signNow
Eight dollars a seat for compliant e-signature, with an invite quota you have to watch
signNow is an electronic signature product owned by airSlate that collects legally binding signatures under ESIGN, UETA, and eIDAS from $8 per user per month billed annually, with an allowance of 100 signature invites per user per year, published per-invite overage rates, and compliance coverage extending to HIPAA and 21 CFR Part 11 for regulated industries.
Overview
signNow is the price leader among credible e-signature vendors. Eight dollars per user per month on annual billing buys core signing, unlimited templates, mobile apps, and cloud storage integrations, which is roughly a quarter of what DocuSign charges for the equivalent tier. It is a signing tool and only a signing tool: there is no proposal editor, no content library, no interactive pricing, and no reading analytics on a sales document. If your document is already written and the job is executing it, signNow is one of the cheapest defensible ways to do that.
It belongs to airSlate, a Brookline, Massachusetts company that reached a $1.25 billion valuation in a 2022 Series C and runs a portfolio including pdfFiller and the airSlate workflow platform. airSlate has raised roughly $180M in total and employs somewhere around 800 people. That means signNow is neither a fragile indie tool nor a company whose whole future rests on this one product; it is a mature revenue line inside a workflow automation business, which shows in both the stability and the occasional feeling that the product is a component rather than a passion.
The compliance range is what makes signNow interesting beyond price. Alongside the usual ESIGN, UETA, eIDAS, SOC 2 Type II, and GDPR coverage, it supports HIPAA for protected health information and 21 CFR Part 11 for FDA-regulated electronic records, the latter on the higher-tier and site license plans. Very few tools at this price will sign a business associate agreement or serve a clinical research workflow, and that combination of cheap and regulated is a narrow but real niche.
The catch is the quota, and it is the single thing to understand before buying. Every paid plan includes 100 signature invites per user per year, pooled across the account. That is about eight a month. Beyond it, extra invites are billed at $0.96 each on Business, $1.80 on Business Premium, and $3.60 on Enterprise. Unused invites do not roll over. And cancelling an invite does not return it to your balance, so a resend costs you two. This is the same annual-allowance trap DocuSign sets, just at a friendlier headline price and, to signNow's credit, with the overage rates actually published.
Best for
Cost-sensitive small businesses sending a moderate volume of documents for signature, particularly in healthcare, life sciences, or other regulated settings that need HIPAA or 21 CFR Part 11 coverage without paying enterprise prices, and teams comfortable tracking an annual invite quota in exchange for a very low seat price.
Not the right fit for
- Anyone who needs to build the document; signNow has no proposal editor, content library, pricing tables, or engagement analytics, and never pretended otherwise.
- High-volume senders on the cheap tiers; 100 invites per user per year means overage at $0.96 to $3.60 per invite, and resends after a cancellation are billed twice.
- Teams that want a polished, design-led signing experience; the interface is functional and dated next to Dropbox Sign, SignWell, or Documenso.
- Buyers who need eIDAS qualified electronic signatures; signNow covers eIDAS at the simple signature level and is not a Qualified Trust Service Provider.
- Companies wanting API access at a small-business price; the API lives on the Site License tier rather than on the $8 or $15 plans.
How it works
- 1
You upload a PDF, Word, or image file or pull one from Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, or a CRM, then place signature, initial, date, text, checkbox, and dropdown fields on it and assign each to a named recipient role. Unlimited templates are included on every paid plan, which is unusually generous, so anything you send repeatedly gets saved once.
- 2
You send a signature invite. The recipient opens it in a browser or the mobile app without an account, completes their fields, and signs by typing, drawing, or uploading. You can set a signing order, add carbon copies, protect the document with a password or SMS passcode, and schedule automatic reminders. Kiosk mode and in-person signing let a device be handed across a counter for signatures collected face to face.
- 3
signNow logs every event and, on completion, produces a sealed document with a history of who did what, when, and from which IP address, alongside an audit trail exportable as a separate document. On regulated plans, that trail plus access controls is what satisfies HIPAA and 21 CFR Part 11 record-keeping expectations.
