01COUNTERSIGNED VS PANDADOC
PandaDoc is built for proposals and quotes. Its free plan sends 5 documents a month to 2 recipients each, without automatic reminders, expirations or passcodes; those start on Business at $49 a seat. If what you need is signatures, Countersigned Free covers 20 envelopes a month to up to 10 recipients, with reminders, expiration and access codes included.
20 envelopes a month and up to 20 templates. Free forever.
02SIDE BY SIDE
Countersigned Free against PandaDoc’s own published plans. PandaDoc Free covers 5 documents a month, with 2 recipients each.
| Feature | Countersigned Free | PandaDoc |
|---|---|---|
| 01Documents on the free plan | 20 a month | 5 a month Advantage: Countersigned. |
| 02Recipients per document on the free plan | Up to 10 | 2 Advantage: Countersigned. |
| 03Templates on the free plan | Up to 20 | Up to 5 Advantage: Countersigned. |
| 04Automatic reminders | Included | Business ($49/seat/mo) Advantage: Countersigned. |
| 05Automatic expiration | Included | Business ($49/seat/mo) Advantage: Countersigned. |
| 06Signer access codes | Included | Business (passcode verification) Advantage: Countersigned. |
| 07Signer attachments | Included | Not on Free Advantage: Countersigned. |
| 08Seats on the free plan | 1 | Unlimited Advantage: Them. |
| 09Document generation | Upload your PDFs | Editor, pricing tables, quotes, CPQ Advantage: Them. |
PANDADOCPUBLISHED SELF-SERVE PLANS
03DO THE MATH
Pick how many agreements you send a month. We’ll find PandaDoc’s cheapest published plan that covers it, and ours.
One sender, cheapest self-serve PandaDoc plan that covers your volume, at its listed monthly rate. Checked October 10, 2026.
04IN FAIRNESS
We’d rather you choose with the whole picture. If you build proposals and quotes inside your CRM, PandaDoc is a sales tool worth paying for. If you need agreements signed, reminders and expirations shouldn’t cost $49 a seat.
Document generation: a rich editor, pricing tables, quotes and CPQ.
CRM integrations, payments, approval workflows and deal rooms on Business.
A mobile app and API access on every plan, including a limited API on Free.
SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and eIDAS on every plan.
Unlimited seats on the free plan.
05HOW IT’S FREE
Free isn’t a trial or a teaser. It comes from how we build, and who builds it.
The team behind DocuPipe spent a decade building machine-learning systems. Now we write, review and test Countersigned with AI at every step. That lets a small team run a complete signing product without legacy code or a large sales floor to fund, so the essentials can stay free.
It also means we move quickly. When something you need is missing, tell us.
Countersigned is built by the team behind DocuPipe, the document-intelligence platform with ISO 27001:2022 certification, a SOC 2 Type II report and annual penetration tests. Those attestations cover DocuPipe, not Countersigned yet, but the habits came with us.
06SWITCHING
There’s no import tool yet, and you don’t need one. Your agreements are PDFs.
Email or Google. No credit card, no trial clock.
Upload the PDFs you already send, place signer fields, and save up to 20 as reusable templates.
Recipients sign in the browser without an account, and everyone gets the completed PDF.
07QUESTIONS
No. PandaDoc lists automatic reminders, automatic expirations and passcode verification on Business, at $49 per seat a month billed annually or $65 monthly. Countersigned includes all three on Free.
PandaDoc Free includes 5 documents a month shared across the team, with 2 recipients per document and up to 5 templates. Countersigned Free includes 20 envelopes a month, up to 10 recipients each, and up to 20 templates.
We build with AI at every step, so a small team can run the whole product without a large sales organization to pay for. Free covers 20 envelopes a month and up to 20 templates, permanently. Teams that need more pay for Pro: $20 per seat per month for 200 shared envelopes. That, not your data, is the business model.
Countersigned records each signer’s consent, signing events, IP address and browser, and produces a completed PDF with a completion record and document hashes. In the US, the ESIGN Act and UETA generally prevent a signature from being denied legal effect just because it’s electronic, but whether e-signing suits a particular agreement depends on the document and the law that applies. Countersigned doesn’t yet offer certificate-backed PDF sealing or qualified eIDAS signatures.
Sending pauses until your allowance resets on the first of the month, or you can upgrade to Pro for 200 shared envelopes at $20 per seat per month. Signing and template reuse never use up envelopes; only sending does.
No. Recipients open a private link, review the document and sign in the browser. They don’t need an account or a subscription, and everyone gets the completed PDF.
08YOUR NEXT AGREEMENT
