Electronic signatures · Comparison
DocuSeal vs DocuSign eSignature vs Dropbox Sign
3 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | DocuSeal | DocuSign eSignature | Dropbox Sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the priceA full signing app with unlimited web sending, SSO and an API for a $20 seat, with open-source code you can also run yourself. | Compliance includedA signing workflow with the audit trail, tamper seal and company-wide certifications that many legal and security reviews already expect. | Worth the priceUnlimited signature requests at a fixed price per sender, with an audit trail and a digital seal on every signed document. |
| Overall score | 8.8Best | 6.6 | 6.7 |
| Free option | Free plan | 14-day free trial | Free plan |
| Card to start | No card needed | No card needed | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $20/user/mo | $10/mo | $15/mo |
| Pricing model | Seat + usage | Per seat | Per seat |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Per web-app user (sender seat), plus per-use fees for API, SMS, bulk send and ID checks | Per user per month, with an envelope allowance per seat | Per sender (user) per month; signers pay nothing |
| Envelope allowance | Basic 10 request emails a month; Pro unlimited signature requests from the web app | Personal 5 a month; Standard and Business Pro 100 per user per year, shared; IAM Standard unlimited from the web app | Unlimited signature requests on paid web plans; Free 3 a month; API plans have a monthly quota |
| Free option | Free Basic plan, 10 request emails a month, no card; free self-hosted open-source edition | Free signing of documents you receive; trial of about 14 days, no card | Free plan with 3 signature requests a month; 30-day trial of paid plans |
| Reference scenario (3 senders, 90 envelopes/mo) | $50 on Pro annual (3 × $200 a year), computed | $135 on IAM Standard (3 × $45); $270 on Standard with extra envelopes, computed | $75 on Standard (3 × $25 billed yearly), computed |
| API entry price | $20/mo for one Pro seat, plus $0.20 per completed document; free sandbox, no card | $50/mo billed annually for 40 envelopes a month; free developer account | $75/mo billed yearly ($900) for 50 requests a month; free test mode |
| EU signature levels (eIDAS) | SES included; AES $2 and QES from $0.20 per signature on the EU cloud (docuseal.eu) | SES on self-serve plans; AES and QES on Enhanced (sales) | eIDAS stated for simple signatures; AES and QES through the eID add-on on API Premium (sales) |
| Signer ID checks | SMS and phone 2FA (20 a month, then $0.20 each); ID check $2 and KBA $2, both enabled by support | ID verification from $2.40 per attempt; SMS/phone authentication and KBA by sales | SMS authentication on Standard and up; eID on API Premium (add-on, sales) |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Own SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 stated; documents on request in the Trust Center | Own SOC 2 Type II; ISO 27001:2022 | Own SOC 2 Type 2; ISO 27001 naming Dropbox Sign |
| HIPAA BAA | Pro Annual, by emailing support | Enhanced plans, by sales | Annual Standard or Premium, with a BAA and a minimum contract value, through sales |
| SSO | SAML SSO on Pro ($20/user/mo) | IAM Professional (3-user minimum); otherwise by sales | SAML SSO on Premium (quote); no SCIM |
| Storage regions | US (AWS Virginia) or EU (AWS Dublin), by signing up on docuseal.com or docuseal.eu | US, Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan; choice through a Docusign representative | US, Australia, EU, Japan, Canada, UK on Premium; US by default |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, DocuSeal pairs a low per-seat price for unlimited web sending with an API billed per completed document, its own SOC 2 and ISO 27001, and an open-source edition. Usage fees and support-enabled add-ons need planning. | From its public pages, DocuSign eSignature has the longest certification list of the five and evidence features on every plan. It is priced per seat with an envelope allowance, so steady volume costs more than with the flat-rate rivals, and SSO and HIPAA sit on higher or sales-led plans. | From its public pages, Dropbox Sign is a per-sender service with unlimited signature requests, evidence on every document and compliance reports in its own name. SSO, data residency, HIPAA and QES go through sales, and the API is priced by monthly quota. |
Evidence: DocuSeal: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; DocuSign eSignature: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Dropbox Sign: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our DocuSeal review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick DocuSeal when
- You want SSO without a quote (Pro is $20 per user) and API documents at $0.20 each rather than a monthly quota from $75 billed yearly.
- Pick Dropbox Sign when
- You want a 30-day trial of a paid plan, or storage regions beyond the US and EU (on Premium, by quote).
From our DocuSign eSignature review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick DocuSign eSignature when
- You want a lower API entry price ($50/mo vs $75/mo, billed yearly) and SSO you can buy online on IAM Professional.
- Pick Dropbox Sign when
- You want unlimited signature requests on every paid web plan: 3 senders on Standard come to $75/mo billed yearly.
From our Dropbox Sign review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick Dropbox Sign when
- You want unlimited signature requests on a self-serve team plan: 3 senders on Standard are $75/mo billed yearly.
- Pick DocuSign eSignature when
- You want SSO you can buy online on IAM Professional, or a lower API entry price ($50/mo for 40 envelopes, billed yearly).
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- DocuSealPro (Cloud)$20/user/moMonthly billing; $200 per user a year on the annual plan; a user is a web-app seat, not a signer
- Unlimited signature requests
- SAML SSO, user roles, teams and private templates
- Webhooks; API, embedding and Zapier/Make/n8n at $0.20 per completed document
- 20 SMS and 50 bulk-send completions a month included, then $0.20 each
- ID check $2, KBA $2, EU qualified signature listed at $2-$4
- Custom domain and HIPAA BAA on the annual plan
- DocuSign eSignatureLowest pricePersonal$10/mo1 user, 5 envelopes a month; billed upfront ($120 a year); $11 annual billed monthly, $15 monthly
- Reusable templates
- Audit trail and certificate of completion
- Tamper-sealed documents
- No extra envelopes on Personal
- Dropbox SignEssentials$15/mo1 user; billed yearly ($180 a year); $20 billed monthly
- Unlimited signature requests
- Audit trail and a digital seal on each signed document
- 5 templates and template links
- Google Drive, Word and HubSpot integrations
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: DocuSeal 2026-10-15, DocuSign eSignature 2026-10-15, Dropbox Sign 2026-10-15.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- DocuSealSelf-serve sign-up, no card needed; the highest score of the 3 self-serve products here (8.8/10).
- If you want to try it without entering a card
- DocuSealFree plan, no card needed; scored 8.8/10.
- Lowest starter price
- DocuSign eSignature$10/mo for the Personal plan.
- Highest overall score
- DocuSeal8.8/10 (Excellent). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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