The 9 Best E-Signature Apps of 2026, Compared

Quick answer: If your clients and vendors need to recognize the email the moment it lands, Docusign is still the default, but its cheaper plans cap how many envelopes you can send. If you want to stop counting, BoldSign has the most generous free plan here (25 envelopes a month) and paid plans from $5 per user, and Dropbox Sign gives one person unlimited signature requests for $15 a month. Selling into the EU and need qualified signatures? Look at Youtrust (formerly Yousign).

Every tool on this list does the basic job: upload a PDF, drag signature and date fields onto it, email a link, and get back a signed copy with an audit trail. Signers never need an account or a subscription. What actually separates them is how they count usage. Some meter "envelopes" (one send, any number of documents and signers), some meter "signature requests" or "documents," and a few charge per account instead of per user. A plan that looks cheap can be capped at 100 sends a year, so read the limit before the price.

The second thing to decide is where you sign from. If you already write quotes in a CRM, a tool that plugs into it matters more than the sticker price; our small business CRM roundup covers that side. Freelancers who mainly send a contract and then an invoice should also look at our invoicing apps for freelancers, since a few of those include a basic signature step.

How they compare

Tool	Best for	Free tier	Paid from	Usage limit on cheapest paid plan
Docusign	Businesses whose signers expect it	None (30-day trial)	Personal $11/mo billed annually ($15 monthly)	5 envelopes a month
BoldSign	Free and low-cost sending	25 envelopes/mo, 2 templates	Growth $5/user/mo billed yearly ($15 monthly)	50 envelopes per user a month
Dropbox Sign	One person who sends a lot	3 signature requests/mo	Essentials $15/mo ($180/yr)	Unlimited signature requests, 5 templates
Adobe Acrobat Sign	People who already use Acrobat	None for sending	Acrobat Standard $14.99/mo on an annual plan ($24.99 monthly)	No cap listed on the pricing page
PandaDoc	Proposals, quotes and contracts	5 documents/mo, 2 recipients each	Starter $19/user/mo billed annually ($35 monthly)	Unlimited documents, 5 templates
SignNow	Teams with many occasional senders	Free trial only	Starter $8/mo billed annually, unlimited users	100 invites a year per account
Zoho Sign	Per-user value as you grow	1 user, 5 envelopes/mo	Standard $10/user/mo billed annually ($12 monthly)	25 envelopes per user a month
SignWell	Simple flat-rate sending	1 sender, 3 documents/mo	Light $10/mo billed yearly ($12 monthly)	Unlimited documents, 5 templates
Youtrust (Yousign)	EU advanced and qualified signatures	2 signature requests/mo	One €9/mo billed yearly, excl. VAT	10 signature requests a month

Are e-signatures legally binding? The basics (not legal advice)

For most everyday business documents, yes. In the US, the federal ESIGN Act of 2000 says a signature, contract or record "may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form." At the state level, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) does the same job: according to the New York City Bar, 49 states, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have enacted it, and New York relies on its own Electronic Signatures and Records Act instead. ESIGN also lists exceptions, including wills and testamentary trusts, adoption, divorce and other family law matters, court documents, and certain notices such as utility shutoffs, foreclosure or eviction on a primary residence, and cancellation of health or life insurance. For those, check what your state and the receiving party require.

In the EU, the eIDAS Regulation defines three levels. A simple electronic signature can be as basic as typing your name. An advanced electronic signature (AES) has to be uniquely linked to the signer, under their control, and tamper-evident. A qualified electronic signature (QES) is an advanced signature made with a certified device and a qualified certificate, which in practice means the signer verifies their identity first. The European Commission's eSignature FAQ says no level can be refused legal effect just for being electronic, but only a QES explicitly carries the same legal effect as a handwritten signature in every member state. Several of the US tools here sell advanced or qualified signatures only as add-ons (BoldSign lists QES as one), so check before you promise a European partner a QES. This section is general background, not legal advice: for anything high-stakes, ask a lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction.

1. Docusign: Best overall for businesses

• Developer: Docusign
• Plans: Personal, Standard, Business Pro, Enhanced (sales)
• App Store: 4.9/5 (829,701 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2011

Docusign is the name your counterparties already trust, and that is worth something when a stranger has to click a link in an email and type their name. The signing flow is familiar to almost everyone, the iPhone app holds 4.9 out of 5 from more than 800,000 ratings, and the pricing page lists more than 1,000 integrations. TechRadar picks it as the best for reports and reminders, and Tom's Guide names it its best-value pick for businesses.

