PandaDoc vs SignNow: Proposal Builder or Flat Team Plan
PandaDoc vs SignNow: a proposal builder billed per seat, or one flat plan for your whole team with a 100-invite cap. What a year costs and who each tool fits.
PandaDoc charges per seat and builds your proposals for you. SignNow charges one flat price for your whole team, then counts every document you send. Most comparisons still price SignNow per user, which hides both its biggest advantage and its catch.
In the PandaDoc vs SignNow choice, buy PandaDoc if you build proposals and quotes inside the tool, and SignNow if a team sends finished files for signature, up to about 100 a year. I read both pricing pages in October 2026, pulled Capterra and Trustpilot reviews, and priced a year at 5, 10 and 25 documents a month.
On this page
The bottom line: which one should you buy?
If you write and send sales documents (proposals, quotes and contracts with pricing tables), buy PandaDoc. The editor and tracking are the product, and the signature is the last step.
If you and a few colleagues send finished files (a contract from Word, an NDA, a PDF form), buy SignNow. One Business plan covers everyone on the account, and 100 invites a year is enough for about 8 documents a month.
If you sign 5 documents a month or fewer, PandaDoc Free covers you for $0. If you send a few documents a month, unevenly, both tools still bill you for the whole year, and the last section of this page covers that case.
Head-to-head: PandaDoc vs SignNow by category
The table shows the plans a small business compares first, as each vendor listed them in October 2026.
| Feature | PandaDoc | SignNow |
|---|---|---|
| What you are buying | A document builder for proposals, quotes and contracts, with e-signing | An e-signature tool for files you already have, sold as airSlate SignNow |
| Cheapest paid plan | Starter: $19 per seat a month billed annually ($228 a year), or $35 monthly | Business: $8 a month billed annually ($96 a year), or $20 monthly, for the whole account |
| Users | Paid per seat on every plan | Unlimited users on every plan, at no extra cost |
| Free plan for sending | Yes, 5 documents a month | No, a 7-day free trial |
| Sending limit on paid plans | Plan table says unlimited; the FAQ describes a limit with overage | 100 invites a year per account on annual plans, 10 a month on monthly plans |
| Extra documents | FAQ: $2 to $3.50 per document, depending on plan and billing | $0.96 on Business, $1.80 on Business Premium, $3.60 on Enterprise, per extra invite |
| Templates and bulk send | Up to 5 templates on Free and Starter; bulk send from Business, with usage credits | Unlimited templates on every plan; bulk send from Business Premium |
| Integrations and API | CRM integrations on Business; API, Zapier, forms and bulk send use usage credits | Premium integrations (Salesforce, NetSuite and others) and the full API on Site License |
| Free trial | 14 days | 7 days |
Here is who wins each category, and each one is explained in the numbered sections below.
| Category | Winner | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Building documents | PandaDoc | Drag-and-drop editor, pricing tables, content library |
| 2. Signing finished files | SignNow | Upload, place fields, send; reminders and mobile apps on every plan |
| 3. Teams and seats | SignNow | Unlimited users on one plan; PandaDoc charges every seat |
| 4. Sending limits | Neither | SignNow caps invites at 100 a year; PandaDoc's FAQ and plan table clash |
| 5. Templates and bulk send | SignNow | Unlimited templates from $8 a month; bulk send from $15 a month |
| 6. Integrations and API | Neither | Both put the deeper connections behind an extra charge |
| 7. Security and compliance | Depends on plan | Both tie their compliance details to specific plans |
| 8. Pricing | SignNow | $96 a year for a whole account against $228 per PandaDoc seat |
| 9. Free plan | PandaDoc | 5 documents a month; SignNow has a trial only |
| 10. Reviews | SignNow | Rated higher on both Capterra and Trustpilot in our snapshot |
Prices in both tables checked October 2026 on PandaDoc pricing and SignNow pricing.
1. Building documents
Winner: PandaDoc
This is why PandaDoc exists. You build a proposal or quote in a drag-and-drop editor, drop in a pricing table and saved content, send it, and see when the client opens it. Business adds custom quotes, a content library, deal rooms and approval workflows.
