In the internet-connected world that we live in today, you may think that fax machines have become obsolete. But in reality, fax machines are still relied upon heavily by the medical community, attorneys offices and government agencies too.
In fact, any business that is entrusted with a lot of sensitive data will be prone to prefer fax machines over email for sending documents.
If you are dealing with an organization that requires you to send paperwork via fax, you may be wondering where to find one. Below, you’ll find 16 places with affordable fax services – all of which are likely to have a location near you.
Table of Contents
Office Supply Stores
Most office supply stores have copy and print shops, and these shops usually offer fax services.
As will be the case for all of the places that are mentioned in this list, the prices you see below will be for the office supply stores that are near me. Your local store prices may be slightly different.
1. Office Depot
In 2013, Office Depot merged with OfficeMax and, together, they have over 1,400 stores in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Bottom line? There’s a good chance that you have one near you.
When I called up my local Office Depot, he quoted me the following rates for their fax services:
- Local:
- First page: $1.89
- All additional pages: $1.69
- Long-distance
- First copy: $2.49
- All additional pages: $2.19
- International:
- First page: $7.99
- All additional pages: $3.99
Find an Office Depot or OfficeMax near you!
2. Staples
Staples is Office Depot’s main competitor in the United States. Probably best known for their “easy buttons,” Staples does it make easy to send faxes…well, domestic faxes, at least. When I called up two local Staples locations (one store in town and one at a store an hour away), both of them said that they did not offer international faxes.
For this reason, I have doubts that any Staples stores offer this, but I can’t say for sure. If you do need to send an international fax, it couldn’t hurt to call up your local Staples to check.
Staples’ local and long-distance fax prices are listed below:
- Local: $1.69 per page
- Long-distance: $2.29 per page
Travel Companies
When you are on the road or overseas, what do you do if you need to send or receive documents from home? Perhaps you’re thinking, “I’d just send an email.”
That could be possible, but what if you don’t have your laptop with you, have spotty wifi connection, or don’t have a digital version of the documents that you want to send?
In these cases, a fax machine can come in handy. And these are the reasons why companies that serve travelers will typically offer fax services at their stores.
3. AAA
AAA is probably the best-known travel and motor club in the U.S. In addition to their roadside assistance program, they also offer insurance, fuel savings, travel consultations and savings opportunities.
All these services are offered free of charge to their members. Also available for free to AAA members are notary, fax, and copy services.
Some local offices may allow non-members to use their fax machines for a fee. Pricing and availability will vary a great deal on this one, so non-members should definitely call up their local AAA office to see what they allow and charge.
4. Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores
Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, often just referred to as Love’s, is a popular truck stop chain located in over 40 states.
Their “country stores” are simply convenience stores attached to their gas stations. But their “travel stops” are quite expansive, and offer everything from showers, to travel items, electronics, snacks, name brand restaurant offerings, and yes, fax services.
I called the Love’s nearest me, and here were the prices that I was quoted for their fax service:
- Local and long-distance: $2.00 per page
- International: Not available
5. Pilot Flying J
Pilot Flying J is the largest operator of travel stops in North America, so no matter where you are traveling, there’s a good chance that you will be near one.
Similar to Love’s, Pilot Flying J offers a wide variety of amenities. Below, are a small sampling of the kinds of things that may be available at a Pilot Flying J near you:
- Trip Paks
- High speed internet kiosks
- ATMs
- Western Union
- Check cashing
- Public laundry
- Audiobook rental
At the Pilot Flying J closest to where I live I called and asked them if they also offered fax service, and sure enough, they did.
Here were the prices that I was quoted:
- Local and long-distance: $2.00 per page
- International: Not available
Find a Pilot Flying J near you!
6. Hotels
Many hotels offer fax services in their “business centers” or sometimes at the concierge desk. If you are staying at a hotel as a guest, I would expect that they would allow you to send a domestic fax for free.
If you are a non-guest, I suppose there’s a chance that some hotels would allow you to use their fax machine. But with so many other businesses that offer fax services, a hotel wouldn’t be the first place I would go to get a fax sent unless I was already staying there.
7. Travel Agent Offices
Any travel agents near you are likely to offer fax services for a fee. Google “travel agents near me” on your phone or laptop to find travel agencies close to where you live. Then just pick up the phone and give some of them a call to see what they offer and for what price.
Shipping Companies
In the world of online retail, small businesses now come in every shape and size – many operating out of the homes of hard-working entrepreneurs. For these small business owners, the local shipping store often doubles as their office.
That’s why shipping stores offer an extensive range of office-related services, nearly always including a self-serve fax machine.
8. UPS
When you think of the United Parcel Service (UPS), a picture of their famous brown trucks probably pops into your head. But UPS does so much more than just deliver packages to homes. Their shipping stores offer a surprising number of services, including:
- Computer access
- Notary services
- Passport & ID photos
- Shredding
- Office & Mailing Supplies
- Design services
And last but not least, fax services. At my local UPS, these were the prices that they charged to use their fax machine:
- Local and long-distance:
- First page: $2.00
- All additional pages: $1.00
- International:
- First page: $5.95
- All additional pages: $1.95
9. FedEx Office
Formerly known as FedEx Kinko’s, FedEx Office is the retail arm of the FedEx company, which like UPS is best-known for their shipping services (FedEx Ground and FedEx Express).
Offering nearly identical services as the UPS stores, FedEx Office locations are a great place to get things designed, copied, printed, or faxed.
FedEx Offices can be found in cities large and small throughout North America. And FedEx announced in early 2018 that they would be opening 500 stores inside WalMart locations throughout the U.S to make it even more convenient to use their services.
