Best Digital Signature Software Based on In-Depth Reviews
- 200+Hours of research
- 50+Sources used
- 26Companies vetted
- 4Features reviewed
- 4Top
Picks
- Digital signatures are encrypted, & all changes are recorded in an audit trail.
- Electronic signatures (or e-signatures) and digital signatures are not the same.
- The ESIGN Act of 2000 makes digital signatures legally binding.
- Digital signatures are built around and comply with Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).
How We Found The Best Digital Signatures Software
Our Top Picks: Digital Signature Software Reviews
Although the terms electronic signatures and digital signatures are often used interchangeably, the two are not synonymous. An electronic signature (or e-signature) is any mark or image used to sign a digital document. For example, an e-signature can be a JPEG file of a hand-written signature or a name stamp. Digital signatures, on the other hand, are e-signatures that employ encrypted data to keep an audit record of changes to a document.
Digital signatures are authenticated using identifying elements such as passwords, two-factor authentication (2FA), biometric information, and device data such as an IP address to confirm the identity of the signing parties.
The software we’ve chosen all excel in their own particular area. We’ve pointed out best overall, best for individuals, best for businesses, and best free service so you can decide on the perfect digital signature software for your needs.
DocuSign review
Best Overall
Screenshot Docusign.com, July 2020
With its features, security protocols, overall transparency, and customer support, DocuSign ranks at the top of our list of best digital signature software.
What sets DocuSign apart:
- Sign up to 5 documents per month on the Personal plan and unlimited documents on the Standard and Business Pro plans
- Add custom logos or choose color themes for your documents
- Integrates with Box, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, Microsoft® Office 365™, Salesforce, Workday, SAP, ORACLE, Apple, Intelledox, Seal, and hundreds of other software and document management applications
- Available on iOS and Android
- Customer support is provided through help request tickets and phone
- Available in 43 languages
DocuSign offers three plan tiers: Personal, Standard, and Business Pro. The Personal plan costs $10/mo ($120 per year) when billed annually, or $15/mo on a month to month basis. The Standard plan is $25 per user per month ($300 per year) when billed for a full year, or $40 on a month to month basis. Business Pro is $40 per user per month ($480 annually) when billed for a full year or $60 per user, per month if billed monthly. All of DocuSign’s plans include the use of mobile apps, reusable templates, basic workflows, and a real-time audit trail to follow the progress of your documents.
The Business Pro plan includes all previously mentioned features, as well as the ability to collect in-person signatures and payments, and receive signer attachments. One of the advantages of this plan is that it allows you to send out documents in bulk. The Business Pro plan gives you access to the full history of changes to the document, including any real-time changes. On this plan, users can choose to employ advanced authentication through two-factor authentication. API plans are also available and include all the features of previous plans plus any integration requirements. Note that all such custom integration options will require individual quotes.
signNow review
Best for Individuals
Screenshot SignNow.com, July 2020
SignNow is our top recommendation for the best digital signature software for individuals based on personal value, available software integrations, and features.
What sets SignNow apart:
- Retrieval of in-person signatures
- Audit trail and history to record changes
- Cloud storage integration support
- Automatic reminders and notifications
- Live chat feature where users can communicate and guide signees when filling out the forms
- Compliant with HIPAA and SSO
- Up to 10 users can send unlimited documents for signing
- Mobile app and unlimited templates in multiple languages
- 7-day free trial on all plans
Prices start at $8 per user/mo for the Business plan, $15 per user/mo for Business Plus, and $30 per user/mo for the Enterprise plan. A cloud-based plan, the airSlate Business Cloud is available at $50 per user/mo, as well as other custom API plan options.
With the Business Premium plan, users can collect multiple signatures using their mobile device. With this plan, users can also send personalized documents by adding their brand logos to link and invites and send documents in bulk.
The Enterprise plan includes smart fields, conditional fields, and calculated fields to add, subtract, multiply or divide values throughout a document. Other features include sending attachments and requesting payments. The software can also be customized to redirect users after completion.
Finally, the airSlate Business Cloud includes all the features of the other plans (Business Premium and Enterprise), a PDF editor, business process automation, and access to a US Legal Forms Library.
