In the world of electronic signatures, several companies are eager to compete for your business.
In fact, there are so many options that it can be difficult to determine what signature software you should use when it’s time to sign.
HelloSign is one signing solution working to make eSignatures easy and effortless.
Owned by Dropbox, the San Francisco-based company regularly competes with other players in the market, like DocuSign, Adobe Sign, and even PandaDoc.
Today, we’re going to take a closer look at Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) pricing structure, what features they have to offer, and how Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) features compare with PandaDoc.
Let’s get started.
| PandaDoc | Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) | |
|---|---|---|
| Plan name | Business | Standard |
| Monthly pricing | $59 month/user | $30 per month |
| Annual pricing | $49 month/user | $25 per month |
| Maximum number of users | Unlimited | 4+ |
| Minimum number of users | 1 | 2 |
| Number of documents sent | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Standard usage limits | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Basic drag and drop fields | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mobile app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reusesable templates | Unlimited | 15 |
| Signing order | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multiple signers | Up to 50 | Up to 20 |
| Multiple recipients | Up to 50 | ✓ |
| Bulk send | $ | ✓ |
| Real-time audit trail | ✓ | ✓ |
| Document collaboration tools | ✓ | X |
| Integrations: import and cloud storage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Integrations: CRM | ✓ | $ |
| Integrations: productivity and other | ✓ | X |
| Forms | $ | X |
| Language support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Document uploads | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Document editor | ✓ | X |
| Pre-built template library | ✓ | X |
| Notifications | ✓ | ✓ |
| Payment gateway | ✓ | |
| Custom branding | ✓ | ✓ |
| In-person signatures | ✓ | ✓ |
| Commenting and collaborative fields | ✓ | ✓ |
| Signer attachments | ✓ | ✓ |
| API access | X | $ |
| Support options | X | X |
| Email support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Chat support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Knowledgebase | ✓ | ✓ |
| Phone | X | ✓ |
Key similarities
Since both PandaDoc and Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) help customers capture legally binding eSignatures for their documents, there are some similarities.
Here are a few important features that might not be as obvious when you’re comparing options.
Compliance
As electronic signature providers, both PandaDoc and Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) need to stay compliant with government regulations in order to deliver legally binding eSignatures.
Both software tools are aligned with regulations like the federal ESIGN Act, and the GDPR — and both companies take this a step further by maintaining HIPAA compliance and SOC 2 data compliance.
No matter which service you use, you can rest assured that your signatures are valid and your data is secure.
Drag and drop interface
Both electronic signature software tools on offer use a drag and drop interface to help you prepare and sign documents fast.
If you’re working from a PDF or an uploaded document, you’ll need to drag and drop the signature fields onto the document to complete the preparation process.
This is quick and easy, and it only takes a minute or two to complete.
Audit trails and status notifications
Looking for insight into how your document moves through the document signing process?
Audit trails are a necessary part of digital signature compliance, but they also provide key insights into how signers interacted with your document.
Both PandaDoc and Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) will track when someone viewed your document, when they signed (or declined to sign), when key signature fields were updated, and more.
With status notifications and updates enabled, you can receive emails for each of these events and take appropriate action when necessary.
Custom branding tools
For customers who prefer to add a personal touch and control the user experience, the ability to create a branded, user-friendly workflow from first outreach to final signature can be a game-changer.
If that sounds like you, great news! Both e-signature software tools offer custom branding options on business-level subscriptions.
With branding, you can upload a company logo, add a tagline, and modify any emails sent on your behalf to better reflect your business operation.
In-person signing
The ability to handle signature requests in person is a key point of consideration for frontline workers and onsite actors like real estate agents.
Fortunately, Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) and PandaDoc users can take advantage of this tool at the same plan tier (Standard for Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) and Business for PandaDoc).
One key difference here is that in-person signing with Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) is intended for single signer documents only.
PandaDoc has a slight edge here in that you can use in-person signing for multiple signers and it can be done via either a browser or the PandaDoc mobile app (available for iOS or Android).
Data validation
In a nutshell, data validation allows document creators to specify what information the user should place into a specific field and provides the tools for the system to self-verify the input.
For example, if you want someone to place a phone number on your form, you know that it’s a numeric entry with a set number of digits.
With data validation, you can specify that the phone field should only take numeric inputs that match that format.
Though it was a top Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) feature for a number of years, it’s also included in every paid PandaDoc plan as well.
Keep in mind that validation doesn’t stop users from inputting bad data (fake phone numbers, for example); it simply requires them to input data in a specific format.
Key differences
As you probably noticed in the previous section, both Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) and PandaDoc offer a strong signing solution for businesses.
But even though their signature solutions are similar, each company has a few key differences in its product offerings.
Take a closer look.
Editor
On a fundamental level, both Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) and PandaDoc are designed for a few different things throughout the document prep and signing process.
The Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) drag and drop interface helps you add essential signature fields to your documents.
This includes boxes for signatures, initials, dates, and even some basic textbox, checkbox, and dropdown options.
The PandaDoc editor does all that and more. Our editor allows your team to create documents from scratch (just like you would in Microsoft Word or Google Docs) all in one place.
Customers can review the document, make suggestions or add comments, and your team can quickly amend any contracts prior to signature.
And the editor doesn’t just stop at long-form documents like contracts or sales quotes. You can also use these tools to create invoices, forms, and other types of sales collateral.
