FAQ: How can I send a fax from the Internet?
This document is copyright 1994-2010 by Kevin Savetz.
Updated February 26, 2010 Continually updated since 1994!
What's new:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CAN I SEND A FAX FROM THE INTERNET?
Yes. There are many services that will let you use the Internet to send
faxes. Some are free while others are pay services. Some services
require that you can send and receive electronic mail, or that you have
Web access. Others require you to install special software on your
computer.
Some services allow you to receive faxes, too. When you receive a fax
at a special number, it is delivered via e-mail address or available for
viewing on the Web. Some commercial services include bulk faxing and other
special features.
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COMMERCIAL SERVICES -
FAXING FROM THE WEB AND E-MAIL
These services allow you to send faxes using any Web browser
or e-mail client, without installing special fax software on your computer.
Metro Hi Speed [KEVIN'S PICK]
Metro Hi Speed lets you send and receive faxes via e-mail or by printing
to fax from your Microsoft Windows applications. A monthly charge of $12.95 includes up to 1,000
pages of combined inbound or outbound faxes. Delivered as PDF or TIFF (you specify). Also supports Mac and PDAs. (3 cents per additional page.)
An additional $2 per month per line gets you a toll-free inbound fax number.
(There's also a $9.95 activation fee.) It's easy to add extra fax numbers (with discounts
for six or more) allowing each employee to have their own fax number that delivers faxes
directly to their e-mail account.
Go to Metro Hi Speed
[Verified 2/25/2010]
MyFax [KEVIN'S PICK]
MyFax is an innovative email fax service used in thousands of home offices and small businesses
that depend on reliable fax communications. MyFax simply integrates with existing email
systems, needing no new software or hardware, and eliminates costs, hassles and missing pages. For
only $10 monthly (or $110 per year) the "Best Value" plan allows 100 outgoing fax pages and 200
incoming pages each month. Additional pages cost 10 cents each. The "Most Popular" plan is $20
per month to send 200 faxes and receive 200. The "Fax More" plan is $40 per month and allows
users to send 400 faxes and receive 400. There's no set-up fee or other hidden fees.
You can receive your faxes as PDF or TIFF files in up to three email accounts, or view them on the
web. Send faxes via e-mail: the service supports 178 document types. Works with Microsoft Office and PDAs.
Go to MyFax
[Verified 2/25/2010]
AirComUSA [KEVIN'S PICK]
AirComUSA offers fax<->email, fax-from-the-desktop, and fax broadcasting. You get a toll-free
1-888 number for receiving, or a local fax number in your choice of nearly 30 area codes.
There are several account options, ranging from $8.95/month + 10 cents per minute to
$29.95/month which includes toll-free voicemail and two hours of usage.
You can register for a free trial account for receiving faxes: it
provides 30 minutes/30 days of usage (whichever is less) via a toll-free number. There is a $10 setup free, and with the lowest-priced plan you must also deposit $12 for the first two hours of system time.
Faxes arrive in e-mail as a TIFF or PDF file. They also handle special requests, such as
fax delivery via FTP.
Go to AirComUSA
[Verified 2/25/2010]
TrustFax [KEVIN'S PICK]
TrustFax provides a local number (toll-free numbers are available at a higher cost, or for fewer allowed pages) for incoming faxes, which are
delivered to your e-mail box in PDF format. You can send faxes via e-mail or the web.
The Prestige User account is $4.95 per month for 100 incoming and 50 outgoing fax pages per month (a toll free number would include 50 pages) and the Power User account costs $29.95 per year for 150 pages received and 50 sent per year (toll free would be $39.95 for the year and include 150 pages per month.) Additional pages are 10
cents each. The Pro User plan costs $9.95 per month for 400 incoming and 125
outgoing pages per month (toll-free gets 125 pages per month total). The Premium User plan costs $18.95 per month for 800 fax pages incoming and 250 outgoing (the toll-free plan comes with 150 pages per month). Annual payment earns discount plus faxes are stored for a year rather than a month. (Extra storage available for a fee.) Six high-volume "Platinum" plans also available starting at $414 per year. There is a free 30-day trial for every type of account.
