to 249,999 band at $0.20, or $40,000 a month. At $3 a subscriber, the feature brings in $600,000 a month across your brands, and one SDK covers iOS, Android, React Native and Flutter for every one of them.

When to stay on Hiya

Hiya is a serious product, and for some of you it is the right one.

• You already run Hiya's SDK. It handles caller ID, spam labels and a personal block list on iOS and Android.
• You want a cache on your own servers. Hiya offers a downloadable cache next to its live lookup.
• Your traffic already runs through Hiya's network. Hiya says it analyzes more than 28 billion calls a month. If your calls are part of that, its crowd signal is worth keeping.
• You want a second opinion on US numbers. Block on our reports and score, and use Hiya as a second signal. Just don't block a number only because Hiya has never seen it.

When CallerAPI is the better Hiya API alternative

• You sell protection to your own customers. You agree a revenue share or a price per active device with us, and you don't pay for building, testing or trial users.
• You need new numbers to stay clean until someone reports them. In our test, Hiya marked new numbers on a high-risk carrier as spam with no complaint behind the verdict. A number nobody has reported comes back clean from us.
• You need to see why a number is blocked. Every lookup shows the reports behind a flag, and a score of 0 tells you those reports are old.
• You build on more than one stack. React Native and Flutter use the same SDK as native iOS and Android.
• You carry traffic across borders. On 31 Oct 2026, our 15-day file held 330,380 numbers in 192 regions. Keep a live lookup next to it.

The file runs beside a do-not-originate list. It doesn't replace one.

See the call blocking SDK or the spam phone number database.

FAQ

Does Hiya mark unknown numbers as spam?

Sometimes. In our test, two new US numbers on a carrier Hiya rates as high risk came back spam, and no complaint was part of that verdict. Six numbers with an unknown profile came back uncertain instead.

Does Hiya have an API and an SDK?

Yes. Hiya Protect is a live lookup or a downloadable cache, and it isn't self-serve. The mobile SDK covers iOS and Android, and you get it after Hiya onboards you. Our SDK also covers React Native and Flutter.

How much does Hiya charge for its SDK?

Hiya doesn't publish prices. A startup MVNO told us Hiya quoted it $20,000 a month for the integration alone, at a time when it had no revenue.

How does CallerAPI charge you?

Every deal is negotiated with you. One example is a revenue share where you keep about 70%, which is $2.10 a month on a $3 add-on. At volume you pay per active device, starting from $0.50 and falling as you grow, and we can go lower. Building, testing and trial users are not billed.

Can a number score high on CallerAPI and stay off the block file?

Yes. The file only holds numbers with a report created in the last 15 days. A live lookup still scores older reports, so keep both.