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Signathing, DocuSign and Documenso, with the prices on the table
Three ways to get a document signed online. One is free with a paid layer for branding and API volume, one is the market leader priced per user, and one is open source with a hosted plan. Here is what each costs and what each one is better at.
Prices are US list prices as shown on docusign.com and documen.so on October 19, 2026, on annual billing where offered. They change. Check the vendor's page before you decide.
What it costs
| Signathing | DocuSign | Documenso | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes. Everything below, no card, no trial clock. | No free plan. A 30-day trial, then a paid plan. | Yes. 5 documents a month, up to 10 recipients each. |
| Cheapest paid plan | $19 a month for Signathing Business, which adds your logo and five team seats. Sending and signing stay free. | Personal, $11 a month, limited to 5 envelopes a month. | Individual, $25 a month, unlimited documents. |
| Plan for a small team | $19 a month flat, five seats included. | Standard, $30 per user a month. Three users is $90 a month. | Teams, $40 a month for five users, then $8 per extra user a month. |
| Plan with API access | Free API key. 100 documents a month free, then $0.06 a document and less at volume, prepaid. | Business Pro, $45 per user a month, or a separate developer plan. | Platform, $250 a month, or self-host the open-source code. |
| Documents included | Unlimited on the web and in the apps. | 5 a month on Personal; 100 a year per user on Standard and Business Pro. | 5 a month free; unlimited on paid plans. |
| Signers per document | Up to 25 signers plus 25 CC recipients. | No published cap on standard plans. | Up to 10 recipients on the free plan. |
The honest version
Pick DocuSign when
- You need identity verification, SMS delivery or notarization.
- You need payments collected inside the document.
- Your counterparties expect the DocuSign name on the envelope.
- You need a 20-year track record for a compliance file.
Pick Documenso when
- You want to run e-signature on your own server.
- Open-source licensing matters to your organization.
- You want EU hosting from the vendor.
- You are building your own product on top of it.
Pick Signathing when
- You send contracts, waivers, leases or change orders and do not want a subscription.
- You want every completed PDF sealed and every event in a public evidence log.
- You want templates with sign-here links for free.
- You are wiring an AI agent or your own software to e-signature on a pay-as-you-go basis.
What each one does
| Signathing | DocuSign | Documenso | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certified PDF and audit trail | On every completed document, free. | Yes, on every plan. | Yes. |
| Digital seal on the PDF | Yes. Every completed PDF is signed with Signathing's own certificate, verifiable in any PDF reader. | Yes. | Yes. |
| Public evidence log | Yes. Every signing event is hashed into a public chain that is sealed daily and archived with the Internet Archive. | No. | No. |
| Templates and direct links | Free. Up to 50 saved templates, each with a shareable sign-here link. | Templates on Standard and above; PowerForms on Business Pro. | Templates and direct links on all plans. |
| Field types | Signature, initials, date, name, email, text, number, checkbox, radio, dropdown. | A larger set, including formulas, attachments and payments. | A similar set of ten. |
| Approver and CC roles | Yes, free. | Yes. | Approver, viewer and CC roles. |
| API and MCP for AI agents | REST API, an MCP server with OAuth, and a listing on the public MCP directories. | REST API on developer and Business Pro plans. No MCP server as of the check date. | REST API on Platform and self-hosted. No MCP server as of the check date. |
| Identity verification and SMS | Email delivery and optional access codes. No SMS delivery or ID checks. | SMS delivery at $0.36 a message and ID verification at $2.40 an attempt, both add-ons. | No ID verification. Email delivery. |
| Open source | The verifier script and the evidence log are public. The app is not open source. | No. | Yes, AGPL, self-hostable. |
Questions people ask
- Are these prices current?
- They are the list prices shown on each vendor's pricing page on October 19, 2026, in US dollars, on annual billing where the vendor offers it. Monthly billing usually costs more. Vendors change prices without notice, so confirm on their site before you buy.
- Why is Signathing free when the others charge?
- Signathing is owned by AllContraX LLC, a Kentucky contracting company that built it to get its own contracts signed and decided to open it up. Sending and signing cost very little to run, so they stay free. The paid pieces are the ones that cost real money or real support: the API at volume and the Business plan for branding and team seats.
- What does DocuSign do that Signathing does not?
- Identity verification, SMS delivery, notarization, payments inside a document, contract lifecycle management and a very large integration catalog. If you need any of those, DocuSign is the right tool and we say so.
- What does Documenso do that Signathing does not?
- It is open source under the AGPL and you can run it on your own server. If you want to host your own e-signature stack, Documenso is the project to look at.
- Is a free e-signature legally binding?
- In the United States, yes. The federal ESIGN Act and the state UETA laws make an electronic signature as valid as ink when the signer intends to sign and the record is kept. Price has nothing to do with it. Read our plain-language guide for the details.
DocuSign is a trademark of DocuSign, Inc. Documenso is a trademark of Documenso, Inc. Neither is affiliated with Signathing or AllContraX LLC. Plan names, limits and prices belong to those vendors and are quoted here for comparison only. See also the feature-by-feature page at signathing.com/vs/docusign.
Free, and not the kind of free with a catch
Unlimited documents, unlimited signers, certified PDFs on every one. No trial clock and no card to start.
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