DocuSign does electronic signatures well, with plans from a single user up to large teams. If you send a few contracts or proposals a month, a full plan may be more than you need. Several tools have free plans for low volumes, and paid plans built around different needs, such as proposals or team signing. Prices and limits here are as of October 2026, in US dollars, from each company's own page.
What DocuSign costs
For comparison, DocuSign's eSignature plans, on annual billing:
- Personal: $11 a month, 5 envelopes a month.
- Standard: $30 per user a month, 100 envelopes per user a year.
- Business Pro: $45 per user a month, 100 envelopes per user a year. Adds bulk send, web forms and collecting payments while signing.
DocuSign's page also offers a refund within 30 days on annual plans, once per customer. It does not list a free plan.
The alternatives
Dropbox Sign
Simple signing, with a free plan for occasional use. Dropbox's help centre says the free plan allows 3 signature requests a month, renewing every 30 days, with unlimited self-signing. Paid plans, from its pricing page, billed monthly:
- Essentials: $15 a month, 1 user, 5 templates.
- Standard: $25 per user a month, for 2 users or more, 15 templates.
Both paid plans list unlimited signature requests. Standard drops to $17.50 per user a month on yearly billing.
Suits: solo founders who want plain signing without counting envelopes.
PandaDoc
Built for proposals, quotes and contracts, with signing included. PandaDoc's pricing page lists:
- Free: $0, 5 documents a month.
- Starter: $19 per seat a month, billed annually. Unlimited document uploads and e-signatures.
- Business: $49 per seat a month, billed annually. Adds quotes, CRM integrations, approval workflows and a content library.
Suits: service businesses that send proposals and want the client to sign the same document. See how to write a business proposal for what to put in it.
Zoho Sign
Zoho Sign has a free plan for 1 user and 5 envelopes a month, with reminders and an audit log. Paid plans raise the envelope limit and add templates, branding and, on the top plan, bulk send and payment collection. Its paid prices did not show on the page in a form that could be checked for this post, so look there for current prices.
Suits: businesses already using other Zoho apps.
eSignature in Google Docs and Drive
If you use Google Workspace, you may already have it. Google's help page says eSignature works on Workspace Individual and on several business plans, including Business Standard and Plus, when an admin turns it on. You can add up to 10 signers per request. Personal Google accounts without a Workspace plan are not listed.
Suits: businesses already paying for an eligible Workspace plan that need simple signing.
Form tools can help too. Jotform, for example, lists a monthly limit of signed documents on each plan. See Jotform vs Google Forms.
Before you rely on a free plan
Free plans work well for occasional signing, but read the limits first.
- The monthly limit, and when it resets. Dropbox Sign's resets every 30 days from the day you sign up.
- The number of users. Zoho Sign's free plan is for one user.
- Templates. PandaDoc's free plan lists up to 5.
- What the signer sees, and whether the tool's branding appears on your documents.
- How you download the signed file and its audit trail, so you keep your own copy.
How to choose
- Count how many documents you send for signature in a busy month.
- Decide if you need templates, bulk send, or payment at signing.
- Check if a tool you already pay for includes signing.
- Send one real contract through a free plan or trial before you pay.
- Check that e-signatures are accepted for your document type where you work.
If you send under 3 to 5 documents a month, a free plan may be all you need. A signing tool does not decide what goes in the contract. Clear payment terms and a good client intake form help avoid disputes later. This is not legal advice. For contracts with real risk, ask a lawyer in your country.