Best Electronic Signature Software 2021

signNow vs. PandaDoc

Is signNow or PandaDoc the better solution for you? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best electronic signature tool to help close more deals and grow your business.

Electronic signature software tools help individuals and organizations build and manage their legal documents online. It can be difficult to choose the best one with so many electronic signature solutions in the market. We’ve created this guide to help you quickly learn the key differences between signNow and PandaDoc.

signNow & PandaDoc Comparison Summary

signNow and PandaDoc are two popular electronic signature solutions used by tens of thousands of customers each. Both tools are ranked in our top three overall – the key differences between them are PandaDoc’s free plan, and the target customer each solution was created for.

If you want a free plan or need a solution for your sales team, then we recommend looking into PandaDoc. If you need a more general electronic signature tool with advanced features for a number of legal documents, then signNow is ideal for you.

In terms of pricing, PandaDoc is best if you want a basic free plan. It is also the more affordable option if you need a tool for sales deals, as payments are included in all of PandaDoc’s plans and only in signNow’s $50 plan. However, outside of these two cases, signNow is the cheaper electronic signature software.

Both solutions include core electronic signature software features – legally binding signatures, templates, a document editor, audit reports, flexible signing, and document storage. However, PandaDoc also includes sales-specific features like a content library, recipient analytics and interactive quoting.

Here’s a quick breakdown to determine which solution is best for you:

You'll prefer signNow if:

  • You want core electronic signature features at a cheaper price
  • You want to be able to upload and edit documents on mobile
  • You want to take advantage of airSlate

Try signNow Today

You'll prefer PandaDoc if:

  • You want a free plan that lets you send an unlimited number of documents
  • You need a solution built for sales teams
  • You want features like standardized proposal templates and advanced recipient analytics

Try PandaDoc Today


Table of Contents

Who Should Purchase signNow?

signNow is an advanced tool that offers all of the features necessary to manage legal documents and electronic signatures. This includes a robust document editor and a mobile app that lets you upload and edit documents. signNow also integrates with airSlate, a no-code document automation platform.

In our research we’ve found that signNow works for individuals, SMBs, and especially for enterprises. Customers reported that signNow is easy to use, and priced very reasonably considering the number of included features.

Who Should Purchase PandaDoc?

PandaDoc includes all of the core features needed to manage electronic documents and signatures. However, it was specifically built to help sales teams close more deals faster. In addition, the company offers the most robust free plan in the market with unlimited documents and payment requests.

Through our research, we’ve found that PandaDoc’s customers are overall very satisfied with the product. Features that they reported loving were PandaDoc’s content library, the ability to include dynamic quoting, and payments inside documents. In addition, many were impressed with the functionality of the free plan.

signNow & PandaDoc Price Comparison

signNow and PandaDoc are both priced as monthly subscriptions. Overall, signNow is slightly more affordable than PandaDoc. Both solutions also offer a discount for the upfront purchase of an annual plan. A significant difference between the solutions is that PandaDoc offers a basic free plan, while signNow does not.

signNow Pricing Details

signNow pricing ranges from $20 to $50 per user per month. You can save up to 60% if you choose to pay the annual subscription upfront. Here’s an overview of signNow’s plans and pricing:

Business plan
  • $20 per user per month
  • $8 per month under annual subscription
  • Up to 10 users
Business Premium plan
  • $30 per user per month
  • $15 per month under annual subscription
  • Up to 10 users
Enterprise plan
  • $50 per user per month
  • $30 per month under annual subscription
  • Up to 10 users
airSlate Business Cloud plan
  • $50 per user per month (Contact vendor)
  • Minimum of 10 users

PandaDoc Pricing Details

PandaDoc pricing ranges from free to $60 per user per month. You can save 24% if you choose to pay the annual subscription upfront. Here’s an overview of PandaDoc’s plans and pricing:

Free eSign plan
  • Free
Essentials plan
  • $25 per user per month
  • $19 per month under annual subscription
Business plan
  • $59 per user per month
  • $49 per month under annual subscription
Enterprise plan
  • Contact PandaDoc

signNow & PandaDoc Feature Comparison

signNow and PandaDoc are two advanced solutions that offer many similar core features. Both platforms include legally binding signatures, templates, a document editor, audit reports and flexible signing.

However, as shown in the table below, each platform also includes features not found in its competitor. For a full analysis of each solution’s features, read our signNow review and PandaDoc review reviews.

