5 Alternatives to a Fax Machine

Even the most staunchly anti-fax entrepreneurs will end up needing to fax something over the course of their careers. Luckily, there’s no need to panic if you’ve already tossed your machine. This diverse group of pay-as-you go online services and mobile apps will resolve any faxing emergencies you might encounter—and, as a bonus, will assist in keeping your office green! If you find you’re still curious about fax machine alternatives, feel free to explore options like subscription and free services as well.

Pay-As-You-Go Online Services

If your faxing needs tend to fluctuate, the pay-as-you-go online service offered by GreenFax might be your best bet. This entirely cloud-based plan allows you to send faxes from any device with email or web access. GreenFax boasts lifetime storage as well as fax broadcasting capabilities for the times you need to send a document to more than one recipient. The send-only pay-as-you-go plan starts at $10. Depending on the prepaid amount you select, faxes can be sent for as little as five cents a page and the credits never expire.

For occasional sending and receiving, look no further than Innoport Express. Users can send faxes worldwide with this service. On the receiving end, faxes are delivered directly to the Innoport Express user’s email inbox by use of a temporary fax number. This service also offers the option of receiving faxes as encrypted PDFs, which is great for transmitting sensitive documents. Prices start at $1.95 for both sending and receiving faxes.

Mobile Apps

FaxBurner is an app for those who need to send and receive faxes on a relatively infrequent basis. If you know someone will be faxing you, just activate the app and it will assign you a fax number to use for up to 24 hours. Once the fax is received, FaxBurner stores a copy on your phone and sends one to your email inbox as well, covering all your bases. It even features a free plan: 25 outbound pages and 5 inbound each month. If you need a consistent fax number (or more pages), plans start at $9.97 per month.

For specifically outbound faxing needs, however, turn to JotNot Fax. This straightforward mobile app simply sends PDF documents to the fax number of your choice and notifies you once the fax has been sent. Faxing credits are accumulated via in-app purchases, with prices starting at $0.99 per credit and $14.99 for 20.

If you do happen to be a print-oriented faxer, there is also Breezy. Like JotNot Fax, this is an app for those who are sending rather than receiving. However, Breezy is one of the few printing apps that also operates in a faxing capacity. In short, if you’re on the hunt for a faxing app with bonus dual functionality, this is the one. Breezy’s fax credits come in packs, starting with 10 for $1.99 and going up to 100 for $19.99.

All three apps support Box and Dropbox integration for extra on-the-go functionality, with JotNot Fax and Breezy providing options for Google Drive as well.