Featured Partners
1
eFax
No
$5 for the first month
$5 for the first month (then $18.99 per month)
2
Fax.Plus
$6.99 per month (on an annual basis)
Yes
Yes
3
Documo
Sandbox Environment Testing
10% Off First Month or Annual Plan — “F1NCP”
Yes
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The Best Online Fax Services
Best for Ease of Use
eFax
Starting Price
$5.00 per month for the first month
(then $18.99 per month)
Toll-free numbers included
Yes
Unlimited faxing plans available
No
$5.00 per month for the first month
(then $18.99 per month)
Yes
No
Small companies can use eFax, a popular and highly reliable online fax service, to send and receive faxes via email or a mobile app in PDF, EFX or TIFF format.
One of eFax’s biggest selling points is the fact that it offers optical character recognition (OCR), which enables users to search through past faxes more easily. Users can also generate reports in CSV and Excel format, based on a particular fax number, employee, client or vendor.
With a strong degree of security, eFax offers 256-bit and TLS 1.2 encryption to protect inbound faxes from unauthorized third parties, whether they’re in transit or stored in the cloud.
Who should use it:
This eFax system is a good solution for smaller companies and sole proprietors that want to move away from paper-based faxing to send and receive faxes from any device. The inclusion of a dedicated account manager will help support new users to get up and running with minimal challenges.
Read more:Check out our detailed eFax review.
- Send and receive faxes via email
- Diverse number support
- International numbers available in 40-plus countries
- Reports
- Android and iOS app
- 256-bit AES and TLS 1.2 encryption
- Dedicated eFax account manager
- Clunky user interface
- Can’t set password
- No two-factor authentication
Best for Faxing and Video Calls
Nextiva
$21 per user per month
Yes
Yes
Nextiva is a widely used cloud-based communication provider that offers online internet faxing, where stored faxes can be accessed via a single web portal.
Faxes can be sent via PC, smartphone (with an app for iOS and Android), tablet or existing fax machine. Likewise, each time a fax arrives, the user is sent a text alert to notify them.
Transmissions are protected with 256-bit SSL encryption so there’s less risk of them being viewed by unauthorized third parties.
It’s worth noting that Nextiva also provides video and conferencing capabilities to help support remote teams.
Learn more: Read our full Nextiva review.
Who should use it:
Nextiva is ideal for SMBs that want to combine internet faxing with video and audio conferencing capabilities. It’s not particularly suited for sole proprietorships or companies that only need to support small teams.
- Send and receive faxes from any device
- Free local and toll-free numbers
- Unlimited calling within the U.S. and Canada
- Audio and video conferencing
- 256-bit SSL encryption
- Mobile app for iOS and Android
- Text alerts
- Library of video tutorials
- Doesn’t support digital signatures
- Live customer support could be improved
- Lacks two-factor authentication
Best for Small Offices
MyFax
Starting price
$12 per month
(on an annual basis)
Toll-free numbers included
Yes
Unlimited faxing plans available
No
$12 per month
(on an annual basis)
Yes
No
MyFax is a solid internet faxing service that allows users to send and receive faxes from any device, to up to 50 recipients, using up to five different sending email addresses. There is also unlimited lifetime fax storage, so you can store as many faxes as you need.
The solution provides a simple user interface, and there is also the option to store and organize faxes. Users can then search for faxes by name, date or fax number or a custom tag.
Read more:Check out full MyFax review.
Who should use it:
MyFax is designed primarily for companies operating in small offices that are looking for a basic solution to manage incoming and outgoing faxes. It isn’t suited to larger SMB teams that are looking for more collaborative capabilities.
- Fax by web, email or mobile app for Android and iOS
- Toll-free and international numbers
- Unlimited lifetime fax storage
- 24/7 customer support
- 14-day free trial
- Costly
- Lacks digital signature support
- Outdated user interface
Best Secure Fax Service
SRFax
Starting price
$11.45 per month
(on an annual basis)
Toll-free numbers included
Yes
Unlimited faxing plans available
No
$11.45 per month
(on an annual basis)
Yes
No
SRFax is a highly flexible online fax service that can be used to send faxes to an unlimited number of recipients. Users can schedule outgoing faxes for up to 50 recipients at once.
In addition, SRFax also provides companies with unlimited storage, so they can keep a comprehensive archive of past documents.
User accounts are password and multifactor authentication protected, while faxes are also secured with end-to-end encryption to shield them from third-party entities.
Who should use it:
SRFax is a good choice for smaller business owners who need an online fax service with basic faxing capabilities and a basic level of security with password-based protection and multifactor authentication. Unfortunately, the lack of digital signatures means that it won’t be suitable to the needs of all teams.
Read more:
Check out our full SRFax Review.