SignNow edits the fields on a document, not the document itself. You upload a finished file, place signature, date and text fields, and send. Enterprise adds formula and conditional fields, which help with forms but do not make SignNow a proposal tool.
2. Signing finished files
Winner: SignNow
SignNow keeps the signing step short and cheap. Its pricing page lists these from the cheapest plan, Business (checked October 2026):
- Unlimited templates and unlimited document storage.
- Automatic reminders.
- Mobile apps for iOS and Android.
- Signing order, an audit trail and in-person signing, listed in its plan comparison.
A Trustpilot reviewer, Despina, noted in September 2026 that partners sign "as there is no need to download an application". PandaDoc also signs uploaded PDFs, but its interface is built around making the document, so a team that only uploads and sends pays for an editor it does not open.
3. Teams and seats
Winner: SignNow
This is the difference most comparisons get wrong. SignNow's pricing page says "Free unlimited users with plans that scale", and every plan card says you can add unlimited team members for free. One price covers the account, however many people send from it.
PandaDoc bills each seat. Three people on PandaDoc Starter pay $684 a year on annual billing; the same three share one SignNow Business plan at $96 a year, plus any extra invites (both checked October 2026 on PandaDoc pricing and SignNow pricing).
The trade-off is that SignNow's invite allowance is shared. SignNow's pricing FAQ says 100 invites per account per year, while its help center describes "100 signature invites per user" and adds that usage on free seats "is shared across all seats". Read the plan as one shared pool.
4. Sending limits
Winner: Neither
Both tools meter documents in a way the headline price does not show. SignNow is the clearer of the two: annual plans include 100 signature invites a year per account and monthly plans 10 a month, and unused invites do not roll over, per its pricing FAQ and help center (checked October 2026).
Past the allowance, SignNow charges per extra invite:
- Business: $0.96 per extra invite.
- Business Premium: $1.80 per extra invite.
- Enterprise: $3.60 per extra invite.
Extra invites are billed when a full block is used, or at a month-end true-up once 10 or more are unpaid. The pricing page lists one rate per plan, so confirm the monthly-billing rate with SignNow before you rely on it.
Users notice the cap. "100 invites per year is ridiculous for any real business," a Trustpilot reviewer, Sergio, wrote in May 2026. PandaDoc's limit is less clear, and section 8 covers the conflict between its plan table and its FAQ.
5. Templates and bulk send
Winner: SignNow
SignNow includes unlimited templates even on the $8 a month Business plan, and Business Premium, at $15 a month billed annually ($180 a year) for the whole account, adds bulk send, signing links, payment collection and team reports (checked October 2026 on SignNow pricing).
PandaDoc caps Free and Starter at 5 templates. Bulk send starts on Business at $49 per seat a month billed annually, and the plan table marks it as needing usage credits (checked October 2026 on PandaDoc pricing).
6. Integrations and API
Winner: Neither
Both tools put their deeper connections behind an extra charge. PandaDoc Business includes CRM integrations, but its plan table marks the API, Zapier, web forms, bulk send and the Salesforce integration on Starter and Business as optional and paid through usage credits.
SignNow lists its premium integrations (Salesforce, NetSuite, Dynamics 365, Procore and others), the full API, SSO and phone support on its Site License, priced from $1.50 per signature invite with volume discounts. Its developer sandbox advertises 250 free signature invites (SignNow pricing, checked October 2026).
7. Security and compliance
Winner: Depends on the plan you buy
Both vendors publish their compliance details, so this is a fact check, not a judgment call. Here is what each listed in October 2026:
- SignNow: its pricing page lists SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, PCI DSS, HIPAA and CCPA in its trust strip and places HIPAA on the Site License. Its HIPAA guide says HIPAA "is only available on SignNow's corporate plans", with a signed BAA requested through support or sales.
- PandaDoc: its pricing page lists SOC 2 Type II compliance on its plan table and marks HIPAA compliance as optional, so confirm with PandaDoc sales which plan and terms include it.
If your business needs HIPAA or SOC 2, get the plan confirmed in writing by sales before you buy either one.
8. Pricing (checked October 2026)
Winner: SignNow
Both vendors lead with annual prices: PandaDoc's toggle says "Save up to 46%" and SignNow's "Save up to 60%". Here is what PandaDoc's pricing page listed:
- Free: $0, 5 documents a month, up to 5 templates, no credit card.
