Free Texts

If you're a textaholic who can't keep your hands off your mobile, there are hidden ways to send more for less. This includes a nifty technological loophole to slash text costs from your mobile to fractions of a penny or simply SMS the UK and abroad for free via the web.

While texting seems an add-on service, for many it's a serious chunk of the mobile bill. Text 20 times a day at a cost of 10p and it's over £700 a year, so cutting the cost means big savings.

• Which system suits you?
• Free texts from the web
• Free/cheap texts from your mobile
• Get a texting SIM card
• Discuss/Ask a question

Dodge your network & text on the cheap

Which system suits you?

Those who have inclusive texts as part of their mobile package should of course use those first. Do remember though, they're misdescribed as 'free'; you pay for them as part of your overall package. Yet for those on contract or Pay As You Go, there are things you can do.

Ways to text for less...

• Are you usually near a computer?

  This is the easiest solution of all, you can text at no cost via the internet. Jump to the how to get free texts online section.

• Do you have a mobile made in the last few years?

  There's little known free software you can download to modern phones allowing you to send texts via the mobile internet for a fraction of the cost of normal texting. Jump to the cheap texts from mobiles section.

• Are you prepared to switch your Sim card when you text?

  If your mobile package can’t be made text-friendly, then it is possible to get a special sim card to pop in that is very cheap for texting, though it'll mean your texts come from a different number. For more read Cheap texting Sims.

Or improve the way you currently text...

• Learn txt spk to send less messages

  Modern mobiles have got clever. These days if your message goes beyond the typical 160 character limit, it often seamlessly carries on, feeling like it's just one message. In reality though you end up paying for two or three texts.

  To counter this, learn to 'spk txt' as that allows you to say more with less characters. Of course it runs the risk of people thinking you're 12, but still, try the Lingo2word translator to see how.

• Improve the mobile package you're on.

  If you have inclusive minutes, it's worth exploring whether you're on the right package. This can work in two opposite directions, either try increasing the number of texts you get at the lowest cost possible (see Cheapest Mobile Deals) or alternatively, reduce the package cost if one of the methods above lets you text cheaply in other ways.

Free Texts: The top SMS websites

Many websites allow you to text mobile phones from them for free, so if you’re near a PC don’t pick up the phone, just type it into the computer.

Free international texts

The website SendSMSNow lets you sign up and send free unlimited international texts to some countries including the USA, Canada, Poland and India; plus replies can be received to your own online inbox. It's a great cheap way to talk to people abroad.

Tips for texting from the internet

Remember, text via the internet and the message won’t appear to be from your phone, so always sign your name to let people know who sent it. It also has the downside that people can’t just click reply, so include your phone number too, to make it much easier for them.

Text from mobiles for a fraction of the cost

Texting is a bit of a con. Think about it, for a tiny cost, you can send and receive masses of high quality data including e-mails, videos, pictures and music through most modern phones' mobile internet; yet to send just 160 characters via old fashioned texting can cost 10p or more.

So the aim is simple....

Use your phone's mobile internet to send text messages, rather than its text facility and the cost's tiny in comparison

As most handsets sold in the last few years offer some sort of mobile data functionality, this is now possible. To do it though you need to use software designed by one of several canny businesses. As the network's texting mark-up is so high, and the data use so tiny, these companies can still prosper with super-low message costs.

WARNING: Check your network's pricing if you're on Pay As You Go.

While the services below will work out far cheaper for most, some greedy mobile networks' new pricing policies make them decidedly expensive for a few. This is because some charge their Pay As You Go customers a flat fee for a day of web access, so even if you send just a few kilobytes of data over the mobile web (as you would with these texting services), you'll be charged for a day's usage.

Vodafone charges £1 for a day's access, and Orange charges a huge £2, so, it's crucial to check first, and check your balance before and after sending a text over data to see the real cost.

How mobile-web texting software works

The programmes are designed to feel almost identical to normal texting, and some allow you to simply use the numbers in your mobile's address book. Better still, none of those detailed below carry advertising, and when you text all messages appear to come from your number, so friends can easily reply.

What phones do they work on?

The important thing is you have a handset which can download data by GPRS, and supports Java; as a rough rule of thumb, if your phone's capable of downloading and playing a game, chances are it's fine.

If you've never tried that, then most phones from the last few years, unless they're very basic, should be fine. The one exception is for 3 mobile customers, as it won't let you use any third-party software.

