Borrow, Don't Build · E-Signatures
E-signatures built into your software
Contracts, agreements and forms sent and signed from inside your own system, using open-source tools instead of a DocuSign subscription.
Two open-source alternatives to DocuSign
Both let you upload a document, mark where people sign, send it out and get back a signed PDF with an audit trail. Both can run on your own server.
DocuSeal is open source under the AGPL licence. Self-hosted, its basic API is free. Signing embedded inside your own screens, and per-signature API use, need DocuSeal Pro: on 9 October 2026 that was $240 per user a year plus $0.20 per completed document.
Documenso is also open source under the AGPL licence, built in TypeScript, and has its own API. It is a good alternative if DocuSeal's pricing does not suit.
Not sure which, or whether you need either? Rob compares them, and covers when e-signatures are legally valid in the UK, in his DocuSign alternatives review.
How we build it in
Send from your system
Your system fills in the contract, sends it for signature and records who it went to, without anyone opening another website.
Know when it is signed
When the last person signs, your system hears about it straight away and moves the job, order or account on to the next step.
Keep the signed copy
The signed PDF and its audit trail are stored against the right customer or job, in your system or in Nextcloud.
Templates for your documents
Your standard agreements set up once as templates, with the fields filled in from your data.
Signing on your own screens
Where it is worth paying for, signing happens inside your own website or portal rather than a separate page.
Hosted and kept up to date
On a UK server with backups, or on your own servers, and updated as new versions come out.
We use the tools' APIs and never change their code, so they keep taking updates. More on the approach in borrow, don't build.
Is this right for you?
A good fit when
- Your own system already produces the contracts
- You send a steady flow of documents for signature
- DocuSign's per-user or per-envelope pricing adds up
- You want signed documents stored with the rest of the job
Think twice when
- You send a handful of documents a month: a subscription is simpler
- The document needs special signing rules, such as a will or some property deeds
- Nobody can look after another service
- Your customers expect DocuSign by name
The honest summary: for occasional contracts, a subscription is simpler than running anything. Building signing into your system pays off when the documents come from your system in the first place, and someone is currently copying them back and forth by hand.
What people ask us
For most business documents, yes. Some documents have special rules, such as wills and certain property deeds. Rob's DocuSign alternatives review covers this in more detail, and for anything unusual you should take legal advice.
Self-hosted, the core product and its basic API are free. Embedded signing and per-signature API use need its Pro plan. Documenso is the alternative if that does not suit. We check current pricing before recommending either.
Yes. If you would rather keep DocuSign, we can drive it from your system through its API in much the same way. The open-source tools just save the subscription.
Still emailing PDFs back and forth?
Tell us what gets signed, and how often.
What documents you send for signature, roughly how many a month, and where they come from. If a subscription is the simpler answer, we will say so.
We reply within one working day.
