Free Texts Incl virtually free texts from mobiles

If you're a textaholic with no inclusive texts, there are hidden ways to send texts for less. Slash costs from your mobile to fractions of a penny or text the UK and abroad for free via the web.

For many texting is a serious chunk of their mobile bill. Text 20 times a day at 10p/text and it's over £700 a year - so cutting the cost means big savings.

Which system suits you?

If you've inclusive texts with your mobile package, use these first. Do remember though, they're mis-described as "free" - you pay for them as part of your overall package. If you've got a contract or pay-as-you-go deal that doesn't include free texts, there are things you can do.

Ways to text for less

Or improve the way you currently text...

Free or cheap texts from your mobile

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 emails, 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

Most handsets sold in the last few years offer some sort of mobile data functionality, letting you text at a fraction of the cost. As the network's texting mark-up is so high, and the data use so tiny, you stand to make considerable savings.

Use instant messanger apps

If you've got a smartphone, eg, an iPhone or a BlackBerry, and the person you're texting does too, it's possible to message them for free using dedicated instant messenger (IM) apps. Some apps are free, some have a one-off cost, all need a small amount of data to run.

These apps are particularly good for texting friends or family in other countries, as you'll avoid hefty international SMS costs. Also, they usually work on a "push notification system", which means when you receive a new message you'll receive a notification, just like a text.

Here's our selection of the best, tried and tested IM apps:

Use mobile-web texting software

If you haven't got a smartphone but your mobile handset can download data by GPRS, and supports Java, it should be capable of using these text message services.

These programmes are also 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.

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

It's free if those you text have downloaded the software too, so get your friends involved. Otherwise, it's still only 2-4p a text.

The services below allow you to chat to people in the UK and overseas. Both FishText and Vyke deliver texts straight to your inbox, unlike instant messenger services like WhatsApp which use their own dedicated inbox. Experiment with the services and choose the one your friends and family use, or the one that best suits you and your phone.

How much does it cost to "run" these apps?

The hidden cost of using services like WhatsApp and FishText is the data cost of using your mobile internet - though this should be fairly small. That's because sending a text via the internet only uses a tiny amount of data and shouldn't cost more than a penny.

The best way to cut costs is to use free wi-fi - either at home or at a free wireless hotspot (sites like Free Hotspot, Hotspot Locations and Jiwire will tell you where to locate free wi-fi hot spots).

If you are using your phone’s data plan (3G), and you have a data allowance included, then you will not be charged by your network provider to send or receive texts - unless you have already used up your entire data allowance for the month.

If you do not have a data allowance included in your plan then you will be charged. However, these kind of services use an incredibly small amount of data to send and receive texts. FishText for example typically costs around 0.003p per message based on the standard £3/MB providers charge for data. Using a service like WhatsApp will cost slightly more for the "push notifications" - for example 4,000 push notifications (or texts) would cost around £3 if you don't have inclusive data.

The cost of sending 200 texts/month

	Pay-as-you-go	Contract
Typical network cost (1)	£24	£20
Vyke Pro/FreeTXT (2)	80p	80p
FishText (3)	80p	80p
(1) For sake of comparison, this excludes top-up offers/bolt-ons. Standard rate outside allowances, 12p pay-as-you-go, 10p contract. (2) This does not include the data cost of keeping Vyke switched on. (3) This does not include the data cost of keeping FishText switched on. Correct as at Tue 30 Apr 2013.

Can I really save on texts?

Do it the right way and, depending on how much you text, it’s possible to make jaw-dropping savings. Here's some feedback from MoneySavers:

Free texts from the web

Many websites allow you to text mobiles for free. So if you're near a PC don't pick up the phone, just type it into the computer.

The top free text websites

Provider	No. texts offered	Have to register?	Int'l texts	Exclusions	Other info
O2	10/month	Yes	No	None	Fast and reliable, though stingy ²
Orange	30/month	Yes	No	Orange customers only	Send via Orange website ¹
cbfsms.com	Unlimited	No	No	UK mobiles only	Sent from an unknown number, tell recipent to reply to your mobile. 137 character limit.
¹ To send messages, log in, click on "communicate" and click "send a text message". ² To send messages, log in and click on "send text messages" on the left hand side of the screen. Will I receive spam? MSE has read the terms and conditions of all of the free texting websites listed in this guide to ensure they will not spam either you or the recipent of your text. However if you do receive spam or marketing calls/messages, please report the company in the forum discussion.

Free international texts

The websites SendSMSNow and ezfreesms let 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. Include your phone number too, to make it easier for them to reply.

If you're a T-Mobile customer, you can send texts online from anywhere in the world for the price of a standard message. So, if you've got unlimited texts, it won't cost you a penny to make a text while abroad. Just register and log-in to My T-Mobile to send a text.

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.

Getting a pay-as-you-go plan from T-Mobile, for example, and topping up £10/month will give you unlimited free texts - make just 83 texts at 12p/text over 30 days and this will have paid for itself.

Find the cheapest texts

If you text more than you talk (or you know someone who does), consider a cheap Sim-only deal with unlimited texts. If texting is all you do then you won't need a smartphone or gigabytes of mobile data - so get a Sim-only deal from as little as £5/month. Read our Cheap Mobiles guide for a few tips.

Try the networks' websites and see who's offering what, and remember to include cheapie providers GiffGaff*, Tesco Mobile, Ikea Mobile and Asda Mobile in your rounds, as they have low standard text rates to start with.

Cheap deals are usually posted by MoneySavers in the Discussion Forum's Mobiles section. Often providers give free texts for topping up by a certain amount. For instance, top up by £5 and get 5,000 free texts.

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.