Free electronic signature: what a free plan should include
Free plans differ less in how many documents you can send than in what happens to your evidence when you stop paying.
Most e-signature products have a free tier. Comparing them by the number of documents per month misses the parts that matter later.
What a free plan should include
| Capability | Why it matters |
|---|
|---|---|
| Signers never need an account | A recipient asked to create an account before signing is a recipient who signs later, or not at all |
|---|---|
| A downloadable completed document and certificate | You need a copy that exists outside the vendor's system |
| Verification that anyone can run | The other party, an auditor or a court should be able to check the document without your login |
| Signing your own documents on your device | Filling and signing a form for your own records costs the vendor nothing to provide |
Limits worth checking before you commit
- What counts as a document. Some plans count each recipient, each resend or each template use.
- What happens at the limit. Does sending stop, or does it silently switch to a paid tier?
- Templates and reminders. Free plans often withhold automatic reminders, so signatures stall.
- Branding. Whether your recipients see your company or the vendor's advertising.
- Team use. Whether a colleague can see a document you sent, or whether every account is an island.
The one thing a free plan should never withhold
Access to evidence for documents already signed. If you cancel a paid plan or stay on a free one, every document you have completed should remain downloadable and verifiable. Evidence that disappears with a subscription was never really yours, and you will not find out until you need it.
When free stops being the cheap option
Free is right for occasional use. Once you are sending weekly, the costs that matter are the stalled deals and the time spent chasing signatures, not the subscription. At that point, look for predictable pricing: a clear per-document price, no forced seat minimum, and an explicit answer to what happens when you go over.
Pactlyra's free plan includes three sends a month, unlimited signing of your own documents on your device, and free evidence and verification for everything, forever. Signers never need an account. Paid plans have no seat minimum and never block sending at an allowance: extra use is invoiced at the published per-credit price.
Last reviewed 2026-09-26. Pactlyra produces a detailed evidence record for every completed document. Electronic signature validity depends on your jurisdiction, the document type, and how the transaction is carried out; nothing here is legal advice.