For sales teams looking to expedite their entire documentation process, this saves hours of time correcting offline contracts and reuploading for final signature.
With PandaDoc, everything is done inside the same document via the same set of tools.
Template and content tools
Both PandaDoc and Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) manage content and templates very differently, and it’s a key factor in HelloSign’s features.
With Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign), you can have between five and 15 templates saved from previous documents that you’ve sent for signature, depending on your plan.
This makes sense for repetitive documents like hiring contracts or NDAs, where the document isn’t likely to change.
With PandaDoc, templates are completely different.
Because our editor helps you build documents from scratch, you can save any number of flexible templates to your PandaDoc library and still customize them on every send (if needed).
The best part? You can create any number of templates for free. Even better, PandaDoc comes equipped with over 750 editable templates that you can use today!
But PandaDoc goes even further with our content library.
Rather than saving full templates, you can also save content blocks and snippets of text to your library for easy insertion into other documents.
It’s a fast, easy, and compartmentalized way to compose documents on the fly.
Payments
One important difference between Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) and PandaDoc comes down to how both companies handle payment collection from signers.
It’s technically possible to capture payments with Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign), but you’ll need access to the HelloSign API, which is priced separately from the HelloSign eSigning plans.
Using the API, you can connect Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) directly to Stripe or PayPal in order to process payments.
Compared to PandaDoc, this can be a heavy, technical lift. With PandaDoc, all you need to do is activate the payment gateway on any PandaDoc document.
Once you’ve linked your PandaDoc account with any of our existing payment integrations, signers can process payments on your documents.
It’s that simple.
Integrations
While both PandaDoc and Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) offer integrations, the sheer number of options sets the two companies apart.
Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) maintains a shortlist of native integrations, including Google Drive, Salesforce, OneDrive, Dropbox, Oracle, and HubSpot.
You’ll also find some unique integrations like Evernote or QQ Catalyst. Unfortunately, getting access to some of them can be tough.
For example, users on the Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) Standard Plan can only access Salesforce if the plan contains a minimum of five users — and there will be an additional plan charge on top of that feature.
On the other hand, PandaDoc users are spoiled for choice when it comes to integrations. PandaDoc keeps a running list of native integrations for many CRMs, marketing tools, and payment gateways.
We even have an integration for Gmail, a multi-factor authentication solution via Single Sign-On (SSO), and the ability to connect to other productivity tools like Slack or Zoom.
Some of these integrations won’t be available on lower-tier plans, and users should expect additional plan charges for Enterprise-only integrations if they want to access them on the Business Plan.
However, if you’re looking for maximum flexibility when it comes to integrations, PandaDoc can deliver.
Plans and pricing
When it comes to pricing, Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) offers tiered plans similar to PandaDoc.
Let’s take a closer look at each plan and compare the features you’re likely to see at each tier.
Free plan
With the free version of Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign), you can integrate with Google Drive, and you’ll still receive notifications from the audit trail feature, but you won’t see much more than that.
With the PandaDoc Free eSign Plan, both small business owners and corporate teams can take advantage of the drag-and-drop features within PandaDoc to sign and send documents.
You’ll even have basic document management tools to keep track of any sent paperwork.
For the basic features within this e-signature solution, PandaDoc allows an unlimited number of users and unlimited document uploads.
You can even collect payments through our payment gateway on the PandaDoc free plan, all at no cost.
Essentials plan
With PandaDoc, the Essentials plan unlocks advanced features like the PandaDoc editor, unlimited templates, complex tools like pricing tables, as well as document analytics.
These powerful features are built around ease of use and are designed to help companies streamline their document creation-and-send process.
Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) users at this tier are limited to a single user and capped at five templates.
However, Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) also offers an exclusive plan at this level: Dropbox Professional + eSign.
This plan costs $25/month — about $10 more than the Essentials Plan. It provides all the same features you’ll see with Essentials, plus 3TB of encrypted file storage on Dropbox.
If you’re looking for Dropbox storage, Dropbox Professional + eSign might be the way to go. If not, this plan probably won’t have much to offer.
Business plans
This is the pro plan for most single users and small teams. Both Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) and PandaDoc add custom branding at this stage, as well as more integration options.
For PandaDoc, users gain access to the content library, integrations with CRM, and team approval workflows designed to ensure that documents are approved before being sent.
Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) users can look forward to in-person signing tools, bulk send options, and team overview tools (similar to what PandaDoc offers via document analytics).
Enterprise plan
For both companies, the Enterprise plan is a little more flexible.
At this level, users on both platforms gain access to additional integrations and user reporting tools, as well as SSO support and new workspace control tools.
It’s important to point out that these plans are often customized or packaged differently for companies based on their use case, and you should definitely consult with the company sales team to see what customizable options are available to suit your needs.
Bottom line
While it’s true that both PandaDoc and Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) offer legally binding electronic signatures, both companies approach the space in a very different way.
At a fundamental level, Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) operates in a similar way to other major players in the space that is also focused on capturing authentic digital signatures.
As a Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) alternative, PandaDoc does all that and more.
If you’re just looking for signature capture, our free plan offers unlimited document uploads and unlimited e-signature collection.
Beyond that basic tier, we offer tools to help you do more with your documents while staying creative and efficient.
But don’t take our word for it. Sign up for a 14-day trial and see it for yourself!
Originally published Nov 5, 2020, updated Jul 4, 2022
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