What is cloud fax?

Cloud fax is a fax service delivered over the internet, where faxes are sent and received through an online account or email. A solo practice that sends and receives faxes from a web account or from email is already using cloud fax.

How does cloud fax work?

Cloud fax sends a document from a web account or an email to a fax number. The service delivers it to the receiving machine as a standard fax, and the sender gets a delivery report. Nobody in the office has to print, scan or feed a page through a machine.

Faxes that come in arrive at the practice's own number. The service places each one in an online inbox, where staff can read it and assign it.

Does cloud fax matter for HIPAA?

Cloud fax matters for HIPAA whenever the faxes it carries hold protected health information, because the service then handles that information for the practice. The practice needs a signed business associate agreement with the service before the first patient fax goes through it. The HIPAA rule on business associate contracts lists what that agreement must cover.

Every Fax Pigeon plan includes a signed BAA at signup, so the agreement is in place before the first fax goes out.

Whether the service is more secure than email is a separate question, covered in whether online fax is more secure than email.

Who should switch to cloud fax?

A practice should switch to cloud fax when it wants faxes in a shared inbox and no machine to keep running in the office. A small group can add staff because every plan includes unlimited people.

Fax Pigeon counts pages sent plus received, and each plan includes a monthly page allowance. Basic is $4.99 a month billed annually, or $5.99 billed monthly, and it covers 200 pages. Standard covers 500 pages, Plus 1,000, Pro 2,000, Premium 5,000 and Max 10,000. Each extra page costs 10¢ on Basic, and each plan above Basic charges less per extra page.

Is cloud fax the same as online fax?

Cloud fax and online fax usually name the same service. Both send and receive faxes through an internet account. The terms below are the ones buyers mix up with cloud fax.

• Fax machine: a device that scans, sends and prints faxes over a phone line. Cloud fax replaces the device with an internet account.
• Fax server: software a practice runs on its own computer to send and receive faxes. Cloud fax runs on the provider's servers instead.
• Email to fax: a way to send a fax from an email message. Every Fax Pigeon plan includes fax from email.

For a side-by-side view, see how online fax compares with a fax machine.

* Fax Pigeon prices and plan terms as of October 15, 2026.