SignNow offers support over the phone and a dashboard to organize all functions. This software is compliant with HIPAA and SSO and has integrations available for business, data, and document management applications such as Salesforce, NetSuite, Paperwise, Egnyte, Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft SharePoint, Box, Slack, Zoho, G Suite, Google Drive, among many others. Mobile apps are available for both iOS and Android.
PandaDoc review
Best Free Digital Signature Software
Screenshot PandaDoc.com, July 2020
Of all the services we examined, PandaDoc is the only software that offers unlimited signatures and document uploads, free of cost.
What sets PandaDoc apart:
- Monitor document status and receive notifications when files are opened, read or signed
- Receive payments through credit card, PayPal or ACH
- All plans can be upgraded or downgraded at any time
- PandaDoc offers a free 14-day trial on both paid plans
- Advanced security protocols and SOC 2 Type 2 compliant
- All user data is encrypted and cloud stored
- On-the-go tracking and immediate approval
- Template library with over 450 customizable templates
Besides the free plan, PandaDoc offers three other plans: Individual, Business, and Enterprise. When paid for the full annual cost, the individual plan costs $9/mo per user ($108 a year) and the Business plan costs $49/mo per user ($588 per user per year). Plans are also available through monthly payments at $13/mo per user for the Individual and $59/mo per user for Business.
The Individual plan features professionally designed templates, notifications, and real-time tracking service. The Business plan includes access to a content library and CRM integration for HubSpot, Pipedrive, and other applications.
The Enterprise plan includes single sign-on (SSO) capability, personalized support, the ability to assign custom user roles and to integrate with Salesforce and Zapier. The plan allows users to create an unlimited number of team workspaces and to obtain customized content analytics and reporting.
RightSignature review
Best for Business
Screenshot RightSignature.com, July 2020
RightSignature’s bank-level securities—including 256-bit encryption, biometric authentication, digital fingerprints, document certificates, and time-stamped audit logs—can be especially useful for businesses.
What sets RightSignature apart:
- API custom digital signature integration
- Data is stored in Amazon data centers and copied to guarantee uninterrupted access
- Automatic signature requests
- Multi-party signing
- Specify the order of the signatures
- Create and receive hand-drawn signatures
- Type-to-sign option
- Guided signing to assist users
- 14-day free trial on all plans
The Standard plan costs $12/mo for each user and the Advanced plan is $60/mo for up to three team members. The Standard plan gives users great flexibility on how to receive signatures, including the ability to send email alerts for pending documents. This plan is available for $12 per month.
With the Advanced plan, users also have access to shared templates, team statistics, and features that allow you to receive and request attachments, mass-distribute documents, and collect payments. RightSignature’s Advanced plan also includes custom branding and the option to include additional security through knowledge-based authentication (KBA).
RightSignature’s digital signature software works on all platforms and devices without the need of downloads or plugins. Nevertheless, iOS and Android apps are also available to facilitate a native browsing experience on mobile phones and tablets.
The software allows integration with businesses software and applications such as Basecamp, Box, Capsule, Citrix Podio and ShareFile, Clio, Dropbox, Freshbooks, Google Drive, Salesforce, Highrise, OneDrive, Stripe, as well as cloud storage hosting.
A comprehensive list of open source libraries compatible with the software is also available. RightSignature offers technical support both through request tickets and phone.
Further Insight Into Our Methodology
In the U.S., businesses spend an estimated $8 billion annually on paper, mailing, printing, and document handling. However, companies that employ digital signatures can reduce document handling expenses by up to 85%. Not only can digital forms save money, but they can reduce lost or misplaced documents and turnaround time by 80%.
Our research focused on finding digital signature services with strong security practices and a proven track record in helping customers reduce document handling efforts and turnaround time. We compared individual plan structure and prices for each service, as well as their features and customization options. We also looked for software in compliance with the U.S. ESIGN Act, only considering those with transparent information on software architecture compliance, security certificates, and identity authentication. Lastly, we looked at integration options, mobile applications and customer support, as well as any specific feature that would make a particular software stand out.
Features
Digital signature software helps businesses reduce paper and cut costs. Because of this, we looked for services with unlimited document signature and storage. Most digital signature services offer an array of features to facilitate online document signing, such as real time tracking and notifications that allow users to monitor document changes and follow through the signing process. With the exception of our Best Free Digital Software pick, all of our digital software recommendations offer contract templates and customizable fields, as well as multiple language options. All the services recommended have iOS and Android native apps and offer live support via chat or phone.