Go to TrustFax
[Verified 2/25/2010]
FaxitNice [KEVIN'S PICK]
For occasional faxing, a prepaid FaxIt Credit account is a good deal with no monthly fees: 18 cents per page sent and 75 cents per page to receive. $20
minimum pre-pay, and fax numbers are lost after 180 days of inactivity. For sending and receiving faxes, the Prepaid Basic plan lets you send and receive with a per-page
fee (50 free pages per month, 15 cents for extra pages) and a monthly fee of $5.99. The Prepaid Premium plan is $9.99 per month and you get 350 free pages and pay 10 cents for extras. For heavier users
the $29.99/month FaxIt Elite plan lets you send/receive a total of 1,100 pages per month and pay 10 cents for extra pages. A free trial is offered for 15 days or 20 pages, whichever comes first. Also offers FaxItOnce service for $4.99 for 10 pages; 30 cents per additional page. No setup fee. You can transmit many common
file formats, including Word, Excel, PDF, and RTF.
Go to FaxItNice
[Verified 2/25/2010]
MaxEmail [KEVIN'S PICK]
MaxEmail, one of the oldest Internet fax services, lets you receive faxes and voicemail as e-mail
attachments, and send faxes via e-mail or the web. The Lite version of the service has an annual
fee of $24 (with a non-local fax number). There are 100 outbound pages allowed per month, with additional inbound pages costing 5 cents each and all outbound pages costing 5 to 10 cents each. The Plus version costs $84 a year (or $9.95 per month if paid monthly), and includes a local number in
your choice of various cities. Included are 250 inbound pages and 100 outbound pages per month. There's also a $10 activation fee, except on the Corporate plans. Corporate Lite is $39.95 per month for 600 pages; extra incoming pages are 2 cents and extra outgoing pages range from 5 to 10 cents. There's also a Corporate plan at $104.50 per month for 2,000 pages; 1 cent per extra incoming pages and 5-10 cents for extra outgoing pages. All plans have a toll-free option, but on toll-free plans each page sent cost 10 cents. Allows porting in of existing numbers when possible. MaxEmail offers a 30-day free trial. Broadcast fax service
is also available.
Go to MaxEmail
[Verified 2/25/2010]
FaxPipe [KEVIN'S PICK]
FaxPipe's email-to-fax service offers five plans suitable for medium to very low-volume users.
On the high end, 900 combined incoming/outgoing pages for $36.95 month; on the low-volume side,
$47.40 a year ($3.95/month) gets you 25 combined pages per month. $3.95/mo and $6.95/mo plans must be paid annually. Additional pages are 10-15 cents, depending on the plan. You get a choice of toll-free or local number
in your choice of 26 area codes. $10 activation fee on all plans. Free trial for receiving only.
Go to FaxPipe
[Verified 2/25/2010]
GreenFax [KEVIN'S PICK]
GreenFax (formerly IntelliFax) offers full-service internet-faxing solutions. Local fax numbers for receiving faxes are available in 150+ area codes. For a local number on the Signature Service Plan, pricing is $12.95 per month (billed quarterly), and includes 250 incoming and 100 outgoing pages per month. (Additional incoming pages are 3 cents; additional sent pages are 7 cents for the first page and 5 cents for additional pages.) A toll-free plan is also $12.95 per month, and includes 50 incoming and 100 outgoing pages. (Additional incoming pages are 15 cents; additional sent pages are 7 cents for the first page and 5 cents for additional pages.) For users who receive a large number of inbound faxes, GreenFax' offers a High-Volume' inbound plan for $29.95 per month which includes 1,000 incoming pages (excess pages are 2 cents per page). For users who need only to send faxes, GreenFax offers a pay-as-you-go "Send-Only" plan with no monthly service charge, in which pricing to send outbound faxes is 7 cents for the first page 5 cents for each additional page. GreenFax does not charge a setup fee and offers a cancel-anytime policy. Other features and options include: lifetime storage of inbound faxes, secure inbound fax option, corporate accounts, and toll-free fax numbers.
