JustFax Online
"A dead-simple, no-account-required online fax sending service with one-time payment that consistently grosses over EUR 500/month by stripping away the subscription complexity of competitors."
Marketing Channels
SEO
Most users come from search engines; creator focuses mainly on SEO as the acquisition channel
LLM referrals
Some users come from LLM recommendations, a growing organic channel
HN Show thread
Showcased the service in a Hacker News thread, earning bookmarks and positive feedback
Returning customers
Some users are returning customers despite the one-time payment model
Growth Levers
- Add fax receiving capability — a commenter noted most sending services don't offer this and it could be a differentiator
- Optimize for LLM discoverability since some traffic already comes from LLM recommendations
- Consider implementing own fax infrastructure (Asterisk, Telnyx) to improve margins over the current third-party service dependency
- Target specific verticals that still heavily use fax (healthcare, legal, government, real estate)
- Leverage the no-account, no-subscription positioning more aggressively in marketing copy as anti-enshittification messaging resonates strongly
First Customer Strategy
The creator focused on SEO to rank in search engines for fax-related queries in a competitive market with many existing services. The differentiation was simplicity — no account required, no subscription, just pay and send. Users also discovered the service through LLM recommendations.
Pricing Insight
One-time payment model starting at $5 per fax (no account or subscription required). One commenter noted this is effectively a 'desperation fee' — users who need to send a fax rarely need the service often, making one-time pricing the right model. Another commenter referenced patio11's 'charge more' advice. The simplicity of pay-per-use was repeatedly praised as a differentiator against subscription-based competitors.
New Market Opportunities
- Fax receiving service Most sending services don't offer receiving — adding this could differentiate and expand the addressable market
- Self-hosted fax infrastructure Using Asterisk with PBX lines or Telnyx API could replace third-party dependency and improve margins
- Japan market Commenter noted anyone sending 1,000+ faxes would be in the top 1% of fax users in their country 'if it's not Japan' — suggesting Japan as a high-volume fax market
Key Takeaways
- • A boring, 'dead' technology (fax) can still generate consistent revenue when wrapped in a frictionless modern UX
- • One-time payment models work well for infrequent-use services and are a strong differentiator against subscription fatigue
- • Simplicity itself is a competitive advantage — no account, no subscription, crystal-clear pricing wins user trust and generates word-of-mouth
- • SEO is the dominant acquisition channel for utility services that people search for when they have an immediate need
- • LLM recommendations are becoming a meaningful discovery channel for simple, well-described services
- • Building on top of third-party APIs is a valid starting strategy, with self-hosting as a margin-improvement path once revenue justifies it
Sentiment Analysis
7 Pos / 4 NeuNotable Quotes
"Thanks for making a service where people can pay for a thing to happen, rather than an account and subscription and... — IanCal"
"This is the coolest thing I've seen on this thread. Single purpose and a very nice, crystal clear homepage. — Fiveplus"
"I love that it doesn't need an account and is a simple straightforward service, as if I was paying to use an actual fax machine somewhere. I wish nearly every service online was built this way. — al_borland"
"Very cool. Love how simple it is, no bullshit. — golson_kindmind"
"I try to focus on making usable software without enshittifying them. — skwee357"
"This is a desperation fee and I think for a lot of the users a clear fee for a clear one off service is the best deal. — pjc50"
Comments
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