- 4
Higher tiers extend the workflow. Business Premium adds bulk invites, document groups that route several files as one package, and signing links for self-serve completion. Enterprise adds smart fillable fields and conditional documents that change based on earlier answers. The Site License tier unlocks full API access and CRM integrations at a per-invite rate, which is how airSlate prices genuinely high-volume deployments.
Feature breakdown
28 features in 5 modulesCore signing workflow
Everything the $8 tier actually gives you, which is more than the price suggests.- Drag-and-drop fields
- Signature, initial, date, text, checkbox, dropdown, and attachment fields placed on the document and assigned per signer role.
- Unlimited templates on every paid plan
- Most competitors ration templates by tier (Dropbox Sign gives five on its entry plan). signNow includes unlimited templates from the $8 Business plan, which is genuinely unusual at this price.
- Signing order and roles
- Sequential or parallel routing across multiple parties with automatic advancement, carbon-copy recipients, and role-based field assignment on templates.
- Automatic reminders and expiry
- Scheduled follow-up to unsigned recipients and expiry dates so an unaccepted document closes rather than sitting live indefinitely.
- Mobile apps and offline signing
- Native iOS and Android apps for sending and signing, with the ability to collect signatures on a device that is not currently online.
- Kiosk mode and in-person signing
- A device can be handed to a signer for face-to-face completion, which is the model that suits clinics, dealerships, and counter-service businesses.
Higher-tier workflow features
The reasons to move above $8 a seat.- Bulk invites
- Send one template to a list of recipients as separate documents. Business Premium tier, and each recipient consumes an invite from the annual quota.
- Document groups
- Bundle several files into one package that routes and completes together, so a signer handles an agreement, a schedule, and a disclosure in a single session rather than three.
- Signing links
- Publish a template as a link anyone can open and sign without the sender initiating each request, useful for waivers and standard forms. Business Premium tier.
- Smart fillable fields
- Field validation, formatting rules, and calculated values that reduce the amount of bad data a signer can enter. Enterprise tier.
- Conditional documents
- Sections and fields appear or disappear based on earlier answers, so one document serves several scenarios. Enterprise tier.
- Payment collection
- Request a payment alongside a signature through a connected processor, so an agreement and a deposit complete in the same session.
Compliance and regulated use
The genuinely differentiated part, and rare at this price.- ESIGN, UETA, and eIDAS
- Legally binding simple electronic signatures under US federal and state law and the EU eIDAS regulation, covering ordinary commercial agreements.
- HIPAA support
- Protected health information can be handled with encryption, access controls, and detailed audit logs, which lets clinics, insurers, and health services use signNow for patient paperwork.
- 21 CFR Part 11
- FDA electronic records and signatures compliance for life sciences and clinical research, available on the Corporate and Site License plans. Almost no tool at this price offers it.
- SOC 2 Type II and GDPR
- Independently audited security controls and a GDPR-compliant processing posture with a data processing agreement available.
- Audit trail and document history
- A complete record of creation, sending, viewing, signing, and declining events with actor identity, IP address, and timestamp, exportable as a separate history document alongside the sealed file.
- Signer authentication
- Password protection, SMS one-time passcodes, and email verification before a document renders, configurable per invite rather than per account.
Integrations and automation
Competent, with the API deliberately positioned upmarket.- Cloud storage integrations
- Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, and SharePoint for pulling source documents and filing executed ones, included from the entry tier.
- CRM integrations
- Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, and Pipedrive connections trigger signature requests from records, though the deeper CRM integration set is positioned on the Site License tier.
- REST API and embedded signing
- A full API with embedded signing and webhooks, gated to the Site License plan at roughly $1.50 per signature invite rather than sold as a small-business add-on.
- airSlate workflow platform
- signNow plugs into airSlate's wider no-code workflow product for document generation, routing, and robotic process automation, which is the upsell path from signing into process automation.
- Zapier and Make
- Covers the long tail of triggers and destinations for teams without engineering resources.
