Electronic Signature Pricing, Compared
Seven providers, their published entry prices, and the fine print that decides what you actually pay.
Electronic signature pricing looks simple until the invoice arrives. A plan advertised at $10 per month bills at $15 if you pay monthly instead of annually, entry tiers at the big brands leave out bulk sending and reminders, and per-user pricing quietly multiplies the bill once a second person sends documents. This page puts the published list prices side by side so you can see the floor before you sit through a sales call.
Every number below was checked against the provider's own pricing page in September 2026. Prices are in US dollars and, where a provider distinguishes, the table shows the annual-billing rate with the monthly rate next to it. When a plan changes after we check, the provider's page wins.
What electronic signature pricing covers
Most vendors charge per user per month. That works well for a solo freelancer and less well for a five-person operations team: Dropbox Sign's Standard plan at $25 per user is $125 a month for that team, every month, whether each person sends two documents or forty.
The second lever is billing period. DocuSign's Standard plan is $25 per user per month when billed annually and $45 when billed monthly. The cheaper number usually comes with a year-long commitment, so the honest comparison for someone testing the waters is the monthly figure.
A few models sit outside per-user pricing. One-time credit packs, like AmiPDF's $5 for five documents, suit people who sign in bursts: a lease in March, an insurance form in August. And every provider in the table except DocuSign and signNow keeps a free tier with no time limit, which is where occasional signers should start — ours counts 3 documents once rather than resetting each month.
Electronic signature pricing compared, September 2026
| Provider | Free tier | Cheapest paid plan | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| DocuSign | None (trial only) | Personal, $10 / month | $15 billed monthly. Standard $25, Business Pro $50, per user, annual billing |
| Dropbox Sign | 3 signature requests / month | Essentials, $15 / user / month | Self-signing is unlimited and free. Standard $25, Premium custom-priced |
| signNow | None (trial only) | Business, $8 / user / month | $20 billed monthly. Plans bundle a fixed number of signature invites |
| PandaDoc | Free eSign, 5 documents / month | Essentials, $19 / user / month | Free tier caps recipients at 2 per document. Business $49 |
| Xodo Sign (ex eversign) | 5 documents / month | Basic, $10 / user / month | Free tier paces you at 1 document per 7 days |
| SignWell | 3 documents / month | Light, $10 / month | Flat rate, 1 sender on free. Business $30 |
| AmiPDF eSign | 3 documents in total (trial) | Credit pack, $5 one-time | Pro $9 / month, Business $24 / month, flat. Free downloads carry a watermark |
Read the free column with one question in mind: how many documents do I send in a month? If the answer is three or fewer, several rows in this table cost you nothing, and the decision moves to limits the table does not show, like how many people must sign each document and whether the finished copy carries a mark. The free DocuSign alternatives roundup walks through those catches provider by provider.
The cheap tier: what under $10 a month buys
Four options land below ten dollars. signNow's Business plan is the cheapest per-user seat at $8, and it scales predictably if you add senders later. SignWell Light and Xodo Sign Basic sit at $10 flat or per user. AmiPDF's Pro plan is $9 flat with unlimited documents, up to 10 signers per document, automatic reminders for pending signers, and clean downloads.
The cheapest DocuSign alternative for one-off needs is not a subscription at all. A $5 pack on AmiPDF covers five documents with no expiry date, which covers the year for many households. People hunting for the cheapest DocuSign alternative on community forums are usually solving exactly this shape of problem: a handful of documents, no appetite for a monthly line item.
Where the money goes at the big brands
Two habits push the invoice up. Per-user pricing is the first: a feature like team templates sounds like a plan feature and bills like a headcount decision. The second is tier gating. Capabilities that matter to a working week (bulk sending, reminder automation, signer-facing branding) sit on mid and upper tiers, so the entry plan price is a teaser rather than a destination.
Annual commitments do the rest. The advertised rates at DocuSign and signNow assume you pay for a year up front, and the month-to-month prices run 60 to 80 percent higher. If your signing volume is seasonal, a monthly plan you switch on for two busy months can beat an annual rate you forget to cancel.
How AmiPDF prices eSign
Four tiers, one account, no per-user multiplier. The free tier is a one-time allowance of 3 documents with up to 2 signers each, and it includes the audit trail and the completion certificate, not a stripped preview of them. Downloads on the free tier carry a diagonal watermark; that is the trade for $0.
A $5 pack buys 5 document credits, one-time, no expiry, and any credit balance also removes the watermark. Pro at $9 per month removes the document cap, raises signers to 10 per document, adds automatic reminders, and keeps downloads clean. Business at $24 per month keeps everything in Pro, raises the ceiling to 200 signers per document for bulk sends, and puts your company name on the signing page and certificate.
One boundary is worth stating plainly: AmiPDF eSign works on PDFs. Word or Excel files convert first with the Word to PDF tool, then send. If your week revolves around native Office review flows, a bigger suite earns its price tag; if your documents already live as PDFs, it does not.
Pricing questions people actually ask
Is a free electronic signature plan enough?
If you sign only occasionally, yes. Dropbox Sign, PandaDoc, Xodo Sign and SignWell keep permanent free tiers, and AmiPDF’s free tier is a one-time allowance of 3 documents with no expiry date. Watch two limits instead of price: how many recipients can sign each document, and whether the finished file carries a watermark or branding.
Why is monthly billing more expensive than annual?
Annual payment guarantees the vendor twelve months of revenue, so it earns a discount of 20 to 45 percent across the market. DocuSign's Standard plan shows the gap clearly: $25 per user per month on annual billing, $45 month-to-month. Pay monthly when your volume is temporary; pay annually only once a tool is embedded in your week.
What counts as one document or envelope?
Almost every provider, AmiPDF included, counts each document you send out for signature as one unit, no matter how many people sign it. Re-sending the same file after edits usually counts again. That is why a 3-document free tier can stretch further than it sounds for solo users, and why bulk senders feel per-envelope caps first.
Do these prices include tax?
Generally no. List prices exclude VAT and sales tax, which get added at checkout based on your billing country and, in the US, sometimes your state. Two providers quoting the same headline price can still differ by a few percent at the payment screen.