Documenso

Documenso is the open-source DocuSign alternative — a self-hostable, AGPL-licensed document-signing platform now at v2.9 with HIPAA compliance, SOC 2 Type II, and 12.7k GitHub stars. We rate it 82/100 — the clear open-source pick in 2026 if you want to own your signing infrastructure, though DocuSign still wins on sequential routing, approval workflows and the kind of edge-case polish that takes a decade to build.

What is Documenso?

Documenso is a self-hostable electronic-signature platform built as a direct open-source alternative to DocuSign, PandaDoc and Dropbox Sign. It was founded in April 2023 by Timur Ercan and Lucas Smith — who met through an online "code roasting" session — and closed a $1.54M pre-seed round in August 2023. The stack is the kind of thing every TypeScript developer recognises on sight: Next.js, Prisma, PostgreSQL, tRPC and Tailwind, all shipped under AGPL-3.0 so you can audit and self-host the full signing pipeline.

The differentiator is trust. Where DocuSign asks you to believe a closed black box holds your contracts, Documenso lets you read the code, run the PDF engine on your own server, and verify cryptographic signatures independently. In March 2026 the team added HIPAA compliance on top of existing SOC 2 coverage, and a self-hosted Business Edition launched in January 2026 for teams that need enterprise features without the cloud tenancy. Latest release: v2.9.0 on April 18, 2026.

Key Features of Documenso

• Open-source, AGPL-3.0 licensed: Full source on GitHub — 12,700+ stars, 3,900+ commits, actively maintained with weekly releases.
• Self-host or managed cloud: Deploy via Docker in under 30 minutes on AWS, DigitalOcean or Hetzner for roughly $20–$50/month of infrastructure, or use the hosted service at app.documenso.com.
• Compliance stack: ESIGN Act, UETA, 21 CFR Part 11, SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA (as of March 2026) — competitive with DocuSign for regulated industries.
• Embedded signing SDKs: First-class React and Vue components plus a full REST API, so you can drop signing flows directly into your own product without redirecting users elsewhere.
• AI field detection (Feb 2026): Uses Gemini 3 Flash to auto-detect signature fields and recipients on uploaded PDFs — removes most of the manual field-placement step.
• Templates and direct links: Build reusable contract templates and share a public signing link that anyone can execute without a Documenso account.
• Open trust infrastructure: Cryptographically signed audit trail, Advanced and Qualified Electronic Signatures (eIDAS) on the roadmap, plus an in-house LibPDF TypeScript PDF library released in January 2026.
• Zapier + Make + webhooks: Connect to 6,000+ apps, fire webhooks on send/sign/complete, trigger downstream automations when a contract is executed.

What Users Say About Documenso

Across Product Hunt, Reddit's r/selfhosted and the Cloudron forum, the sentiment is consistent: developers and small teams love the UX and the politics, while enterprise buyers note the feature gap versus DocuSign. The most upvoted Product Hunt comment from a paying customer describes "a painful experience as a DocuSign customer" followed by relief at switching — a pattern echoed on r/selfhosted where long threads praise the intuitive field-placement UI and the fact that a five-person team can run the whole thing on a single Hetzner VPS.

The honest complaints are equally clear. Users repeatedly mention the lack of sequential signing order, conditional routing, and approval workflows, all of which are standard in DocuSign Business Pro. There is no built-in payment collection and no document generation from variables yet. Documentation has gaps, especially around the embedded SDKs, and one Capterra reviewer summed it up as "a platform that feels early-stage in the exact places DocuSign feels bulletproof." On pricing, the Teams plan at $40/month base plus $8 per extra user draws comparisons with DocuSign Business Pro at roughly $40/user — the price advantage shrinks on larger teams.

Documenso Pricing

Documenso publishes every tier on its pricing page. There is a permanent free tier with no card required, plus three paid tiers and an Enterprise option. Self-hosting is free under AGPL-3.0; the paid Business Edition adds enterprise features on top of your own deployment.

Plan	Price	Key Limits
Free	$0/month	5 documents/month, up to 10 recipients per document, no card required
Individual	$25/mo or $300/yr	Unlimited documents, API access for personal use, email support
Teams	$40/mo or $480/yr	5 users included, +$8/user/mo, unlimited documents, embedded signing
Platform	$250/mo or $3,000/yr	Unlimited users, unlimited API, white-label embedded signing, Slack support
Enterprise	Contact sales	SSO, advanced compliance, dedicated support, cloud or self-hosted

Who Should Use Documenso?

