Top 11 DocuSign Alternatives to Check Out in 2023

Doing business in the digital age means being fast, efficient and available around the clock. Needless to say, paper meets none of these requirements. But what do you do when you have a document that needs to be signed and paper is not an option? Enter electronic signatures.

One of the pioneers in this industry is called DocuSign and it does what it promises – it lets you sign documents, electronically. If you’ve tried this app and you’re looking for something different (or better), here are the best DocuSign alternatives for 2021.

DocuSign alternatives

Is there a free version of Docusign?

Yes, there is a free trial that you can use for 30 days before committing to a paid plan. DocuSign does not have a freemium version that you can use for an unlimited time with some features. Instead, you can give it a spin for one month and then you’re forced to upgrade to a paid plan to keep using the app.

Does Microsoft have a DocuSign alternative?

Unfortunately, no. There is no option of using electronic signatures at all within the Microsoft suite of products. There are some options for using electronic signatures and certificates but there is no official product that has this as a standalone feature.

Who are DocuSign competitors?

This product has quite a few competitors, depending on what features you need the most. Some of the competitors include Better Proposals, Hellosign, Adobe Sign, PandaDoc and many others which we’re about to cover in the following sections.

Top Docusign Alternative - Better Proposals

Let’s be completely upfront here: Better Proposals offers much more than digital signatures. While DocuSign is great for those companies that need digital signatures only, Better Proposals is built for sales professionals who want to close more business while doing less manual work. DocuSign lets you create documents that can be signed digitally, while Better Proposals goes one step further.

Better Proposals automates your sales workflow and makes it easy to create, send and manage beautiful sales documents, such as proposals, quotes and contracts. It comes packed with a variety of features, such as custom branding, in-depth analytics and instant notifications when documents get signed.

The starter pack in Better Proposals gives you 10 proposals along with the 10 digital signatures per month. If you check our review of proposal software tools, you'll see that it's one of the best offers on the market.

Not only is this more signatures for less money per month, but you can also create, send and manage business proposals and other sales documents.

All signatures in Better Proposals are legally binding and come with an electronic certificate. It means you don't have to worry that your clients will back out after signing a sales document in Better Proposals.

I've chosen Better Proposals over DocuSign as it's more intuitive and easier to use. Documents created with Better Proposals are more beautiful. The templates have been incredibly helpful as we send out a lot of contracts and software development proposals. We get much more with the tool than just digital signatures for a great price. 

Max Babych, CEO and founder at Spdload

If something is signed in the Better Proposals app, it is a legally valid document, just like any other contract you sign on paper. When your client signs, you get to see all the information, including their signature, IP address and the time when they put their name on the dotted line.

Great sales documents help you win more business through integrations, and this is where Better Proposals can be of great help. Connect your favorite CRM, live chat software or a payment system to supercharge your sales workflow. This way, you can get paid by your clients right within the app or chat with your prospect as she is reading your proposal.

Also, it takes a lot of preparation before a document even gets to a point of signing. Filling out the client details can sometimes be a long and tedious process, but not anymore. Better Proposals intergrates with your favorite CRM tools so that you can import your clients’ data directly into your sales document in a matter of seconds. So, if you need that signature really fast, just hit one button instead of looking up client information in emails and project management tools.

The pricing starts at $19 per month and moves up to $129 per month for the enterprise plans.

Feel free to sign up and start your free trial today:

Hellosign

The main difference between HelloSign and DocuSign is that the former has a stronger focus on legally binding digital signatures. Besides documents, one of the strongest points of HelloSign is their API that lets you add signatures to any website and page you can think of. Moreover, they have a strong integration with Salesforce, which is particularly handy if you rely heavily on this CRM for getting new business.

HelloSign has a few features that set it apart. Primarily, you can create document templates so you don’t have to write your documents from scratch. You can build custom workflows so that you can coordinate your work with your entire team, no matter how many people there are. Finally, your customers can sign the documents in person too and not just using their devices.

The app has a free trial where you can send 3 signature requests from one sender. The cheapest plan is $13 per month, which gets you unlimited signature requests per month for one sender, as well as data validation, the integration with Google Drive for collaboration and some other perks. The business plan is $40 per month and it allows up to 5 senders, along with some extra features like in-person signing.

Since HelloSign has been acquired by Dropbox and we use Dropbox too, it syncs very well with our current software stack. Its integration with Google Docs is another win for us. HelloSign is streamlined, secure and has all the features (although basic) we need.

