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Alternatives · facts checked Oct 15, 2026

DocuSign alternatives

Six DocuSign alternatives — PDFBetter, Dropbox Sign, signNow, PandaDoc, Jotform and Acrobat — compared on price, sending limits, ID checks and who each suits.

Reviewed

Our verdict

DocuSign's envelope limits and per-user prices push many small senders to look elsewhere. Dropbox Sign and PDFBetter offer unlimited signature requests on single-user plans; signNow is the cheapest per seat on annual contracts; PandaDoc suits proposals and quotes; Jotform suits signing tied to web forms; and Acrobat suits people who also need a desktop editor. Keep DocuSign if you need its identity verification or certified enterprise integrations.

Written by PDFBetter, so read it knowing we're one of the two products. Every DocuSign fact below links to its source.

The 16-row feature table, at a glance

  • yes
  • partial
  • paid plans
  • no
  • unknown

PDFBetter

9 yes · 1 partial · 4 paid plans · 2 no

DocuSign

5 yes · 1 partial · 4 paid plans · 2 no · 4 unknown

Who should pick which

Pick by what you actually need

Choose DocuSign if…

  • You need ID document verification, SMS authentication or knowledge-based authentication for signers.
  • You rely on certified Salesforce, Microsoft 365, SAP or Workday integrations.
  • Your compliance team has standardized on DocuSign.
Visit docusign.com

Choose PDFBetter if…

  • You want unlimited signature requests and a full PDF editor in one plan.
  • You want a free plan that can still send a few requests each month.
  • You need to edit, redact or OCR a document before sending it.
See PDFBetter plans

Pricing

What each one costs

PDFBetter
Free: $0 with 3 edited-document downloads, 3 signature requests and 20 AI credits a month, with no card and no end date. Pro: $15/month, or $10/month billed yearly, with a 7-day free trial for first-time subscribers (card required). Business: $24/seat/month, or $18/seat/month billed yearly. Day Pass: $6 one time for 24 hours of Pro.
DocuSign
Personal $10/month billed annually (5 envelopes a month); Standard $25/user/month and Business Pro $40/user/month billed annually (100 envelopes per user a year). DocuSign's checkout lists $11, $30 and $45 on annual plans billed monthly. Enhanced plans by quote.

DocuSign prices checked on ecom.docusign.com. Prices change; the source is authoritative.

PDFBetter apps

In the browser, on your desktop, on your phone

Everything on this page works in any browser. The apps use the same account and the same documents.

All PDFBetter downloads

Feature by feature

16 things compared

Show all 16 rows
PDFBetter compared with DocuSign, feature by feature
FeaturePDFBetterDocuSign
Free plan that can send signature requestsPDFBetter Free: 3 requests a month. DocuSign offers a free trial.YesNo
Unlimited signature requestsPDFBetter Pro is unlimited. DocuSign plans include a set number of envelopes, with overage billed per envelope on some plans.Paid plansNo
Signing order and remindersDocuSign also supports conditional and parallel routing.YesYes
Reusable templatesYesYes
Bulk sendPDFBetter: Business. DocuSign: Business Pro and up.Paid plansPaid plans
Signer access codePDFBetter: Pro and up, a code you share with the signer by phone or text. DocuSign: email access code on all plans.Paid plansYes
Email one-time code for signersPDFBetter: every plan, including Free. The signer enters a 6-digit code sent to their email before opening the document; it expires in 10 minutes.YesUnknown
ID verification and SMS authenticationDocuSign includes a few ID verifications on Standard and Business Pro, then charges per attempt.NoPaid plans
Per-signer cryptographic keyPDFBetter: each signer's browser creates its own ECDSA P-256 key that never leaves the device and signs the document's SHA-256 fingerprint together with what they entered; PDFBetter's certificate authority certifies the key.YesUnknown
Sealed, time-stamped completed PDFsPDFBetter seals the completed PDF and certificate with a PAdES signature and, when the service is reachable, an independent RFC 3161 time-stamp, with the signing evidence embedded in the file. Change one byte and PDF readers show it. The seal certificate comes from PDFBetter's own certificate authority, which is not on Adobe's trust list yet, so Acrobat shows the signer identity as not verified; change detection still works.YesUnknown
Web forms and payment collectionPDFBetter publishes fillable PDF forms but does not take payments. DocuSign: Business Pro and up.PartialPaid plans
Edit existing PDF textDocuSign Quick Edit lets a sender change text before anyone views it; DocuSign has announced a separate desktop PDF Editor.YesPartial
OCR for scanned PDFsYesUnknown
AI summary of agreementsDocuSign lists AI-assisted summaries from Personal. PDFBetter answers cite page numbers.YesYes
Certified CRM and enterprise integrationsNoYes
Developer APIPDFBetter: Business plan. DocuSign API plans start at $50 a month.Paid plansPaid plans

“Paid plans” means the feature exists but not on a free tier. “Unknown” means we couldn't verify it.

