International faxing hides two separate price tags that buyers constantly conflate. The first is the cost of owning a number in a given country, so that locals can send documents to you. The second is the per-page cost of you sending a fax into that country. A provider that is cheap on one is very often expensive on the other, which is why “how much does fax cost in Germany?” has no single answer until you say which direction the paper is moving.
This page is for anyone who needs to receive at a foreign number, send across a border, or run one account that touches more than one country. The short version: if you need a local number outside North America, your realistic shortlist is small, and Fax.Plus sits at the top of it. If you only need to send abroad from a US or Canadian number, your options widen and the winner shifts toward eFax. Use the filter above, which is pre-set to international-capable services, and run your real page count through the fax price calculator before you commit to a plan.
Who actually issues numbers where
Number availability is the hard constraint, so start there. Most online fax brands are built for the US market and only sell US and Canada numbers. In our data, four otherwise-excellent services are domestic-only: Documo, SRFax, Nextiva vFax, and MetroFax. They are among the best values on the board for North American faxing, but they cannot give you a German, British, or French line at any price.
The providers that reach beyond North America sort into a clear hierarchy:
- Fax.Plus has the widest footprint we track: local numbers in around 190 countries, with Germany, the UK, France, Switzerland, and Austria all available at standard plan pricing. It is the only service in our set that issues Swiss and Austrian numbers.
- eFax carries numbers in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, and Australia, and its Business plan sends to 51 countries out of the box (with reach into 200+ overall).
- CocoFax is the value outlier: its own numbers are US and Canada only, but it sends to over 180 countries, which makes it the cheapest way to fax into Germany, the UK, or France when you don’t need to own a number there. Plans start at $4.99/month.
- iFax adds the UK and Italy to the usual US and Canada; it is the only provider in our data with an Italian number.
- Dropbox Fax and MyFax each add the UK to US and Canada, and nothing further.
So Germany narrows to two names (Fax.Plus, eFax), the UK opens up to five, and Switzerland or Austria effectively means Fax.Plus or nothing.
Sending abroad: the per-page reality
Owning a number is a flat monthly cost. Sending across a border is where the meter runs. Most providers treat international destinations as premium: a page sent to Western Europe frequently counts as more than one page against your allowance, and destinations further afield count for more still. That means a “500 page” plan does not translate into 500 international pages.
This is the case where eFax, normally the priciest name page-for-page, earns its keep. Its $39.99 Business plan bundles 500 pages of sending to 51 countries plus five users and a HIPAA BAA, which is a clean answer for a US company that sends documents into Europe or Australia at volume. If your international sending is lighter, Fax.Plus lets you send to any of its covered countries at plan rates, with overages of 10¢ per page on Basic falling to 5¢ on Business. Before you pick, open the provider’s destination table: the difference between a country billed at standard rate and one billed at a surcharge can double your effective cost.
Worked example: a US consultant who needs a German number
Say you are a US-based consultant whose German clients still fax, and you expect about 40 inbound pages a month at a German number. Only two providers in our set can actually issue that German line — and the cheapest name on the board isn’t one of them.
| Plan | Annual monthly price | Pages included | Overage | German number? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CocoFax Lite | $4.99 | 60 | 20¢/page | No (US/CA only) |
| Fax.Plus Basic | $6.99 | 200 | 10¢/page | Yes |
| eFax Personal | $18.99 | 200 | 10¢/page | Number yes, sending US/CA only |
CocoFax Lite looks like the obvious winner at $4.99/month, but its numbers are US and Canada only, so it can’t hold a German line at all — it can only send into Germany, not receive at a German number. That leaves two real options. Fax.Plus Basic, at $6.99/month or about $84 a year, is the cheapest way to hold a genuine German number: a 200-page cushion, a 10¢ overage half of CocoFax’s, and noticeably more consistent delivery, which matters when a client is waiting on a signed document. eFax can issue a German number too, and for a receive-only line its Personal plan does the job — it only sends to the US and Canada, but that limit doesn’t bite when the paper is coming to you. At roughly three times Fax.Plus’s price, though, you are paying for the brand.
The decision framework: if you need an inbound German number, Fax.Plus Basic is the value play, with eFax a pricier alternative for anyone set on that brand. CocoFax only enters the picture if you don’t actually need a German line — just a cheap way to send documents into Germany from a US or Canadian number, which it does for 180+ countries at $4.99/month. Read the full Fax.Plus review and CocoFax review for the reliability and support details behind that call.
Running two countries on one account
A common real-world setup is a US company with a European toehold: one US number, one German or UK number, one place to manage both. The clean way to do this is a provider that supports multiple numbers under a single login.
Fax.Plus is built for it. Add a second number for $4.99/month on top of a Basic plan, and a US line and a German line share one 200-page pool and one bill, with no currency conversion to reconcile. That comes to $11.98/month on annual billing for two countries. eFax also allows numbers in different countries on one account, though at its price point you are paying a premium for the convenience. The domestic-only services simply cannot play here, so if a second-country number is on your roadmap, rule them out now rather than migrate later.
Edge cases and gotchas
- “International” can mean send-only. A provider that lists a country may only send there, not sell you a number there. eFax reaching 200+ countries is about sending; its dial-a-number list is much shorter. Always separate the two questions.
- Zone surcharges hide in the fine print. Included pages usually assume domestic destinations. Check whether Western Europe, Australia, or your specific country bills at one page or several before you trust an allowance.
- Compliance does not travel automatically. A US HIPAA BAA says nothing about GDPR. Fax.Plus offers ISO 27001, SOC 2, and GDPR documentation across tiers; CocoFax’s HIPAA and GDPR language is self-attested with no signed agreement, which is a real limitation for regulated cross-border data. If health data is involved, start with our HIPAA fax pricing guide.
- Currency and billing. Prices in our data are USD. A foreign number does not mean foreign-currency billing, but promotional first-month rates and annual-versus-monthly gaps still apply, so confirm the recurring price at checkout.
- A US number works from anywhere. Because online fax runs over the internet, you can hold a US number while living abroad. If looking local to American recipients is the whole goal, a cheap domestic service like Nextiva vFax or MetroFax does the job from any country.
The bottom line
For a local number outside North America, Fax.Plus is the default answer and the only realistic one for Switzerland or Austria. It is not the cheapest line on the board, but its coverage, reliability, and clean multi-number billing are worth it for anything a business depends on. Choose CocoFax when you only need to send into many countries from a US or Canadian base at the lowest possible price — it reaches 180+ countries — but remember its own numbers are US and Canada only, so it can’t give you a German, UK, or French line. Choose eFax when the job is high-volume sending into many countries from a US base and you want compliance and support bundled in.
Everyone else, weigh your options side by side on the full comparison, size the plan to your real volume with the calculator, and if your faxing is actually North-American with only occasional overseas sends, read Best cheap online fax services and our breakdown of how much online fax really costs before you pay for coverage you will not use.