Dropbox Sign (HelloSign) vs CanUSign: Feature and Pricing Comparison 2026

I've been signing contracts digitally for almost a decade now. Started back when HelloSign was just this scrappy little startup that made e-signatures feel less awful than whatever DocuSign was doing. It wasn't perfect, but it worked, and the free tier was generous enough that my tiny freelance business could actually afford it.

Then Dropbox bought HelloSign in 2019 for $230 million. Fine, I thought. Dropbox is reasonable. Nothing bad will happen.

In 2023 they rebranded it to Dropbox Sign. The pricing went up. The free tier got squeezed. And somewhere along the way, the tool that used to feel lightweight started feeling like just another enterprise SaaS product trying to upsell me into tiers I didn't need.

So when people ask me about Dropbox Sign alternatives these days, I have opinions. I've tested most of them. This is my honest side-by-side between Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) and CanUSign, which is the tool I've been using for about a year now. I'll be fair — Dropbox Sign is a real product with real strengths. But if you don't need the Dropbox ecosystem, there are cheaper, simpler options.

Let's get into it.

A quick history lesson (because it matters)

HelloSign launched in 2011. It was one of the first e-signature tools that didn't feel like enterprise software bolted onto a fax machine. The UX was clean, the free tier let you sign three documents a month, and small businesses loved it.

Dropbox acquired HelloSign in January 2019. For a few years, not much changed. Same product, same name, same pricing. Then in 2023, Dropbox rebranded the whole thing to Dropbox Sign, integrated it more tightly with Dropbox Business, and quietly adjusted the pricing structure.

Here's what changed:

• The free tier now limits you to 3 signature requests per month (it used to be more generous)
• Standard plan went from $15/user/mo to $20/user/mo in some regions, then settled around $15/user/mo in 2026
• Several features that used to be on the Standard plan got pushed up to Premium
• The product got noticeably more integrated with Dropbox, which is great if you use Dropbox and annoying if you don't

None of this is evil. Dropbox is a business, businesses raise prices, acquired products often lose their quirky personality. But the cumulative effect is that the HelloSign I used to recommend isn't really the same product anymore. It's Dropbox Sign now, and it's aimed at a slightly different customer.

CanUSign, for context, is newer. Launched more recently, pay-per-document or flat subscription, built by a small team that isn't trying to turn e-signatures into a full document suite. It's not perfect either — I'll get to the weak spots — but it fills a gap that used to exist back when HelloSign was still HelloSign.

Feature comparison: side by side

Here's the straightforward feature comparison. I've actually used both tools extensively, so these aren't specs I copied off a marketing page.

A couple of notes on the things the table doesn't show well.

Dropbox Sign wins on: polish, mobile apps, and the sheer depth of the Dropbox integration. If you live inside Dropbox all day, signing a document from the Dropbox sidebar is genuinely magical. The mobile apps are good. The enterprise features (SSO, advanced admin, compliance dashboards) are more mature.

CanUSign wins on: price, simplicity, API accessibility, and no vendor lock-in. You can export your signed docs anywhere, sign without needing to be part of a walled garden, and the pay-per-document model means you can actually match your cost to your actual usage.

Pricing breakdown

This is where it gets interesting, and honestly, it's where most of my frustration with Dropbox Sign lives.

Dropbox Sign pricing (2026)

Monthly billing is higher across the board — usually 20-30% more. API access is a completely separate product with separate pricing (around $100-300/month for low-volume API plans, going up fast from there).

So if you're a team of 5 on Standard, you're paying $125/month. If you need bulk send or in-person signing, that's Premium at $250/month for the same team. The pricing adds up quickly, especially if you need API access, which now starts around $100/mo on its own.

CanUSign pricing (2026)

That's it. No tier-gated features that should honestly just be included (looking at you, Dropbox Sign's per-user pricing for a feature as basic as bulk send).

Let me do the math for a few real scenarios:

Solo freelancer, 10 contracts a month:

• Dropbox Sign: $15/mo (Essentials)
• CanUSign: €10/mo (pay-per-doc) or €15/mo (Pro)
• Winner: roughly even, slight CanUSign edge

5-person agency, 100 docs/month, needs branding:

• Dropbox Sign: $125/mo (Standard, 5 users)
• CanUSign: €49/mo (Business, unlimited users)
• Winner: CanUSign, by a lot

10-person team, needs API + bulk send:

• Dropbox Sign: $500/mo (Premium) + ~$100-200/mo API = $600-700/mo
• CanUSign: €49/mo (Business, API included)
• Winner: CanUSign, not even close

Occasional user, 2-3 docs/month:

• Dropbox Sign: Free tier works
• CanUSign: Free tier + €1 per occasional doc
• Winner: even

For a more comprehensive look at alternatives in this space, I wrote a breakdown of DocuSign alternatives that covers the whole landscape.

Template library

Both tools support templates. This is the thing that separates "I have to re-upload the same NDA every time" from "I have to re-upload the same NDA every time, but less often."

Dropbox Sign has a template library with decent built-in templates for common use cases — NDAs, contractor agreements, offer letters. You can create your own templates too, and they're available across the team on Standard and above. The template editor is solid, probably better than CanUSign's in terms of raw features.

CanUSign has templates too, available on all paid plans (not locked to higher tiers). The built-in library is smaller, but the custom template creation is straightforward. You upload a PDF, drag fields where you want them, save it, done. Templates work across your team on Business plan.

Honestly, this is a wash for most people. If you need a huge pre-built template library with industry-specific options, Dropbox Sign has the edge. If you just want to create and reuse your own templates, either works.

Integrations

This is where Dropbox Sign genuinely shines.

