Free sends, side by side
| Tool | Documents you can send free | People per document | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| PandaDoc | 5 a month | 2 | Up to 5 templates; documents can’t contain links |
| Zoho Sign | 5 envelopes a month | Not stated | One user |
| Dropbox Sign | 3 a month, renewing every 30 days from sign-up | Not stated | Signing your own documents is unlimited and doesn’t count |
| SignWell | 3 a month | Not stated | One sender, one template |
| Refrendo (closed beta) | 3 a month | Up to 2 | 1 sender, 1 template, approval steps included |
| Adobe Acrobat | 2 every 30 days, rolling | Not stated | Needs a free Adobe account; Fill & Sign for your own PDFs is free |
| DocuSign | None after the trial | - | Signing is always free; sending needs a paid plan |
| signNow | None after the trial | - | A 7-day free trial, no free plan |
“Not stated” means the product’s own free-plan page doesn’t give a number. Check it before you rely on the plan.
What to compare besides the number
- People per document. A plan that sends five documents to two people each won’t cover a lease with three tenants. Count the signers on your real documents, including yourself.
- Who can send. Most free plans are for one person. If two people in your team send, you will need a paid plan.
- Whether it ends. A free plan carries on; a free trial stops. DocuSign and signNow offer trials rather than free sending.
- What you get back. Look for the signed PDF and a certificate or audit trail that records who signed, when and how they were identified. That record is what makes an electronic signature useful later.
- Approvals. If a document should be checked before it’s signed, see whether the free plan lets you put an approver ahead of the signers.
Where Refrendo fits
Refrendo’s free plan isn’t the biggest on this list. It is 3 requests a month, up to 2 people on each, and it includes what the paid plans do on every request: approve, reject or ask for changes before anyone signs, the audit trail and the completion certificate. Everyone who signs is emailed a link to download the final PDF and the certificate. Refrendo is in a closed beta, so for now you request an invite to use it. What the free plan includes.
Details about other products are from their public websites as of October 2026 and may have changed. Product names are trademarks of their owners; Refrendo is not affiliated with them.