FAX.PLUS by Alohi is a strong choice for most ecommerce sellers who need to send the occasional supplier agreement or licensing document, but it is not the only option, and it is not always the right fit. Maybe you need deeper integration with a phone system you already pay for, maybe your volume is low enough that a pay-per-fax option makes more sense than a monthly subscription, or maybe you just want to see what else is out there before committing. Here is a full rundown of the real alternatives, what each one does differently, and who should actually pick each one over FAX.PLUS.
For the full breakdown of what FAX.PLUS itself offers, see the complete FAX.PLUS by Alohi review. If pricing is your main concern, the FAX.PLUS pricing guide covers every tier in detail.
Quick Comparison: FAX.PLUS vs the Alternatives
| Service | Starting Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| FAX.PLUS by Alohi | $0 free, $6.99/mo paid | Ecommerce sellers who want a dedicated, affordable fax tool |
| eFax | Higher than FAX.PLUS Basic | Sellers who want the most established legacy brand |
| MetroFax | Competitive with FAX.PLUS Basic | Budget-focused sellers with light volume |
| RingCentral | Bundled into a full communications suite | Teams that already need phone and messaging tools |
| Nextiva | Bundled into a full communications suite | Businesses standardizing on one communications vendor |
| HelloFax (part of Dropbox Sign) | Included with some Dropbox Sign plans | Teams already using Dropbox for document management |
| MyFax | Similar range to FAX.PLUS | Sellers who want a simple, no-frills fax tool |
| iFax | Similar range to FAX.PLUS | Mobile-first sellers who fax almost entirely from a phone |
Still think FAX.PLUS is the right call? You can test it with 10 free pages before deciding. Try FAX.PLUS by Alohi free.
eFax: The Legacy Name in Online Fax
eFax has been around longer than almost anyone else in this category, and that history shows up in both directions. On the positive side, eFax has broad brand recognition and a long track record, which matters to some sellers working with older, more traditional suppliers who feel more comfortable dealing with a name they already recognize. On the negative side, eFax’s pricing tends to run higher than FAX.PLUS at equivalent page allowances, and its interface has a reputation for feeling dated compared to newer entrants in the space.
If brand recognition and a long operating history matter more to you than saving a few dollars a month, eFax is worth a look. For a full head-to-head, see the FAX.PLUS vs eFax comparison.
MetroFax: The Budget Option
MetroFax positions itself squarely as the low-cost alternative in the category, and it generally delivers on that positioning with pricing that sometimes undercuts FAX.PLUS Basic. The tradeoff is a lower page ceiling at the entry tier and a lighter feature set overall, particularly around team accounts and mobile app polish. For a seller who faxes rarely and just wants the cheapest reliable option, MetroFax earns a look. For anyone who expects volume to grow, the ceiling can become a problem faster than expected.
See the full breakdown in the FAX.PLUS vs MetroFax comparison.
RingCentral: Fax as Part of a Bigger Suite
RingCentral is not primarily a fax company. It is a business phone and communications platform that happens to include fax as one feature among many, covering video conferencing, team messaging, and a full VoIP phone system. If you already need or want that broader suite for your ecommerce operation, getting fax bundled in can make the effective cost of fax capability close to zero, since you are paying for the platform anyway.
The catch is that if you only need fax, paying for a full communications suite to get it is expensive overkill. RingCentral makes sense specifically for sellers who are shopping for a phone system anyway and want fax thrown in rather than sellers looking for the cheapest standalone fax tool. Full comparison here: FAX.PLUS vs RingCentral.
Nextiva: Another All-in-One Communications Platform
Nextiva follows a similar model to RingCentral, bundling fax capability (often branded as vFax) into a broader suite of phone, messaging, and customer engagement tools. The same logic applies: if you are already committed to Nextiva for other reasons, the fax feature is a reasonable bonus. If fax is your only need, a dedicated tool priced specifically for fax volume will almost always be cheaper.
You can compare the two directly at FAX.PLUS vs Nextiva. If you want to try Nextiva’s platform, their trial is available through this Nextiva link.
