DocuSign alternative

E signatures for every PDF, without the DocuSign price

Upload a PDF, add your recipients, drop signature fields where they belong and send. Signers sign from any device with no account, and you get a sealed PDF with a full certificate of completion.

Start free Templates and bulk send

3 envelopes a month free
Signers need no account
Pro unlimited for $4/mo

Preparing an envelope in PDFbat E-Signatures with a recipient added and signature fields placed on the page

Everything a signing workflow needs, in one envelope

In PDFbat, every signature request is an envelope: one PDF, the people who need to sign or receive it, and the fields each of them must complete. You prepare it once in the browser, press send, and PDFbat emails each signer a private link. Nobody needs to install anything or create an account to sign.

When the last person signs, PDFbat draws every value onto the pages, adds any files signers attached, appends a certificate of completion with the full audit trail, and seals the result with a digital signature. The finished PDF is emailed to you and every recipient, and a copy lands in the Signed folder of your Drive.

Electronic signatures are accepted for most everyday business documents under laws such as ESIGN in the United States and eIDAS in the European Union. Some documents, such as certain wills or court filings, have special rules, so check what applies to yours.

Why teams switch to PDFbat for signatures

Signers need no account

Recipients open a secure link from their email, review the document, sign and finish. It works in any modern browser on phone, tablet or desktop.

Signing order you control

Send to everyone at once, or route the envelope in sequence so each person is emailed only when it is their turn.

Identity checks

Ask a signer for an access code you share separately, or for a 6 digit code emailed to them, before the document opens.

Reminders and expiry

Set automatic reminders every few days and an expiry date, so envelopes do not sit unsigned forever.

Sealed, verifiable result

The final PDF carries a certificate of completion, the audit trail and a digital seal that shows if anyone changes the file later.

A fraction of the price

Send 3 envelopes a month free. Pro is $4 a month for unlimited envelopes, and it also unlocks the full PDF editor and tools.

Send a document for signature in 3 steps

1
Upload and add recipients
Upload a PDF or pick one from Drive. Add each person with a name and email, choose Signer or CC, and set the signing order if it matters.
2
Place the fields
Drag signature, initials, date, text, checkbox, dropdown and attachment fields onto the pages. Each field belongs to one recipient and is color coded.
3
Send and track
Press send. Watch each recipient move from sent to viewed to signed, send a reminder in one click, and download the sealed PDF when it completes.

Start free

Every e signature feature included

These features are available on both plans. Free accounts can send 3 envelopes a month; Pro sends unlimited envelopes.

Signers and CC recipients: Add as many recipients as the document needs. Signers complete fields; CC recipients do not sign but receive the finished, sealed PDF.
Sequential or parallel routing: Give recipients a routing order. In sequential mode, PDFbat emails the next group only when everyone in the current group has signed.
Eleven field types: Signature, initials, date, text, name, email, company, title, checkbox, dropdown and file attachment. Mark any field as required.
Draw, type or upload a signature: Signers can draw with a mouse, finger or stylus, type their name in a handwriting style, or upload a photo of their signature.
Access code check: Set a code of at least 4 characters for a recipient and share it by phone or text. The document stays closed until the code is entered.
Email code check: PDFbat emails the signer a 6 digit code that expires in 10 minutes. After 5 wrong attempts the link locks until you correct the recipient.
Automatic reminders: Choose a reminder interval of up to 30 days. Signers who have not finished get a reminder email each interval, and you can also remind by hand.
Expiry dates: Set an envelope to expire after up to 365 days. Expired envelopes close, you are notified by email, and you can duplicate and resend them.
Reassign: Allow signers to hand the envelope to a colleague. The reassignment, the new person and the reason are all recorded in the audit trail.
Correct a recipient: Fix a typo in a name or email after sending. PDFbat issues a fresh link and the old one stops working.
In person signing: Hosting a client at your desk? Open the signing session for a present signer on your own device, logged in the audit trail.
Signer attachments: Request an ID, a certificate or a supporting document. Signers upload a PDF or image up to 10 MB, and it is added to the final PDF.
Decline and void: Signers can decline with a reason, and you are emailed right away. You can void an envelope at any time before it completes.
Audit trail and certificate of completion: Every event is logged with a timestamp and IP address: sent, viewed, identity verified, signed, declined, reminders and more. The certificate lists each signer, their signature and the original file's SHA-256 hash.
Digitally sealed PDF: The completed document is sealed with a PKCS#7 digital signature, so any later change to the file invalidates the seal.
Saved to your Drive: Every completed envelope is saved to the Signed folder in your Drive and emailed to you and all recipients as an attachment.