The catch is the envelope meter. Personal is $11 a month on an annual plan ($132 a year) or $15 month to month, and it allows 5 envelopes a month. Standard is $30 per user a month billed annually ($45 monthly), and Business Pro is $45 ($65 monthly), but both annual plans include up to 100 envelopes per user per year, roughly 8 a month. Monthly plans get up to 10 per user per month. An envelope counts once it's sent, signed or not, and extra envelopes are billed per send. There's no free plan, only a 30-day trial. Tom's Guide calls it "expensive for personal use," and TechRadar flags a "cumbersome registration process."

Video tutorial: How to Use Docusign: Step-by-Step Tutorial Demo by Docusign

2. BoldSign: Best free plan

• Developer: Syncfusion Inc.
• Free plan: 25 envelopes a month, 2 templates
• Apps: iOS and Android

BoldSign, made by Syncfusion, has the free plan the others should be measured against: 25 envelopes a month with an audit trail, signer authentication, automated reminders and automatic field detection, for $0. That covers most freelancers. The paid tiers are just as aggressive. Growth is $5 per user a month billed yearly with 50 envelopes per user a month and 10 templates, and Business is $15 per user a month billed yearly with unlimited envelopes and templates, SSO and HIPAA support. Premium is $99 a month for unlimited users sharing 250 envelopes a month.

The fine print is in the billing toggle and the add-ons. Monthly billing costs three times as much on Growth ($15 versus $5) and $25 on Business. Bulk send, SMS and WhatsApp delivery, ID verification, knowledge-based authentication and qualified signatures are paid add-ons on Business and Premium. BoldSign is also the youngest app here: its iPhone app only came out in 2025 and has 13 ratings, so there's far less public track record than for Docusign or Dropbox Sign.

Video: Top 6 BoldSign Features That Make E-Signatures Effortless by BoldSign

3. Dropbox Sign: Best unlimited sending for one person

• Developer: Dropbox (formerly HelloSign)
• Languages: 22 for senders and signers
• Certifications: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, eIDAS, GDPR

Dropbox Sign, which used to be HelloSign, does away with the envelope meter on paid plans: its pricing page promises "unlimited signature requests with no hidden fees." Essentials is $15 a month for one user with 5 templates, and that's the cheapest way on this list for a single person to send as many contracts as they like. Standard is $25 per user a month for teams of 2 or more and raises templates to 15. Tom's Guide picks it as the best budget option and TechRadar as the best for cloud storage, and Tom's Guide highlights its support for Dropbox, Google Drive, Box and OneDrive. If you're still choosing where those signed PDFs should live, our cloud storage roundup compares the options.

The free plan is thin: 3 signature requests a month, though signing your own documents is unlimited. Annual billing doesn't save anything at list price ($180 a year is the same $15 a month), apart from a first-year promotion the page was running. The template caps are low, so a team with many contract variations will hit them fast, and Premium (5 or more users, unlimited templates) is quote-only. TechRadar also notes the free trial asks for a credit card, and Tom's Guide lists "no Microsoft Word add-in" as a con.

Video tutorial: How to Sign Documents Using Dropbox Sign | Dropbox Sign | Dropbox by Dropbox

4. Adobe Acrobat Sign: Best if you already pay for Acrobat

• Developer: Adobe Inc.
• Included with: Acrobat Standard, Pro and Studio
• App Store: 2.2/5 (646 ratings) for the Acrobat Sign app; 4.6/5 (659,394 ratings) for Acrobat Reader

If you already pay for Acrobat, you may already pay for e-signatures. Adobe's pricing page lists "collect e-signatures and track responses" in Acrobat Standard, and Acrobat Pro adds sending in bulk. For anyone who edits PDFs every week, that's the best deal here. TechRadar calls Acrobat Sign "our pick for best electronic signature software for most people and general users," and Tom's Guide also ranks it best overall.

As a signature-only purchase it's pricey and the terms are strict. Acrobat Standard is $14.99 a month on an annual plan billed monthly ($179.88 prepaid) or $24.99 month to month, and Pro is $19.99 or $29.99. On the annual-billed-monthly option, Adobe charges a fee of up to half your remaining commitment if you cancel after 14 days. Team licenses start at $16.99 a month. The standalone Acrobat Sign iPhone app has a 2.2 out of 5 rating from 646 reviews, so most people sign and send from Acrobat itself. TechRadar also warns the subscription options "may be overwhelming."

