Companies are dropping out of the traditional paperwork. They want to bring innovations and sign papers as the world is moving slowly to a remote and computerized workflow. If you want people to sign and return the documents quickly, the best way of getting it done is through the electronic signature.
There are various service providers who can assist you in signing contracts through electronic signatures and make them legally enforceable. If you are interested in Adobe Sign, you can view our post on Adobe Sign.
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What Is Electronic Signature Software?
An electronic signature is a digital version of a signature. Remote work can be done in a faster and easier manner. You can sign sales contracts and offer letters irrespective of your geographical location. DocuSign eSignature is the world’s number one way to send and sign practically from anywhere.
Either you can sign the document you receive or send out contracts or agreements to be signed by the contractors and clients. There are sets of certain electronic signature software that are available to e-sign a document.
7+ Best Electronic Signature Software in 2022
An electronic signature is a digital form of a signature that is secure and legally binding. It does not have any coding or standards. It can be a symbol, image, or process that is attached to the message. It also helps you to recognize the identity and to give consent to it.
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e-Signatures is a form of signature used to verify the documents. The validation of the e-signature is not performed by any trusted certificate authorities or trust service providers.
The following is the list of best e-Signature software in 2022:
- Adobe Sign — Best e-signature software overall
- PandaDoc — Best overall e-signature software
- eSignatures.io — Best budget e-signature software
- DocuSign — Best reliable e-signature software
- HelloSign — Best e-signature software for seamless workflow
- Sign Now — Best e-signature software for payment collection
- Signeasy — Best easy to use e-signature platform
What is the best e signature software?
Adobe Sign gets our vote for the best e-signature software due to its versatility, price and performance.
Tips to Select an Electronic Signature Software
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There are many vendors available for providing electronic signatures. This includes Adobe Sign, Panda Doc, Hello Sign, Foxit Sign, Signatory, and the list goes on and on. With so many vendors around, you need to select the best electronic signature solution to meet your organization’s needs and demands.
Let us now discuss the criteria for selecting the best electronic signature software.
Flexibility: Does the e-signature solution provide you with the flexibility to support your organization’s growing demands? The ideal way for any organization would be to implement the electronic signature tool in one department. This implementation can eventually expand their use across the other departments as well.
Does the electronic signature solution allow the company to deploy it in various forums like the public or private cloud? How about beyond the firewall laid by the organization?
Does the solution provide you the flexibility of using it on various devices such as laptops, desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones? You need to find out whether the electronic signature vendor can provide the facility for the people on a global scale. Are there any ways of signing documents in multiple languages?
Pricing Plans: You need to know the pricing model adopted by the electronic signature vendor as well. It needs to be pocket friendly. Do they have any free plans available? If yes, do you need to find out how effective they are? This is because the free plans might not have all the features of the ensign program.
Easy to Use: One of the main advantages of an electronic signature is signing documents in real-time. The user interface of the software must be intuitive. The e-sign solution must be easily accessible to everyone. It needs to be user-friendly so that the users can upload their signatures easily.
7+ Best Electronic Signature Software in 2022
1. Adobe Acrobat Pro / Adobe Sign
Adobe Acrobat Sign. Image Credits: Adobe
The king of design software – Adobe has its own electronic signature software in the form of Adobe Sign. Adobe Sign comes packed with a lot of functionalities. Adobe Sign is a cloud-based software that lets you sign documents and send them to any part of the world.
Adobe Sign helps you to personalize your signatures. You can use the mouse or stylus pen to draw the initials. You can also upload a photo of your signature from your mobile phone. The app also has a built-in camera that helps you take a photo of the signature and upload it.
With Adobe Sign, you will be able to add PDFs and documents as reusable templates so that your business can collect signatures quickly.
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Adobe Sign is available on mobile and online. While you are using the desktop, you can use the Adobe Acrobat Pro DC which has built-in support for Adobe Sign. Under Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, you have two plans. They are:
Acrobat Standard DC: This plan has e-signatures and basic PDF tools for document management. Under this plan, you need to pay
- US$12.99 per month which involves an annual commitment on the part of the user.
- US$155.88 per year
- US$22.99 per month if taken only for a single month.
Acrobat Pro DC: This plan has e-signatures and advanced PDF tools that help you to prepare your documents. Under this plan, you need to pay
- US$14.99 per month which involves an annual commitment on the part of the user.
- US$179.88 per year.
- US$24.99 per month if taken only for a single month.
The e-signature tools are the same for both the software. Adobe Sign is trusted and used by many organizations. The e-signatures obtained through Adobe Sign are legally binding across the globe.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ User-friendly | ➖ No free version |
| ➕ Templates can be used to create documents | |
| ➕ Customizable |
2. PandaDoc
Best overall eSignature software
PandaDoc makes it really easy to make it a part of the contract signing workflow. It has a user-friendly interface and is reasonably priced.