What happens when everyone has signed

Completion is automatic. As soon as the last signer finishes, PDFbat builds the final document in this order:

Every field value, signature and initial is drawn permanently onto its page.
Files that signers attached are appended after the document.
A certificate of completion is added with the envelope ID, sender, created and completed times, routing mode, each signer's details and signature, and the full audit trail.
The whole file is sealed with a digital signature and its SHA-256 hash is recorded.
The sealed PDF is emailed to you and every recipient, saved to your Drive, and announced to your webhooks.

If something interrupts the final step, PDFbat records the problem and retries automatically. The signatures themselves are already saved, so nobody has to sign again.

Who uses PDFbat E-Signatures

Freelancers and agencies sending proposals, statements of work and contracts to clients.
Landlords and property managers collecting leases, renewals and move in forms, with an ID requested as an attachment.
HR teams sending offer letters, policies and onboarding forms, often as a template with bulk send.
Small businesses that need a dependable signature workflow but do not want to pay per seat enterprise pricing.
Developers who send envelopes from their own product using the PDFbat API and webhooks.

Need to sign something yourself?

E-Signatures is for collecting signatures from other people. If you only need to fill in and sign a PDF yourself, use Fill and Sign instead. It opens the document in the editor with signature, initials, date and check tools ready, and it does not use an envelope.

PDFbat compared with DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat

Feature	PDFbat	DocuSign Personal	Adobe Acrobat Pro
Price	Free (3 envelopes a month), Pro $4/mo unlimited	From $11/mo	$19.99/mo, annual plan
Signers sign without an account	Yes	Yes	Yes
Audit trail and certificate of completion	Yes	Yes	Yes
Access code and email code checks	Yes	Access code, other checks vary by plan	Varies by plan
Bulk send from a CSV file	Yes	Higher tier plans	Varies by plan
Public signing links	Yes	Higher tier plans	Varies by plan
Full PDF editor and 30+ PDF tools in the same account	Yes	No	Yes
Cloud Drive for all your files	1 GB free, 10 GB with Pro	No	Adobe cloud storage
REST API with free monthly calls	250 free calls a month	Separate developer plans	Separate product

Competitor details reflect their public plan pages in November 2026 and can change. Check their sites for current terms.

Frequently asked questions

Is PDFbat a real alternative to DocuSign?

For most small business signing it is. You get recipients, signing order, identity checks, reminders, expiry, templates, bulk send, public links, attachments, an audit trail and a sealed PDF, starting free and with Pro at $4 a month.

Do signers need a PDFbat account?

No. Signers open the link in their email and sign in the browser. Only the sender needs an account, with a verified email address so recipients can see who the request is from.

How many documents can I send for free?

Free accounts can send 3 envelopes a month. Pro removes the limit, so you can send as many envelopes as you need for $4 a month.

Are PDFbat e signatures legally binding?

Electronic signatures are recognised for most business documents under laws such as ESIGN in the US and eIDAS in the EU. PDFbat records consent, identity checks, IP addresses and timestamps in an audit trail to support that. A few document types have special rules, so check if yours is one of them.

What does the certificate of completion contain?

The envelope ID, title, sender, creation and completion times, routing mode, the original file's SHA-256 hash, each signer's name, email, view and sign times, IP address and signature, any attachments, and every audit event.

Can I see when someone opened the document?

Yes. Each recipient moves from sent to viewed to signed, and every view is logged in the audit trail with a timestamp and IP address.

What if I sent it to the wrong email address?

Open the envelope and correct the recipient. PDFbat sends a new link to the right address and the old link stops working.

Can I send envelopes from my own app?

Yes. The PDFbat API can create, send, remind and void envelopes, and webhooks tell your app when a recipient signs or an envelope completes.