5 Best Fax Software For Mac of 2023 (inc. M1 & M2 Macs)

If you need to send a fax from your Mac, we’ve taken a look at the best fax apps for Mac in 2023 including for the latest M1 and M2 chip Macs.

Using fax software is by far the easiest and cheapest way to send and receive faxes from a Mac as there’s no need for fax machines, paper, modems or phone lines.

Although it used to be possible to fax from a Mac using an external modem or all-in-one printer, the latest versions of Ventura, Monterey, Mojave, Catalina and Big Sur no longer support using a multi-function printer or modems to fax from macOS.

After hours of research, we found by far the best fax app for Mac is RingCentral which has a free Mac desktop app that makes it easy to send and receive faxes from macOS including Apple Silicon M1/M2 Macs.

RingCentral is also one of the few fax services that is HIPAA compliant so it’s the most secure way to fax from macOS and also the best fax solution for healthcare providers or other organizations handling confidential client data.

This means that its suitable for signing HIPAA Business Associate Agreements (BAA).

With this in mind, here is the best fax software for Mac of 2023 in order of ranking.

1. RingCentral

RingCentral is the best fax tool for Macs with an excellent macOS desktop app and the service offers amazing value for money and features compared to most fax services.

One of the things we really like about RingCentral is that unlike all other fax services it has its own slick Mac desktop app which means you don’t need a browser to use it like you do with all the other options we’ve seen.

RingCentral is also the only fax service to provide a fax app that works on both Intel Macs and the latest Apple Silicon M1/M2 Macs.

Not only that but RingCentral gives you a lot more for your money than most other online faxing systems.

RingCentral gives you 1500 free fax pages monthly which is way more than any other comparable fax service.

Unlike many faxing solutions, RingCentral also allows you to upgrade to phone, video conferencing and faxing too making it an excellent alternative to Skype for Business on Mac.

RingCentral allows you to send and receive faxes from your computer including PDFs, gives you a dedicated fax number and allows you to send and receive faxes from your Mac via e-mail.

RingCentral is also HIPAA compliant so it’s also suitable for medical centers, signing Business Associate Agreements (BAA) and other organizations handling confidential client data.

RingCentral pricing plans are very reasonably priced considering all you get with the basic RingCentral 1500 plan starting at $22.99 per month

Phone support is also included in this should you have any problems with the service so you can speak to someone directly if there are any problems.

You can try RingCentral Fax for free for 30 days.

You can also check our full RingCentral Fax review for more.

Price: $22.99/m+ – 30 Day Free Trial – No Setup Fee

Pros:

• Excellent free Mac desktop app
• Fax app for both Intel and M1/M2 Macs
• Best value for money fax service
• Most secure faxing with HIPAA compliance
• Supports faxing from email and PDFs
• Easy to use mobile apps for faxing on the move

Cons:

• No free version for occasional faxing

2. FaxPlus

FaxPlus is a simple, secure and reliable fax service which offers you the choice of a free fax number or the ability to transfer your fax number from an existing provider.

It’s also one of the most private solutions around as it’s based in Switzerland and complies with strict Swiss security laws on privacy.

There’s a very basic free version that allows you to send 10 faxes for free but you have to upgrade to a paid plan in order to receive faxes and get a dedicated fax number.

Although there’s no FaxPlus Mac app, you can use the simple web interface in any browser on a Mac.

There’s also an app for iOS and Android which allows you to scan documents, add signatures and browse the archive.

There are Enterprise plans for those that need to send bulk volumes of faxes and you can also digitally sign faxes. You also receive a confirmation email when your fax has been sent successfully.

FaxPlus allows you to buy fax numbers from 46 different countries and send faxes to 150 countries worldwide.

Pricing plans are flexible starting at $6.99 per month for 200 pages sent or received per month going up to $79.99 for Enterprise plans.

Price: $6.99/m+

Pros:

• Simple fax service
• Benefits from Swiss security laws on privacy
• Flexible pricing plans

Cons:

• No Mac desktop app
• No M1/M2 Mac app
• No email faxing
• Not many fax customization tools
• No HIPPA compliance for secure sending

3. WiseFax

WiseFax enables you to send (but not receive) faxes from a Mac without a subscription.

WiseFax has a basic fax app for Macs although it does not work natively on M1 or M2 Macs without using Rosetta.

WiseFax allows you to upload your fax document in a wide variety of formats including Apple Pages, Microsoft Office, Keynote, JPEG, PNG and BMP format.

You can also take a picture of a document and upload it to WiseFax for sending.

You can send to 240 countries with WiseFax and you receive a confirmation PDF that your fax has been sent via email.

WiseFax offers both pay-as-you go faxing or a fax subscription plan. It costs $1 for one fax token which you can pay for via PayPal or credit card. Alternatively, you can pay $8.00 per month for your own fax number.

We found that you sometimes have to wait a long time with Wisefax for confirmation that a fax has been sent and so if you’re in a hurry and need to send something important, you may find Wisefax a bit frustrating.

It also works out pretty expensive at $1 per fax and even if you subscribe, you only get 10 sent faxes per month included.

You can check out our full WiseFax review for more.

Pricing: $1 per fax or $8.00/m

Pros:

• Supports uploading of documents in various formats
• Mac app
• Supports pay-as-you go faxing
• Simple and easy to use

Cons:

• Pay-as-you go doesn’t support receiving faxes
• No M1/M2 Mac app
• Fax sent confirmations are slow
• Expensive per fax costs
• Some destinations cost more than one fax token

4. eFax

eFax is an easy to use email fax sending service although you get less for your money than its closest rival RingCentral.

Most notably, the basic eFax plan is limited to just 300 COMBINED free sent or received pages per month compared to RingCentral’s 1400 free pages per month.

That means you only get 150 incoming and 150 outgoing faxes compared to the same comparable RingCentral subscription – anything beyond that you have to pay $0.10 per fax.

eFax is however very complete and provides many services such as e-signing of photos and documents and a generous file attachment limit of 3GB.

You can use a regular email account to send faxes with eFax although you can of course send faxes via the eFax web interface too.

Alternatively, you can log into your eFax account online and send them via the eFax web interface.

eFax also offers mobile fax apps for iPhone, iPad and Android.

The eFax mobile apps are the only ones to support swipe-signing of faxes which is useful for official documents that require a signature.

eFax now has two monthly subscription plans – eFax Plus for $15.83 per month and eFax Pro for $20.83 per month.

The only difference between these two plans is that you get 150 sent and received faxes per month with eFax Plus compared to 200 with eFax Plus. Overage rates for pages beyond this are $0.10 cents per page.

eFax also offers Enterprise plans for unlimited faxing on request.

eFax offers less for your money than RingCentral although the ability to add electronic signatures for important documents, take and sign photos and a generous file upload limit are a plus.

You can try eFax free for 14 days and cancel at anytime if you’re not satisfied.

You can also check out our full eFax review for more.

Price: $15.83-$20.83/m – 14 Day Free Trial

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Lots of fax customization tools
• Mobile apps

Cons:

• Expensive compared to other fax services
• No Mac app
• No M1/M2 Mac app
• Requires calling to cancel subscriptions

5. Nextiva vFax

Like RingCentral, nowadays Nextiva is an all-in-one office communication solution with VoIP phone, Service CRM and even an email marketing software.

However, you can just choose to subscribe to Nextiva vFax.

Like the other fax platforms, Nextiva allows you to send and receive faxes via email or your mobile device.

There is a Nextiva Mac desktop client which is on the Mac App Store but note that it cannot be downloaded or used outside of the USA. It also does not work on M1/M2 Macs without using Rosetta.

However, you can use the web interface both inside and outside of the USA and the web interface is very clean with a simple dashboard which helps you manage sent and received faxes.

You can upload documents in most major formats such as PDF, DOC, PNG, JPG etc. However, Nextiva has the smallest file upload limit of our top picks though allowing just 5MB and a maximum of 10 attachments at one time.

You can also choose to send a copy of the fax to an email address if you want to have confirmation of it.

Nextiva vFax is also one of the only fax services that allows you to connect your physical fax machine to your Mac although this requires a special Nextiva fax adapter.

There’s a Nextiva iOS and Android mobile app but note that Nextiva does not support faxing internationally. 

Nextiva does however support setting-up of toll-free fax numbers at no extra cost to users.

For small businesses, the Essential $7.95/user per month package supports 500 sent and received pages per month which is arguably the most competitive deal on the market.

For medium sized businesses the Pro Plan costs $13.95 per month which allows up to 1000 pages per month.

For bigger businesses that require HIPAA compliance, there are Enterprise plans on request.

You can try a free trial of Nextiva for 30 days.

You can also check out our full Nextiva vFax review for more

Price: $7.95/m+ – 30 Day Free Trial – No Setup Fee

Pros:

• Easy to use interface
• Competitive pricing

Cons:

• No toll free numbers
• Mac app does not work outside of the USA
• Mac app not native M1/M2 Macs compatible
• No international faxing
• Can be slow to send faxes

Faxing From a Mac With a Modem or Multifunction Printer

Using the fax software we’ve reviewed here is definitely the best way to send and receive faxes from a Mac in 2023 and the only way to fax from Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur or Monterey.

However, there are a few other ways to fax from older versions of macOS.

These options only work on El Capitan or lower because Apple has now removed support for all types of modems in the latest versions of macOS.

They also require a landline phone connection point and unless you’re willing to go the hassle of installing an older version of macOS on your Mac, it’s really not worth it anymore.

Here’s a few ways to fax from older versions of macOS:

1. Connect a multi-function printer to your Mac with fax capabilities. This only works on macOS El Capitan or lower as Apple has removed support for all-in-one printer faxing from Macs and it requires a phone line.
2. Use an external modem via Windows installed on your Mac. This requires you to install Windows on your Mac and you need a landline.
3. Use an external modem by installing El Capitan or earlier versions of OS X. This is very complicated as it’s very difficult to install such old versions of OS X on a Mac nowadays and it still requires a landline.

You can learn more about all the ways to fax from a Mac here.

How To Fax From a Mac For Free

All of the fax tools featured here offer a free trial which allow you to fax for free while you try their services.

Although there are some web based services that allow you to fax for free from a Mac, we also don’t recommend them either as they insert watermarks, ads, impose page limits and worst of all, are extremely unreliable.

Note that generally we do not advise using fax apps from the Mac App Store as they are only able to send faxes – they don’t allow you to receive them.

Many of them claim to send faxes for free but they are unreliable at confirming whether a fax has been sent or not which can cause more stress than it’s worth, especially if the fax is important.