Can I switch to an Iphone 5c for free?

I heard that you can do that. I have sprint and my current phone is galaxy s3. This upcoming Christmas will mark 2 years of me having it. I really qant an iphone 5c! We have a family plan I think but is there any other way I can switch to the iphone instead of waiting for my upgrade? And how exactly does the upgrade work if I were to wait?

No i don't think so. But you could sell your s3 and buy a iphone with the money

In a way that is possible but not in the way you maybe thinking.
Reason being is since your contract is coming to the 2 year mark Sprint and any other provider will want to keep your services. Have you ever gone phone browsing and notice two different prices?
One price is the full price of the phone (buying the phone without the contract)
The second is the price of that phone if you were to renew your contract.
Now it sounds like in your case the renewal will be the best way to go. And most likely the 5c will be cheap enough for this to work.
And that is for you to exchange/sell your current phone to them (as long as its in good condition) looking at i don't know $30-50 and the 5c at a renewal price will be about the same, so in a way yes you can get it for free.

An iPhone 5C is not free, those phones are actually about $800 retail, the deal is that if you sign a contract they'll drop it down for you, but you will certainly not get it 'free' like you think.

People don't understand but even those cheap old flip phones are $150, all phones are little mini computers and if you can understand that you have to pay hundreds for a laptop, maybe it'll help you understand the true price of a cell phone and the huge deal carriers are giving you in order to stay with them on phones as technology advanced as the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy