HelloFax review

With HelloFax, there's no more time spent waiting by a fax machine

HelloFax
(Image: © HelloFax)

Top Ten Reviews Verdict

If you’re looking for an easy and cost-saving solution to your fax problems then HelloFax can certainly offer a credible solution for the average-sized business. You don’t need to change your fax number either, which means clients used to sending faxes can continue to do so, they simply pop into your inbox instead.

Pros

  • +

    No need to inform your customers of a change, you keep the same number

  • +

    Forget hardware, fax from your computer instead

  • +

    Clean and paperless

Cons

  • -

    Packages only go up to 1000 faxes a month before you need to customize

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    There could be a one-time fee associated with the porting process

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    Once your plan runs out faxes can be as much as 99 cents per 10 pages

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An easy solution that aims to get rid of the fax machine altogether, HelloFax has certainly been talked about in the press for its ease of use. It easily integrates into your Dropbox and Google Drive, and any incoming fax simply gets sent to your email as a PDF – a piece of cake.

You can send five absolutely free faxes a month (but this is to send only, not to receive), or start with 300 a month for $9.99 in the Home Office plan. This goes up to $39.99 for the Small Business plan of 1000 pages per month to suit a team of up to 20. HelloFax says it takes just 30 seconds to set this up.

But larger companies should proceed with caution as anything over 1000 pages a month needs a dedicated team, however, that could include your own custom API so it’s probably worth giving HelloFax a call.

HelloFax review: Features

  • Integrates with Dropbox and Google Drive
  • Able to keep your number
HelloFax: Key Features

Deployment: Cloud, Web

Support: Cancel at any time online, responsive support team online

Mobile apps: No

The thing about HelloFax is its customer service, all plans come with a 30-day free trial and you can cancel online, without having to email or speak to anyone. There is a real ease in how the software connects to the parts of your computer that you use the most. From Dropbox to Evernote and OneDrive.

What’s more, the security is double that of a normal fax number, with AES-256 encryption, great for businesses looking for a secure way of communication as documents and data transferred using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). You will be able to pick and choose your phone number, with options in the UK, the US and Canada. Any faxes that come to you will automatically be delivered to your inbox as PDFs.

HelloFax review: Design and usability

  • Customizable with the possibility of including an API
  • Easily accessible from all of your favorite applications

In terms of set up, this is very easy to use. Simply pick the plan that covers your company's size and monthly volume then add users to your team. Everyone can share one number or you can buy additional numbers and assign them however you like.

When it comes to use, this is actually quite an intuitive platform which makes sending a fax as easy as sending an email. In order to get started all you need to do is simply attach a file to your email and send it to the fax number provided. Done. You can also send and retrieve faxes from the cloud application of your choice, for example, Dropbox.

If you’re wondering what else you could use the service for, light editing of faxes and the ability to sign documents are two of the reasons customers seem to really rate the service.

HelloFax review: Performance

  • Confidential and secure
  • Access your sent faxes easily

The most appealing feature of HelloFax is that there is no more time spent waiting by a fax machine for a fax to arrive or for confirmation that it was sent. Instead, incoming faxes go directly to the recipient's inbox and outgoing faxes are sent online, all from your computer.

There are a few seconds delay between delivery, but nothing much longer than a typical email. With AES-256 encryption this is to be expected and it keeps your faxes safe and secure. Without paper, there's no sensitive information left out in the open as all transmissions are encrypted with a bank-grade level of security.

Should you buy HelloFax?

The great thing about HelloFax is that it promises five-star customer service, so if you really aren’t happy or you don’t need the service anymore you can simply cancel online. Though this is a relatively new application, it is gaining traction because of the lack of downtime needed. In fact, the way customers communicate with you doesn’t have to change at all. You are simply streamlining the way you communicate with them.

With billing so straightforward, it makes it easy to scale up or scale down, although there is a significant price discount if you pay annually. Small businesses for instance, can save $79.98 on their annual subscription making the 12-month cost $399.99 per year for 1000 faxes each month. That’s very competitive.

However, if you are a company who needs to send or receive faxes on a larger scale you would need to get a custom quote. While this may be useful if you want to develop your own API if it’s just a straightforward fax service there are other companies out there that offer a larger monthly subscription for a similar price.

Another useful service worth a mention is that you can transfer your number across without any downtime, although this may occur a porting fee, and you can ask for as many numbers as you like – doing away with those pesky fax machines in the office.

While this service doesn’t have an app, it does work with the majority of cloud applications that you would find in an office so you can truly engage in faxing on the move.

Other online fax services to consider

HelloFax is one of the best online fax services in 2020, but, as you might expect, there are plenty of other services to choose from. These might be more suitable for your business. Here's our pick of the bunch. Click the links to read the review:

RingCentral Fax is a great option for Windows users with its integration feature; MetroFax is highly flexible, scaling with your business and your faxing requirements; with eFax you get private and lifetime storage of your faxes; you can tag and search your faxes with MyFax; send free faxes with FaxZero to businesses in US and Canada; the flexible pricing of Nextiva might appeal if your faxing needs change over time; SRFax has fax-scheduling and fax-archiving for keeping records; OpenText will work well with your existing IT software; and you get 30 days free storage with Fax.com.

Which of these online fax service is best for you and your business? Don't worry, we've compared them all in our buying guide: Best online fax services 2020 to help you decide.

Gina Clarke

Gina Clarke has worked in journalism for over a decade for titles such as The Daily Mail, The Sun and Forbes. She began her career in BBC radio and now specialises in subjects such as financial technology and women’s health. She has written for the Top Ten Reviews brand on a number of different and varied topics.