“Electronic signature”, “digital signature”, “qualified signature”, “wet signature” – the terms get mixed up constantly, and vendors do not always help. This guide sorts them out: the three levels defined in EU law, how the US approaches the same question with the ESIGN Act and UETA, what a digital signature actually is, which documents still need pen and paper, and what regulated industries such as pharma add on top.
Legal texts read on EUR-Lex, law.cornell.edu and legislation.gov.uk on 10 November 2026. General information, not legal advice – for a specific agreement, ask a lawyer which form the law requires.
Electronic signature is the legal category. eIDAS (the EU regulation 910/2014) defines it in art. 3(10) as data in electronic form attached to other electronic data and used by the signatory to sign. US law (15 U.S.C. §7006) is just as broad: an electronic sound, symbol or process attached to a record and adopted with the intent to sign. A typed name, a drawn squiggle, a click on “I agree” and a cryptographic signature all qualify.
Digital signature is a technique: public-key cryptography that binds a signature to a certificate and to the exact bytes of the document, so any change breaks it. Advanced and qualified signatures are normally built with it, and PDF uses it in the PAdES format. A digital signature on its own does not make a signature “qualified” – that depends on the certificate and the device behind it.
Everything that is an electronic signature but does not meet the stricter tests below is a simple electronic signature. It is by far the most common kind: signing a delivery on a courier’s tablet, accepting terms online, signing an NDA through an e-signature service. Under eIDAS art. 25(1), a court may not deny it legal effect or admissibility solely because it is electronic or does not meet the qualified requirements.
The value of an SES depends on the evidence around it. A pasted image tells you little. A signature collected through a service that sent a one-time code to the signer’s e-mail, recorded their consent and kept an audit trail and a sealed copy of the PDF tells you a lot. That is what HelpRange e-signature produces: a simple electronic signature (SES) with that evidence. HelpRange is not an advanced or qualified signature provider.
eIDAS art. 26 sets four conditions for an advanced electronic signature: it is uniquely linked to the signatory, it is capable of identifying the signatory, it is created with signature-creation data the signatory can, with a high level of confidence, use under their sole control, and it is linked to the signed data so that any subsequent change is detectable.
In practice an AES usually means a certificate issued to the signer after some identity check – for example a video or ID-document check, a bank login or a national e-ID – and a digital signature made with a key only the signer controls. AES is the typical choice when you want stronger attribution than an e-mail code, for example for larger consumer contracts or HR files in some EU countries, without the cost of a qualified signature.
A qualified electronic signature is an advanced signature that is created by a qualified signature-creation device and based on a qualified certificate issued by a qualified trust service provider listed on the EU trust lists. It is the only kind that eIDAS art. 25(2) gives the legal effect of a handwritten signature, and a QES based on a qualified certificate from one member state is recognised in all others (art. 25(3)).
Getting one involves a one-off identity verification with the provider – in person, by video, with a bank or a national ID card – and then a fee per signature or a subscription. You need a QES where a national law requires written form and allows the electronic form to replace it: in Germany, for example, a fixed-term clause in an employment contract; in several countries public tenders and some corporate filings. Many e-signature vendors resell qualified signatures as an add-on; prices are covered in the e-signature cost guide.
| Simple (SES) | Advanced (AES) | Qualified (QES) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How the signer is identified | whatever the process records (e.g. e-mail code) | identity check linked to a certificate | verified identity, qualified certificate |
| Tamper evidence | depends on the service (e.g. sealed PDF) | required by law | required by law |
| Legal effect in the EU | admissible, cannot be rejected only for being electronic | same, stronger evidence | effect of a handwritten signature |
| Typical use | NDAs, quotes, B2B contracts, consents | regulated or higher-risk contracts | documents that need written form |
| Typical cost | included in a plan | per signature or plan | per signature, plus identity check |
US law does not have tiers. The ESIGN Act (15 U.S.C. §7001) and UETA, adopted in most states, say a signature, contract or record may not be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic. In a dispute the questions are practical: did this person intend to sign, can the signature be attributed to them, and is the record unaltered? Consumer disclosures that must be “in writing” need the consumer’s consent to electronic records first (§7001(c)). ESIGN does not cover wills, codicils and testamentary trusts, adoption, divorce and other family-law matters, court documents, and certain notices such as utility shut-offs, foreclosure or eviction on a primary residence and product recalls (§7003).
The UK kept the eIDAS levels in its own law after Brexit, but day to day it works like the US: section 7 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000 makes electronic signatures admissible, and the Law Commission confirmed in 2019 that an electronic signature can execute a document where the signer intends to authenticate it. Wills, deeds that need a witness physically present, and most HM Land Registry dispositions remain exceptions.
A “wet signature” is ink on paper. You still need one, or a notarised or witnessed equivalent, where a law prescribes a form an electronic signature cannot meet: wills in the US and the UK, many property deeds and powers of attorney, documents filed with some courts and registries, and in EU countries the acts that require notarial form or written form without an electronic alternative. Some banks and public bodies also ask for ink as their own policy, even where the law would not.
The pragmatic rule: if the document only needs the parties’ agreement – an NDA, a quote acceptance, a services or freelance contract, an amendment – an electronic signature with a good audit trail is the norm. If a statute, a registry or the counterparty prescribes a form, follow it. Which signature level each tool offers is listed in the e-signature tools comparison, and the free ways to sign your own PDF are in how to sign a PDF electronically and our Sign PDF tool.
Companies whose records fall under FDA rules – drug and device makers, clinical research – must follow 21 CFR Part 11 for electronic records and signatures. It goes well beyond ESIGN: the organisation must confirm each person’s identity before issuing their electronic signature (§11.100(b)), certify to the FDA that its electronic signatures are intended as the binding equivalent of handwritten ones (§11.100(c)), and use at least two distinct identification components, such as an ID code and a password, for signatures not based on biometrics (§11.200(a)(1)). Systems also need validation, audit trails and controls documented by the company.
Part 11 is a property of your whole validated system and procedures, not of a signing app alone. HelpRange is not designed or validated for Part 11 and does not claim it; regulated teams should use a system their quality function has validated for that purpose.
Under the EU eIDAS regulation: simple (SES), advanced (AES) and qualified (QES). A simple signature is any electronic signature; an advanced one is uniquely linked to and identifies the signer and detects later changes; a qualified one is an advanced signature with a qualified certificate and device, and has the legal effect of a handwritten signature.
No. Electronic signature is the legal term for any electronic way of signing. A digital signature is the cryptographic technique that links a signature to a certificate and to the exact document. Advanced and qualified signatures normally use it.
Only when a law or the other party requires it, typically for documents that need written form in an EU country. NDAs, quotes and most B2B contracts are routinely signed with simple electronic signatures.
A signature in ink on paper. It is still needed for documents with a legal form an electronic signature cannot meet, such as wills, many deeds and some court or registry filings.
A simple electronic signature with strong evidence: a one-time code sent to each signer’s e-mail, recorded consent, an audit trail, a certificate of completion and a PAdES-sealed PDF. It is not an advanced or qualified signature, and it does not check ID documents.
Yes for most transactions: under the ESIGN Act and UETA a signature cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic. Exceptions include wills, family-law matters, court documents and certain notices listed in 15 U.S.C. 7003.
No. Part 11 requires an identity check before issuing signatures, certification to the FDA, two-component signatures and a validated system. HelpRange is not built for that use.
E-mail code for every signer, consent, audit trail, certificate of completion and a sealed PDF. From $39 a month for the whole team.
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