HelloSign (Now Dropbox Sign) vs DocuSign: The Ultimate Comparison for 2023

Electronic signatures have long been a staple of conducting business with international clients, partners and remote workers. During the pandemic and the biggest shift to remote working ever, the feature became essential for all industries.

We at Better Proposals were ahead of the curve and have been offering a reliable digital signature option in all of our proposal and document templates since day one.

Since it’s such an important service for so many people, we decided to compare two platforms most known for their electronic signatures - HelloSign (now Dropbox Sign) vs DocuSign. Find out which one of these platforms is the better choice for your company and which features should you consider when choosing your electronic signature software.

We’ll start with a product overview before transitioning into comparison tables and a list of integrations and special features. Note that, while HelloSign officially changed its name to Dropbox Sign in October 2022, we'll be referring to it as HelloSign throughout the article. This is because most people still use its original name.

What we'll cover

1. DocuSign overview
2. HelloSign (Dropbox Sign) overview
3. Round 1: Overall feature comparison
4. Round 2: Integrations
5. Round 3: Branding and white labeling
6. Round 4: Advanced features
7. Round 5: Customer support
8. Why Better Proposals is the superior option

DocuSign overview

DocuSign promises to help you save time and money while managing your paperwork. Their electronic signature solution lets you enable signing at any time, on any device.

You can easily upload and send signature requests, as well as check the status of the signing process and send reminders.

DocuSign makes sure your signed documents are legally binding by including a court-admissible audit trail. This is an important feature because it lets you verify each signature and connect it to the signer.

DocuSign pricing

DocuSign comes with more than 350 integrations and the pricing starts at $15 per month for a single user. 

The second tier is the Standard package, which is $45 per user per month and allows up to 5 users. This package also provides reminders and notifications, personalized branding, and comments. 

The Business Pro package is $65 per user per month. It offers a feature to collect payments, advanced fields, signer attachments, bulk sending, power forms (which allow you to send your client a link to a document), collaborative fields, in-person signatures (allowing your clients to sign documents on your devices) and advanced authentication.

Does DocuSign offer a free version?

While there is no free plan of DocuSign, they do offer a 30-day free trial. By signing up, you can try out all the essential features and see whether it's the right fit for you. The free trial also doesn't require credit card information, which we love to hear.

HelloSign (Dropbox Sign) overview

HelloSign allows you to electronically send signature requests and add legally binding signatures to any document. As we already mentioned, it is owned by Dropbox and changed its name to Dropbox Sign last October. As one of the tools inside Dropbox, it promises to help customers close deals faster, onboard new hires with ease, complete documents without errors, and more.

HelloSign (Dropbox Sign) pricing

The Essential plan costs $15 per month and allows one user to send unlimited signature requests per month. It also comes with 5 templates, an audit trail, reminders, notifications and more.

The Standard plan starts at $25 per user per month and allows you to have 2-4 users. It also comes with all of the features the Essential plan includes, as well as custom branding, bulk sending, team features, and a Salesforce integration.

Does HelloSign offer a free version?

Unlike DocuSign, HelloSign comes with a free plan that lets you send signature requests without having to commit to a subscription. What's more, you can try out their paid plans for free for 30 days and see whether the advanced features are worth upgrading for.

HelloSign is also available on Android and iOS devices. It lets you upload 14 document types and is compliant with HIPAA standards.

Round 1: HelloSign vs DocuSign - offers

In the comparison table below, you can see that HelloSign (Dropbox Sign) is the more affordable option. As such, it might be better suitable for freelancers and small businesses.

DocuSign, on the other hand, allows you to save and use more document templates. Its integrations and features make it the overall better option for larger companies.

Templates are an interesting topic since neither of these platforms offer their own standardized ones. Both HelloSign and DocuSign let you upload an unlimited amount of documents, but you'll need to use other software to create them.

However, this only works for companies that have outside help in creating those documents and would only use DocuSign or HelloSign for the signature request component. Even if this seems to be the case for you, you're surely aware of all the times your clients and partners send document drafts back, wanting you to change a thing or 12.

This leads you to rewrites, which can be harrowing, especially if you're creating documents from scratch and without a content library. That is why both HelloSign and DocuSign fall short with companies that are looking for an end product that can be easily customized.

All things considered, for round one, we'll stick with:

HelloSign vs DocuSign 0:1 for larger companies

HelloSign vs DocuSign 1:0 for small businesses

Round 2: Integrations and branding

When it comes to integrations, DocuSign is the obvious winner. All of their plans let you integrate with Dropbox, Microsoft Office 365, and Google Drive. However, if you want to integrate with Microsoft Dynamics or Salesforce, you'll have to upgrade to the Enterprise plan.

HelloSign’s Essentials plan allows you to integrate Google Docs, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, and more. The platform's strongest connector is Zapier, which lets you seamlessly integrate any application you choose. 