If you want to use this software, then to really keep your costs down, do note...

It's free if those you regularly text have downloaded the software too, so get your friends involved. Otherwise it's a still very cheap 2-3p a text.

The top mobile-web texting software

All the software below works in a roughly similar way, though which suits you best will be dictated by a mix of price and service.

• Fish Text. The cheapest system, free to try.
  
  
  
  
  FishText

  The bizarrely-named bargain SMS company CardboardFish offers the cheapest option, in the form of FishText. It's available for all java and data capable handsets. Downloading it is free and online tutorials will take you through installing it.

  You must always select the FishText icon instead of your usual 'messages' one when you want to send a text. You'll also need to open it to see any texts from other fish-texters. Alternatively you can leave it running constantly in the background, checking for messages, but there will be a small data charge each time it does, and this will slow some phones down.

  Quick Stats: Download Link: FishText Cost per Text: Free to other mobiles with FishText, otherwise 2p in the UK Intro Credit: 20p Min. Top-up: £5.
  

  
  
  
  
  
  Vyke Pro

• Vyke Pro. Free to try and more like normal text

  The Vyke Pro service works in a similar way to FishText, but costs slightly more, at 3p per UK message. However, it's trump card is you can set it to load itself up when you receive a message from other Vyke users, so you don't need to leave it on, which should keep your handset running at a decent speed. Though doing this can mean a small data cost each time it checks.

  Installation is quite simple; just go to the Vyke site and register, and it'll text the application to your phone. From there, it's a matter of a few key clicks. If there's anything you're unsure about, full instructions and support are provided on Vyke's site.

  Vyke has been up and running over a year now, and has received strong feedback after being featured in the previous incarnation of this guide. Plus it will give you 50p starting credit if you want to try it.

  Quick Stats: Download Link: Vyke Pro Cost per Text: Free to other Vyke mobiles, otherwise 3p in the UK Intro Credit: 50p Min. Top-up: £5.




Vyke FreeTXT
• Vyke FreeTXT. Amazingly easy technology, but only for certain phones

  FreeTXT is Vyke's latest effort to corner the cheap SMS market, and it's very impressive. Rather than using its own software, it works using your handset's normal texting system, so it's just like sending a normal text. Currently it only works on a few Nokia handsets, but wider support is expected in future (see a full list by selecting 3rd edition from the drop-down menu).
  
  If you've a compatible handset though you should definitely grab it, as you'll barely notice the difference from regular SMS, until you see your bill. If you've got inclusive texts to use up first, it's easy to toggle it on & off via your phone's settings menu.
  
  Just write a text as you usually would, and it'll automatically send it via Vyke's data service, only reverting to your standard SMS service if sending fails. Like the other Vyke service, texts between the software's users are free, you just pay data costs.
  
  Quick Stats: Download Link: Vyke FreeTXT Intro Credit: 50p Cost per Text: 3p Min. Top-up: £5. Free texts to other users? Yes

The full cost of using these systems

The hidden cost here is the data cost of utilising your mobile internet, though unless you're using it abroad, it should be fairly small. That's because sending a text via the internet only uses a tiny chunk of data and shouldn’t cost more than a penny. Which begs the question, how do mobile networks get away with charging so much in the first place?

Typically you'd expect to pay around 0.4p a text using this system, and if you leave the software open so you can receive texts from others with the software too, that could add around £1-£2 (see a full explanation of the data cost).

Get a texting SIM card

If your current contract or pay-as-you-go mobile is expensive for texting, then simply get a special sim card which is cheap for texting and use that instead. Typical providers like O2 and Orange, frequently offer sim cards with 1,000 texts a month for around £10.

Find the cheapest texts.

Cheap deals are usually posted by MoneySavers in the Discussion Forum's Mobiles section, and special offers abound. Often providers give free texts for topping up by a certain amount; for instance top up by £10 and get 1000 free texts.

If you can’t find them there then simply go to the networks' websites and see who’s offering what, and do remember to include the offerings of cheapie providers Tesco Mobile, Ikea Mobile and Asda Phones in your rounds, as they have low standard text rates to start with.

You may need to unlock your handset.

One tiny fly in the ointment is that when you put the sim card in your phone it may not work. That's because some mobile networks lock handsets so only their own sim cards can be used in the phone. If your sim card doesn't work, there may be an easy, free and legal way to unlock your handset, read the Mobile Unlocking article.