The Free PDF Signature Tool That Keeps Your Data Yours
Most free signature tools either watermark your documents or charge you the moment you need more than five envelopes a month. DocuSeal is different: open-source, no watermarks, no per-envelope fees, and GDPR-compliant by design. Opsily hosts it for your team on EU servers so you are live in minutes, not weeks.
Why Teams Leave DocuSign for a Free PDF Signature Tool
The per-seat, per-envelope math stops working fast. Here is where the bills come from.
Per-Envelope Fees Add Up
DocuSign's Standard plan is $25 per user per month, but it caps you at 10 envelopes. Go beyond that and you are looking at overages. A team sending 100 contracts a month on DocuSign Business Pro at $40 per seat is spending more than 3K a year before they even consider growth. DocuSeal has no envelope limits. Send one contract or ten thousand: the price does not move.
Free Tools Hide the Real Cost
PDF24 is genuinely free. DigiSigner is free for a handful of requests. iLovePDF runs about 60 euros a year for one person. But none of these are built for teams sending recurring contracts at volume. When you need audit logs, multi-signer flows, or a company brand on the signature page, the free tier disappears and the SaaS bill arrives. DocuSeal gives you all of that on a self-hosted instance you control.
Lock-In Is a Cost You Pay Later
Every document signed in a proprietary SaaS platform is a document that lives in someone else's database. When that vendor raises prices or gets acquired, you negotiate from weakness. DocuSeal is AGPL-licensed open-source software. Your documents, your audit logs, your signing data: all of it lives on a server you own or a server Opsily manages for you on your terms.
Built for teams who need reliability
What DocuSeal Actually Gives Your Team
This is not a stripped-down open-source project waiting for a paid upgrade. It is a fully capable document signing platform.
12 Field Types, One Interface
Signature, initials, date, checkbox, dropdown, phone, file upload, address: DocuSeal supports 12 field types out of the box. You build the form once as a reusable template. The next time you need it, the template is ready. No re-uploading, no reformatting. Your team sends contracts from a consistent, branded interface without touching a single line of code.
Multi-Signer, One Flow
Real contracts rarely have one signature. Employment agreements need HR and the candidate. Vendor deals need procurement and the supplier. DocuSeal handles multi-signer workflows natively: define the sequence, assign each field to the right person, and the system routes the document automatically. Each signer gets an email notification and a mobile-optimized signing page. The completed document lands with a certificate and a full audit log.
EU Qualified Signatures Built In
If your contracts have to meet eIDAS requirements, DocuSeal supports EU Qualified Electronic Signatures at around 2 to 4 euros per document. That is the highest level of legal standing for digital signatures in the EU, the same standard that courts and regulators accept. Most SaaS signature tools treat this as an enterprise add-on. With DocuSeal, it is a configuration, not a tier upgrade.
Built for teams who need reliability
Why Self-Hosting Makes Sense in 2026
The case for owning your document data has never been stronger. Three reasons that matter to founders and ops leads right now.
GDPR Is Not Optional
Every signed document contains personal data: names, email addresses, sometimes dates of birth or company registration numbers. Under GDPR, you are the data controller. That means you are responsible for where that data lives and who can access it. A US-based SaaS tool storing EU signature data in a data center you cannot audit is a liability, not a feature. Opsily runs DocuSeal on Hetzner infrastructure in Frankfurt, inside the EU, under your account.
No Surprise Pricing Changes
DocuSign has changed its pricing structure multiple times in recent years. Any SaaS vendor can raise prices, restructure tiers, or discontinue a plan with 30 days notice. When you self-host on Opsily, the software is open-source and the hosting fee is a flat monthly line item. Nothing inside the platform can change its own pricing on you. You decide when to upgrade, downgrade, or move.
Storage Where You Need It
DocuSeal can store signed documents on local disk, AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, or Azure Blob. If your compliance policy requires documents to stay in a specific region or storage system, you configure that at setup and it stays that way. No renegotiating data processing agreements with a vendor every time your legal team asks a question. The answer is always: it is on your storage, under your keys.
Built for teams who need reliability
From Zero to Signing in Under 10 Minutes
No DevOps degree required. No Docker commands to memorize. Opsily handles the infrastructure so your team can focus on closing contracts.
Choose Your App
Select an app to get started.
Pick a Plan
Choose the Opsily plan that fits your team size. All plans include EU hosting, SSL, backups, and support. No per-user fees, no per-envelope charges: pick a flat monthly plan and your whole team is covered.
Deploy DocuSeal
Click to deploy from the Opsily console. Your DocuSeal instance is live on a secure subdomain, or your own custom domain, in minutes. Opsily handles updates, security patches, and uptime monitoring automatically.
Build Your First Template
Upload a PDF or DOCX, drag fields onto the document, and save it as a reusable template. Set up your SMTP for email notifications, add your company logo, and configure where signed documents are stored. Takes about five minutes.
Invite Your Team and Go
Add team members, assign roles, and start sending. The first contract you send out for signature will feel fast. The hundredth will feel exactly the same: no manual steps, no re-uploading, no chasing signers who missed the email.
Pair DocuSeal With Your Existing Stack
Document signing rarely happens in isolation. Connect DocuSeal to the tools your team already uses for CRM updates, HR workflows, and client communication.
Open-source document signing and e-signature platform
Simple, Transparent Pricing
One flat monthly fee. No per-seat charges. Add every team member who needs to send contracts without watching the bill climb. Your signing volume does not change the price.
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The Right Choice for Document Signing Data
Signature data is some of the most sensitive information your business handles. It belongs on a server you control, hosted in a jurisdiction you trust, under a license that cannot be changed without your knowledge.
GDPR Data Residency
Opsily runs DocuSeal on Hetzner infrastructure in Frankfurt, Germany. All signed documents, audit logs, and personal data stay inside the EU. You remain the data controller with no ambiguity about cross-border transfers under Chapter V of the GDPR.
eIDAS Qualified Signatures
DocuSeal supports EU Qualified Electronic Signatures, the highest level of legal validity under the eIDAS Regulation. These signatures carry the same legal weight as handwritten signatures in EU courts and regulatory submissions. No separate certification vendor required.
Full Audit Trail
Every signed document includes a tamper-evident certificate and a complete audit log: who opened the document, when they signed, and from which IP address. This audit trail satisfies compliance requirements for employment law, contract law, and regulated industries across the EU and UK.
Open Source Transparency
DocuSeal is AGPL-licensed open-source software. Anyone can read the code, audit the encryption, and verify how documents are handled. There are no hidden telemetry calls or undisclosed data sharing. What you see in the repository is exactly what runs on your server.
Isolated Server Environment
Your DocuSeal instance runs on dedicated infrastructure provisioned for your account only. No shared database rows, no multi-tenant document storage. Your contracts are not on the same server as another company's contracts. Opsily applies security patches and monitors uptime without requiring access to your document data.
Common Questions About Managed DocuSeal Hosting
Real answers to the questions teams ask before switching from DocuSign or a free PDF tool.
Yes. DocuSeal is an open-source PDF signature tool that adds no watermarks to your documents. The self-hosted version is completely free with no signing limits. If you want a managed version with EU hosting, automatic updates, and a support team, Opsily hosts DocuSeal on a flat monthly plan starting from a few euros per month. Either way, your documents come out clean: no branding added, no watermarks, no surprises.
Stop Paying Per Envelope. Start Owning Your Data.
DocuSeal on Opsily gives your team unlimited document signing on EU-hosted infrastructure, no per-seat charges, and a codebase you can audit. Deploy today and send your first contract before lunch.