Dustin Vann, Owner & CEO at Trusy Social

Overall, DocuSign and HelloSign have very similar features, with the major difference being the pricing. HelloSign offers a free plan and it is cheaper in terms of the number of signatures you get for your money. If you’re considering price only, this is one of the better DocuSign alternatives.

Adobe Sign

If you ask a random computer user in 2020 about Adobe, the chances are pretty high that they know the name and that they are probably using some piece of their software. In fact, their software is commonly used for handling different types of documents, so it’s only natural to offer digital signatures as an extension of their offer.

Using Adobe Sign, you can request signatures, send reminders and receive notifications in the aptly titled individual plan. If you plan to use the app for business purposes, the Small Business plan unlocks the options for branding, managing users and groups, creating web forms and collecting online payments.

The good part is that the features are pretty advanced and that since it’s Adobe, there are lots of integrations. Dropbox, Office 365, Salesforce, Workday, you name it. Another piece of good news is that the number of documents that you can get signatures for is pretty much unlimited.

Now, the bad part – if you want the features that DocuSign offers, you have to get the Small Business package at $29.99 per license per month.

The Individual package is just $9.99 per user per month, but it doesn’t have all the features that DocuSign offers at the same price, such as  the number of integrations (350 in Docusign compared to a handful in Adobe Sign), reusable templates, international support for 43 languages and much more.

In essence, you have to pay 3x more for Adobe Sign to get the same value and usage. If the Individual package works for you, it’s a great deal.

Adobe Sign offers plans for an affordable price and has an application for mobile devices. When working without an internet connection, documents are automatically synchronized and sent when the device is connected to a network again. It has an interesting advantage over DocuSign: it allows you to create a signature on the screen, using a pen or hand. The app itself converts the letter into a standard signature and quickly aligns it to the document, making the process much more easier for the user.

Erico Franco, marketing manager at Gravity

Moreover, the Individual and Small Business packages only allow you to send 150 documents for signature requests per year, which is hardly a good deal compared to the other DocuSign alternatives on this list.

Dotloop

Here is a unique entry on this list – Dootloop is made for real estate agents and brokers. With this target audience in mind, the development team built a product with some very niche features compared to other DocuSign alternatives.

Using Dotloop, you can track and manage transactions, create tasks through task templates, track and tag your leads, create workflows and finally, you can share and edit documents with electronic signatures.

Besides the standard feature where you can sign documents, you can send them through text messages, which significantly improves your response rate and makes it easier to reach clients on the go. Moreover, you can hook up this feature with the Dootloop mobile app so your brokers can check documents when they are out and about.

I am an avid user of Dotloop which is very user-friendly and is free to me through my brokerage. As a realtor, I pay out so much money for marketing and other business fees that paying for DocuSign has been a huge turn-off. As far as documentation management, DocuSign isn’t as easy to use for my needs as Dotloop. Dotloop keeps all of my transactions on hand and grouped together in a loop that my administrative staff has also been granted access to. So easy and tidy and free. 

Robyn Flint, researcher at Free Advice

Compared to DocuSign, Dotloop is a very specialized platform for a niche audience. At $29 per user per month, it’s a worthy investment if you work in real estate. Still, if you want to make an informed decision, if should also look at some of the Dotloop alternatives out there. However, if you’re in some other industry and you’re looking for electronic signatures only, there are better DocuSign alternatives to choose from.

SignNow

Letting you “approve, sign and deliver documents”, SignNow is the comprehensive solution for managing business documents. This DocuSign competitor offers a variety of features that neatly connect to electronic signatures to provide a full experience with document management.

Just like DocuSign, you can use SignNow to create, edit and send documents and include electronic signatures in them. In fact, the two apps are very similar. Both allow you to send bulk invites to sign and create usable document templates. Both DocuSign and SignNow have personalized branding and you can use both to send signature invites through links. Moreover, both let you sign documents in person.

There aren’t too many differences. First, DocuSign doesn’t let you edit your documents before sending them. Moreover, DocuSign doesn’t let you define allowed signature types and it does not have the live chat feature, which some business might find really useful.

I've used SignNow for several years and it works just as well. In fact you get a bit more for a bit less money. With my plan I can upload unlimited documents and convert them into e-signature documents. With DocuSign the unlimited document count plan is more expensive.