- Starter: $19 per seat a month billed annually, or $35 billed monthly.
- Business: $49 per seat a month billed annually, or $65 billed monthly.
- Enterprise: custom, "per-seat or per-document pricing".
SignNow's pricing page listed these, each for the whole account with unlimited users:
- Business: $8 a month billed annually ($96 a year), or $20 billed monthly.
- Business Premium: $15 a month billed annually ($180 a year), or $30 billed monthly.
- Enterprise: $30 a month billed annually ($360 a year), or $50 billed monthly.
- Site License: from $1.50 per signature invite, with volume discounts.
The numbers that set your real price
What a year costs for one sender, at the prices each vendor listed in October 2026, before tax. It assumes one document is one SignNow invite, and that PandaDoc's paid plans are unlimited as its plan table says:
| Volume (one sender) | PandaDoc, 1 year | SignNow, 1 year (annual) | SignNow, 1 year (monthly billing) | PandaDoc, 3 years | SignNow, 3 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 documents a month | $0 on Free (covers 5 a month) | $96 on Business (60 of 100 invites) | $240 (5 of 10 invites a month) | $0 on Free | $288 |
| 10 documents a month | $228 on Starter ($420 on monthly billing) | $115.20 ($96 plus 20 extra invites at $0.96) | $240 (10 of 10 invites a month) | $684 | $345.60 |
| 25 documents a month | $228 on Starter ($420 on monthly billing) | $288 ($96 plus 200 extra invites at $0.96) | $240 plus extra invites | $684 | $864 |
Per document on annual plans, SignNow Business costs $1.60 at 5 a month, $0.96 at 10 and $0.96 at 25. PandaDoc Starter works out to $3.80, $1.90 and $0.76. They cross at about 238 documents a year, so past roughly 20 a month one sender pays less on Starter. Sources: PandaDoc pricing and SignNow pricing, checked October 2026.
For three senders sharing 10 documents a month in total, SignNow's unlimited users change the order completely:
| Plan, 3 users | 1 year, annual | 1 year, monthly billing | 3 years, annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| PandaDoc Starter x 3 | $684 | $1,260 | $2,052 |
| PandaDoc Business x 3 | $1,764 | $2,340 | $5,292 |
| SignNow Business (one account) | $115.20 | $240 | $345.60 |
| SignNow Business Premium | $216 | $360 | $648 |
SignNow Business Premium at $216 a year is $180 plus 20 extra invites at $1.80. SignNow plans renew automatically on the last day of the period, and its refund policy (updated March 3, 2026) allows refunds within 30 days of first purchase with minimal usage, while extra-invite fees are "strictly non-refundable" (SignNow refund policy, checked October 2026).
9. Free plan
Winner: PandaDoc
PandaDoc Free sends 5 documents a month with no card and up to 5 templates. Its help center describes the Free plan as 60 documents a year with 2 recipients per document (PandaDoc Help Center, checked October 2026).
SignNow has no free plan for sending, only a 7-day free trial, and a trial with a card on file turns into a paid plan. If your volume sits at 5 a month or fewer, PandaDoc Free is the only one of the two that costs nothing.
10. What users like and complain about
Winner: SignNow, on ratings and on price
SignNow is rated higher than PandaDoc on both Capterra and Trustpilot in our September 2026 snapshot, though PandaDoc has more Capterra reviews. For PandaDoc, reviewers like the editor, templates and open tracking, and dislike paid add-ons, annual charges and contracts that expire.
“I do not use e-signing very often for my business and PandaDoc is very user friendly for my clients as well as flexible to my budget.”
“I also like the e sign functionality and the ability to see when recipients open or view a document.”
“The ability to have dynamic documents, and easy to use template, and content libraries have shaved so much time off my schedule.”
“The pricing became difficult to justify, especially as many features I expected to be included required additional paid add-ons.”
“I do not love that it is not easy to edit a sent contract and also contracts expire which creates issues with having to resend and confusing clients.”
“Just dealt with their customer service as I saw a charge come through for the year. I wanted to go to a month by month plan.”
