Does DocuSign have a free plan?

No free plan appears on their pricing page; plans start at Personal ($11 per month, 5 envelopes per month). The page does not state whether a trial is offered.

How do I know the signed document was not altered?

The signature is applied to the original document held on the server; no file is accepted back from the signer. The document's SHA-256 fingerprints before and after signing are recorded and printed on the audit certificate.

Is this signature legally valid?

It produces a visual electronic signature with a record of the process attached — the approach used for most commercial documents. A qualified electronic signature is a separate legal category requiring a certificate from a qualified trust service provider, which this tool does not offer.

Which plan includes signature requests?

Plus and above. They are not on the Free or Starter plans. Signing your own document, by contrast, is free and needs no account.

How long is the link valid?

14 days. After that the link stops working; you can cancel the request and send a new one.

DocuSign Alternatives When 5 Documents a Month Runs Out

Q: Does the signer need an account?

No. They open the link from their email, view the document, type their name, draw their signature and confirm. No account, install or payment.

DocuSign is a good product, but it is priced per envelope and the personal plan stops at five documents a month. For a small business sending ten contracts, that is a plan that runs out mid-month.

DocuSign is the first name people think of for e-signatures, and deservedly — it created the category. But it is priced by how many documents you send, and the personal plan stops at five a month. For a one-person company sending ten contracts, that is a plan that runs out halfway through the month.

How DocuSign's pricing works

DocuSign counts «envelopes»: each document package you send for signature is one envelope. The current figures from their own pricing page:

Personal — $11 per month (billed annually), 5 envelopes per month.
Standard — $30 per user per month, 100 envelopes per user per year.
Business Pro — $45 per user per month, 100 envelopes per user per year.

The part worth noticing: even the higher plans cap at 100 envelopes a year — about eight a month. Beyond that you are talking to sales.

What DocuSign genuinely does better

You should know what you would be giving up. DocuSign's strengths are not in question:

Ready-made integrations with Salesforce, SAP, Google Workspace and others.
Qualified electronic signature options and certifications for regulated industries.
Bulk send, template management, in-person signing and other advanced flows.
iOS and Android apps, and enterprise user management.

If you need those, switching would be a false economy. What follows is for people who do not.

What most people actually need

In practice the sentence is usually this: «Send this contract to the other party, let them sign it, and leave me a record that they did.» Freelancers, small agencies, accountants, estate agents, one-person companies. Envelope quotas, integration catalogues and enterprise user management are not part of that job.

How signature requests work here

You upload the document and enter the signer's email address. They receive a link generated only for them. Without creating an account they view the document, type their name, draw their signature and tick the consent box.

Here is the detail that matters: the signature is applied to the original document held on the server. No file is accepted back from the signer. So «is the signed document the same one I sent?» is answered by construction, not by trusting an audit afterwards.

A certificate is appended to the signed document. It records:

When the request was created, sent, viewed and signed.
The signer's name and email address, and the authentication method.
The moment consent was given.
The document's fingerprints (SHA-256) before and after signing.

The link is valid for 14 days. The signer can decline, optionally with a reason — you are notified by email and it goes into the audit record.

Legal validity — the part that has to be honest

This produces a visual (wet-ink-style) electronic signature with a record of the process attached. That is the approach used for the majority of commercial documents.

But a qualified electronic signature is a separate legal category, and it requires a certificate from a qualified trust service provider. We do not offer that. For documents that need notarisation, that go to a public authority, or where the law specifically requires a qualified signature, this is the wrong tool — you need DocuSign's qualified options or a local trust service provider.

What it costs

DocuSign Personal: $11 per month, 5 documents per month.
PDF Platform Plus: $6.99 per month, 600 operations per month and all 34 tools. Signature requests are on Plus and above.

Compare like with like, though: DocuSign's package is a workflow product built around signing; this one is a document toolkit that happens to include signature requests. If signing is all you need, the second is cheaper. If you need a signing infrastructure, the first gives you more.

Request a Signature — Upload the document, enter an email address — they sign without an account, and the audit certificate is attached.

Which should you pick?

Sending a few contracts a month and want a record of the process: signature requests are enough, and cheaper.
Need a qualified electronic signature or industry certification: DocuSign, or a local trust service provider.
Need CRM integration, bulk send or template management: DocuSign.
Only signing your own document: you need neither — the PDF signing tool is free, needs no account and runs on your device.