- Local or toll-free number
- Fax API
- SSL encryption
- Password protected
- Multifactor authentication
- 24/7 support
- 60-day free trial
- No mobile app
- Doesn’t support digital signatures
- Can’t choose a vanity fax number
Best for Basic Fax Service
RingCentral Fax
Starting price
$22.99 per month
(on an annual basis)
Toll-free numbers included
Yes
Unlimited faxing plans available
Yes
$22.99 per month
(on an annual basis)
Yes
Yes
RingCentral Fax is a very useful online fax service that enables the user to send faxes to up to 50 recipients at once. Faxes are also stored in your online account for an unlimited amount of time up to the first 200 faxes.
Users can schedule or send faxes on demand, using customizable cover pages, which can be altered to include a company logo. These documents can also be previewed and printed.
Whenever you receive a fax you can also get an alert by email so that you’re instantly notified. You can also block unwanted faxes from anyone you don’t want to contact you.
All transmitted faxes are protected with TLS encryption while online accounts are secured with a password.
Learn more: Read our full RingCentral review.
Who should use it:
RingCentral Fax is a good fit for small companies and sole proprietors that want to be able to manage, customize and send a low volume of faxes, which don’t require digital signatures.
- Team messaging and video meetings
- Schedule faxes
- Integrations with Dropbox and Google Drive
- Password protection
- TLS encryption
- 24-hour customer support
- Expensive
- Lack of international numbers
- No two-factor authentication
Best for Local Faxing
MetroFax
Starting price
$11.95 per month
(on an annual basis)
Toll-free numbers included
Yes
Unlimited faxing plans available
Yes
$11.95 per month
(on an annual basis)
Yes
Yes
MetroFax is a bare-bones but reliable online fax service, which can be used to send faxes via a web client, email or a mobile app for Android or iOS.
With MetroFax, users can store recipients’ addresses within an address book, and search for archived faxes via custom tags. All archived faxes come with lifetime storage.
While MetroFax is a very useful tool, it’s important to highlight that it only offers users U.S. and Canadian numbers. Also, the lack of two-factor authentication raises some security concerns.
Check out our full MetroFax review.
Who should use it:
MetroFax is a great choice for small companies that want an affordable but basic online fax service and don’t require international fax numbers.
- Select toll-free number or port existing number
- Address book
- Attach files to faxes
- Lifetime storage for faxes
- Android or iOS app
- 14-day free trial
- Clunky user interface
- Lack of international fax numbers
- No support for digital signatures
- Limited to U.S. and Canadian numbers
Best for Cloud Fax Storage
Documo
Starting price
$25.00 per month
(billed annually)
Toll-free numbers included
No
Unlimited faxing plans available
No
$25.00 per month
(billed annually)
No
No
You can use the Documo cloud-based fax service to send and receive faxes online via a web portal, email or mobile app. All received faxes are stored in the cloud, but there is also the option to print them straight to fax. Users can also view their fax history via the online web portal.
You can choose from a range of attachments to add to the fax including PDF, JPEG, DOC, XLS, XLSX, PNG, PPT and DOCX.
One useful addition is the inclusion of administrative capabilities, which allow you to manage user permissions and configure routing rules to determine how incoming faxes are distributed to your team.
Who should use it:
For SMBs that are looking for a cloud-based fax service, or companies that are working toward achieving HIPAA compliance, Documo is a good choice.
Learn more:
Read our full Documo review.
- Send and receive faxes
- Archive faxes
- Fax covers
- One free number included
- Print straight to fax
- HIPAA compliant
- Costly
- Lacks two-factor authentication
Ooma Office is a VoIP call service that also supports sending and receiving faxes virtually through an online portal or desktop application.
The platform enables users to send multiple PDF files at once or to send faxes to multiple recipients. Received faxes are sent directly to a user’s email address.
At the same time, Ooma Office also supports meetings, providing video conferencing support for up to 25 users under the Office Pro plan as well as unlimited calls for recipients in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
Learn more: Read our full Ooma review.
Who should use it:
Ooma Office is useful for SMBs that want a fax service that’s bolted onto a more expansive VoIP, virtual receptionist-style solution. However, it lacks features such as OCR scanning that some other online fax services on this list offer.
- Easy to use client
- Fax logs
- Export faxes
- Send faxes online
- Virtual receptionist
- Video conferencing support
- Mobile app
- 24/7 support
- Limited faxing capabilities
- Limited authentication via username and password alone
Best International Fax Service
Fax.Plus
Starting price
$6.99 per month
(on an annual basis)
Toll-free numbers included
Yes
Unlimited faxing plans available
No
$6.99 per month
(on an annual basis)
Yes
No
FAX.PLUS enables companies to send faxes online to over 180 countries. Companies can select between a toll-free or international fax number, or even port an existing number.
One particularly useful feature offered by FAX.PLUS is the ability to store faxes in over 20 regions including the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan and Switzerland.
When it comes to security, FAX.PLUS encrypts data at rest with 256-bit AES encryption, and uses SSL/TLS to protect data in transit. This means that faxes can be archived securely for future reference.