Review snapshot checked Sep 2026.
For SignNow, reviewers praise the price and how easily clients sign. The complaints are the 100-invite cap, which arrived for some long-time users as a change, and signing emails that some clients never receive.
“SignNow is a simple to use, efficient, and cost-effective tool that I use to help run my short-term rental business. Creating and using templates for tenant's leases and documents has been easy and a time-saver.”
“It is also very user-friendly for our external partners, as there is no need to download an application. They can access the document directly and are clearly guided to the fields that require a signature or completion.”
“I am a mortgage broker and I have used SignNow for years now. Simple to use and priced very well.”
“While it works pretty well, the pricing is not excusable. We used this for years with no issues and now we only get 100 free invites per YEAR.”
“100 invites per year is ridiculous for any real business. That's not even 10 documents per month.”
“It works, and it's a good price, however some clients do not get their emails and it's often a constant juggle of "I didn't get it" and "search your spam box".”
Review snapshot checked Sep 2026.
This overview from the TrustRadius channel walks through signNow and PandaDoc, next to DocuSign, as contract and e-signature platforms. It is an older video, made before SignNow's current per-account plans and invite cap, so check its prices against the tables above.
Decision framework: who should buy what
| Your situation | Buy this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Agency or sales team sending proposals and quotes | PandaDoc | The editor, pricing tables and open tracking are the product |
| Sales team that needs approvals and a content library | PandaDoc Business | Approval workflows, content library and deal rooms |
| Small team sending finished contracts, under 100 a year | SignNow Business | $96 a year for the whole account, unlimited users |
| Small team sending one agreement to many people | SignNow Business Premium | Bulk send and signing links for $180 a year, whole account |
| One person signing 5 documents a month or fewer | PandaDoc Free | Covers 5 a month for $0 |
| One person sending 20 or more finished files every month | PandaDoc Starter | $228 a year beats SignNow Business plus extra invites |
| Business with regulated client data | Either, after sales confirms in writing | Compliance depends on the plan; see section 7 |
| One or two people signing a few files a month, unevenly | Neither | Both bill for the year; see the next section |
Prices in this table checked October 2026 on PandaDoc pricing and SignNow pricing.
PandaDoc or SignNow: which fits you
- YesGoPandaDoc
- NoDo two or more people send documents?
- YesGoSignNow Business, or Premium for bulk send
- NoDo you send more than 5 documents in most months?
- YesCheck firstSignNow Business; past 20 a month, compare PandaDoc Starter
- NoGoPandaDoc Free
- Yes
- Yes
The tree in words: if you build proposals or quotes, pick PandaDoc. If you don't and two or more people send, pick SignNow Business, or Business Premium for bulk send. Alone and above 5 a month, pick SignNow Business, then compare PandaDoc Starter past about 20 a month. At 5 a month or fewer, PandaDoc Free covers you.
What both tools miss: signing without a plan or a meter
Both PandaDoc and SignNow bill for the year, whether you send one document or fifty, and SignNow adds an invite meter on top. Neither fits one or two people getting client contracts, NDAs and agreements signed a few times a month, unevenly.
SignWith has no seats and no subscription. You buy credits, and a credit is used only when a document is signed, so a declined, voided or expired document uses no credit.
- Upload a PDF, JPEG or PNG, add signature, date, text and checkbox fields, and set the signing order.
- Your recipients sign in the browser on any device, with no account.
- Every completed document comes with a Certificate of Completion that records timestamps, IP addresses, device and browser details and email events, sealed with a SHA-256 hash.
10 signed documents a month for a year, one sender
- SignWith, cheapest packs84 paid documents: 1 x Basic + 1 x Pro + 1 x Business$57
- SignWith Lifetime Dealone-time, unlimited credits$149
- PandaDoc Starter$19 per seat month, 1 seat$228
- SignNow Business, 100 invites plus 20 extra$115.20 per year$115.20
At 10 a month, the SignWith free allowance covers 3 documents every month, and one Basic pack ($9), one Pro pack ($19) and one Business pack ($29) cover the other 84 of the year. That compares with $115.20 for SignNow Business and $228 for PandaDoc Starter (checked October 2026).