Video tutorial: Send Documents for E-Signature in Acrobat | Adobe Acrobat by Adobe Acrobat

5. PandaDoc: Best for proposals and quotes

• Developer: Quote Roller Inc.
• Templates: 400+ public templates; up to 5 of your own on Free and Starter
• App Store: 4.2/5 (291 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2017

PandaDoc is less an e-signature tool than a document builder that ends in a signature. You assemble proposals, quotes and contracts in a drag-and-drop editor with pricing tables, reuse content blocks, see when a client opens the document, and collect the signature (and payment) at the end. Tom's Guide picks it as the best for document creation and says it "goes beyond basic e-signatures with its built-in page layout and desktop publishing tools." TechRadar gives it the same label. If your contracts are mostly sales documents, this is the one built for that workflow.

The free eSign plan allows 5 documents a month with 2 recipients each, which is enough to try it but not to run a business on. Starter is $19 per user a month billed annually or $35 month to month, with unlimited documents but a cap of 5 templates across the whole account. Unlimited templates need Business, at $49 per user a month annually or $65 monthly. Tom's Guide notes a "steeper learning curve," and TechRadar says the "vast number of features could be intimidating" if you only need a signature on a PDF.

Video review: PandaDoc Review: Best Document Platform for Businesses? by SaaS Report

6. SignNow: Best for teams with many occasional senders

• Developer: airSlate, Inc.
• Users: unlimited on every plan
• App Store: 4.5/5 (18,123 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2012

SignNow flips the usual pricing: plans are priced per account, not per user, and every plan includes unlimited users at no extra cost. Starter is $8 a month billed annually, Professional (bulk send, signing links, payment collection, scheduled sending) is $15, and Business (custom branding, SMS delivery, signer authentication, conditional fields and approval workflows) is $30. The page shows $20, $30 and $50 for month-to-month billing. TechRadar names it the best for business, and Tom's Guide picks it for multiple signers. For an office where ten people each send a form now and then, that's a fraction of what per-seat tools charge.

The trade-off is volume. Annual plans include up to 100 signature invites per account per year, shared across all those unlimited users, and monthly plans include 10 a month. Past that you pay as you go, and Enterprise starts at $1.50 per invite. Declined and canceled invites still count. So SignNow is cheap for many light senders and expensive for one heavy one. TechRadar adds that it "may not fit for personal use," and Tom's Guide says it "lacks text formatting options." There's a free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Video review: signNow Review and Full Tutorial: Is It Better Than DocuSign? (2026) by George Vlasyev

7. Zoho Sign: Best per-user value as you grow

• Developer: Zoho Corporation
• Apps: iOS, iPadOS, Android, macOS and Windows
• App Store: 4.8/5 (868 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2017

Zoho Sign is the quiet value pick for a small team that expects to grow. The free plan gives one user 5 envelopes a month. Standard is $10 per user a month billed annually ($12 monthly) with 25 envelopes per user a month, and it already includes approval workflows, witness signing, delegated signing and access to advanced electronic signatures through certificate providers. Professional, at $16 per user a month annually ($20 monthly), removes the envelope cap and the template cap and adds branding and reports. It's the obvious choice if your business already runs on other Zoho apps, and the 14-day trial needs no credit card.

The complication is credits. SMS delivery, ID verification, timestamping, WhatsApp, and any envelope sent through the API or a third-party integration consume Zoho Sign credits, which you buy separately. Even "unlimited envelopes" on Professional means unlimited from the web app, not from your Zapier automations. Documents signed during the trial carry a watermark.

Video: Sign, send and manage documents with Zoho Sign | Digital Signature for your business by Zoho Sign

8. SignWell: Best simple flat-rate plan

• Compliance: SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA on every paid plan
• Senders: 1 on Light, 3 on Business
• Platform: Web

SignWell is for people who want the cheapest plan with no document limit and nothing to learn. Light is $10 a month billed yearly ($12 monthly) for one sender with unlimited documents and 5 templates, and an extra sender costs $10 or $12 a month. Business is $30 a month billed yearly ($36 monthly) and includes 3 senders and unlimited templates. Template links, bulk send, branding and conditional fields are part of the paid plans, and SignWell says audit trails, SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA coverage come with every one. TechRadar picks it as the best for simplicity.

The free plan is a demo: 1 sender, 1 template and 3 documents a month. The simplicity also cuts the other way. TechRadar's cons are "no formatting options" and that Apple Pages and Numbers files aren't supported, so export to PDF first. There's no iPhone or Android app listed, and integrations beyond the native ones go through Zapier.