Go to GreenFax
[Verified 2/25/2010]
SRFax
SRFax lets you send faxes via e-mail or the web, and provides a toll-free phone number
for incoming faxes. (Local numbers available in nine major cities.) The Ultra Lite plan is $6.95 per month or $72 per year to send 50 faxes and receive 100. The Lite plan lets you send 100/receive 300 pages per month
for $9.95 a month or $108 per year; the Small Business plan bumps it to 200 outgoing/500 incoming pages for $15.95/month or $174 per year. The Large Business plan is $34.95 per month for 400 outgoing/800 incoming. Extra pages are 8 cents. A prepaid plan is $36 per year plus 25 cents per page, and a $25 deposit is required. 40-plus file formats. No extra charge for toll-free numbers.
There's a free 30-day trial, and discounted annual rates are available. One year of storage included.
Go to SRFax
[Verified 2/25/2010]
eFax
The eFax service provides a local number which delivers incoming faxes to your e-mail account. An eFax Plus account is
$16.95 per month, or $14.13 if paid annually, and allows the receipt of 130 pages per month (15 cents each for extras) as well as
the sending of 30 pages (10 cents each for more). The eFax Pro membership is $19.95 per month, or $18.34 if paid
annually, and includes 200 received pages (10 cents for extras) and sending for 10 cents per page. Incoming faxes on toll-free numbers are 20 cents per page; no free pages are included. Plus and Pro
accounts include the download of eFax Messenger (for Windows and MacOS), which allows conversion to PDF, the addition of digital
signatures and other features. Setup fee (normally $10-$19.95 may be waived with 30-day free trial.
Go to eFax
[Verified 2/25/2010]
RapidFAX
RapidFax provides a local or toll-free number for incoming faxes for $9.95 per month, including 300 combined incoming/outgoing pages per month. 8 cents per additional page. (There is no extra charge for toll-free numbers.) There is no setup fee. You can send and receive faxes via e-mail or the web site. Also integrates with Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007 Internet fax applications.
Go to RapidFAX
[Verified 2/25/2010]
FaxAge
FaxAge offers plans starting at $3.49. For $7.95 a month, you get 150 incoming/150 outgoing faxes
with your choice of local and toll-free numbers. Higher-volume plans for virtually unlimited receive-only
start from $19.95 per month and send/receive for $64.95 per month for local numbers; toll-free has page limits in most cases. Overage charge is 5 cents per minute on most plans. There is a $5 setup fee for all
account types. Allows porting in of existing numbers when possible. FaxAge allows for multiple fax numbers per account and forwards faxes as PDF or TIFF files to as many
email addresses as the user specifies. User management, status reporting, list faxing and other
features are all provided via the web interface.
Go to FaxAge
[Verified 2/25/2010]
Fax.com
Fax.com offers fax-to-email and email-to-fax services for $9.99 per month. Choose local or toll-free number. No setup fee. Free trial includes 300 pages for 30 days. (Additional pages 12 cents each; faxes kept in online storage beyond 30 days will be charged 5 cents per fax per month.)
Go to Fax.com
[Verified 2/25/2010]
SmartFax
SmartFax offers email-to-fax and fax-to-email services. SmartFax Local plan is $6.95 a month and includes a local fax number with 250 combined incoming/outgoing pages per month (8 cents each for additional pages). The SmartFax Toll Free plan is priced the same, with the same features. No setup charge. Offers 30-day free trial, which automatically continues to the equivalent paid package after the free trial period expires. Faxes stored longer than 30 days will be charged 5 cents per fax per month.
Go to SmartFax
[Verified 2/25/2010]
FaxFreedom
FaxFreedom provides a toll-free or local number for $7.95 per month for the FaxStart plan, which includes 80 free pages. FaxEdge plan is $14.95 per month and includes 200 free pages. FaxSuite is $29.95 per month with 500 free pages. Additional pages are 10 cents on all plans. Features include: caller ID on incoming faxes, unlimited fax storage, optional call-back or pager notification, and more. No set up fee, but first and last month's charges must be paid on non prepaid plans. Existing toll-free numberscan be transferred to FaxFreedom for a one-time $30 fee, and if you leave FaxFreedom you can keep that number, or the number they give you. Vanity numbers and true "800" numbers are available for $30 and $15, respectively. 30-day money back guarantee.