The other volumes, honestly:
- 5 a month: PandaDoc Free costs $0, and that is hard to beat. On SignWith, the free allowance plus one Pro pack ($19) covers it, against $96 for SignNow Business.
- 25 a month: SignWith packs would cost more than the Lifetime Deal, so the Lifetime Deal at $149 one-time, once, is the cheaper route. Over 3 years, SignNow Business with extra invites comes to $864 and PandaDoc Starter to $684.
- Three senders: SignWith team accounts are coming soon, so a team would share one SignWith account today. For a team, SignNow Business at $115.20 a year with unlimited users is the better buy right now.
If you build proposals, need CRM sync, or need HIPAA or SOC 2 today, pick PandaDoc or SignNow as the sections above describe. SignWith templates, bulk send, reminders, team accounts and integrations are coming soon; the SignWith API is live. SignWith is used by 1,000+ businesses.
No subscription. You buy credits, and a credit is used only when a document is signed. One credit covers one signed document, however many people sign it.
- Unlimited credits
- Never expires
- One-time payment
Prices in USD. See full pricing
Related reading
Frequently asked questions
Is SignNow cheaper than PandaDoc?
- Usually, yes. SignNow Business is $8 a month billed annually ($96 a year) for the whole account with unlimited users, and PandaDoc Starter is $19 per seat a month billed annually ($228 a year per seat). One sender above about 20 documents a month pays less on PandaDoc Starter, because SignNow charges $0.96 per invite past 100 a year. Prices checked October 2026 on PandaDoc pricing and SignNow pricing.
Does SignNow have a free plan?
- No. SignNow offers a 7-day free trial and no free plan for sending, as its pricing page showed in October 2026. A trial with a card on file turns into a paid plan. PandaDoc Free, by contrast, sends 5 documents a month.
How many documents can I send on SignNow?
- Annual plans include 100 signature invites per account per year, and monthly plans 10 a month, per the SignNow pricing FAQ (checked October 2026). Past that, extra invites cost $0.96 on Business, $1.80 on Business Premium and $3.60 on Enterprise, and unused invites do not roll over. Source: SignNow Help Center.
What counts as a SignNow invite?
- A request to sign a document, or a Document Group, sent to one or more recipients counts as one invite. A declined document and a document cancelled before signing still count, each completion of a reusable signing link counts separately, and opening a document does not count, per the SignNow pricing FAQ in October 2026.
Does PandaDoc have a free plan?
- Yes. PandaDoc Free lets you send 5 documents a month with up to 5 templates and no credit card, as listed on its pricing page in October 2026. Its help center describes it as 60 documents a year with 2 recipients per document.
Can my whole team use one SignNow plan?
- Yes. Every SignNow plan includes unlimited users at no extra cost, so a team shares one plan and one invite allowance. Three people on SignNow Business pay $96 a year in total on annual billing, against $684 for three PandaDoc Starter seats. Prices checked October 2026 on SignNow pricing and PandaDoc pricing.
E-signature rules vary by country, state and document type, so check with a legal professional that an e-signature suits your specific agreement before you rely on it.
Primary sources
- SignNow pricing and pricing FAQ (checked October 2026)
- SignNow Help Center: invite seats, limits, rollovers and extra invite fees (checked October 2026)
- SignNow Help Center: refund policy (checked October 2026)
- SignNow HIPAA compliance guide (checked October 2026)
- PandaDoc pricing and pricing FAQ (checked October 2026)
- PandaDoc Help Center: compare subscription plan features (checked October 2026)
- PandaDoc reviews on Capterra
- PandaDoc reviews on Trustpilot
- SignNow reviews on Capterra
- SignNow reviews on Trustpilot
Written by
Ayush Garg
Co-founder, SignWith
Ayush is the co-founder of SignWith, the pay-per-document e-signature tool for businesses that just want documents signed without the intensity of a full platform. He worked as a freelancer, then a consultant, then a fractional head of growth, signing contracts with his clients. He has 6+ years of experience running SaaS and service businesses and writes about e-signatures, document workflows, and lean software.
Sign documents without another subscription.
Upload, sign and send in minutes. When you need more than the free documents, buy credits once, and a credit is used only when a document is signed.