Are you trying to decide between Nextiva and eFax? The two rival online fax service providers are similar but cater to two different types of users. eFax offers a more feature-rich experience and higher pricing, while Nextiva offers a solid online faxing experience with excellent value and generous monthly allowances.
Nextiva vs eFax Sending and Receiving Faxes
Nextiva and eFax both offer clear, simple designs and an easy electronic faxing interface. In short, both services make it easy to send and receive faxes from any internet-connected mobile device.
With eFax, users enjoy a clean and intuitive design. Both the online platform as well as the numerous mobile apps (apps are available for Android devices, the iPhone, and the iPad) are exceptionally well designed.
The thing I like most about eFax’s online interface is that it looks like a traditional email inbox. If you’ve ever sent an email before, then this interface will look totally familiar. Ultimately, this means that you don’t have to relearn anything in order to use eFax on any platform.
Nextiva, on the other hand, does not offer mobile faxing apps. If you search Nextiva in the iTunes app store or the Google Play Store, you’ll find Nextiva apps, but they’re only available to Nextiva VoIP subscribers. You cannot access your online fax account using these apps.
You can, however, still access the Nextiva web interface from any internet-connected mobile device. Nextiva’s web interface is similar to eFax’s interface and offers clean, simple design. You can access Nextiva on any mobile device using your internet browser, although you won’t be able to use mobile apps.
If you’re a mobile user, then you’ll find eFax is easier to use. However, as you’ll find out below, eFax has some notable faults that make Nextiva the superior choice for many businesses.
Nextiva vs eFax Supported File Formats
eFax clearly wins this category with very little contest. Nextiva supports most of the world’s popular file formats and file types, but Nextiva is clearly the winner. If your business uses a lot of specialized software or deals with unique file types from time to time, then the extensive file format support of eFax can be a lifesaver.
Nextiva Fax Supports: TIFF, GIF, PNG, JPEG, PDF, DOC, XLS, PPT, PCL, EPS, PS, HTML, XML XSL, TXT, RTF.
eFax Supports: PDF, PS, PSD, IFF, DXF, CSV, GIF, SHW, WPD, P5, WP6, EFX, JFX, EPS, HTML, JPG, JPEG, 123, WK1, WK3, WK4, LWP, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX, PUB, WRI, DOC, DOCX, DOT, DOTX, WPS, ODG, ODP, ODS, ODT, PCX, TXT, DOC, LOG, ERR, C, CPP, H, PNG, QPW, WB1, WB2, WB3, RTF, SXD, SXI, SXC, TIF, TIFF, TGA, VSD, BMP, WPG.
Nextiva vs eFax Pricing
Nextiva
500 Pages: Includes 500 faxed pages each month, 3 cents per additional pages, over-the-phone tech support, and costs $4.95 per month with no setup fee.
1000 Pages: Includes 1000 faxed pages each month, 3 cents per additional pages, over-the-phone tech support, and costs $12.95 per month with no setup fee.
3000 Pages: Includes 3000 faxed pages each month, 3 cents per additional pages, over-the-phone tech support, and costs $29.95 per month with no setup fee.
eFax
eFax Plus: Includes 150 faxed pages each month, 10 cents per additional fax, and phone-based tech support for $16.95 per month plus a $10 setup fee.
eFax Pro: Includes 200 faxed pages each month, 10 cents per additional fax, and phone-based tech support for $19.95 per month plus a $19.95 setup fee.
Other Points of Comparison On Nextiva vs eFax
Monthly Allowances: When it comes to monthly allowances, these two computer fax services aren’t even on the same planet. Nextiva’s lowest plan costs just $4.95 per month and includes 500 faxed pages. You can compare that to the highest eFax plan, which costs $19.95 per month, plus a $19.95 setup fee, and includes just 200 faxes each month. If your business sends over 150 faxes each month, then Nextiva is clearly your best option.
Setup Fees: eFax is the only major virtual fax provider that charges setup fees. All of the other major providers have waived their setup fees, which makes eFax stick out like a sore thumb. I wouldn’t mind the high setup fees if eFax offered cheaper monthly pricing, but it doesn’t – eFax plans are three times as expensive as comparable plans from Nextiva.
Digitized Signatures: eFax lets you add digital signatures to your faxing account. To do that, you simply fax a signed piece of paper to yourself, then crop the signature. You can now drag and drop that signature onto any faxed document you receive, which really simplifies the process of signing faxed documents. Unfortunately, Nextiva does not have a digitized signature feature. You can add signatures to your faxed documents, but there isn’t a built-in tool that will expedite the process.
Mobile Apps: Nextiva does not have any mobile apps that can handle email faxing. eFax, on the other hand, offers great apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android. You can still fax from mobile devices with both services, but you’ll need to use your browser or email client to fax if you’re using Nextiva.
Overage Charges: Nextiva has relatively affordable overage charges. Users are assessed a fee of 3 cents per additional fax sent or received. That’s as cheap as overage charges get in the online fax industry. eFax is at the other end of the spectrum and charges high overage fees – 10 cents per additional fax. When you combine that with low monthly allowances on each online fax plan, that can add up to a lot of unexpected fees for businesses.
International Faxing: eFax doesn’t cover international faxing under its monthly allowances. However, users can pick an international fax number (or a local or toll-free number). Users can also fax most countries in the world at a flat rate of 10 cents per fax – that’s competitive compared to the rates charged by other providers. It’s important to note that Nextiva does not offer international faxing, so if your business needs to fax overseas clients, then eFax could be your best option.
Contact Management: For whatever reason, Nextiva has one of the worst contact management interfaces in the online fax industry. Users cannot import or export contact lists; instead, they need to manually add each and every contact. Making matters worse is that you can’t edit existing contacts – you have to add a new contact if one of your contacts changes their information. If you fax from your email account and use an alternative address book, then this isn’t a big deal. On MyFax, users will find extensive contact management options, including the ability to easily import and export contact lists.
Our Verdict On Nextiva vs eFax
Nextiva has two major benefits over eFax: it’s way more affordable and offers considerably higher monthly fax allowances. In fact, the two services aren’t close in either of these categories. Nextiva offers 500 faxes each month for $4.95 while eFax charges $16.95 (plus a $10 setup fee) for just 150 monthly faxes.
However, eFax does offer some benefits over Nextiva. eFax supports a broader range of file types, for example, and also has excellent mobile apps (Nextiva does not offer online faxing apps). eFax is also a good choice for businesses that require digital signature functionality – something that eFax has but Nextiva does not. eFax’s final major advantage is its affordable international rates – something not offered by Nextiva.
Ultimately, Nextiva is the winner here. The biggest benefits of eFax – extensive file type support and digital signatures – will never be needed for many users. Unless your business is constantly signing faxed documents or dealing with obscure file types, the low monthly allowances and high prices of eFax aren’t worth the added cost.
