Buying guides
How much does e-signature software cost?
The listed monthly price on an e-signature tool's homepage rarely tells you what you'll actually pay. Here is how the pricing models differ, and the math at real-world volumes.
Updated · 3 min read
The four pricing models
- Per user, per month. The most common model. You pay for every seat whether that person sends one document or fifty. Adding a second person to help usually means a second full seat.
- Per envelope, with a monthly cap. Some tiers bundle a fixed number of "envelopes" (sends) into the monthly fee, then charge overage fees past the cap.
- Free with limits. Several tools offer a genuinely free tier, capped at a small number of documents per month (often 3–5) and missing most features.
- Pay-per-use. No recurring fee — you buy credits and each send debits one, at a fixed price regardless of how many months pass between sends. This is the Signavos model.
What six tools charge (published prices, August 2026)
| Tool | Cheapest paid tier | Break-even vs $0.50/signature |
|---|---|---|
| Signavos | No subscription — from $0.50/signature | — |
| Xodo Sign | $10/user/mo (Basic, billed yearly) | ~20 signatures/month |
| Adobe Acrobat Sign | $12.99/mo (Sign bundled into Acrobat Standard) | ~26 signatures/month |
| DocuSign | $12/mo (Personal) | ~24 signatures/month |
| Dropbox Sign | $15/user/mo (Essentials) | ~30 signatures/month |
| PandaDoc | $19/mo (Essentials, billed annually) | ~38 signatures/month |
| SignNow | $20/user/mo (Business, billed annually) | ~40 signatures/month |
Break-even is the number of signatures per month at which a flat subscription becomes cheaper than paying per signature — send fewer than that, and pay-per-use wins. Full breakdowns per competitor, including features each one has that Signavos doesn't, are on the comparison pages.
The math at real volumes
| Documents/month | Pay-per-signature/year | $12/mo subscription/year | $20/mo subscription/year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | $12 | $144 | $240 |
| 10 | $60 | $144 | $240 |
| 40 | $240 | $144 | $240 |
| 100 | $600 | $144 | $240 |
The crossover is visible directly in the table: at 40 documents a month, a $20/mo subscription and pay-per-signature cost about the same; below that, pay-per-use is cheaper, and above it, the flat fee wins.
When a subscription is actually the better deal
Past the break-even volume for your team size, a flat monthly fee is simply cheaper, and it usually comes bundled with templates, an API, integrations, and multi-signer support that a pay-per-use tool may not offer. If you're sending dozens of documents a week, price the subscription tools directly rather than defaulting to pay-per-use out of principle.
Signavos pricing is pay-per-use: signatures from $0.50, credits valid for 12 months, no seats and no monthly bill.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest way to sign a handful of documents a month?
- For under roughly 20–25 documents a month, pay-per-signature pricing is typically cheaper than any subscription tier — see best e-signature software for occasional users for a full comparison including free tiers.
- Do free e-signature plans exist?
- Yes — several tools offer a free tier capped at a small number of documents per month (commonly 3–5), useful for very light use but limited beyond that.
- Is Signavos cheaper than DocuSign?
- Below about 24 signatures a month, yes. Above that, DocuSign's $12/mo Personal plan becomes cheaper. See Signavos vs DocuSign for the full breakdown.
- Why do e-signature prices vary so much between sources?
- Vendors frequently list an annual-billing price as the headline number, then charge more for month-to-month; sources that quote the monthly-billing price will look higher than the vendor's own homepage.
Send your next document without a subscription.
Upload a PDF, place the fields, send. Your recipient signs without an account and you pay per signature — nothing renews.
Start paying per signature