Who should use it:
FAX.PLUS is a low-cost fax solution on the market that is suitable for small companies and sole proprietors that want a digital solution for managing faxes, that’s easy to use and offers robust security measures.
Learn more: Read our full Fax Plus review.
- Easy to use
- Send and receive faxes online
- Android and iOS apps
- Programmable fax API
- Integration with Slack and Google
- AES-256-bit and SSL/TLS encryption
- Send up to 10 pages for free with the free tier
- HIPAA compliant
- Supports a limited number of file types
- Digital signatures limited to
Forbes Advisor Ratings
COMPANY | FORBES ADVISOR RATING | PRICING FROM | TOLL-FREE NUMBERS INCLUDED | UNLIMITED FAXING PLANS AVAILABLE | LEARN MORE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.7 | $5 for the first month (then $18.99 per month) | Yes | No | On eFax's Website | |
4.7 | $20 per user per month | Yes | Yes | Read Forbes' Review | |
4.5 | $12 per month (on an annual basis) | Yes | No | Read Forbes' Review | |
4.3 | $11.45 per month (on an annual basis) | Yes | No | Read Forbes' Review | |
4.3 | $22.99 per month (on an annual basis) | Yes | Yes | On RingCentral's Website | |
4.2 | $11.95 per month (on an annual basis) | Yes | Yes | Read Forbes' Review | |
4.1 | $25.00 per month (billed annually) | No | No | On Documo's Website | |
4.0 | $19.95 per month | Yes | Yes | On Ooma's Website | |
4.0 | $6.99 per month (on an annual basis) | Yes | No | On Fax.Plus' Website |
How To Choose the Best Online Fax Service
When looking for the best online fax service for your business, there are some essential features you should keep in mind.
Essential Features
- Digital signatures – Solutions that support digital signatures for faxed documents can make it easier to manage a much wider range of transactions and agreements than those that don’t.
- Bandwidth and file size support – The ability to support the necessary bandwidth and size of faxes is critical for making sure that a solution can scale to your needs.
- Diverse file support – A tool that supports a diverse range of file types such as Microsoft Office files, PDF, HTML, DOC, DOCX and JPEG will reduce the chance of disruption to your workflow.
- Fax search and indexing – Having a searchable archive with a tagging system can make it much easier to locate the documents you need quickly.
- Regulatory compliance – You may also want to look for solutions that comply with regulations such as HIPAA if you’re going to be processing documents containing data that’s protected under those legal frameworks.
Customer Support
Another key factor to consider is the level of customer support offered. If you’re going to be relying on the fax service to manage agreements and transactions with third-party suppliers and customers, then having access to ample customer support or a dedicated account representative is essential for making sure that you don’t experience any unnecessary downtime.
Security
Security is an important concern, as measures including password-based authentication, multifactor authentication and end-to-end encryption will reduce the chance of leaving sensitive data exposed to unauthorized individuals. It will also help you to reduce legal and compliance risk.
Desktop and Mobile App
Being able to fax documents from any device gives you and your team much more flexibility, so that you can all work remotely and still ensure that documents are processed quickly and professionally, whether you’re connecting from a web portal, email account or mobile app.
Featured Partners
1
eFax
No
$5 for the first month
$5 for the first month (then $18.99 per month)
2
Fax.Plus
$6.99 per month (on an annual basis)
Yes
Yes
3
Documo
Sandbox Environment Testing
10% Off First Month or Annual Plan -- "F1NCP"
Yes
Methodology
Below is a brief rundown of the methodology we used to rank the fax services scored above.
- Pricing and fees (20%): The overall cost of faxing documents was one of the prime considerations of this review and accounted for 20% of a product’s total score. We prioritized ranking fax services that offered the lowest price per page as part of their base plan.
- General features (20%): A fifth of the score accounted for the depth of core features offered by the product, from the ability to send faxes from any device to fax archiving, digital signing, tagging and customizable covers.
- Additional features (20%): This section accounts for additional features such as video conferencing and audio calls that might not be part of a traditional fax service, but help teams to manage their workloads in remote working environments.
- Reviews and ratings (20%): Here we take into account the feedback of users left on online review sites and other sources to evaluate how the products and features were received more broadly.
- Expert score (20%): Lastly, we considered expert scores to cross-reference with the user community’s feedback to further scrutinize the quality and limitations of each product.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why do I need an online fax service?
Fax services are useful because they enable you to request a copy of documents, such as medical files and public records from public institutions and governmental organizations, without having to manually print them with a fax machine that you’ve purchased and maintained.
Can I send a fax by email?
There are many online fax services that allow you to send and receive faxes via email without the need for a phone line or fax machine. Others will allow you to do so through a web portal or mobile app.
Can I send faxes for free?
There are several tools that offer free trials or free tiers that you can use to send a limited amount of faxes for free.
What are some key features to look for in an online fax service?
When choosing an online fax service for your business, there are several essential features to consider, including digital signatures, bandwidth and file size support, diverse file support, fax search and indexing and regulatory compliance.