Administration and storage
Adequate rather than generous, with a few sharp edges.- Team management and roles
- Shared templates, team folders, and role-based permissions across users, with an admin console for provisioning seats.
- Custom branding
- Logo and colors applied to the signing experience and notification emails so requests carry your identity rather than the vendor's.
- Reporting
- Document status dashboards and completion reporting so a manager can see what is outstanding without asking each sender.
- Document storage and export
- Completed documents remain in the account, searchable and downloadable individually or in bulk, with the audit history exportable alongside.
- Invite quota tracking
- The account shows consumption against the annual 100-invite-per-user allowance, which you should check monthly rather than discovering at renewal.
Use cases
4 documentedSmall medical or dental practice
Patient intake forms, consents, and financial responsibility agreements involve protected health information, and most cheap e-signature tools will not sign a business associate agreement.
HIPAA-supported signing with audit logs and access controls at $8 a seat covers the paperwork, kiosk mode handles in-clinic completion on a tablet, and the practice avoids enterprise pricing for a fundamentally simple job.
Contract research organization
Study documentation must satisfy FDA 21 CFR Part 11 requirements for electronic records and signatures, which rules out most low-cost tools outright.
The Corporate or Site License tier provides Part 11 support with full audit trails and authenticated signing, at a fraction of what a specialist life sciences platform charges.
Property management company
Leases, addenda, and disclosures go to tenants who need to sign several documents at once, and staff waste time sending them as separate requests.
Document groups route the whole package as one signing session on Business Premium, bulk invites handle annual renewals across a portfolio, and the invite quota is the number the office manager watches each quarter.
Cost-conscious services business sending six documents a month
DocuSign at $30 a seat feels absurd for six agreements, but a free tool with no audit trail is not defensible if a client disputes a scope.
Two Business seats at $8 each cover 200 invites a year with unlimited templates, branded signing, and an exportable audit history, for less than a third of what the recognized brand would cost.
Pricing
from $8 per user per month billed annuallyPer-seat subscription with an annual allowance of 100 signature invites per user, published per-invite overage rates that vary by tier, and a per-invite Site License model for high-volume and API use.
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Business | $8 per user per month billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
Extra invites cost $0.96 each on this tier, which is the cheapest overage rate signNow publishes. |
| Business Premium | $15 per user per month billed annually ($30 billed monthly) |
Overage rises to $1.80 per invite here, so heavier senders pay more per extra document, not less. |
| Enterprise | $30 per user per month billed annually ($50 billed monthly) |
Overage is $3.60 per invite, nearly four times the Business rate. |
| Site License | About $1.50 per signature invite |
The correct plan for anyone whose volume is high or whose signing happens through software rather than through people. |
Add-ons
- Extra signature invites, Business ($0.96 per invite)
- Extra signature invites, Business Premium ($1.80 per invite)
- Extra signature invites, Enterprise ($3.60 per invite)
Billing notes
- Every paid plan includes 100 signature invites per user per year, pooled across the account. That is roughly eight a month per seat and it is the number that determines whether signNow is cheap or not.
- Unused invites do not roll over; each subscription year starts with a fresh quota and last year's unused allowance is gone.
- Cancelling an invite does not return it to your balance, so cancelling and resending a document consumes two invites. Teams that revise documents mid-flight burn through the quota faster than their document count suggests.
- Overage rates rise with the tier: $0.96 on Business, $1.80 on Business Premium, $3.60 on Enterprise. Paying more per seat means paying more per extra document, which is counterintuitive and worth modelling.
- Monthly billing costs roughly two and a half times the annual rate ($20 against $8 on Business), one of the steepest annual-commitment premiums in the category.
- API access sits on the Site License plan at roughly $1.50 per invite rather than being available as an add-on to the seat plans.
