Most e-signature tools do the same basic job: you upload a contract, the other side signs in the browser, and everyone gets a signed PDF with an audit trail. What differs is how you pay (per user, per envelope or per team), how many documents you can send, which signature types are available and what comes with it. We compared the tools US and UK teams use most, using the prices on the vendors’ own pricing pages.
Prices and features read on the vendors’ own websites on 10 November 2026; where a vendor does not publish a fact, the table says so. Prices in USD, before tax unless stated. Disclosure: HelpRange is our product – we judge it by the same criteria and list what it cannot do.
| Tool | Price (entry / business) | Per user or per team | Signature types | Audit trail / certificate | Languages | Free plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DocuSign eSignature | Personal $11/month (1 user, 5 envelopes a month); Standard $30, Business Pro $45 per user a month – annual commitment billed monthly | per user; 100 envelopes per user a year on Standard and Business Pro | simple on every plan; EU advanced and qualified as a paid add-on through sales | yes, audit trail on every plan | signing in 44+ languages | no (30-day refund on annual plans) | companies that need bulk send, ID verification and 1,000+ integrations |
| Adobe Acrobat Sign | Acrobat Standard for teams $16.99, Pro $23.99, Studio $29.99 per licence a month (annual, billed monthly); Acrobat Sign Solutions: price on request | per licence | simple; advanced and qualified through EU trust service providers | yes, audit trails on all plans | not published | no (free trial) | teams that already work in Acrobat and Microsoft 365 |
| Dropbox Sign | Essentials $15 a month ($10.05 billed annually, 1 user); Standard $25 per user ($17.50 billed annually, 2+ users) | per user | advanced or qualified: not published | yes, audit trail for every request | 22 languages | yes (limits not published) | Dropbox and Google Drive users with simple signing needs |
| PandaDoc | Free (5 documents a month); Starter $19, Business $49 per seat a month, billed annually | per seat | simple; qualified on Business and Enterprise annual plans | yes (signature certificate even on Free) | not published | yes, 5 documents a month | sales teams that build quotes and proposals in the tool |
| HelpRange | Pro $39 a month ($31 billed yearly); Max $87, Unlimited $174; Deal Room Pass $199 for 90 days | per team – any number of users; no per-envelope fee | simple electronic signature only | yes: audit trail, certificate of completion and sealed PDF on every plan with e-signature | signing pages and e-mails in 25 languages | no (3-day trial) | teams that share, track and sign documents in one place |
SignNow is not in the table: its pricing page loads prices from a checkout script, and we could not read them on 10 November 2026.
The default choice in many companies, and for good reasons: templates, bulk send (Business Pro and up), ID verification as an add-on from $2.40 an attempt, SMS delivery from $0.36, an API on Business Pro, and more than 1,000 integrations including Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics. Signers can use 44+ languages.
The catch is the pricing model. Standard costs $30 and Business Pro $45 per user a month on an annual commitment, and each user gets 100 envelopes a year – a five-person team on Business Pro pays $225 a month. The Personal plan ($11) is limited to one user and 5 envelopes a month. Qualified and advanced EU signatures are sold through sales; the add-on price is not on the pricing page.
Adobe sells e-signature inside Acrobat for teams: Standard $16.99, Pro $23.99 and Studio $29.99 per licence a month on an annual plan billed monthly ($203.88, $287.88 and $359.88 prepaid, plus tax). If you already pay for Acrobat, signing comes with it; reusable signable templates and bulk sending are in Pro.
For advanced or qualified signatures in the EU, Adobe works with trust service providers through the Cloud Signature Consortium; those workflows sit in Acrobat Sign Solutions, which has no published price. Transaction limits and signer languages are not published on the teams pricing page.
Formerly HelloSign. Essentials costs $15 a month for one user ($10.05 billed annually), Standard $25 per user ($17.50 billed annually) for two users and more, Premium is quoted. The pricing page shows request limits (5 on Essentials, 15 on Standard) without clearly stating the period. Senders and signers can use 22 languages, every request has an audit trail, and it connects to Google Drive, Microsoft Word and HubSpot (Salesforce as an add-on).
We found no statement about advanced or qualified signatures on its pricing page.