Video tutorial: How to Send a Document for Signature | SignWell by SignWell

9. Youtrust (formerly Yousign): Best for EU qualified signatures

• Formerly: Yousign (renamed in 2026)
• Signature levels: simple, advanced and qualified (eIDAS)
• Prices: in euros, excluding VAT

Yousign is now Youtrust. Its rename page says the website moved in mid-July 2026, the app migrates by 2027, and pricing stays the same. It's the pick here for anyone who sells into or works in Europe, because it offers all three eIDAS levels in one product. Advanced and qualified signatures are available on the Plus and Pro plans, with qualified signatures from €10 each. For a QES, signers verify their identity through a remote video check that Youtrust says takes at most 15 minutes, and they can reuse that identity next time.

For simple signatures it's also reasonably priced. The free plan allows 2 signature requests a month, One is €9 a month billed yearly (about €11 monthly) for 10 requests, and Plus, with unlimited simple signatures, templates and HubSpot and Zapier integrations, is €23 per user a month billed yearly (€30 monthly). Pro is €38. The downsides are practical for US buyers: prices are set in euros before VAT, and we couldn't find a Yousign or Youtrust app in the US App Store. If your signers are all in the US, a US tool is simpler.

Video tutorial: How to create a new signature request by Youtrust

Also worth a look

• DocuSeal (free self-hosted, Pro $20/user/mo): an open-source Docusign alternative with more than 18,000 GitHub stars. You can host it yourself for free, or use the cloud version, whose free plan sends 10 request emails a month.
• OpenSign (free): another open-source option whose site advertises a free plan with unlimited e-signatures. Worth a look if you're comfortable with a smaller project.
• Jotform Sign (free, then from $39/mo): built into Jotform's form builder. The free plan includes 10 signed documents a month with Jotform branding, and Bronze raises that to 100.

How we picked

We ranked these from desk research, not hands-on use. We read each vendor's live pricing page (or, for PandaDoc, its support site's plan comparison when the pricing page blocked us) on October 11, 2026, and recorded free-tier limits, envelope or request caps, and annual versus monthly prices. We cross-checked with Tom's Guide's and TechRadar's 2026 e-signature roundups, App Store ratings from Apple's own data, and primary legal sources: the ESIGN Act text, the New York City Bar's summary of UETA adoption, and the European Commission's eSignature FAQ. We weighted the size and fairness of the free tier, what the cheapest paid plan actually lets you send, and how pricing scales with users.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free e-signature software?

BoldSign has the most generous free plan we found: 25 envelopes a month, 2 templates, an audit trail and signer authentication. Zoho Sign and PandaDoc each allow 5 a month, Dropbox Sign and SignWell allow 3, and Youtrust allows 2. Docusign and Adobe have no free plan for sending.

Are electronic signatures legally binding?

In the US, the ESIGN Act of 2000 and state UETA laws mean a signature or contract can't be denied legal effect just because it's electronic, with exceptions such as wills, family law matters and court documents. In the EU, eIDAS recognizes simple, advanced and qualified signatures, and only qualified ones explicitly equal a handwritten signature. This isn't legal advice, so check with a lawyer for high-stakes documents.

What is an envelope in e-signature pricing?

An envelope is one send: one or more documents going to one or more signers. Docusign counts an envelope once it's sent, whether or not anyone signs, and its Standard and Business Pro annual plans allow up to 100 per user per year. Other tools count "signature requests," "documents" or "invites" in similar ways, so compare those limits, not just the price.

Is Docusign worth it for a small business?

It's worth it if your clients expect Docusign and you send fewer than about 8 envelopes per person a month. Standard costs $30 per user a month billed annually and includes 100 envelopes per user per year. If you send more, Dropbox Sign, BoldSign Business, Zoho Sign Professional and SignWell all offer unlimited sending for less.

Do signers need an account to sign?

No. Dropbox Sign and Zoho Sign both say signers don't need an account or a subscription, and that's the norm for the tools here: the signer gets an email link and signs in the browser. Only the people sending documents need a plan.

The bottom line

If your clients expect it and you send a modest number of contracts, Docusign is the safe default. If you'd rather not count envelopes, BoldSign gives you 25 a month free and unlimited from $15 per user, and Dropbox Sign lets one person send without limits for $15 a month. Working with European signers who need qualified signatures? Go with Youtrust.

Disclosure: none of the links in this post are affiliate links, we don't earn a commission from any of the apps in it, and nobody paid to be included. Prices are what each vendor's pricing page, support site or App Store listing showed on October 11, 2026, and they change. The legal section is general information, not legal advice.