Free electronic signature options compared

If you need a free electronic signature, you have two different jobs and the answer differs for each. Signing a document yourself is free almost everywhere. Sending a document to other people to sign, and keeping proof of who signed what and when, is free only within small monthly limits. This guide compares the free options as read on each vendor's own page on 1 November 2026, says where each one stops, and explains when it is worth paying.

For a wider market view see DocuSign alternatives. This post is only about what you get without paying.

Two jobs, not one

Sign it yourself. You have a PDF and need to add your signature and the date. A browser tool does this. No one else is involved, so there is no audit trail to speak of.

Collect signatures from others. You send the document, other people sign by email link, and you want proof afterwards. This needs a service, because it must keep a record, send reminders and produce a finished file.

Most free plans for the second job limit the number of documents a month. That suits a freelancer sending a few contracts and rarely suits a team sending dozens.

Are free signatures legal?

Mostly yes. The EU's eIDAS regulation says an electronic signature cannot be denied legal effect only because it is electronic, and it separates simple, advanced and qualified signatures. In the United States the ESIGN Act and state UETA laws give a similar basic rule. Everything below produces a simple electronic signature unless a vendor says otherwise. Some documents, such as certain property or family papers, are excluded or need extra formalities, and some contracts name a stronger signature in their own terms. This is general information, not legal advice.

The options at a glance

Adobe Fill and Sign

Good at: signing your own PDF fast. Adobe describes it as free: type, draw or upload your signature and place it on any PDF in the browser, with no download. Adobe also says that requesting signatures from others is free with an Adobe account.

Falls short: account rules differ by country page, and we could not find a clear published cap on free signature requests, so check the page for your region before building a process on it.

SignWell

Good at: a clean free plan for occasional use. The page lists Free at 0 dollars with one sender, one template and 3 documents a month, and an API with 25 free documents a month on all plans. Light costs 10 dollars a month billed yearly (12 monthly) with unlimited documents and 5 templates per sender.

Falls short: three documents a month is a real ceiling. SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA support start at Light, not on Free.

DocuSeal

Good at: an open source product with a hosted free tier and a self-hosted edition. The Basic cloud plan is free, with legally valid e-signatures, unlimited storage, multiple signers and 10 signature request emails a month. Pro costs 20 dollars per user a month and adds unlimited emails, reminders, bulk send and branding. The open source self-hosted edition is free and you bring your own mail server.

Falls short: the free cloud tier is limited by emails, and self-hosting means you run and secure it. Reminders and bulk sending are not in the free or open source tiers.

Documenso

Good at: another open source signing product. The Free plan allows 5 documents a month with up to 10 recipients per document, no card required. Individual is 25 dollars a month (300 yearly) and Teams is 40 dollars a month with five users.

Falls short: five documents a month is the free ceiling. The pricing page does not state the open source licence terms, so read the repository if you plan to self-host.

nerix

Good at: documents you already write in nerix. A document can go out with Ask to sign, and people accept or sign from a private email link with no account. The request is tied to that version, so if the text changes afterwards signing is refused. Every step (created, sent, viewed, signed, declined, reminded, expired, cancelled, completed) is added to a tamper evident record, and the signed PDF prints that trail with the signer's IP address and browser. Reminders go out on days you choose and requests expire after 30 days unless you change it. See E-signatures.

Falls short: it is a simple electronic signature, not a qualified one, and no identity check is made. It has no library of thousands of forms and no outside certificate authority. If your contract needs a qualified signature by law or by its own terms, use a specialist service. Plans and credits are on the pricing page.

When free stops being enough

Free plans work for a handful of documents a month. Look at paying when any of these is true:

• You send more documents a month than the cap, which is 3 to 10 for the plans above.
• You need reminders, bulk sending, branding or integrations that sit behind the paid tier.
• A client or regulator wants a stronger signature than a simple one.
• You need compliance reports such as SOC 2 or HIPAA support.

Before relying on any free plan, send yourself a test document and open the finished PDF. A good record shows who signed, when and what version they saw. If the finished file does not show that, the plan is not giving you the proof you wanted.

The short version

Signing your own PDF is free in a browser. Collecting signatures from others is free within limits of roughly 3 to 10 documents a month on the plans we read. Pick by volume, by whether you need open source, and by whether a simple electronic signature is legally enough for your document. If it is not, pay for a service that offers a stronger one.