2018 has been a great year for all of us who choose to fax online. Gmail fax services have consolidated as the top-rated method to send and receive faxes by email, whether it is for personal or business purposes.
The truth is that using an email fax service is faster and easier than using a fax machine, and you don’t need any additional equipment. At the same time, many companies also realize how fragile common digital communications channels are regarding security, and this mixture of email and fax provides the perfect solution for them.
But you may have arrived this site wondering which is the best alternative to get started. Or perhaps you are looking to change your current service for a better choice.
Well, now more than ever we have different options at our disposal. In this article, we will help you choose among the best online fax services in the market based on our extensive testing over the course of 2018.
We invite you to read on to find the right email fax service for you and learn how to get started with any of them for free.
The Best Gmail Fax Services of 2018 Comparison
Okay, so let’s take a look at the best email fax services of 2018. We have chosen three of them in no particular order because we believe that they are equally useful, it all depends on the needs of your business. They all provide you with a Google fax number that you can use to recieve faxes digitally.
If you want to test these services by yourself, we have included links to their pages where you can create a free 30-day trial account. You will enjoy a full month of free faxing, which is great to test these services first-hand and see if they are the option you were looking for.
1. eFax
eFax has positioned itself as one of the best options in the past five years at least. It is owned by J2 Global, a company that specializes in online communications and owns other services such as SRfax and Metrofax.
eFax has always been at the forefront of online faxing innovation, consistently providing new and exciting features for power fax users. They were the first service that offered mobile integration, and to this day eFax’s app remain the best way to fax from your smartphone, allowing you to send, receive and sign faxes.
Regarding price, you could say that eFax is over-priced compared to other services. Its basic plan called “eFax Plus” costs $16.95 per month and includes 150 pages to fax during that period. If you want to send an additional fax, you’ll need to pay an overage fee of 10 cents per page within the USA. International costs may vary.
So what makes it worth the extra price? The features. eFax works perfectly and integrates with email addresses including Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo. Its interface is easy to use, allowing you to send up to 10 documents in a single fax. But if don’t plan on using advanced features, you can find better-priced alternatives.
2. RingCentral Fax
RingCentral is eFax’s main competitor and also one of the more experienced services out there. They offer a stand-alone fax service as well as part of their RingCentral Office solution which also includes VOIP capabilities.
RingCentral offers advanced features such as fax scheduling and cloud faxing, which means you can pull and fax documents directly from cloud-based services including Google Drive, Box, and Dropbox.
They also have a mobile application, but compared to others it feels somewhat limited. This happens perhaps because this app is not solely for faxing but for controlling the Office package, there are a lot of menus and options you won’t use if you are only looking to fax.
Price is lower than other alternatives. Their starter plan costs just $9.99 a month, and if you choose to pay annually upfront, you end up paying $7.99 per month. Not bad for a competitive service.
RingCentral offers a good balance of price and flexible features.
3. MyFax
MyFax is a smaller fax service provider, but it has remained active for many years thanks to its reliable set of basic features and most importantly, their international presence. MyFax has made their email fax service available in more than 40 countries and hundreds of cities across the Globe. If you are outside the USA, this is the service you are looking for.
In terms of features, MyFax offers a basic set that includes the ability to fax from email, compatibility with dozens of file types and a mobile application that does a good job at sending faxes. But what I like the most about MyFax is their support, it is available 24/7, and they respond very quickly.
Their basic plan costs $10 a month and includes 300 pages of fax per month.
If you are looking for a fast and good fax service with international coverage, MyFax is a great alternative.
How do We Evaluate Services
To find the best email fax services we followed some criteria. These are the things you should be evaluating when testing a service. Don’t worry, if you don’t have time to check many different services, we have done it for you!
We have kept in mind factors such as:
- Ease of use. Meaning how easy is to create your account and have it working with Gmail, and how easy it is to use on a day to day basis whether you use your email to fax or your online fax dashboard. Ideally you should be able to send and receive fax through Gmail without unnecessary steps.
- Price. Top rated services won’t cost you more than $17 a month for a basic plan. I know, this is not a big price, but there are different plans and costs out there you should know about. Price is closely related to a service’s features and the number of pages you are allowed to fax per month.
- Mobile integration. We believe that having mobile access to your faxes is a must these days when everybody has a smartphone in their hands. So we have evaluated how good these services integrate with mobile apps.
- Additional Features. Services offer more than just basic faxing capabilities, including fax scheduling, broadcasting, cover letter integration among others. We have tested them for our reviews.
Google Fax Service BUYING TIPS
There are many fax services out there, and the reality is that not all of them are good for you. Here I want to share with you some real factors to keep in mind before start paying for a Google fax service plan.
Pick the right plan
Most online fax services offer monthly plans. You get a determined number of faxes to send and receive each month, and once you get past your limit, you need to pay an overage fee, which is charged per page.
Choose a small plan for for a big office and you could end up paying more than a bigger plan, just on overage fees. It’s better to choose a slightly larger plan, which doesn’t end up costing too much.
Also, make sure the plan you choose has no set-up fees. Nowadays the biggest fax providers don’t have this type of charge, but check this out if you are trying out a smaller company. I’ve encountered companies with set up fees as high as fifty dollars!
Different ways to access your faxes
One of the greatest perks of present day technology is that you can access the Internet practically anywhere, either from wi-fi hotspots or mobile connectivity. An excellent service will keep that in mind and will give you the chance to access your faxes from a mobile device easily. You don’t have to worry about missing faxes, because you have a dedicated fax line that stays on 24/7.
There are already many online fax services developing apps compatible with smartphones and tablets that allow you to fax on the go. If fax portability is important for you, then you should go and look for a service with a mobile app. An excellent app that doesn’t crash in the middle of sending a fax!
Test them out before buying
Who says you need to pay for a plan to send your first online faxes? It’s no secret that the majority of fax services offer a full-month free trial to visitors, so they can fully test their features and hopefully be converted into loyal customers.
Trying out a service is the best way to see if a service is good enough for you. Just be sure to try out as many features as you need and contact their support department to see if they respond in time. You don’t know when an emergency could arrive and you need a quick response from the support staff!
In our service reviews, we include a link to the free account signup (if available). Service reviews are a great tool to check real service ratings, but there’s no better way to evaluate a service than trying it out yourself.
Extra features
Online faxing offers much more than traditional technology. In addition to mobile faxing you can schedule faxes, receive SMS fax notifications, fax documents from the cloud, sign documents electronically, broadcast faxes and much more! But… It depends on the service and is pretty much what differentiates one from the other.
It takes a little time to do a little research and the service pages and look at the extra features they offer. Reading at review online will also help you assess how good these features work!
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