If you send 20 faxes a month, eFax is fine. Don’t overthink it. Pay the subscription, send your faxes from email, done. But if you’re a medical practice sending 500 faxes a week, or a financial services firm with ongoing high-volume fax requirements, the per-page or per-subscription math looks very different. That’s where owning your fax infrastructure with ICTFax starts making financial sense. Here’s how to think about which fits your situation.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ICTFax | eFax |
|---|---|---|
| Product type | Self-hosted fax server software | Cloud fax service (hosted by j2 Global) |
| Pricing | Open source free / one-time license + server costs | $16.95-$220+/month depending on plan and volume |
| Send method | Web interface, email-to-fax, API | Email, eFax web interface, mobile app |
| Receive method | Fax-to-email, web interface | Fax-to-email, web interface, mobile app |
| T.38 fax over IP | Yes (native FreeSWITCH) | Yes (cloud-managed) |
| HIPAA compliance | Yes (audit logs, access controls) | Yes (eFax Corporate plan with BAA) |
| Multi-user / team accounts | Yes (multi-tenant capable) | Yes (eFax Corporate) |
| REST API | Yes | Yes (eFax Developer API) |
| Mobile app | No native app (browser) | Yes (iOS + Android) |
| Number portability | Via SIP trunk provider | Yes (in/out porting supported) |
| Data ownership | Full (your server) | j2 Global cloud |
| Setup required | Yes (Linux server install) | No (sign up and go) |
| Open source | Yes | No |
HIPAA deserves a closer look here. eFax does offer HIPAA compliance, but it requires the Corporate plan and a Business Associate Agreement – this isn’t automatic on their base plans. ICTFax’s HIPAA capability comes from audit logging, access controls, and the fact that all data stays on your own server. Both paths work for healthcare; the difference is whether you want a vendor BAA or full data sovereignty.
eFax Works Well When Volume Is Low
Zero infrastructure setup is genuinely valuable for small organizations. You sign up, get a fax number, and your faxes arrive in email. No Linux server, no SIP trunk configuration, no maintenance. For a solo practitioner, a law firm with occasional fax needs, or an accounting office sending a few dozen faxes monthly, eFax’s simplicity is the right trade-off.
The mobile app is also something ICTFax doesn’t have. Signing and sending fax documents from a phone is useful for professionals who work away from a desk. eFax handles this cleanly. ICTFax works in a mobile browser but it’s not a polished mobile experience.
eFax’s reliability is also well-tested – they’ve been running cloud fax since 1996. The infrastructure is mature and delivery rates are high. You’re not maintaining anything; they are.
Where Self-Hosted ICTFax Changes the Math
eFax’s Plus plan is $16.95/month for 150 pages sent, $0.10/additional page. Their Corporate plans run $220+/month for 2,000 pages. If your organization sends 5,000 pages a month – realistic for a busy healthcare practice – you’re in a custom enterprise pricing conversation with eFax that will run significantly higher.
ICTFax on a $100/month server handles any volume you can push through it. You pay your SIP trunk provider for minutes (typically $0.007-0.012/minute for T.38 fax), but wholesale VoIP fax rates are much lower than eFax’s per-page pricing at scale. The break-even point – where ICTFax’s total cost drops below eFax’s subscription – typically arrives around 300-500 pages per month depending on your SIP trunk rates.
Multi-tenant is also relevant for organizations managing fax on behalf of multiple departments or clients. ICTFax supports isolated tenant accounts from a single installation. eFax charges per account.
The Data Control Question
For most industries, trusting a cloud fax provider with document storage is fine – eFax’s security practices are solid and they’re a major provider. For industries with heightened data sensitivity – healthcare, legal, financial services – some organizations prefer that fax transmissions and their associated documents never leave their own infrastructure. ICTFax keeps everything on your server. That’s a governance preference rather than a security indictment of eFax, but it’s a real consideration for compliance-conscious organizations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does eFax actually work for HIPAA compliance, or do I need something special?
eFax Corporate includes a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) which is the key HIPAA requirement for a fax vendor handling PHI. The base eFax Plus and Professional plans don’t include a BAA – you’d need to upgrade to Corporate for HIPAA-covered healthcare use. ICTFax handles HIPAA compliance differently: your data never leaves your server, so there’s no PHI being shared with a vendor, and your internal audit logging and access controls satisfy HIPAA’s technical safeguard requirements. Both approaches work; they’re just different models.
Can ICTFax receive faxes to email like eFax does?
Yes. Inbound faxes arrive at your configured fax number, ICTFax converts them to PDF, and delivers them to the recipient’s email address. It works the same way as eFax from the user perspective – fax arrives in inbox. The difference is that ICTFax is managing the conversion and routing on your server rather than eFax’s cloud. Setup requires configuring email delivery from your server, which adds a small amount of initial configuration compared to eFax’s zero-setup approach.
Is it difficult to get a fax number for ICTFax?
You need a SIP trunk with DID (Direct Inward Dialing) numbers that support T.38 fax over IP. Providers like Twilio, Vonage, or VoIP.ms offer T.38-capable DIDs. Setup involves configuring your SIP trunk credentials in ICTFax and pointing the DID’s routing to your server. It’s not complex if you’ve worked with SIP trunks before. If you haven’t, expect a learning curve of a few hours. eFax handles all of this for you as part of the service.
What happens to my eFax number if I switch to ICTFax?
You can port your existing fax number from eFax to a SIP trunk provider – the same number porting process used for phone numbers. The port takes 2-4 weeks and requires a letter of authorization. Your SIP provider manages the technical side. This is worth planning if you have a published fax number that clients or partners use – interrupting fax reception during a port can cause missed documents.
Does ICTFax support sending faxes via API, like eFax Developer?
Yes. ICTFax has a REST API for sending faxes programmatically – document management systems, EHR platforms, and custom applications can send faxes by posting to the API. The eFax Developer API works similarly. The difference is that ICTFax’s API calls hit your own server rather than a third-party endpoint, which some developers prefer for latency and data control reasons. Both APIs support standard fax-from-application workflows.
ICTFax is open source fax server software – T.38 fax over IP, email-to-fax, HIPAA compliance tools, and multi-tenant capability on your own infrastructure. Learn more about ICTFax or see pricing and download options.