HelloFax: Built Into Dropbox Sign
HelloFax was acquired and folded into what is now Dropbox Sign, and its fax capability is positioned as an add-on to Dropbox’s broader e-signature and document workflow tools rather than a standalone product. For sellers who are already using Dropbox Sign for contracts and signatures and just need occasional fax capability layered on top, this can be a convenient way to avoid adding another separate subscription. For anyone not already in the Dropbox ecosystem, it is a less direct path to fax capability than a dedicated tool like FAX.PLUS.
MyFax: Simple and No-Frills
MyFax sits in roughly the same price range as FAX.PLUS but leans into simplicity over feature depth. It covers the basics well, sending and receiving faxes online, a dedicated number, and mobile access, without much beyond that. For a seller who wants the absolute minimum viable fax tool and does not care about extras like team accounts, API access, or advanced compliance features, MyFax is a reasonable, unremarkable choice.
iFax: Mobile-First Faxing
iFax leans heavily into its mobile app experience, which makes sense for sellers who expect to send and receive faxes almost entirely from a phone rather than a desktop. If most of your fax activity happens while you are out sourcing, at a trade show, or managing your store remotely, iFax’s mobile-first design philosophy might fit your workflow better than a tool built primarily around a desktop dashboard.
How These Alternatives Stack Up on Reviews
Looking at aggregated user sentiment helps separate marketing claims from real experience. On G2’s online fax category page, the highest-rated tools in the space consistently score well on ease of use and mobile app quality, which lines up with what FAX.PLUS, iFax, and MyFax all emphasize in their own marketing.
Capterra’s online fax software directory shows a similar pattern, with the bundled suite options like RingCentral scoring well on breadth of features but taking a hit on ease of use specifically for the fax function, since it is buried inside a much larger product.
Software Advice’s fax software listings back up the general trend that dedicated fax tools tend to outscore suite add-ons specifically on the fax experience itself, even when the suite wins on overall value for a business that needs the rest of the platform anyway.
Choosing Between FAX.PLUS and the Alternatives
The decision mostly comes down to three questions. First, do you need fax as a standalone tool or would you benefit from it being bundled into a broader communications platform you already need? If the latter, RingCentral or Nextiva are worth serious consideration. Second, is your volume genuinely low enough that a budget option like MetroFax makes sense, or will you likely outgrow a low-tier plan within a few months of active supplier sourcing? Third, does brand history and recognition matter to the suppliers or partners you are corresponding with, in which case eFax’s longer track record might carry weight it would not otherwise have.
For most ecommerce sellers running a dedicated dropshipping operation, particularly in high ticket categories where supplier paperwork is a real recurring need rather than an occasional one, FAX.PLUS hits the best balance of price, features, and mobile usability without forcing you into a bundle you do not need.
Free and Pay-Per-Use Fax Options Worth Knowing About
If your fax needs are genuinely rare, a monthly subscription of any kind might not be the right structure at all. Some services offer pay-per-page pricing with no monthly commitment, which can work out cheaper than even the lowest FAX.PLUS tier if you send fewer than a handful of faxes a year. The tradeoff is that pay-per-use services typically do not include a permanent dedicated fax number, so if suppliers need a consistent number to reach you at, a subscription plan still makes more sense even at low volume.
There are also free fax-by-email services that let you send a single-use fax without creating an account at all, useful in a genuine one-off emergency but not something to build a business process around. If you find yourself reaching for one of these more than once a quarter, that is a signal you have crossed into needing a real subscription rather than a workaround.
Integration Considerations Across These Tools
Beyond price and page allowances, how well a fax tool fits into your existing workflow matters more than most sellers initially account for. FAX.PLUS integrates with common cloud storage and productivity tools, letting you send directly from a file already sitting in your existing document workflow rather than downloading and re-uploading. The bundled suite options, RingCentral and Nextiva, have an advantage here if you are already using their phone or messaging tools, since fax becomes just another tab in a platform you are already logged into all day.
HelloFax’s tight integration with Dropbox Sign is a similar story: if your contract and signature workflow already lives there, adding fax capability on top removes an entire separate login and interface from your day. For sellers without an existing platform commitment, a standalone tool that plays well with common file types and cloud storage, which describes FAX.PLUS, MyFax, and iFax reasonably equally, is usually the simpler path.