Round 2: HelloSign vs DocuSign 0:1

Round 3: Branding and white labeling

Both DocuSign and HelloSign allow you to put custom branding on documents, which is industry standard. You want your clients and partners to know whose document they're looking at, at all times. Your branding should be in the header or footer of every page. Both HelloSign and DocuSign allow you to do just that with your logo and company tagline.

DocuSign even took it a step further, allowing you to customize your document's colors and buttons. On the other hand, HelloSign allows white labeling. 

This means that you can create documents that are entirely your company's property, without HelloSign's logo or watermark, making them look professional and unique. For this reason, we have to give this round to HelloSign.

Better Proposals also allows white labeling in the sense that you can remove our logo from the email and you can even set up a custom domain from which you can send all of your documents. That way, your clients will receive proposals that are entirely yours and contain only your branding.

Round 3: HelloSign vs DocuSign 1:0

Round 4: Advanced features

When you first log into DocuSign, you are asked to upload a file. If you are a signee, you will be guided through your next steps, i.e. document processing. 

After that, you'll be asked the number of signees, get to organize the signature fields, and type a message for other signees. Once you're done with all of those steps, DocuSign takes over and informs other signees via email. 

HelloSign has a much more streamlined process. Once you log in, you need to type in the name of the signee and if you are the signee, you can let the program automatically use your information to sign the document. 

If you're not the signee, the software will not include you on the list and you can move on to the next step, which is uploading a file and adding the signature fields. You can choose the signing order and send out signature requests. 

It's clear that HelloSign is quicker and easier to use, which is why it wins this round.

Round 4: HelloSign vs DocuSign 1:0

Round 5: Customer support

A lot of companies nowadays offer round-the-clock support in multiple languages and through a variety of channels. Both DocuSign and HelloSign (Dropbox Sign) offer email and web form support, as well as an online knowledge base. 

The problems start when it comes to phone support, which HelloSign doesn't offer. DocuSign, on the other hand, has a paywall in front of their “additional” support, which includes communicating with real customer support agents and a shorter waiting time. 

There isn't a clear winner in this round, but we do have to mention that HelloSign offers customer support in 21 languages, which isn't too shabby. 

On the other hand, at Better Proposals, our customer service is a feature we're especially proud of. We offer customer support to all of our customers, no matter the plan.

Our customer support agents are available 24/7 and our average response time is under 15 minutes, which is one of the fastest response times in the SaaS world.

It's worth mentioning that DocuSign offers an interesting feature (that is not included in the cheaper plans) called DocuSign Analyzer. It works with AI-based insights which give you a better understanding of what you're being asked to agree to and can efficiently negotiate a better agreement. It's a great tool for the pre-execution stage of your agreement process, which could help you reduce risk.

Round 5: Tie

What to use instead

In the end, both DocuSign and HelloSign (Dropbox Sign) are just e-Signature tools. Better Proposals, on the other hand, is much more than just electronic signature software.

Our tools enable users to win more deals faster by being able to create and send sales documents in minutes. We offer more than 200 free document templates - all of them professionally designed and written.

Once you've picked the right template, you can customize it to your needs, while making sure you're using custom branding. That means that every business proposal, quote and contract you make will look great, while also speeding up your sales process.

We made sure that every template comes with a digital signature option. This allows your clients to agree to your terms and conditions in a legally binding and secure way. And for you, it means you get your documents signed faster.

All your clients have to do is type in their name and click “Accept”. After that, their typed-in signature will get turned into a digital signature.

What about payments and follow-ups?

With Better Proposals, you can collect payments through PayPal, Stripe, or GoCardless. Integrated payment options eliminate the need for multiple documents since a single proposal can serve as a proposal, contract, estimate, and invoice.

We also help you in the follow-up process. Since our documents are web-based, it means that you have access to more advanced features, like proposal tracking. As a result, you will be notified every time your document is opened, forwarded, and signed using electronic signatures.

Furthermore, you can track what the reader is doing. Our document analytics will show you how much time the reader spent on each of the proposal sections, giving you a better understanding of how to approach the follow-up process.

We're here to make your signing process quick and easy, while not sacrificing the quality of your documents. With legally binding signatures, key integrations and live agent support, it's clear to see why Better Proposals is the tool for you.

Conclusion

When it comes to HelloSign vs DocuSign, the former is a better fit for smaller companies. It's more affordable, while maintaining a level of professionalism at the same time. It helps you make sure all of your documents are secure, legally binding, and tamper-free. 

On the other hand, DocuSign is a better choice for large companies that want to use more integrations, save more templates, and have a better document workflow.

Based on all of the above, our overall score in the HelloSign vs DocuSign fight is – it depends.

If you're still on the fence and want software that will help you simplify your signing process, as well as improve other aspects of your business, sign up for a free trial with Better Proposals. That way, you can say goodbye to in-person signing and get your documents signed faster.