DocuSign alternative
Refrendo vs DocuSign
DocuSign is the best-known name in e-signatures, with a huge ecosystem to match. Refrendo is deliberately smaller: electronic signatures with approval steps when you need them, at one price for the workspace.
Side by side
| Refrendo | DocuSign | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | One price for the workspace, month to month, with senders included and a monthly allowance they share. Packs of extra requests when you need them, and no overage charges. | Per user, with sending allowances on standard plans and an overage rate once you pass them. |
| Sending allowance | One pool for the whole team. A quiet month for one sender covers a busy month for another. | Envelope allowances are set per user, so an occasional sender’s unused allowance stays with them. |
| Approvers and signers | Never pay, and never need an account. How many people can be on one request is set by your plan. | Recipients sign free without an account. |
| Approval steps | Approve, reject or ask for changes, on every plan including the free one, then revise or resend. | Approval and advanced routing options vary by plan. |
| Routing | In order on every plan. Everyone at once or any one of them on Team and above, and a quorum such as any two of three directors on Business and above. Steps that apply only when the sender’s details call for them, such as an amount over a limit, on Business and above. | Sequential and parallel routing, and conditional routing. |
| After a change | Revise and resend, and approvals given on the old version never carry over. Every version keeps its own fingerprint. | Documents can be corrected and resent; check how that affects approvals already given. |
| Handing over a turn | A signer or approver can pass their turn to someone else on Team and above, and the record shows both the person who was asked and the person who acted. | Delegation is supported; the options vary by plan. |
| Evidence | Completion certificate, SHA-256 fingerprints of the original and the final PDF, and an audit trail where each record is hash-chained to the one before. | Certificate of completion and audit trail. |
| Community groups | Volunteer-run not-for-profits under $500,000 a year can apply for free access, whether or not they are a registered charity. | Nonprofit pricing requires registration with the local charity regulator, the ACNC in Australia, verified through a partner, on annual plans. |
| Digital (PKI) signatures | Not offered. Electronic signatures only. | Available as a separate option. |
| Integrations | REST API and webhooks on Business and above. | Hundreds of pre-built integrations. |
| Pricing currency | Australian dollars, month to month. | Local currency in many regions; annual commitments are common. |
DocuSign details are from its public website as of September 2026 and may have changed, so check their current plans. DocuSign is a trademark of its owner; Refrendo is not affiliated with it.
Where Refrendo is strong
These are the areas where Refrendo is designed differently from DocuSign.
Approvals on every plan
Put Finance, Legal or a manager in front of the signature on every plan, including the free one, with ask-for-changes and revisions built in.
One pool, not per-user limits
The team shares one monthly allowance, so five occasional senders don’t each need a full seat’s worth of sending to cover their busiest month.
Decisions by quorum
Any two of three directors, or any one of the finance managers. The request completes when the rule is met, without waiting on people who were never needed. Any one of them on Team and above; a quorum on Business and above.
Approvals belong to the version approved
If the document changes, approvals given on the earlier version do not carry across, and every approver reviews the new one.
Evidence built for later
A certificate naming everyone and how they were identified, fingerprints of the original and final PDF, and a chained trail the database refuses to edit or delete.
Four steps to send
Upload the PDF, add the people, place their fields, and send. Approvers and signers need no account and no training.
Questions
What evidence does Refrendo keep of each signature?
For each person: how they were identified, when they agreed to use electronic records and which disclosure they saw, the exact consent wording they confirmed, stored as shown, when they acted, and SHA-256 fingerprints of the document before and after, on an audit trail where each record is chained to the one before. The Electronic Transactions Acts look at identity, intention, reliability and consent. Whether a particular signature meets them is for the parties, not the tool. This is general information, not legal advice.
Can I import my DocuSign templates?
Not automatically. Upload the same PDF, place the fields and save it as a template, which takes a few minutes each. The templates you use most can be rebuilt in an afternoon.
What happens to documents already signed in DocuSign?
Keep them in DocuSign, or download the completed documents and certificates for your records before you cancel. Refrendo does not import them, and a signed document does not need to live in the tool that produced it.
Does Refrendo do certificate-based digital signatures?
No. Refrendo offers electronic signatures, which Australian law recognises for most business documents.
Try Refrendo alongside DocuSign
Run your next few requests through Refrendo while your current subscription runs out. No card needed to start.