Security and Compliance Across the Alternatives
If your ecommerce business touches any regulated product category, health-adjacent supplements, certain financial services integrations, or anything requiring HIPAA-level documentation trails, not every alternative on this list handles that the same way. FAX.PLUS offers HIPAA compliance at its Enterprise tier. eFax and the bundled suite options generally offer similar compliance tiers, usually gated behind their higher-priced plans as well. Budget options like MetroFax and MyFax are less likely to offer the same depth of compliance certification, so if this matters for your specific niche, verify current certification status directly with the provider rather than assuming based on general reputation, since compliance offerings change over time.
What to Check Before You Switch Fax Providers
If you are already using one of these alternatives and considering a switch, check a few things first. Confirm whether your current provider lets you port your existing fax number to a new service, since losing a number that suppliers already have on file creates unnecessary friction. Check whether you are locked into an annual contract that would need to run out or be canceled with a penalty. And review your actual usage over the last three months rather than guessing, since real page volume is the single biggest factor in which plan and which provider actually saves you money.
How Volume Should Drive Your Decision
It is worth restating the single biggest factor in this entire comparison: your actual monthly fax volume matters more than any feature list. A seller sending 20 pages a month will barely notice the difference between FAX.PLUS, MetroFax, and MyFax, since all three handle light volume comfortably at similar price points. A seller sending 400 pages a month will feel the difference immediately, since that volume pushes past MetroFax’s entry tier and Basic-level plans across the board, making the higher tiers on FAX.PLUS or a bundled suite option more relevant.
Track your actual usage for a full month before switching providers or committing to an annual plan on any of these tools. Guessing at volume is the most common reason sellers end up either overpaying for a tier they do not need or getting hit with overage charges on a plan that looked sufficient on paper.
Customer Support Quality Across Providers
Support responsiveness varies more across this category than pricing alone would suggest. FAX.PLUS and MyFax both generally offer email and chat support with reasonable response times reported by users, while the bundled suite options route fax-related support questions through the same general support queue as their much larger phone and messaging customer base, which can mean longer wait times for what is, for most of those companies, a secondary feature. If responsive support matters to you, particularly during a time-sensitive supplier negotiation where a failed fax transmission needs troubleshooting quickly, weigh this alongside price when making a final decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is FAX.PLUS better than eFax for a small ecommerce business?
For most small ecommerce operations, yes, primarily on price and mobile app experience, though eFax’s longer track record can matter if you are dealing with suppliers who value brand recognition.
Should I choose RingCentral or Nextiva just for the fax feature?
Generally no, unless you already need the broader phone and communications suite these platforms provide. Paying for either just to get fax capability is more expensive than a dedicated tool.
Is MetroFax reliable enough for supplier contracts?
Yes, for light volume. If you expect to send more than a couple hundred pages a month, you will likely outgrow MetroFax’s lower-tier plans faster than you would with FAX.PLUS.
Can I use more than one fax service at the same time?
Technically yes, but it rarely makes sense financially. Most sellers are better off consolidating on one provider and choosing the plan tier that matches their real volume.
What is the easiest alternative to set up if I need something today?
FAX.PLUS and MyFax both have fast signup flows with immediate access to a dedicated number, making either a reasonable choice if you need to send something the same day.
Final Thoughts
None of these alternatives are objectively bad. Each one is built for a slightly different priority, whether that is bundled communications, rock-bottom pricing, brand history, or mobile-first design. If you want the full picture on the tool this site actually recommends, read the complete FAX.PLUS by Alohi review.
Or skip straight to testing it yourself with the free tier at FAX.PLUS by Alohi.
If supplier paperwork and vendor documentation feel like more of a burden than they should be, our done for you services can take that off your plate entirely. And if you would rather learn to handle sourcing and supplier relationships yourself, our one on one coaching covers exactly this kind of operational detail.
Before you settle on any tool, it is worth revisiting the fundamentals. Our guide to what high ticket dropshipping actually is will help you figure out where you are headed. Our list of the best high ticket niches narrows down where to focus.
Our walkthrough on finding the best suppliers covers exactly the kind of vendor relationships that generate this paperwork in the first place. Our guide to business formation for high ticket dropshipping rounds out the operational side.
Grab our free high ticket dropshipping mini course to get started. Or visit the Ecommerce Paradise homepage for the full library of resources.
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
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