At my local FedEx, these were the prices that they charged to use their self-service fax machine:
- Local: $2.00 per page
- Long-distance:
- First page: $3.00
- All additional pages: 2.00
- International:
- First page: $10.00
- All additional pages: $4.00
10. Postal Annex
Postal Annex has a unique business model. Drop by one of their locations with a package that you need shipped, and they allow you to pick the shipping company of your choice, including UPS, FedEx, and USPS.
It’s like having 3 shipping stores all rolled into one!
Plus, Postal Annex stores include all of the same types of office-related services that UPS and FedEx Office stores offer. They even offer key duplication and private mailbox rentals. Postal Annex stores really are one-stop shops for all of your office needs.
For the location closest to me, the prices for their fax services are listed below:
- Local and long-distance:
- First page: $2.00
- Each additional page: $1.00
- International:
- First page: $6.00
- Each additional page: $4.00
Other Local Places That May Offer Fax Services
There are a couple of other local spots where you may be able to find a fax machine available for public use.
Since we will be dealing with general categories below instead of specific companies, you’ll definitely want to check with local places near you to find out whether or not they have a fax machine that they would allow you to use.
11. Local Banks and Credit Unions
From bank statements to personal loan applications, to mortgage documentation banks and credit unions send and receive sensitive financial data on a daily basis. And in order to avoid any possibility of email hacks or data leaks, banks often send documents straight to one another via fax.
Even if you need to send a fax that has nothing to do with your finances, your bank or credit union may allow you to use their fax machine. Many financial institutions offer faxes as a complimentary service to their customers.
If you want to use the fax machine of a bank or credit union that you are not a member of, they may or may not allow you to do so. If they do, expect to be charged a fee, and those fees will vary greatly between each company.
12. Local Libraries
Many public libraries offer free or very inexpensive fax services. There’s a chance that the library near you may only allow members to make use of their fax machines, though. You can call up your local library to check.
If you’re not sure where to find the closest library to you, use PublicLibraries.comto find one nearby.
Online Fax Companies
If you have to send faxes on a regular basis, but don’t want to deal with the cost, hassle, and maintenance of having an actual fax machine, online fax companies may be able to remove a lot of stress from your life.
Online fax companies give you a real fax number that you can use to send and receive faxes. But the amazing part is that you don’t have to have an actual fax machine. Instead, you are able to send and receive faxes right from your email inbox, without ever having to leave the comfort of your home.
It’s pretty awesome! Let’s take a look at some of the most popular online fax companies and compare features and prices.
13. eFax
eFax has been one of the most popular online fax companies for over 20 years. eFax accounts come with the following features:
- Free mobile fax app
- Toll free numbers
- Local phone numbers
- Lifetime storage
- Electronic signature
- Third-party cloud storage
They have three different membership tiers: eFax Plus, eFax Pro, eFax Corporate. The features and pricing for each membership level are shown below:
- eFax Plus: $16.95
- Send 150 pages/mo
- Receive 150 pages/mo
- $10.00 Setup fee
- eFax Pro: $19.95
- Send 200 pages/mo
- Receive 200 pages/mo
- $10.00 Setup fee
- eFax Corporate: Talk to someone from eFax’s sales team to get a quote.
14. MetroFax
MetroFax offers many of the same features as were mentioned above with eFax. Additionally, MetroFax mentions on their sales page that their software allows customers to:
- Fax to multiple recipients simultaneously.
- Automatic retries and immediate confirmations.
- Transfer your existing fax number for a seamless transition.
- Use your plan’s included pages in any combination of inbound or outbound pages.
MetroFax also has three membership tiers:
- Essential: 500 pages
- Value: 1,000 pages
- Professional: 2,500 pages
They don’t specifically say on their website what each tier costs, but they do say that their plans start at $7.95 a month. You can also try out their service for free before making any commitment by taking advantage of their 30-day free trial.
15. HelloFax
HelloFax is an online fax service that puts a big emphasis on the security (AES-256 encryption) and customer service (dedicated Support Team) that they provide their customers.
They also try to appeal to small businesses by including features like:
- The ability to add and remove users at no cost
- Completely configurable routing
- Unlimited, secure file storage
- Integration with Google Apps
And you know what may be the coolest thing of all about HelloFax? They offer a FREE tier that allows users to send 5 faxes a month at absolutely no cost! This has to be the best deal that you’ll find in this entire article, so it’s definitely worth checking out.
If you require more than 5 faxes a month, their paid tiers are priced as shown below:
- Home office (300 pages a month): $9.99
- Professional (500 pages a month): $19.99
- Small business: (1,000 pages a month): $39.99
- Enterprise: Call to receive a quote
16. RingCentral
RingCentral is a company that offers a variety of business products like team messaging software, cloud phone systems, and video conferencing tools.
They also offer internet faxing either as part of a bundle or as its own separate service. Sending faxes with RingCentral is easy. Using the RingCentral mobile or desktop app, customers can enter a recipient’s fax number and add their message text.
Then they can attach files from a variety of local or cloud applications, including:
- DropBox
- Box
- Google Drive
- Any Microsoft Office® application.
Alternatively, customers can send faxes online via email by sending them to the recipient’s fax number @rcfax.com. The email text and any attachments become the pages of the fax!
RingCentral offers four different membership tiers ranging from $12.99-$39.99 in price.
- Members of the lowest tier are able to send up to 750 pages a month.
- The page per-month allowance continues to rise incrementally from there until you reach the highest tier, which is unlimited.
Summary
Many people think that they’ll never need to use a fax machine again…until they do. And then when a situation pops up that requires a fax to be sent, most people don’t have any idea where to look for one.
You won’t ever have that problem, though, because you now know 16 places where you can send a fax easily and affordably.
If you know of any other places that allow customers to send faxes, connect with us on Facebook or Twitter to let us and other readers know!