PandaDoc has got in-built templates, custom fields, approval workflows, and much more. With all these features, PandaDoc helps you create impressive documents in a matter of minutes and get them signed as well. This software gives you notification and collaboration insights. It also provides you with tips and tricks for adding value to your documents.
With these features listed above, you will be happy with the fact that the documents start working for you and your business.
Panda Doc provides the flexibility of a free version of the electronic signature software. There are minimal features with the free version. As for the paid version, there are various pricing plans. They are:
Essentials: This particular pricing plan comes at the rate of US$19 per month per user. It includes all the features of the trial version. In addition to this, you will have the flexibility of using the in-built templates. There is a trial version of the software that is available for 14 days.
Business: This pricing plan comes at the rate of US$49 per month per user. It includes all the features of the Essentials plan. In addition to that, you also can easily duplicate the content.
Enterprise: You also have the enterprise plan. This is for organizations that require customized ways of creating electronic signatures.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ User interface is intuitive and easy to learn | ➖ Subscription plans are meant to be for individual users and not teams |
| ➕ Free plan is useful for small businesses | ➖ The documents cannot be edited once they have been sent by the software. |
| ➕ Ready-made templates |
3. eSignatures.io
Best budget e-Signature software
eSignature is an electronic signature software that helps you send contracts to mobile phones via SMS. These SMS also have immediate responses.
eSignature.io is a simple electronic signature software that adopts the pay-while-using-the-software model. It does not require a monthly subscription. You just need to pay for the number of documents that you send through the software. This model is of great advantage when your business involves rounding off contracts with clients.
You will be able to connect with apps like Salesforce and Dropbox to automate the workflow as well. The company has the ISO27001 certification. In terms of global standards, this is the highest degree of global information security certification available today.
This software supports 20 languages as of now. The contracts are legally bindable under the
- US UETA & ESIGN Act,
- EU eIDAS (Electronic Signature only) and,
- Australian ET Act, Canadian UECA Act.
Throughout the signing of the documents, the logo and the company name are displayed.
You can also sign up for a free version of the software. But it’s important to note that with the free version, all the contracts will bear a stamping “DEMO” on them. This is to signify that the software is being used on a trial basis. If you are happy with the software, then you can subscribe and start issuing the contracts at any moment. Each contract will cost you US$0.49.
eSignatures.io is very dependable and is one of the most innovative electronic signature systems in the market. It is ideal for small businesses and start-ups.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Affordable rate | ➖ No subscription plans for bulk users |
4. DocuSign
Best reliable e-signature software
DocuSign is an application that provides electronic signature technology. It also provides you with digital transaction management services. It also facilitates the electronic exchange of contracts and signed documents.
You will be able to simply upload an MSWord, PDF, and other document formats from your computer. You will also be able to share files from Google Drive and Dropbox. This particular software allows you to add the names and email addresses of the signers. You can also tell the recipients in the order in which they need to sign.
The pricing plan for this e-signature software falls under various plans. They are listed below:
- Personal: The Personal plan comes at around US$10 per month (payable annually) and US$15 (payable for a single month). In this plan, you will be able to send a maximum of five signatures per month.
- Standard: This plan has a subscription fee of around US$25 per user per month (payable annually) and US$45 (payable for a single month). Apart from the features laid out in the personal plan, you will be able to share documents and templates and also customize branding.
- Business Pro: This plan has a subscription fee of around US$40 per month (payable annually) and US$65 (payable for a single month). In addition to the features laid out in the Personal and Standard plan, you will be able to send out SMS authentication to the signatories.
- Enhanced Plan: You can go in for this plan if you are planning to customize the entire software package based on your requirements.
DocuSign also provides you with a free trial version of the software for 30 days.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ It is easy to send and receive secure and signed documents. | ➖ Not user-friendly |
| ➕ Easy to share and collaborate | ➖ Costly |
| ➕ Free to use for recipient |
5. HelloSign
Best e-signature software for seamless workflow
Hello Sign consists of a robust set of features that are used by a wide range of customers throughout the world. The greatest advantage of the HelloSign software is that you can track the progress of the signature requests. You can then send reminders to signers. You can also view all the signed documents.
HelloSign will change the way your organization does business. You will be able to create free electronic signatures in MSWord, MSExcel, MSPowerPoint, and PDF. HelloSign helps you add signature boxes to your Word documents. It also specifies up to 20 people to sign your Word documents by simply inserting names and email addresses.
HelloSign offers a free package to create an electronic signature for the MSWord documents. You can send a maximum of three documents to be shared for signature.
