How much does the Wiley Buddy cost?

The phone is $89, and service is $9.95 a month plus taxes and fees, with no contract. The plan includes unlimited US calling, a phone number, enhanced 911, voicemail, spam blocking and three-way calling. Extra phones on the same number cost $3.50 a month each.

Can my kid call other Wiley phones for free?

No. Wiley has no free tier. Every phone needs the $9.95 plan, which calls any US number, including other Wileys. Wiley says it made that choice so 911 and ordinary numbers always work.

Can strangers call a Wiley phone?

Not with Approved-Only calling on. It limits calls in and out to contacts you approve in the Parent Portal. Check that it is switched on after setup, and test it with a number that is not on the list.

Does the Wiley Buddy have caller ID?

The phone has no screen, so it cannot show who is calling. You can set your own cell phone to ring at the same time, which shows the caller there.

Wiley Buddy Home Phone – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Wiley Buddy Home Phone

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

Product2026kid-phone, home-phone

87%

WISE Score

An $89 corded home phone from a Utah startup, with unlimited US calls, enhanced 911 and approved-only calling for $9.95 a month.

Wiley Buddy Home Phone

Product

2026, kid-phone, home-phone

87%

WISE Score

An $89 corded home phone from a Utah startup, with unlimited US calls, enhanced 911 and approved-only calling for $9.95 a month.

Jump to

Where to Buy

Visit official site

Screenwise Verdict

The Wiley Buddy is a home phone first and a kid's phone second. For $89 and $9.95 a month it gives the house a real phone number with unlimited US calls, enhanced 911, voicemail and spam blocking, then adds the controls a parent wants: approved-only calling, quiet hours and a speed-dial card a four-year-old can use.

There is no free tier. Wiley says that is on purpose, so 911 and ordinary numbers always work. The phone looks like a hotel-room trimline and does not try to look like a toy, which suits a family that wants one phone for the kids and the adults.

It comes from a two-person company, and the early reviews found bugs that Wiley has since fixed. Test the approved-only setting yourself after setup, and use the 30-day trial.

Age Fit

Wiley says kids can use it as early as 3 or 4, as long as they can press a speed-dial button, and it pitches the phone to teens and adults too. The sweet spot is 4 to 9, when a speed-dial card is the whole phone. Older kids will use it as a house phone rather than their own.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

A plain home phone with nothing to watch or scroll. The only pull it has on a kid is the person on the other end.

Imaginative

The usual landline play: planning calls, working the speed-dial card, three-way calls. The device itself adds nothing to make or imagine with.

Safe

Approved-Only calling limits who rings through and who a kid can call, and enhanced 911 sends the home address with an alert to a parent and a neighbor. A reviewer found the approved-only filter failing at launch until Wiley fixed it, so test it after setup. Like every Wi-Fi phone, it stops in a power or internet outage.

Enriching

Real phone practice with anyone in the US, not only friends with the same device, since every plan includes unlimited US calling.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Unlimited US calls, a phone number, voicemail and spam blocking in one $9.95 plan.
Enhanced 911 sends the home address, and an alert goes to a parent and a neighbor.
A 0-to-9 speed-dial card on the cradle, set up by a parent, that a preschooler can use.
Quiet hours, call forwarding on a schedule and three-way calling.
Wi-Fi 6 or Ethernet, wall-mountable, and extra phones on the same number for $3.50 a month.

⚠

What to Watch For

No free tier: every phone needs the $9.95 plan, even to call another Wiley.
Test Approved-Only calling after setup. SafeWise found it failing at launch, and Wiley says the fix is out.
SafeWise also found call logs that were off and no ringer volume control.
It needs power and internet, and the first setup needs an Ethernet cable at the router.
Parent controls are in a web portal. The iPhone app is still in beta.

Conversation Starters

"Who should go on the speed-dial card, and in what order?"
"What do you say when you answer the house phone?"
"If you had to call 911, what would you tell them first?"
"When should the phone be quiet at night?"

Deep Dive

A home phone for the whole house that a four-year-old can use

Wiley started as a Kickstarter from a small team in Provo, Utah: 315 backers raised $33,369 in November 2025, and the first phones shipped in April 2026. Its answer to Tin Can is to be a real home phone line with kid controls added, rather than a kids' network.

A white Wiley Buddy trimline phone at an angle on a light gray background, with a white coiled cord and a blue W logo The Wiley Buddy in white. It also comes in black.

What $89 and $9.95 a month buys

The phone is a corded trimline, in white or black, that connects over Wi-Fi 6 or Ethernet and can hang on a wall. It has a speakerphone, hold, redial and mute. The first setup needs an Ethernet cable at the router.

The $9.95 plan, with no contract, covers:

Unlimited calls anywhere in the US, and a new number or your old one ported in
Enhanced 911 with your home address, plus an alert to a parent and a neighbor when 911 is dialed
Spam and robocall blocking
Voicemail with a PIN, which can forward to email
Three-way calling and call forwarding, including on a schedule

Extra phones on the same number are $3.50 a month each. There is no free tier and no international calling. For families with an old rotary phone in the closet, Wiley sells a $59 Magic Box that connects it to the same service.

A white Wiley Buddy seen from above with the handset lifted: the keypad on the inside of the handset, and a speed-dial card numbered 0 to 9 on the cradle The speed-dial card on the cradle is set up in the Parent Portal. A kid presses one number to call.

What parents control

Settings live in a web Parent Portal (the iPhone app is in beta):

Approved-Only calling for calls in and out. Wiley's own pages disagree on whether it starts on, so switch it on yourself and test it.
Quiet hours on a schedule.
Speed dial for ten numbers.
Call history and call blocking.

Where it falls short

Wiley is a two-person company, and it shows in the early reports. SafeWise reviewed it in May 2026 and found approved-only calling failing at launch, which Wiley says it has fixed. The same review found call logs that were off, a voicemail inbox that did not update in the portal and no way to change the ringer volume. Buyers on Wiley's own site rate it 4.7 out of 5 across 50 reviews. Wiley offers a 30-day trial that refunds the phone and the first month.

A girl lying upside down across a bed with a floral quilt, holding a black corded handset to her ear From Wiley's own photos. The company pitches the phone to teens and grown-ups as well as little kids.

For how it compares with Tin Can, Pinwheel Home, Ooma MyPhone and the phones a kid carries, see the guide to every new kid phone.

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