PandaDoc is a document builder for sales – quotes, proposals, contracts with pricing tables – with e-signature built in. The Free plan allows 5 documents a month; Starter costs $19 and Business $49 per seat a month, billed annually. Business adds unlimited templates, CRM integrations, SMS verification, knowledge-based and ID verification, and bulk send (with usage credits). Qualified electronic signatures are available on Business and Enterprise annual plans.
If you only need a signature on a PDF you already have, you pay for an editor you may not use.
HelpRange is a document sharing and data room tool with e-signature built in. Upload a PDF, place signature, initials, date, name and text fields, add up to 20 signers and reviewers (in a set order if you want) and send. Each signer confirms a one-time code sent to their e-mail, ticks “I agree to sign electronically” and draws, types or uploads a signature – no account needed. Reminders, decline with a reason and void are built in.
Every envelope ends with an audit trail (UTC time, IP address and device for each event), SHA-256 fingerprints of the original and final PDF, a certificate of completion appended to the PDF and a seal (PAdES) applied by HelpRange, so any later change is visible. Anyone can check a copy at helprange.com/verify-signature. You can also request signatures from guests inside a data room.
It is a simple electronic signature under eIDAS art. 25(1) in the EU, the ESIGN Act and UETA in the US and the Electronic Communications Act 2000 in the UK. It is not a qualified or advanced electronic signature, and HelpRange does not check ID documents – the record shows that the signer controlled the e-mail inbox.
Price: from Pro, $39 a month for the whole team ($31 billed yearly) – no per-user or per-envelope fees. Max $87, Unlimited $174, Deal Room Pass $199 once for 90 days; 3-day trial. What it does not have: qualified or advanced signatures, ID or bank-ID verification, SMS codes, bulk send, reusable templates and native CRM integrations.
In the US, the ESIGN Act and state UETA laws give electronic signatures legal effect for most business transactions; what counts in a dispute is evidence of intent, attribution and an unaltered record – which is what an audit trail and a sealed PDF provide. ESIGN (15 U.S.C. §7003) excludes wills, codicils and testamentary trusts, family-law matters, court orders and notices, and certain notices: utility shut-off, default, foreclosure or eviction on a primary residence, cancellation of health or life insurance benefits, and product recalls.
In the UK, electronic signatures are generally accepted (Electronic Communications Act 2000; Law Commission report of 2019), but deeds signed by individuals need a witness who is physically present, wills must be signed in the presence of two witnesses (Wills Act 1837, s. 9), and HM Land Registry does not accept simple electronic signatures for most dispositions (Practice Guide 82). In the EU, only a qualified electronic signature (QES) has the effect of a handwritten signature (eIDAS art. 25(2)); some countries require written form for employment terminations, guarantees or property.
This is general information, not legal advice; for high-stakes agreements ask a lawyer which form the law requires.
Per-user tools add up: five users cost $150 a month on DocuSign Standard, $225 on Business Pro, $87.50 on Dropbox Sign Standard billed annually and $95 on PandaDoc Starter billed annually. HelpRange Pro costs $39 a month for the whole team ($31 billed yearly), with no per-envelope fee (prices checked 10 November 2026).
PandaDoc has a free plan with 5 documents a month and Dropbox Sign links a free plan without publishing its limits. DocuSign and Adobe offer trials, not free plans. HelpRange has a 3-day trial; e-signature is part of the paid plans from Pro.
Personal includes 5 envelopes a month. Standard and Business Pro include 100 envelopes per user a year on annual plans, according to DocuSign’s pricing page on 10 November 2026.
No. HelpRange creates a simple electronic signature: an e-mail one-time code for every signer, explicit consent, an audit trail, a certificate of completion and a sealed PDF. If you need a qualified or advanced signature, use a provider that sells one.
Yes, for most business documents: the ESIGN Act and UETA in the US and the Electronic Communications Act 2000 in the UK recognise electronic signatures. Exceptions include wills, some family-law and court documents, and in the UK deeds that need a witness and most HM Land Registry dispositions. This is not legal advice.
No. Each signer confirms a one-time code sent to their e-mail address, so the record shows that the person who signed had access to that inbox, with time, IP address and device. DocuSign and PandaDoc sell ID verification if you need it.
In HelpRange, yes: mark a data room document as “to be signed” by chosen guests, and the room page shows who has signed. The other tools in this comparison are signing tools, not data rooms.
E-mail code for every signer, audit trail, certificate of completion and a sealed PDF, from $39 a month per team.
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