Value assessment: At 20 documents a month with two seats, signNow costs $16 a month and gives you 200 invites a year, which is 40 short of your 240-document annual volume, so add roughly $38 a year in overage at the Business rate. Total is around $230 a year, comfortably the cheapest credible option on this list and less than a quarter of DocuSign Standard for the same work. At 200 documents a month the model inverts: 2,400 invites a year against a two-seat allowance of 200 means 2,200 overage invites at $0.96, which is $2,112 a year on top of the subscription. At that point the Site License at roughly $1.50 an invite is worse still, and the right answer is eSignatures.com at $0.49 a contract or Dropbox Sign's unlimited plans. signNow is excellent value in a narrow band, roughly up to eight documents per seat per month, and progressively poor value above it. Buy it for the price and the HIPAA or Part 11 coverage, then watch the quota.
Strengths & limitations
Strengths
- The lowest credible seat price in the category at $8 per user per month billed annually, roughly a quarter of DocuSign Standard.
- Unlimited templates on every paid plan, where competitors ration them by tier.
- HIPAA and 21 CFR Part 11 coverage, which is genuinely rare at this price and opens up healthcare and life sciences use that most cheap tools cannot touch.
- Overage rates are actually published, unlike DocuSign's, so the cost of exceeding your quota is knowable in advance.
- Document groups and bulk invites handle multi-document packages and mass sends properly rather than as a workaround.
- Backed by airSlate, a company at a $1.25 billion valuation with around 800 employees, so vendor risk is low.
- Kiosk mode and offline signing suit counter-service and field businesses that other tools ignore.
Limitations
- The 100 invites per user per year quota is the defining constraint, it does not roll over, and a cancel-and-resend counts twice.
- Overage pricing rises with the plan tier, so upgrading for features makes each extra document more expensive rather than less.
- No proposal creation of any kind: no editor, no content library, no pricing tables, no engagement analytics.
- The interface is functional but dated compared with Dropbox Sign, SignWell, or Documenso, and reviews consistently note it.
- API access is reserved for the Site License plan, so a small business wanting to embed signing has no cheap self-serve route.
- Simple electronic signatures only; no Qualified Trust Service Provider status and therefore no eIDAS qualified signature for EU regulated documents.
- Monthly billing is punitively priced at two and a half times the annual rate, which effectively forces an annual commitment.
Head-to-head comparisons
4 alternativessignNow vs DocuSign
from $11 per month (Personal, single user)Both meter you at 100 documents per user per year, but signNow charges $8 a seat and publishes its overage rates while DocuSign charges $30 and does not. DocuSign wins on counterparty recognition, integration breadth, and eIDAS qualified signatures. If your documents go to lawyers, lenders, or European regulators, pay for DocuSign; if they go to ordinary customers, signNow is the same trap at a quarter of the price with the terms printed on the box.
Full signNow vs DocuSign comparisonsignNow vs Dropbox Sign
from $0 (free plan), then $10.05 per month billed annually (Essentials)Dropbox Sign has no send limit at all, a cleaner interface, and SSO from $17.50 a seat, but it stops dead at four users on self-serve. signNow is cheaper, uncapped on headcount, and covers HIPAA and 21 CFR Part 11. Steady high-volume senders should take Dropbox Sign's unlimited model; regulated or very cost-sensitive teams with moderate volume should take signNow.
Full signNow vs Dropbox Sign comparisonsignNow vs Zoho Sign
from $0 (free plan), then $10 per user per month billed annuallyZoho Sign's Standard tier costs $10 a user for 25 envelopes a month, which is three times signNow's monthly quota, and its Professional tier at $16 is genuinely unlimited. signNow counters with a lower entry price, unlimited templates, and Part 11 coverage. If you already run Zoho, take Zoho Sign without further thought; if you do not, signNow is cheaper at low volume and Zoho Professional is cheaper above roughly ten documents a month per user.
Full signNow vs Zoho Sign comparisonsignNow vs SignWell
from $10/mo (Light, billed annually; $12 billed monthly)SignWell is the more pleasant product with a usable free tier and clearer small-business positioning. signNow undercuts it on price and beats it decisively on regulated compliance, with HIPAA and 21 CFR Part 11 that SignWell does not match. Choose SignWell for a better daily experience on ordinary business documents; choose signNow when a compliance requirement dictates the shortlist.
