Forget Email: How to Send and Receive a Fax Online

Faxes are so 1980s. Who faxes anymore? Lots of folks do. Business offices. Small companies. Large companies. And why? Well, let's say you want your doctor to send you a copy of your latest lab results. Or your financial analyst asks you to send a document authorizing a certain transaction. Snail mail can be too slow, and email isn't secure. So that leaves us with the decades-old, but still reliable, fax.

But I don't have a fax machine, you say. How can I send or receive a fax? Lucky for you, an array of web-based services exist that can send or receive faxes without much effort. 

Send an Online Fax

Many web services can send a fax to any number you choose for free, as long as you transmit a small number of pages or put up with an ad or logo on the cover page. If you need to send more pages, or don't want an ad cluttering up your fax, you'll usually have to cough up some money. This can either be a per-fax cost or monthly subscription, though many offer a 30-day or 60-day trial.

Assuming the document you want to fax is in hard copy format, you'll first need to scan it. This can be done with a scanner, all-in-one printer, or even a scanning app. The scanned document can be saved as a PDF or TIFF, though the former is better if you want an electronic copy that can be easily shared with other people.

FaxZero

FaxZero is simple to use. From the website, enter your name and contact info and the name and fax number of your recipient. Attach the document you wish to fax--FaxZero accepts Microsoft Word documents and PDF files. Add a cover page if needed, type the confirmation code displayed, and then send your fax.

FaxZero will then email you a confirmation message with a URL to the fax. The fax will be delivered to your recipient, and you’ll receive an email to confirm that your fax was received. FaxZero is free if you send only three pages at a time, limit yourself to five faxes per day, and don't mind the FaxZero ad on the cover page. For $2.09 per page, you can send as many as 25 pages at a time without a cover page ad. 

All user information sent to FaxZero is encrypted and submitted through the HTTPS protocol to its server, according to the company. Further, all outbound communication from the FaxZero server is secured with either SSL or TLS.

Fax.Plus

Fax.Plus is worth considering for its convenience and availability. Send a fax from the Fax.Plus website, the iOS or Android app, Google Docs, or email services such as Gmail and Outlook. Your first 10 faxes are free; after that, it's 20 cents per page, or you’ll have to sign up for a paid plan. 

• Basic plan: 100 pages a month for $5.99 per month or $59.88 per year.

• Premium plan: 300 pages a month for $11.99 per month or $119.88 per year.

• Business plan: 800 pages a month for $19.99 per month or $179.88 per year.

• Enterprise plan: 3,000 pages a month for $59.99 per month or $599.88 per year.

With any paid plan, you also get a phone number through which you can receive faxes.

To get started, go to the Fax.Plus home page and click the Get Started button. Sign in and click the Send Fax button. Enter the receiving fax number and attach the document you want to send. Fax.Plus supports a wide array of document types, including Word, Excel, HTML, PDF, JPG, PNG, and TIF. Click the Add Page button to add a cover sheet.

Click the Settings icon to access options to schedule the fax, retry if it fails, email recipients a PDF of the fax, and optimize the document for faxing. When ready, click the Send button. All faxes sent and received through Fax.Plus are encrypted with AES-256-bit encryption.

Receive an Online Fax

If you need to be on the receiving end of a fax, a variety of sites will assign you a virtual phone number that you can give the sender. The faxed document reaches you via email, typically as a PDF or TIF image. Some services use a proprietary format for the document and provide free software for viewing it.

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FaxBetter

With the free flavor of FaxBetter, you get your own dedicated fax number and can receive as many as 50 pages worth of faxes per month. However, there are a few catches. To use the service for free, you’ll have to install a browser extension that inserts ads into certain web pages while you’re browsing. You’ll also have to view received faxes on the FaxBetter website. And you’ll need to use your fax number at least once every seven days, otherwise you’ll lose it.

With the FaxBetter paid plan, you can get up to 500 faxed pages per month, view them in your email software, search for text within your faxes, and send faxes. The cost is $9.95 per month with an automatic renewal, $95.40 for 1 year ($7.95 per month), or $142.80 for 2 years ($5.95 per month).

FaxSalad

FaxSalad offers both monthly subscriptions and pay-as-you-go options to receive and send faxes. For $10 a month, the Standard plan lets you receive up to 150 faxed pages. For $20 a month, the Pro plan allows for as many as 450 pages. If you instead choose to pay as you go, each fax you receive will cost you $0.03 per page. In addition, a temporary fax number that expires after 30 days imposes a one-time charge of $4.50, while a permanent fax number will run you $4.50 per month.

To create an account at FaxSalad, you’ll have to provide your credit card or PayPal information to cover the costs. Any incoming faxes are formatted as PDF files and forwarded to your regular email address as well as to your FaxSalad inbox on the website where you can view and print them.

Best Online Fax Services

Unsure which service is best for you? Check out our roundup of online fax services to find out which apps and websites best match your needs.