You can also create your own customized templates to help you with the documents. These templates are saved in your account. They are reusable, making the future sending of the documents quick and easy. e-Signatures from HelloSign stand as a valid documents under the ESIGN Act of 2000. They also have the same legal validity as pen and paper.
The pricing plan for HelloSign falls under three categories. They are
Essentials: Under this plan, you will be charged US$15 per month or US$180 per year. You will be able to use five templates per month. You will also be able to use multiple languages in this plan.
Standard: Under this plan, you will be charged US$25 per month or US$600 per year. Apart from the features in the Essentials plan, you will be able to send files up to 100GB.
Premium: Under this plan, you will be charged based on your own requirements. There will be additional features apart from the Essentials and Standard plan. There is also the Single Sign-On feature that helps you save the organization time and money. At the same time, you will significantly increase the security of data on the cloud.
You are also given a 30-day trial version of the software. The trial version of the software has all the features that are available in the paid plans. Your documents, of course, will come with the watermark just to specify that it is a trial version.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Ideal for small businesses and enterprises | ➖ Occasional hanging |
| ➕ Free version of the software |
6. signNow
Best e-signature software for payment collection
You can include an e-signature field to your PDF document and get it signed within a matter of minutes. You can send your papers to any user from any device. You can also enable timely notifications for the completion of your document.
You can customize signing text fields in your documents and get them signed.
signNow helps us get the right signatures on the right documents. They are also available in the right formats based on our integration with NetSuite.
A free trial period of 7 days is provided with the software. The pricing plans for the software are given as follows.
Business: Under this plan, you will be charged at the rate of US$8 per user per month.
BusinessPremium: Under this plan, you will be charged at the rate of US$15 per user per month.
Enterprise: Under this plan, you will be charged at the rate of US$30 per user per month.
airSlate Business Cloud: Under this plan, you will be charged at the rate of US$50 per user per month.
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Affordable | ➖ Limited features |
| ➕ Unlimited templates and signatures | |
| ➕ Good API interface |
7. Signeasy
Best easy to use e-signature platform
Even small businesses need to sign documents for operations and occupational purposes. Signeasy is an electronic signature software that helps you achieve this purpose. With SignEasy, signing legal documents is made easier. You will be happy to know that these documents are legally bindable under the law.
There will be a lot of complex documents that require signing. SignEasy makes it easier for you to sign these documents without any human interference.
You will be able to approve, reject and also make comments about each signature. There are push notifications in the software that helps you send emails to concerned people reminding them to sign the documents. The most important feature of this software is that the signature appears as a real signature on paper.
You can send the documents to multiple people at the same time and enable them to sign parallelly. You can also review the progress of the document by checking who has signed and who has not signed the documents so far. You will be able to sign documents in various formats such as Word, Excel, PNG, JPEG, PDF, etc.,
You will be able to sign documents even offline and save them as drafts. You will also be in a position to customize the fields for faster document filing. SignEasy is one of the best e-signature software that is available on the market. It has a 14-day trial period.
There are three pricing plans that come with this software. They are
-
- Business: The minimum number of users should be three. It is available at the rate of US$25 per user (payable annually) or US$ 40 per user (payable monthly).
- Team: You need to have a minimum of one to five users. It is available at the rate of US$15 per user (payable annually) or US$ 25 per user (payable monthly)
- Essential: You will be logged in with a single user. You will be charged at the rate of US$8 per user (payable annually) or US$15 per user(payable monthly)
| Pros | Cons |
| ➕ Easy and secure | ➖ Price |
| ➕ Speeds up process to sign documents | |
| ➕ Integrates with other applications |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the best electronic signature available so far?
PandaDoc is the best e-signature available so far.
Are electronic signatures valid?
Yes, electronic signatures are valid throughout all the states in the US. They are treated equally to signatures on the paper.
Do you have a free version of the Adobe Sign?
Yes. Acrobat Pro DC comes with a trial version for seven days. Whereas, the Acrobat Sign solution is available for a free trial version for thirty days.
Is DocuSign completely free?
No. DocuSign comes with a trial version. This version lasts for a period of thirty days. After that, it is available on a payment basis.
What are the documents where an e-signature is not valid?
The documents where an e-signature is not valid are wills, divorce documents, adoption documents, court orders, cancellation of utility services, notice of the eviction of residences, termination notice for health life insurance, recall notice that demonstrated a risk to health, and legal documents that transfer hazardous materials.
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Conclusion
Based on your requirements and your business needs, you need to find the best electronic signature solution. As the requirements increase, you need to upgrade to a complete solution. Try to choose the best e-signature solution that you and your clients can trust with your documents.