FeaturesignNowPandaDoc
Legally Binding SignaturesYesYes
TemplatesYesYes
Auto-fill DataYesYes
Content LibraryNoYes
Custom BrandingYesYes
Text-editing for Uploaded DocumentsNoYes
Multiple LanguagesYesYes
Robust IntegrationsYesYes (not including Netsuite)
Real-time NotificationsYesYes
In person SigningYesYes
Multi-party SigningYesYes
Mass SignaturesYesYes
Auto-remindersYesYes
Two factor authenticationYesNo
Audit ReportsYesYes
Proposal Template LibraryNoYes
Payments through a Legal DocumentYesYes
Interactive QuotingNoYes
APIYesYes
Mobile ApplicationYesYes

signNow's Unique Features

signNow offers a few features not found in PandaDoc. Understanding the features below will help you determine if signNow is ideal for you and your business.

Document Editor Features

signNow and PandaDoc both have advanced document editors. However, signNow includes more capabilities that make the document editing process easier and more efficient.

signNow Document Editor

signNow’s unique features that are shown above include:

  • More field options to place in a document
  • More field properties to set
  • Navigating a document by page
  • Zooming in and out of a document
  • Key shortcuts for editing documents
  • Importing fields from another document
  • Field snapping to help structure and align fields in documents

Mobile Functionality

We found signNow’s mobile apps to be more powerful than PandaDoc. This is because signNow allows you to upload files and add fields to documents, while PandaDoc does not. These features increase efficiency by letting you handle your entire document management process on mobile, without having to switch to signNow’s web application.

signNow Mobile

airSlate Business Cloud

airSlate Business Cloud is a document management solution that allows you to automate your workflow without code or third-party API integrations. This includes creating webforms, negotiating and redlining contracts, getting documents e-signed and integrating with CRMs and cloud systems.

airSlate also offers over 50 bots to automate processes like:

  • Generating pre-filled documents
  • Setting role-based document access conditions
  • Setting up automatic email notifications
  • Updating your CRM records with data from completed documents

PandaDoc's Unique Features

As mentioned above, PandaDoc’s platform is specialized for sales teams. As a result, PandaDoc offers a few features specifically designed for sales teams that are not found in signNow. If you find these features to be important, then we recommend PandaDoc.

Standardized Templates

PandaDoc offers a library of its own customizable templates. Customers save considerable time by reusing templates. They also ensure that your content remains consistent across all documents. Below is an example of a PandaDoc template with editable elements.

PandaDoc Template

Editing Documents

PandaDoc lets you directly edit the text of your uploaded Docx files inside of the PandaDoc platform. This is useful when you need to make minor edits to a document. However, it’s important to keep in mind that signNow’s editor is stronger overall.

PandaDoc Document Editor

Content Library

PandaDoc includes a content library where you can store all of the content you frequently use in your documents. Examples of frequently used content that you can store include legal statements and custom branding elements. Adding these stored elements will ensure consistency across your documents and save you considerable time while creating documents.

Recipient Analytics

PandaDoc includes analytics that let you track each recipient’s behavior and document interactions. This information provides rich data that your teams can use to generate insights – for example the parts of documents that receive the most client engagement, or the clients who are most engaged in your sales process. Over time, these insights can be used to improve your sales process and close more deals.

Bottom Line

signNow and PandaDoc are two popular electronic signature solutions used by tens of thousands of customers each to manage their document workflows. Both tools are ranked in our top three overall – the key differences between them are PandaDoc’s free plan, and the target customer each solution was created for:

  • signNow is best for those who have an advanced document workflow and would benefit from robust features like an advanced document editor and mobile app.
  • PandaDoc is the best option for those that would benefit from sales-specific features like standardized templates, text-editable uploaded documents, a content library and recipient analytics.

If you’re interested, visit signNow or PandaDoc today to get started.

Amy Yang

Amy Yang is a Junior Research Analyst at SoftwarePundit, where she conducts in-depth analyses on software markets and products. Amy has expertise in content production and managing digital and social platforms. She has a Bachelor of Science in Communication & Media, and a Minor in Web Programming and Applications from NYU. You can connect with Amy on LinkedIn.

Amy is an expert in several software categories including:

  • Course creation software
  • Electronic signature software
  • Social media software
  • Website builder software

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