DocuSign

What it is

DocuSign turns signing into something that happens in a browser. You upload a document, mark where signatures and fields go, send it, and the other party signs from any device. Around that sit reusable templates, secure storage of signed documents and more than 1,000 integrations, so signing fits into whatever process already exists.

The unit that matters is the envelope: one document package sent for signature. Plans are priced per user with an envelope allowance, and that allowance is the constraint people run into rather than any missing feature.

Who it's for (and who it isn't)

It fits any business that sends agreements regularly and currently prints, signs, scans and emails them. It also fits businesses selling to larger companies, where DocuSign is recognized on the other side and nobody questions whether the signature counts.

It is a weaker fit if your documents are quotes and proposals that need to look designed and track engagement, which is a different job and closer to PandaDoc. And if you send two contracts a year, a paid subscription is hard to justify against simply printing them.

Pricing

DocuSign is paid, with no free plan and a 30-day refund on annual subscriptions purchased through their site. Personal is EUR 9 per month, or EUR 108 per year, and includes 5 envelopes per month for a single user. Standard is EUR 23 per user per month, or EUR 276 per year, with 100 envelopes per user annually, and adds team collaboration with comments, custom branding and delegated signing. Business Pro is EUR 38 per user per month, or EUR 456 per year, and adds web forms, bulk sending, payment collection and advanced fields with data validation. Enterprise is quoted on request. Prices as shown here were quoted in euros.

Count your envelopes before you count features. A hundred per user per year is roughly two a week, and businesses that sign more than that are the ones who end up on a higher plan.

Set it up

Official guide: Sending Documents for Signature

1. Create a DocuSign account on the Personal plan (EUR 9/mo, or EUR 108/yr, with 5 envelopes per month). An envelope is one send: a digital container that holds your documents, the people who sign and the signature fields. Have ready the agreement you send most as a file on your computer, and the email address of a colleague, or a second email address of your own, to test it. You now land in your DocuSign account.

1. From the Home page, click "Send an Envelope" at the top of the page. In the Prepare view, click "Upload" and choose your agreement. DocuSign converts it to PDF for sending. You now see your document in the envelope.

1. Under the recipient section, enter the recipient's name and email address. Recipients do not need a DocuSign account. Keep the action "Needs to Sign", which means they must complete the fields you assign. Then enter an email subject and a short message. The envelope now names who signs and what the email says.

1. Click "Next: Add Fields" below the recipient section. On the fields screen, select the recipient, then place a signature field and a date field on the page. Fields are colour-coded per recipient. You now see the fields on your document.

1. Clicking Send emails the signature request to your recipient right away, and uses one of your 5 envelopes this month, so check the preview first. Click "Preview" to see the signing experience as the recipient will. Then click "Send". Your recipient now gets an email to review and sign.

1. Save the agreement as a template, so you mark the fields once. Select "Start", then "Envelope Templates", then "Create a Template". Enter a name and upload your agreement. You now see your agreement in the template.

1. Add a recipient role such as "Client" and the email subject, then click "Next: Add Fields". Place the fields and click "Save and Close". The template now appears in your templates list.

When this works, you have sent one real document for signature, you saw the signing screen from the signer's side, and your most common agreement is saved as a template. Next time, start from the template instead of uploading the file again.

On Standard (EUR 23/user/mo, or EUR 276/yr): you get 100 envelopes per user annually, instead of 5 envelopes per month on Personal.

Strengths and limitations

The strength is recognition and reliability. DocuSign is the name people expect on a signature request, which removes friction on the recipient's side, and the audit trail behind each envelope is what makes electronic signing defensible.

The limitations are cost per seat and the envelope model. Everyone who sends needs a seat, so a small team pays several times the headline price, and envelope allowances create a second variable. Signature validity also depends on the type of signature and the jurisdiction: simple electronic signatures cover most commercial agreements, and some documents in some countries require a qualified electronic signature or a notary. Check the requirement before assuming any e-signature tool satisfies it. See DocuSign vs PandaDoc.