Is there any genuine free web-based text service?

rockitup

I have been living abroad for a few years and texts back to UK from a local mobile network here cost around 25p each. I normally send between 10 and 30 texts to UK each month.

I just downloaded Google Chrome today and noticed their app store which has many free SMS services listed, I have not signed up for any yet in case there is a hidden fee scam or anything else to beware of.

Can anyone here confirm if there are any good web based text services available? I will also need to send occasional texts abroad if I go on holiday too.

I don't even mind a service whereby I pay a fee for a certain amount of texts, the only one I know of is O2 where I can add 30 texts for £1.50 which is still a good saving on what I am paying now for individual texts.

Cheers

OneBrightStar

There are plenty of paid services now but I use fishtext for international sms only. They do allow UK texts as well so worth checking them out.

https://www.fishtext.com

Hope it helps.

MarkBargain

I use Fishtext too, which is 2p to text the UK. You get 20p free credit when you join and sometimes they do top up promotions (I think I got £30 credit for £20 a while back).

rockitup

Okay thanks for the replies regarding Fishtext, can i ask if their text delivery times are similar to the mobile providers?

Cheers

NFH

O2 Ireland's free Webtext is very good. You can send 500 texts per month to anywhere in the world (except the US). They give delivery reports, although not the time of delivery. You need an Irish O2 SIM card to register, but they can be obtained free of charge from www.o2.ie or for very little on Ebay.

rockitup

NFH wrote: »

O2 Ireland's free Webtext is very good. You can send 500 texts per month to anywhere in the world (except the US). They give delivery reports, although not the time of delivery. You need an Irish O2 SIM card to register, but they can be obtained free of charge from www.o2.ie or for very little on Ebay.

Thanks for that, I will check it out shortly and I am off to Limerick & Cork for part of my holiday shortly so double handy,

Cheers :beer:

rockitup

NFH wrote: »

O2 Ireland's free Webtext is very good. You can send 500 texts per month to anywhere in the world (except the US). They give delivery reports, although not the time of delivery. You need an Irish O2 SIM card to register, but they can be obtained free of charge from www.o2.ie or for very little on Ebay.

Just been checking the O2.ie site out, I have a question if you can help further...

Would I need to top up the pre-pay sim each month after the initial amount? Or is the web text part of deal still available for say 6 months if I did not make any further top ups?

Thanks

NFH

rockitup wrote: »

Would I need to top up the pre-pay sim each month after the initial amount? Or is the web text part of deal still available for say 6 months if I did not make any further top ups?

As long as you have credit on the SIM card, you just need to cause the balance to change at least once every 6 months in order to keep the SIM active, i.e. the same policy typical of UK networks. An incoming roaming call of one second would suffice. The minimum top-up is €10 online, but apparently you can buy €5 top-up vouchers in O2 Ireland's shops. I assume the web texts stop if the SIM expires, but it's very easy to keep it active. If you're going to Ireland anyway, you might as well use it while there to avoid roaming charges.

rockitup

Thanks for the further help, the O2.ie sim sounds like the best deal for me then.