Best for: indie founders and startups who want to send NDAs, MSAs and offer letters without paying DocuSign's $480-per-seat annual tax; privacy-focused teams in legal, healthcare or finance who need to self-host; and SaaS builders who want to embed signing directly into their own product using the React or Vue components.

Not ideal for: large enterprises that rely on sequential signer routing, multi-stage approval workflows, or integrated payment collection; sales teams that need CPQ-grade proposal automation; and buyers who require a vendor with a decade of courtroom-tested audit trails. For those, DocuSign and PandaDoc remain the safer choice — for now.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• True open-source under AGPL-3.0 — code is auditable, deployable, and forkable, with SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA in the cloud product.
• Clean, modern UI that multiple Product Hunt reviewers describe as "a breeze" versus DocuSign's legacy feel.
• First-class embedded signing via React/Vue SDKs — competitors charge significant platform fees for equivalent functionality.
• Permanent free tier (5 documents/month) is generous for solopreneurs — most competitors kill the free plan after 14 days.
• Profitable, transparent company with named founders active on GitHub and LinkedIn; self-hosting means no lock-in risk if the company pivots.

Cons:

• No sequential signing order, conditional routing, or approval workflows yet — dealbreakers for procurement-heavy enterprises.
• No built-in payment collection (unlike PandaDoc) and no template-variable document generation.
• Team pricing at $40/mo + $8/user is close to DocuSign Business Pro once you pass ten users.
• Docs have gaps, especially around embedded signing; edge cases occasionally surface that mature competitors have long since ironed out.
• AGPL-3.0 is viral — any SaaS that embeds Documenso source must also release its modifications under AGPL.

Alternatives to Documenso

The closest head-to-head is DocuSign itself — more features, more mature, but closed-source and starts at $15/user/mo for the barest plan. PandaDoc is the better pick if you need proposal automation and payment collection in the same flow. Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) sits between the two on price and polish. In the open-source tier, OpenSign is Documenso's main AGPL rival with a similar feature set and a slightly more active enterprise-compliance roadmap. BoxyHQ SSO and SignRequest round out the list. For signing-plus-CRM, look at HubSpot's native eSignature.

Verdict: Is Documenso Worth It?

If you are a startup, a developer, or a small-to-mid team that signs fewer than 500 documents a month and values self-hosting and auditable code, yes, Documenso is worth it — the free tier alone replaces the $15/month DocuSign Personal plan, and the paid Individual tier at $25/month is the cheapest reputable eSignature product on the market with an API. For regulated enterprises that need sequential routing and approval workflows today, wait six months or pair Documenso with a workflow engine. We rate it 82/100 — a very good product on a clear trajectory toward outstanding, held back by specific feature gaps that the roadmap already plans to close.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Documenso free?

Yes. Documenso offers a permanent free tier at $0/month with up to 5 documents per month and 10 recipients per document, no credit card required. The full source is also free under AGPL-3.0 for self-hosting.

Is Documenso open source?

Yes — the full codebase is on GitHub under the AGPL-3.0 license, with 12.7k+ stars and weekly releases.

What platforms does Documenso support?

Web (app.documenso.com), self-hosted via Docker on any Linux server, React and Vue embedded SDKs, REST API, and Zapier/Make integrations. There is no dedicated iOS or Android app — the web app is mobile-responsive.

How does Documenso compare to DocuSign?

Documenso is cheaper (Individual $25/month vs DocuSign Personal $15/month after limits, but unlimited on Documenso), fully open-source, and self-hostable. DocuSign still wins on sequential signing routing, advanced approval workflows, and two decades of enterprise-compliance lineage. For small teams and developers, Documenso is the clear pick; for large procurement-heavy enterprises, DocuSign remains safer.

Is Documenso HIPAA compliant?

Yes, as of March 11, 2026, the Documenso cloud product is HIPAA-compliant. It also holds SOC 2 Type II certification and supports ESIGN Act, UETA and 21 CFR Part 11.

Does Documenso have an affiliate program?

No public affiliate or referral program is listed on documenso.com as of April 2026. The team directs partnership inquiries to sales.