Shilonda Downing, Founder at Virtual Work Team

Even the pricing is similar since you can get the basic Business package for $8 per user per month, with the only cap being 10 senders. For $15 per month, you can get the Business Premium, which unlocks reminders and notifications, bulk sending, personalized branding and signing link invites.

Overall, SignNow is very similar to the other Docusign alternatives on this list.

DocHub

Taking another angle at e-signatures, DocHub offers something a little bit different than DocuSign. Their main differentiator is the fact that you can edit PDFs online in great detail, with electronic signatures being just one part of their offer.

If you have a PDF you need to edit, DocHub lets you go in great detail with various tools, such as annotations, brushes, comments, whiteouts and much more. You can insert different forms, such as text, initials, checkboxes, dates and of course, signatures. You can even rotate, reorder and merge PDF files.

Speaking of signatures, you can use DocHub to sign your own documents by dragging and dropping your signature in finished documents. Alternatively, you can use it for business and send documents that require your recipients to sign using the app. The app also supports multiple signers for a single document, as well as bulk signing.

DocHub is great because it does everything I need it to and nothing else. I can easily add a date and signature and it's free. As a Chromebook user, it beats anything Adobe by a mile. I also appreciate that it doesn't send so many automated emails.

Dusti Arab, brand strategist at The Reinvention Co

When it comes to pricing, it’s interesting to note that DocHub has a free trial, where you can manage 2,000 documents per account, sign 5 eSignatures and request 3 signatures per month. You are also limited to 3 daily emails and 3 signers per sign request. There is only one paid plan, Pro, and it unlocks unlimited documents, eSignatures, sign requests and 250 daily emails. The best bit is that it only costs $4.99 per user per month, making DocHub the cheapest DocuSign alternative on this list.

On this merit alone, DocHub is worth checking out. If you manage a lot of PDF documents in the cloud and you have a need for signatures, it’s definitely worth considering it among other DocuSign alternatives.

PandaDoc

The major difference between DocuSign and Pandadoc, right off the bat, is the positioning. PandaDoc lets you do much more than create documents that you can sign and add digital signatures. You can use PandaDoc to create a variety of sales documents, including contracts, business proposals, interactive quotes and much more.

For the sake of being objective, let’s jump in straight to the electronic signatures part. As mentioned, PandaDoc lets you use electronic signatures for every type of sales documents that you want to create. Besides signatures, you get the ability to use pricing tables, receiving payments and taking a look at analytics for your documents.

Each type of document can be created using their drag-and-drop builder. The e-signatures are legally binding and each signed document comes with an electronic certificate.

We switched from DocuSign because it was too cumbersome and complicated to make edits to our documents on their platform. It was almost as if we would have to have a brand new contract/proposal/document every single time even if we only needed to change one small detail. It was insanely difficult to learn and use so we left them as soon as our year contract was up and have not missed them at all. Panda Doc is so much easier to use it’s been a huge time saver.

Ben Walker, CEO and founder at Transcription Outsourcing, LLC

The Individual plan is $9 per month per user, and it gives you access to eSignatures, but you can only send 5 documents per month. If you want to unlock unlimited documents and signatures, as well as options like custom workflows, you will have to pay $49 per month per user for the Business plan.

Overall, PandaDoc is aimed at businesses that use multiple types of documents and that need electronic signatures as a nice extra. It’s a more comprehensive product and it’s best suited towards small and large businesses that need one solution for all of their sales document needs.

SignEasy

Whether you send documents to your customers for signing or you need to sign some documents yourself, this is a worthy DocuSign alternative. This app lets you send documents for signing and track how and when you want them to be signed.

All of the basic electronic signature features are there. You can track the progress of your sent documents, send reminders to your signers and get instant notifications when documents get signed.

Similarly to other DocuSign alternatives, there are integrations with Google Drive, Evernote, Box, Dropbox, Gmail, Zoho CRM and many others. You can upload from your device or directly from these apps to SignEasy. All of the signatures are legally binding and there is a digital audit trail. In other words, you can see the IP address, email, document fingerprint and timestamp, each time someone signs in the app.

When it comes to pricing, the Standard plan is $10 per month and it lets you sign documents and collect signatures in person, but you cannot send documents to be signed, which kind of defeats the purpose of this type of app.

The Plus plan at $15 unlocks the ability to send documents but you cannot use any integrations and shareable links, you cannot send multiple documents and there is only one template. You can only unlock the full features with the Professional plan, which comes in at $20 per user per month.