Other features include:
Custom signing features
- Digital Certificate (PKI) Signature
- Electronic Signature Pad Capture
- Handwritten Mouse Signature
- Standard Scripted (Typed) Signature
- Company logo
Document sending
- Bulk emails
- Document previews
- Multiple signers
- Office documents (PDF, excel, word)
- Email branding
Document management
- Administrator privileges
- Multiple users
- Workflow management
Reporting Features
- Document signing alerts
- Document viewing alerts
- Downloadable reports
- Expiration notifications
Security
We examined each service's security protocols and certifications looking for services in compliance with the U.S. ESIGN Act. Only documents created with password-protected, strong authentication protocols and encryption, and two-factor authentication can produce legally binding digital signatures. Documents should also have public key infrastructure (PKI) auditable data records to create legally binding agreements. We favored services that employ bank-level data security and SOC-compliant encryption, with information on their security protocols, data storage policies, and external audit practices.
Integration
We examined system integration options such as API, connectors, cloud storage, and document management apps. We favored services that list their integrations and compatibility across operative systems, devices, and platforms—preferably working with today’s most used applications, such as Salesforce, Workday, SAP, Microsoft, Google, ORACLE, Apple, Intelledox and Seal, among others.
Pricing
There are several factors to consider when comparing digital signature services. Does it allow multiple signers or do you have to obtain several licenses for multiple users? Do you prefer a monthly or annual subscription? We looked at payment options and additional fees, as well as basic free options for casual users, and chose services that won’t charge additional fees for basic features. We also favored digital signature software without a maximum signature or document quotas. Services with per signature, envelope, or other unclear payment schemes have been vetted from our recommendations.
Helpful Information on Digital Signature Software
Digital signature software is generally built to fulfill four needs: a means of signing, authenticating and validating signatures, as well as a way to authenticate a document’s data. To this end, digital signature technologies employ items such as passwords, personal identification numbers (PINs), two-factor authentication, biometric markers, and time-stamped audit logs to validate the identity of the parties involved. In comparison to e-signatures, digital signatures add strong layers of security, global acceptance and legal compliance, long-term document retention and access, and independent verification to create legally binding signatures.
What To Watch Out For With Digital Signature Software
Limited Signature Quotas
Some digital signature software services still employ limited document or signature quotas on their plans. While these services are legitimate and possess many of the features included in our recommendations, for the same monthly price, our picks offer comparable software capabilities with unlimited documents and signatures, making quota-limited options pretty much obsolete in terms of value and practicality when compared with similarly priced unlimited options.
Legally Binding Signatures
Although the ESIGN Act makes digital signatures admissible in court, state and federal law may require that digital signatures comply with specific data management protocols and certifications. If you are dealing across state lines or with signers in other countries, it would be best to read up on each service’s security and legal terms to make sure the selected software complies with local law requirements.
FAQs about Digital Signature Software
Can digital signatures be forged?
All digital files and records can be hacked. However, digital signatures are encrypted and possess an audit trail that will record any changes or tampering. Encrypted documents are extremely hard to crack as the information requires that multiple keys are deciphered and any attempt to change the information alters the data file permanently.
Are digital signatures legally binding?
Digital signatures are legally binding. In the US, the ESIGN Act and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) describe what constitutes legally binding digital signatures. These laws confer digital signatures the same legitimacy as handwritten signatures. Software is made to comply with public Key Infrastructure (PKI), security certificates, and data management protocols.
Does a digital signature show up as your actual handwritten signature?
This depends on the digital signature program you select. Some programs will simply add your signature as text, while others use a copy of your signature. Either way, the digital signature appears with a seal which the recipient can view to confirm the identification of the signer(s).
Do you retain access to signed documents if you unsubscribe a service?
Each software provider has its own document storage policy. Before you contract or terminate a service, make sure that you understand what type of access you’re entitled to as well as how long your documents are stored. A good way to keep documents organized and safe is by storing them in a document vault such as those provided with password managers.
How do you know that an actual person is signing the document and not a robot or someone else?
Digital signature software combines user data to authenticate the identity of the signers. Information such as full names, email addresses, IP addresses, and time stamp data, combined with sign-in securities such as biometric, two-factor authentication (2FA) is stored in the files audit trail and serves to corroborate the identities of the signers.