Full signNow vs SignWell comparisonImplementation & onboarding
- Setup time
- Twenty minutes to send the first document. Because templates are unlimited from the entry tier, the sensible first afternoon is spent turning every routine document into a template rather than sending one-offs.
- Learning curve
- Low for basic sending. Document groups, conditional documents, and the airSlate workflow layer take longer, and the interface is dense enough that finding a setting is occasionally more work than it should be.
- Onboarding
- Self-serve with a 7-day trial across Business, Business Premium, and Enterprise. Site License and regulated deployments involve a sales process, and HIPAA use requires executing a business associate agreement rather than simply switching a setting.
- Migration notes
- Templates are rebuilt rather than imported, though unlimited templates on every plan means there is no reason to hold back. Documents executed elsewhere can be uploaded for storage but arrive without their original audit trails. Leaving signNow, completed documents and their history files download individually or in bulk, and you should export before the subscription lapses rather than after, since account access ends with the subscription.
Platform, API & security
- Platforms
- WebiOSAndroidSalesforce appGoogle Workspace add-onMicrosoft integrations
- API
- Full REST API with embedded signing, document generation, and webhooks, positioned on the Site License plan at roughly $1.50 per signature invite rather than available as an add-on to per-seat plans.
- Compliance
- ESIGN Act (US federal)UETA (US state)eIDAS (simple electronic signatures)SOC 2 Type IIGDPRHIPAA21 CFR Part 11 on Corporate and Site License plans
- Data residency
- Primarily US-hosted, with regional options handled through enterprise and site license agreements rather than as a self-serve setting.
- SSO
- Single sign-on on Enterprise and Site License plans.
- Security notes
- Encryption in transit and at rest, tamper-evident sealing of completed documents, a full exportable audit history recording every action with actor, IP address, and timestamp, plus advanced threat protection on the Enterprise tier and access controls sufficient for protected health information.
Support & resources
- Channels
- Email and ticket supportLive chatPhone support on higher tiersDedicated account management on Site License
- Documentation
- A detailed help center covering plans, invite allowances, templates, document groups, and compliance, plus separate API documentation for the Site License developer product.
- Community
- Support runs through airSlate's shared help infrastructure; there is no large independent user community of the sort open source competitors attract.
Company
- Founded
- 2011
- Headquarters
- Brookline, Massachusetts, United States
- Ownership
- Owned by airSlate, a venture-backed private company
- Employees
- Roughly 800 across airSlate
- Funding
- airSlate has raised approximately $181.5M across four rounds, most recently a $51.5M Series C in 2022 that set a valuation of around $1.25 to $1.3 billion. Its portfolio also includes pdfFiller and the airSlate workflow automation platform.
Funding history
| Round | Amount | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series A and B | Approximately $130M combined | 2020 to 2021 | Backers include G Squared, Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, and UiPath. |
| Series C | $51.5M | 2022 | Set airSlate's valuation at approximately $1.25 billion. |
Timeline
- 2011signNow launches as a low-cost electronic signature service aimed at small businesses priced out of the incumbent vendors.
- 2017Becomes part of the group that would become airSlate, alongside pdfFiller, consolidating document tooling under one owner.
- 2020airSlate raises substantial growth capital as remote work drives e-signature demand, and signNow becomes the signature layer of a broader workflow automation platform.
- 2022airSlate closes a $51.5M Series C at approximately a $1.25 billion valuation and announces significant hiring plans from its Boston-area headquarters.
- 2024Extends regulated-industry coverage with HIPAA and 21 CFR Part 11 support positioned on higher tiers, differentiating on compliance rather than on interface.
- 2026Plans stand at $8, $15, and $30 per user per month billed annually, each including 100 signature invites per user per year with published overage rates of $0.96, $1.80, and $3.60.