As a DocuSign alternative, SignEasy loses out not on the features, but the pricing. The fact that you have to pay for the most expensive plan for the features which are basic in DocuSign and most other apps on this list makes it difficult for us to consider it as a top contender.

OneSpan

Another entry on the list that goes far beyond the scope of digital signatures only. Using OneSpan, you can take care of your identity verification, user authentication, fraud analysis and mobile app security.

However, let’s talk about electronic signatures, as the main aspect of the app that we’re interested in. If you want to get your documents ready for electronic signatures, just upload them to OneSpan, hit send and emails will go out to your recipients. This part of the app is super easy to use.

You can use OneSpan publicly, privately or on your own premises. Moreover, the app can be used across different devices and you can sign in person too. As you may have noticed, OneSpan is pretty big on security compared to other DocuSign alternatives. This is why they provide what they call audit trails. Simply put, you can backtrack who signed what and when to see whether any changes have been made between different signatures.

Forms and templates are available for those who want to save time and re-use some document pieces which they frequently use. If you worry about who gets to see your signed documents, you can set different roles and permissions for your team.

If you want to buy OneSpan, you’ll have to do so through their reseller network. Once you decide to become a customer, you can leave your data on their website so that they can connect you with a reseller. Couple this payment model with the basic price of $20 per user per month, and we can definitely say that OneSpan loses in the pricing department to DocuSign.

On the whole, OneSpan is a great solution for companies that need a dedicated solution for their identity and overall security needs, with the extra feature of electronic signatures. DocuSign is the better option here, all things considered.

SignRequest

You have to give one thing to SignRequest – they’re honest people. In their own comparison with DocuSign, they state that DocuSign has more features, but still, their own app is worth a look and try. And in all honesty, they are right, SignRequest gives a unique spin to the e-signature software game.

Their defense is that SignRequest has fewer features, but the features it does have are hand-picked to be the best ones that a business owner may need. In other words, they are against feature bloat and the whole app is built to be intuitive and super easy to use. The moment you land on their homepage, you can see that requesting a signature takes just a few simple steps.

You can try out SignRequest with their free trial, which gives you 10 documents per month for one user. You can send documents and sign them on any device and integrate your documents with Gmail and Google Drive. The cheapest paid plan is Professional at 7 Euros per user per month, which unlocks 5 document templates, the ability to send reminders and use custom branding.

Overall, SignRequest has an offer that is better suited towards businesses that need fewer features and a super simple and easy user interface. If you want an app that has most of DocuSign’s features but it’s cheaper and easier to use, SignRequest is a great choice when considering the available DocuSign alternatives.

DottedSign

DottedSign is an electronic signature solution that works for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses. The entire signing process is quite streamlined, from assigning signatures to tracking and managing the progress on your phone in real-time. Just like with other apps, you’re always aware of the status of your pages and documents, allowing for both security and flexibility.

Documents can be uploaded from your phone, email, and your camera as well as various cloud services such as Google Cloud and Dropbox. As a signee, you’re notified of the signature requests and once the document signing is completed, all the parties are notified via email. 

DottedSign transitions seamlessly from the phone app to your laptop or tablet while the browser version lets you check-in on the status of the signatures wherever you are. Their free plan allows 3 tasks per month and 3 signers per task. The paid plans offer more features letting the user have complete control and freedom, including in-person signing, reusable templates, app lock, and priority customer support. 

With its advanced security features, flexible pricing, and multi-platform features, it’s a solid solution to consider.

What is better than DocuSign?

In reality, it all depends on your business needs. Many competitors here have similar features and even pricing. If you’re looking for a solution with electronic signatures only, then any of these competitors could be better than DocuSign.

However, if you’re looking for a product that does much more than that, then the answer is clear - Better Proposals is better than DocuSign. Not only does it have electronic signatures, but it has a host of other features that make it easier to send, manage and track business proposals and close more sales.

Summary

DocuSign is a great product, and it turns out that the electronic signature niche in the SaaS world has quite a few great competitors. A lot of the DocuSign alternatives on this list have similar features and pricing, so it’s worth investigating more and basing your decision on more factors than price alone. No matter which option you choose, you won’t be making a mistake.

However, if you’re looking for a tool that lets you create functional and great-looking business proposals AND you can use it to request signatures, we suggest giving Better Proposals a try. One way or another, let us know in the comments if you have any questions about the tools we've listed here as well as which one you've chosen and why.