<p>It's no surprise that many people use their phones to text way more often than they use them to talk to people, but text messages still cost money to send (and in many cases, to receive). This week, we want to know which of your favorite free texting apps keeps you in touch with friends without costing you money.</p><p>Whether it's Snapchat, Hangouts, WhatsApp, TextFree, or something else, the market is swimming with apps and tools that let you stay in touch with friends in real time without using SMS at all, or by only using SMS when those friends aren't also using your preferred service. Some of them promise privacy, some of them are just cheap (or free). Which one do you think is the best? Let us know in the discussions below.</p><p>Hive Five nominations take place in the discussions, where you post your favorite tool for the job. We get hundreds of nominations, so to make your nomination clear, please include it at the top of your post like so: VOTE: BEST ALTERNATIVE TEXT MESSAGING APP. Please don't include your vote in a reply to another person. Nominations emailed to us will not be counted. Instead, make your vote and reply separate discussions. After you've made your nomination, let us know what makes it stand out from the competition.</p><p>About the Hive Five: The Hive Five feature series asks readers to answer the most frequently asked question we get: "Which tool is the best?" Once a week we'll put out a call for contenders looking for the best solution to a certain problem, then YOU tell us your favorite tools to get the job done. Every weekend, we'll report back with the top five recommendations and give you a chance to vote on which is best. For an example, check out last week's five best video converters.</p><p><a href="http://lifehacker.com/best-alternative-text-messaging-app-or-service-1217396619">Keep reading...</a></p>