Go to FaxFreedom
[Verified 2/25/2010]
Popfax
Popfax offers send and receive as well as send-only Internet faxing plans. Send-only plans start at $5.49 for one week's use, with 10 pages included. One-year subscriptions start at $26.99 for 100 sent pages, all the way up to $209.99 per year for 3,000 sent pages. Send SMS messages for 14 cents each with any plan. Send and Receive packages are available: $25.49 for three months, which includes 20 pages of sending credit; or $68.99 with 50 pages of sending credit. Add more credits for 7 cents per page. Free trial. Prices are available in many currencies; be sure to pick "USD" from the drop-down menu to see price in dollars. Supports more than 15 common file formats.
Go to Popfax
[Verified 2/25/2010]
COMMERCIAL SERVICES -
FAXING FROM THE DESKTOP
These services allow you to send a fax using an application on your
Internet-connected computer (rather than by accessing a Web page or
sending e-mail.) You do not need a fax modem. These tools often let you
send formatted, graphical faxes directly from your favorite applications.
(SPONSOR & KEVIN'S PICK)
ClickFax
Send from any Windows application and receive faxes in your email. ClickFax
promises tight integration with Outlook, Access, Exchange, Excel, QuickBooks
and more. Budget plans as low as $3.41/month. Budget send/receive plan is
$9.95 per month with 50 free pages included on local number. Extra
pages are 10 cents. A toll-free number is $1 extra per month. High-volume
discounted plans as well. Prepay and get 20 percent off extra minutes.
Go to ClickFax Pro
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Fax1 [KEVIN'S PICK]
Send faxes worldwide via PC software, e-mail, or the Web. 12 cents per page for U.S.
destinations, with no sign up or monthly fees. New signups get $1 worth of free trial use (send-only); then purchase $10 in use credits.
If you need to receive faxes too, a Pro account ($9 per month or $99 per year) provides
an incoming fax line in your choice of many area codes. You can receive 200 faxes per month and additional pages are 5 cents each. Faxes are delivered as TIFF or PDF files.
Go to Fax1
[Verified 2/25/2010]
RingCentral [KEVIN'S PICK]
RingCentral Fax includes a toll-free or local fax number to receive faxes by email
web-based account. Receive fax alerts by cell phone. RingCentral Fax plans start at $7.99/month (on the annual Fax 300 plan; month-to-month is $9.99)
which includes 300 pages per month. 5.9 cents per additional page. Free Fax editing software included
to sign/edit faxes electronically. The service is fully integrated with Microsoft Office so
you can fax directly from Word or Excel by clicking fax icon on your toolbar.
Billing plans include: Fax 1000 $19.99/mo. annual plan ($24.99 if billed monthly) send/receive 1000 faxes per month and pay 4.9 cents for additional pages; Fax 2500 plan, $59.99 per month and 3.9 cents for additional pages. There is a $30 setup for vanity numbers; $15 setup fee for true 800 numbers (temporarily discounted from $30). Some plans include multiple fax numbers with additional available at $4.99. Free trial.
Go to RingCentral
[Verified 2/25/2010]
Concord Technologies
Concord offers Concord Fax Premier for $10.95/mo. for 50 faxes sent and 50 received, plus 8 cents and 7 cents, respectively, for additional pages. The Pro version is $14.95/mo. with 150 outbound/150 inbound plus 7 cents for extra pages. Concord Internet Fax for Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 is $9.95/mo. with 50 outbound/50 inbound faxes and 7 cents or 8 cents per extra page in the U.S. and Canada. Concord is no longer developing fax broadcasting, Internet fax, fax mailbox or universal mailbox.
Go to Concord Fax
[Verified 2/25/2010]
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT FAXING
How to send an international fax? See HowToCall.info
[Verified 1/25/2010]
This site has free fax cover sheets available for download.
[Verified 1/25/2010]
LEGAL STUFF
This document is copyright 2010 by Kevin M. Savetz and may not be
reproduced without my express permission.
All prices in US dollars, unless otherwise indicated.
This document is always in transition. If you notice that something
important is missing, or information herein needs updating, please
contact the editor.
The editor and contributors have developed this FAQ as a service to the
Internet community. We hope you find it useful. This FAQ is purely a
volunteer effort. Although every effort has been made to ensure that
answers are as accurate as possible, no guarantee is implied or
intended. While the editor tries to keep this document current, remember
that the Internet and its services are constantly changing, so don't be
surprised if you happen across statements which are obsolete. If you do,
please send corrections to the editor. Corrections, questions, and
comments should be sent to Kevin Savetz.