What to compare

DocuSign's Personal plan includes 5 envelopes a month and its Standard and Business Pro plans include 100 envelopes per user per year, at $10 to $40 a month billed annually. The first question is volume: if you send more than that, an alternative without a per-envelope allowance can cost much less. The second is assurance: if you need ID-document checks or SMS authentication, confirm the alternative offers them.

PDFBetter: signing plus a PDF editor

PDFBetter includes 3 signature requests a month on Free and unlimited requests on Pro ($15 a month, or $10 billed yearly), with signing order, reminders, expiry and a certificate of completion. It also edits, redacts, OCRs and converts the PDF before you send it. Every signer signs with their own cryptographic key. Every completed PDF is digitally sealed and independently time-stamped, with the evidence built into the file. Every plan can require a one-time code emailed to the signer, Pro adds access codes and Business adds bulk send. The seal certificate comes from PDFBetter's own certificate authority, which is not on Adobe's trust list yet, so Acrobat shows the signer identity as not verified; change detection still works.

PDFBetter's signature requests are designed to the technical requirements of an advanced electronic signature (eIDAS art. 26): a unique key per signer, under their sole control, linked to the document so any change is detectable. Signers are identified by email (and an optional emailed code), not by ID documents or SMS. PDFBetter signatures are not qualified electronic signatures (QES), and there is no ID-document verification, SMS authentication or CRM integration.

Dropbox Sign: simple unlimited sending and a strong API

Dropbox Sign's free plan sends 3 requests a month, and Essentials at $15 a month (or $10.05 billed yearly) includes unlimited signature requests with 5 templates. Standard adds bulk send, branding and SMS authentication for teams, and its API plans start at $75 a month with a free test mode. It suits Dropbox users and developers.

signNow: low annual per-seat price

signNow Business is $8 per user a month billed annually ($20 monthly), with 100 invites per user per year on annual plans. Business Premium adds bulk invites and payment requests, and Enterprise adds SMS and phone authentication. It is part of airSlate and powers signing in pdfFiller Premium.

PandaDoc: proposals and quotes

PandaDoc's free eSign plan sends 5 documents a month, and Starter is $35 a month or $19 billed annually with unlimited sends. Business adds pricing tables, a content library, approvals and quotes, and it collects payments. It suits sales teams building documents rather than signing existing PDFs.

Jotform Sign and Adobe Acrobat

Jotform includes 10 signed documents a month on its free Starter plan and pairs signing with web forms and payments. Adobe Acrobat Standard ($14.99 a month on an annual plan billed monthly) includes signature requests alongside a full desktop editor, with bulk send and templates on Pro. Both suit people for whom signing is one step in a larger workflow.

DocuSign alternatives: questions people ask

What is the cheapest DocuSign alternative?

For free use, PDFBetter and Dropbox Sign include 3 signature requests a month, PandaDoc 5 sends and Jotform 10 signed documents. For paid plans, signNow's annual per-seat price is the lowest we found, while PDFBetter Pro and Dropbox Sign Essentials include unlimited requests for one user.

Which alternatives offer unlimited signature requests?

PDFBetter Pro, Dropbox Sign's paid plans and PandaDoc's paid plans advertise unlimited sending. signNow and DocuSign plans include a set allowance.

Which alternative verifies signer identity?

DocuSign offers paid ID verification. Among the alternatives, Dropbox Sign and signNow offer SMS authentication on higher plans and PandaDoc sells verification as an add-on. PDFBetter identifies signers by email, with an optional emailed one-time code on every plan and access codes on Pro; each signer also signs with their own device key. It does not check ID documents or send SMS codes.

Are signatures from these tools legally valid?

Electronic signatures are generally recognized under the US ESIGN Act and the EU eIDAS regulation, with exceptions for certain documents. PDFBetter is not a law firm; check the requirements for your document and country.

Sources

9 sources
  1. DocuSign eSignature plans — ecom.docusign.com, checked
  2. DocuSign eSignature product page — docusign.com, checked
  3. Dropbox Sign pricing — sign.dropbox.com, checked
  4. signNow plans and pricing — signnow.com, checked
  5. PandaDoc plan comparison — support.pandadoc.com, checked
  6. Jotform pricing — jotform.com, checked
  7. Adobe Acrobat pricing — adobe.com, checked
  8. PDFBetter pricing and plan limits — pdfbetter.com, checked
  9. PDFBetter security: e-signature evidence — pdfbetter.com, checked

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