Comparison · By Povilas Konopackas, founder · Updated May 2026

Shotfax vs eFax: Why Pay $18.99/Month to Send One Fax?

You need to fax one document. Maybe it is a medical form, a signed lease, or a court filing. You search for "online fax" and eFax shows up at the top. It has been around since 1997. It looks legit. Then you see the pricing: $18.99 per month for the Plus plan. For one fax.

That is the problem Shotfax solves. Pay $2.99, send your fax, move on. No subscription, no account, no recurring charge you will forget to cancel three months from now.

This page lays out the real differences between Shotfax and eFax so you can pick the right tool for your situation. Spoiler: if you fax regularly, eFax might actually be the better deal. If you fax once or twice a year, it is not even close.

1. Quick comparison

eFax pricing verified April 2026 from efax.com/pricing (Plus plan, $18.99/month, 170 outbound pages). Competitor pricing may change — check each provider's current pricing page before subscribing.

2. The real cost math

Let's do the arithmetic for different usage patterns. These numbers use eFax's Plus plan at $18.99/month (the cheapest option that includes sending, with 170 outbound pages/month) and Shotfax at $2.99 per fax for up to 20 pages. eFax also offers a $189.99/year annual rate (equivalent to $15.83/month); we use the monthly rate below.

The crossover point is roughly 7 faxes per month at eFax's monthly rate (or ~6 faxes at their annual rate). Below that, Shotfax saves you money. Above that, a subscription makes more sense.

Here is what that looks like for the typical person who searches "efax alternative." You sent one fax to your doctor in February. Maybe another to a landlord in June. That is 2 faxes in a year. With Shotfax: $5.98. With eFax, assuming you remember to cancel after month one: $18.99. Assuming you forget and keep it for 6 months before noticing the charge: $113.94.

The forgetting-to-cancel part is real. Per eFax's own published cancellation process, cancellation is handled by phone call to their support line, not through an online button. If you plan to subscribe for only one fax, set a calendar reminder to call and cancel within the billing period.

3. What eFax does better

Fair is fair. eFax is a full-featured fax platform, and there are things it does that Shotfax does not.

Receiving faxes. eFax gives you a dedicated fax number. People and organizations can send faxes to you, and they show up in your email or eFax app. Shotfax is send-only. If you need to receive faxes, eFax or a similar service is the right call.

Volume sending. If you send 10 or more faxes per month, eFax's per-page cost drops well below Shotfax's per-fax cost. For an office that faxes daily, a subscription is the economical choice.

Fax history and storage. eFax keeps your sent and received faxes in an online account. You can search old faxes, re-send them, organize them into folders. Shotfax deletes your file the moment delivery is confirmed. There is no history, no archive, no dashboard. That is a feature for privacy-conscious one-off senders, but a drawback if you need records.

Enterprise features. eFax has team accounts, admin controls, compliance certifications, and integrations with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. If you are setting up fax for a company, eFax is built for that. Shotfax is built for one person sending one fax.

4. What Shotfax does better

No subscription, period. You pay once and you are done. No monthly fee, no annual commitment, no credit card on file, no recurring charge to manage. This is the single biggest difference and the reason most people look for an eFax alternative in the first place.

No account. You do not create a username, set a password, verify your email, or agree to marketing communications. Upload the file, enter the number, pay, done. The whole process takes about 90 seconds.

Privacy. Your document is deleted from Shotfax servers the moment delivery is confirmed (or fails). eFax stores your documents on their servers indefinitely. If you are faxing sensitive medical or legal documents and you would rather not have them sitting in a cloud account, Shotfax's approach is simpler.

Transparent pricing. $2.99 flat for documents up to 20 pages. That is the entire pricing page. eFax has multiple plan tiers, overage charges, international surcharges, and a pricing structure that takes a few minutes to fully understand.

International at no extra charge. Shotfax sends to 90+ countries at the same $2.99 base price via Telnyx. eFax charges extra for international faxes on top of the monthly subscription.

5. When to use eFax

Use eFax (or a similar subscription service) when:

• You need to receive faxes, not just send them
• You send more than 5 or 6 faxes per month consistently
• You need a fax number that others can send documents to
• You work in a team and need shared fax access with admin controls
• You need to archive faxes for compliance or reference

6. When to use Shotfax

7. Frequently asked questions