Dropbox Sign integrates deeply with Dropbox (obviously), Google Drive, Microsoft 365, Salesforce, HubSpot, and dozens of other tools. The Dropbox integration is basically native — you can request signatures directly from a file in your Dropbox folder without ever leaving the Dropbox UI. If Dropbox is your company's document hub, this is a real productivity win.

CanUSign's integrations are more modest: direct integrations with Google Drive, Slack, and a solid REST API that's included with paid plans. Zapier support covers most of the other use cases (I've personally set up a Zap that pulls completed contracts into my accounting tool).

The API question is where things flip, though. Dropbox Sign's API is mature but expensive — it's a separate product line, basically, with its own pricing. CanUSign's API is included in the Pro and Business plans. If you're a developer building e-signatures into your product, CanUSign works out dramatically cheaper for low-to-medium volumes.

Mobile experience

Dropbox Sign has dedicated iOS and Android apps. They work well. You can sign, send, and manage documents from your phone. The apps sync with the desktop app and with Dropbox generally. Nothing revolutionary, but solid.

CanUSign doesn't have a native mobile app. The web interface is responsive and works on phones, which is fine for signing (99% of signers do it once and don't need an app), but the sender experience on mobile isn't as smooth. If you're constantly sending contracts from your phone, this might matter. For most people, it doesn't.

Score one for Dropbox Sign on this.

Security and compliance

Both tools meet the bar for legally binding e-signatures in most jurisdictions.

Dropbox Sign:

• ESIGN Act compliant (US)
• eIDAS compliant (EU)
• SOC 2 Type II certified
• HIPAA compliance available on higher tiers
• 256-bit SSL encryption
• Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) available as an add-on

CanUSign:

• ESIGN Act compliant (US)
• eIDAS compliant (EU) — including Advanced Electronic Signatures (AES)
• SOC 2 Type II certified
• 256-bit SSL encryption
• QES available through a certified partner integration

If you're curious about the legal side of this (and you probably should be if you're signing contracts), I've got a full guide to electronic signature law that goes deeper. There's also a post explaining the difference between digital and electronic signatures, which trips a lot of people up.

For the vast majority of business contracts — employment agreements, NDAs, freelance contracts, sales agreements, service agreements — both tools produce legally binding signatures that will hold up in court. The differences in compliance mostly matter at the enterprise level, where specific certifications (HIPAA, FedRAMP, etc.) might be required.

Signer experience

The person on the receiving end — the one who actually has to sign your contract — doesn't care about your pricing tier or your template library. They care about how fast and painless the signing process is.

Dropbox Sign's signer experience is good. Clean interface, clear instructions, works in any browser. Signers don't need to create an account to sign. The email prompts are well-designed. It feels professional.

CanUSign's signer experience is also good. Same clean flow — signers click a link, see the document, sign the fields, done. No account required. I'd say it's slightly more minimalist, which some people prefer and some people find less branded.

Both tools let you customize the email that goes to signers (branding, custom messages, etc.). Dropbox Sign has slightly more customization options on higher tiers. For the actual signing experience, they're roughly equivalent.

Team collaboration

Dropbox Sign has solid team features: team templates, shared document folders, admin controls, user management, activity logs. On higher tiers you get advanced admin features like custom signing workflows and team analytics. If you're running a team of 20+ people who need tight collaboration, Dropbox Sign is built for that.

CanUSign has team features on the Business plan, but they're simpler. Unlimited team members, shared templates, basic admin controls, activity logs. It's enough for small and mid-sized teams. If you need enterprise-level admin features (SSO, SAML, advanced compliance dashboards), Dropbox Sign wins.

So who should pick which?

This is the verdict section, and I'll be blunt.

Pick Dropbox Sign if:

• You already pay for Dropbox Business and use it heavily. The integration is genuinely great, and the bundle pricing can make sense.
• You need enterprise features — SSO, advanced admin, HIPAA compliance, big-team workflows.
• You want a native mobile app for sending documents on the go.
• Your company has strong brand loyalty to Dropbox and your procurement process prefers known vendors.
• You need deep Salesforce or HubSpot integration at the CRM level.

Pick CanUSign if:

• You're a freelancer, solo founder, or small business and you just want to send contracts without a $15/user/month subscription.
• You send enough contracts to justify Pro (€15/mo unlimited) but not enough to justify Dropbox Sign Standard ($25/user/mo).
• You need API access without paying hundreds of dollars extra for a separate product line.
• You're an agency or team that would pay per-user on Dropbox Sign and per-team on CanUSign — the math tilts hard in CanUSign's favor once you have more than 2-3 users.
• You value simplicity over feature depth. CanUSign has everything most people actually use, without the bloat.
• You want the option to pay per-document rather than commit to a subscription.

My honest take

I've used HelloSign, then Dropbox Sign, then CanUSign, in roughly that order, over the last six years. Each of them did the job.

HelloSign had heart. Dropbox Sign has polish and a platform. CanUSign has focus and price.

For my current workflow — small team, API integration, maybe 80-100 contracts a month, don't use Dropbox — CanUSign saves me around $200/month compared to what I'd pay on Dropbox Sign's equivalent plan. That's a real number, not a marketing claim. For a freelancer doing 10 contracts a month, the savings are smaller but the simplicity is real.

Would I still recommend Dropbox Sign to some people? Yeah, absolutely. If you're a 50-person company living inside Dropbox already, don't switch. The integration cost alone isn't worth it.

But if you're starting out, if you're a small team, if you're a developer who needs API access without a separate enterprise contract, or if you just don't want to pay for features you'll never use — give CanUSign a look. Free tier is generous, paid plans are honest, and you can cancel anytime.

You can try it free at canusign.com. No credit card required, and if you just need to sign something someone sent you, signing is always free.

Good luck with your contracts.