What Is an Electronic Signature App
eSignature is the best way to sign documents electronically. This is a smart app that provides you with the ability to put your electronic signature on the documents you need. The best apps usually offer several ways of creating a signature. You may simply choose one or several of them, make a signature, and save it.
Basically, the electronic signature is the mark in the digital world that legalizes or approves the document, contract, or any other agreement between the parties. Signing the name on the device of the courier is one of the most popular examples of electronic signatures via the apps.
Making a digital signature does not cost you anything and can significantly improve your life in the future. The app usually keeps all your signatures in one place, as well as the easy access to the documents. It helps to put the digital mark on any agreement you need.
Besides, the official electronic signature app provides extra security for your signature and the documents you sign. It offers advanced encryption of the documents that are already signed. Every document is encrypted with a specific unique signatory certificate key. It is called a hash. This is the signature itself. To validate your signature, you can decrypt the hash with the key and compare it to the original document.
Top 5 eSignature Apps
Here are the most popular apps with electronic signature services. Some of them are compatible with Windows and Mac as well. You may find additional benefits in every app on the list.
Adobe Acrobat
Price: $ 12.99 per month minimum
Platforms: mobile, Linux, Windows, Mac
Adobe Acrobat offers one of the apps for signatures that will cost you some money. The price is still affordable and may be comfortable to pay to big companies with huge piles of documents to sign. Adobe Sign is a built-in tool for electronic signature creation. The app puts the signature on the document in less than 2 minutes.
Besides, Adobe Sign works flawlessly on multiple platforms. You can add a signature via the phone. This app keeps the documents you need on the highly secured Adobe Acrobat cloud. It provides you with extra features like email notifications and tracking.
As for its cons, this tool is simple and comfortable mainly for Adobe users. It offers a free trial, but after it ends, you have to pay a monthly subscription. If you use a Mac, the price is $ 14.99 for Adobe’s services. If you use mobile platforms, you may need to pay extras. While PDF users enjoy a lack of problems, other formats may face issues with compatibility.
It offers watermarking, digital signature that is always ready to be used on any document you want, annotations, simple PDF conversion. There is encryption for the increased safety of your documents. It is compatible with PDF Reader, which allows you to edit documents before you put your sign on them.
The main disadvantage of the app is that its features do not work on all types of files. This app is the most suitable for PDF documents and people who work with them most of the time. Apart from the PDF issue, this app does not have free services. After the free trial is over, you have to pay $ 5 a month. However, this price is pretty affordable and comfortable for everyone.
Adobe Acrobat Alternative
PDFLiner
Price: $ 10 per month, single use
Platforms: web-based, Windows, Mac, mobile
If you are in search of apps to sign documents on both your computer and Android/iOS phone, this one is what you need. You can use the camera or trackpad to create an electronic signature via the app. It offers watermarking, a digital signature that is always ready to be used on any document you want, annotations, simple PDF conversion. There is encryption for the increased safety of your documents. It is compatible with PDF Reader, which allows you to edit documents before you put your sign on them.
The main disadvantage of the app is that its features do not work on all types of files. This app is the most suitable for PDF documents and people who work with them most of the time. Apart from the PDF issue, this app does not have free services. You may choose to access only one document or to pay $ 10 a month. However, this price is pretty affordable and comfortable for everyone.
Sign PDF Online
CreateMySignature
Price: free of charge
Platforms: mobile, Windows, Linux, Mac
To create a signature, the app needs only a few seconds. This app works well on both Android and iOS mobile platforms and does not require any extra effort from you. It is a simple and fast tool that you can run on your phone as well as your laptop. The system is cloud-based, so you don’t have to download anything additionally. The app offers you to draw the signature on any device, save it into .png format, and use it further.
After you save the eSignature, you can insert this image into the document you need. You can even upload the PDF right on the site where it is required and add the signature afterward. This app also protects all your information, signatures, and documents with its 256-bit SSL encryption.
As for the disadvantages, this app does not keep your signature for future documents. And once you decide to sign more agreements, you will have to perform all the procedures from the very beginning. Some users find this incredibly useful as their private information is not saved in the app. Big companies with numerous documents usually work with other apps that have diverse features.
Microsoft Word in Office 365
Price: free of charge for Microsoft subscribers
Platforms: macOS, Windows 7/8.1/10/11
The app is free for those who have a subscription plan from Microsoft. It does not work on mobile platforms and has a limited number of Windows and Mac versions that support this option. It is not that simple to use as other apps on the list, but it is reliable and comfortable for Microsoft’s subscribers. The company does not have a separate eSign application. As in Google Drive, you have to create your signature’s image and upload it to the document you need to sign.
This option is already installed in Word. However, some companies prefer other services mainly because of this feature. When you need to sign numerous contracts and add signers, Word may be a problem. You may need a separate service, not connected to Word when your business grows.
Google Drive
Price: free of charge
Platforms: mobile, Linux, Windows, Mac
Google Drive is one of the most beneficial services for everyone who has a Google account. Google’s document signing app offers to put your signature on the digital document in less than 3 minutes. It is considered to be one of the most trustable services. Many big companies prefer to use Google Drive. The documents they need are usually kept in Google’s storage.
Its main disadvantage is that there is no integrated program. You can use the drawing option in the text. You have to create a signature, using a mouse, stylus, touchpad, or keyboard, save it, and close the image. After that, it will be added to the document. You can easily upload the image from the storage at Google Drive.
Business owners who require more functions from eSignature app may look for more advanced services outside Google. Many programs that offer eSignatures, including PandaDoc, can be easily integrated with Google. All you need to do is pick the document and draw a signature on it.
