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Best Electronic Signature Software 2025

Software providing a secure way to sign, send, and store documents in the cloud.

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Learn More about Electronic Signature Software

What is Electronic Signature Software?

Electronic signature or e-signature software allows a contract to be signed digitally with a formal signature. The goal is to speed up contractual processes that legally require a signature.

The signature can be created using a mouse, a touchpad or tablet. E-signatures do away with paper forms. Paper forms are replaced with easily tracked and audited digital documents.

E-signing is especially important for contracts involving remote parties. In those cases, in-person signatures would be a significant roadblock. Therefore, most vendors offer features related to integration, file sharing, compliance, and approval workflows.

Common Uses of Electronic Signature Software

E-signatures may be deployed in many scenarios, including things like:

  • Sales order processing
  • New hire paperwork
  • Invoicing
  • Inventory sign-off
  • IT asset change or maintenance
  • Legal documentation
Key Benefits of Electronic Signature Software

The benefits of e-signature software include:

  • Acceleration of transactions and contractual agreements
  • Increased efficiency through digitization and automation
  • Ease of demonstrating compliance, compared to a paper trail

Electronic Signature Software Features & Capabilities

Some e-signature tools are lower cost and geared toward contract-heavy industries like real estate or household services. They offer capabilities for generating and signing simple contracts via tablet or mobile device.

More sophisticated platforms offer enhanced integration, security, and oversight capabilities.

Electronic Signature Software may include the following features:

  • Send & Collaborate: Ability to easily send digital documents, or sync them with a digital repository.
  • Integration with Systems of Record: Compatibility with project management, ECM, and CRM systems, among others.
  • Compatibility with Document Types: Support for signatures on almost any kind of document or file. Examples are .txt., .doc, pdf., and .xcl.
  • Sign on the Go: Documents can be signed on a mobile device, even while offline, to be synced later. Useful for field agents.
  • Form Conversion: Areas and fields within a form (e.g. a .pdf) can be converted to a spot to sign.
  • File Sync: Prepare documents offline or on the go, and sync them with the repository later.
  • Digital Signature: Asymmetric encryption with a certificate-based ID, providing enhanced security with authentication and non-repudiation. Useful for enterprises or in scenarios where compliance is a concern.
  • Managerial Oversight: See who has and has not signed. Useful for tracking and accelerating sales offers toward closure.
  • Workflow Design, Creation & Editing: Designing or re-ordering contracts' workflow to a manager's specifications.
  • White Label & Branding: Ability to present documents in your own branded style.
  • Compliance: Support for different compliance standards such as HIPAA, SOC 2 type II, and ISO 27001. Concerns vary by industry, so vendors tend to focus on compliance standards for particular verticals.

Electronic Signature Software Comparison

To compare different Electronic software, consider these aspects of each product offering:

  1. Feature Needs: Unlike many software categories, electronic signature software options don’t have many features provided by all products. If your business needs any features beyond digital signatures, you can narrow down your software selection process a lot by looking for electronic signature options that meet each of your needs.
  2. Form Conversion Options: One of the key features of electronic signature tools is their ability to convert existing forms into forms that can accept a digital signature. Consider how your forms exist now, and whether or not each tool can convert them. A tool that can convert most or all of your forms will save your business a lot of time compared to other options.
  3. Integrations: Many electronic signature options offer integrations with business systems such as CRMs. When comparing electronic signature software, consider which ones offer built in integrations with tools you are already using. If you have any obscure integration needs, consider how difficult it is to build an integration with each electronic signature tool.

Pricing Information

E-signature vendors often price on a per user, per month basis. Pricing ranges from $10/month for personal or individual use to $40+ per user per month for businesses. Enterprise platforms may cost upwards of $100 per user, per month for more sophisticated features.

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Electronic Signature FAQs

Does electronic signature software also allow payment processing?

Some electronic signatures offer payment processing, though it is rarely included as part of the base payment. Electronic signature tools that do offer payment processing usually offer it as an add-on for an additional charge. Some software doesn’t offer payment processing at all, so it is an important consideration for businesses looking for an all in one solution.

What are the best electronic signature options?

The top rated electronic signature software options are as follows:

  1. SignNow
  2. HelloSign
  3. DocuSign
  4. PandaDoc

What forms can be converted into digital signature forms automatically?

Most PDF forms can be converted to support digital signatures, particularly if they are already form fillable. Businesses using particularly old PDFs, or another file type should consider which software options support those filetypes, as not all electronic signature tools support all legacy file types.