Integrations
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
- Microsoft Dynamics 365, SharePoint, and OneDrive
- NetSuite
- Google Drive and Google Workspace
- Dropbox and Box
- Pipedrive
- airSlate workflow automation
- Zapier and Make
- REST API with embedded signing on the Site License plan
Frequently asked questions
10 questionsWhat is signNow?
signNow is an electronic signature product owned by airSlate. You upload a document, place fields on it, send it for legally binding signature, and receive a sealed file with an exportable audit history. It is a signing tool only, with no proposal creation features, and it competes primarily on price and on regulated-industry compliance.
How much does signNow cost?
Business is $8 per user per month billed annually, or $20 monthly. Business Premium is $15 annually, or $30 monthly. Enterprise is $30 annually, or $50 monthly. There is also a Site License priced at roughly $1.50 per signature invite with no per-seat charge, which is where API access lives. A 7-day free trial is available.
How many documents can I send on signNow?
All paid plans include 100 signature invites per user per year, pooled across the account, which is about eight per seat per month. This is the hidden cap that catches small teams. Unused invites do not roll over, and cancelling an invite does not return it to your balance, so a cancel and resend consumes two.
What does it cost to exceed the invite allowance?
Extra invites are $0.96 each on Business, $1.80 on Business Premium, and $3.60 on Enterprise. Note that the overage rate rises with the tier, so upgrading for features makes each additional document more expensive. To signNow's credit these rates are published, which is more than DocuSign does.
Is signNow HIPAA compliant?
signNow supports HIPAA-compliant signing and storage of protected health information through encryption, access controls, and detailed audit logs, which makes it usable by clinics, insurers, and health services. As with any vendor, HIPAA use requires executing a business associate agreement rather than simply enabling a setting.
Does signNow support 21 CFR Part 11?
Yes, on the Corporate and Site License plans. That covers FDA requirements for electronic records and electronic signatures in life sciences and clinical research. Very few tools at signNow's price point offer Part 11 coverage at all, and it is one of the strongest reasons to shortlist it.
Are signNow signatures legally binding, and does it support eIDAS qualified signatures?
Signatures are legally binding under the US ESIGN Act, state UETA statutes, and the EU eIDAS regulation at the simple electronic signature level. signNow is not a Qualified Trust Service Provider, so it cannot issue eIDAS qualified or advanced signatures; for those you need DocuSign or Zoho Sign's Enterprise tier.
What is in the signNow audit trail?
A complete history of document creation, sending, viewing, signing, and declining, with the identity of each actor, their IP address, and a timestamp for every event, plus the authentication method used. The history exports as a separate document alongside the sealed file, which is the package you would hand to a regulator or a court.
Does signNow have an API?
Yes, a full REST API with embedded signing and webhooks, but it is positioned on the Site License plan at roughly $1.50 per invite rather than available as an add-on to the $8 or $15 seat plans. If you want to embed signing into your own product cheaply, PandaDoc includes API access on its free plan and eSignatures.com charges $0.49 a contract with API included.
What happens to my documents if I cancel?
Export before you cancel, not after. Completed documents and their audit history files can be downloaded individually or in bulk while the subscription is active, and account access ends when the subscription does. Templates do not export in any importable format, so the real switching cost is rebuilding them elsewhere.
Editorial verdict
signNow is what you buy when the document is already written, the budget is real, and something on your compliance checklist rules out the cheerful free tools. Eight dollars a seat with unlimited templates is the lowest credible price in this category, and HIPAA plus 21 CFR Part 11 coverage at that price is close to unique. The discipline it demands is arithmetic: 100 invites per user per year is about eight documents a month, the quota does not roll over, a cancel and resend costs you two, and the overage rate goes up rather than down as you move to pricier tiers. Inside that band it is the best value on this page. Above roughly eight documents per seat per month, look at Dropbox Sign's unlimited plans or eSignatures.com's $0.49 per contract instead. And as with every tool in the signing half of this category, do not expect it to help you write the proposal; it exists to execute one.
Written by the SaaSTracker editorial team. Awards, when shown, are judged against the published criteria in our methodology.