DocHub vs Dropbox Sign

DocHub is a browser-based PDF editor and e-signature app. Chris Devor, who earlier built the iPhone utility maker Macroplant, launched it in October 2014, and it grew mainly through its Google Workspace Marketplace add-on, which has passed 57 million installs. In July 2022 airSlate acquired DocHub. Its core job is to open a PDF from Drive, Gmail or your computer, edit or fill it, sign it and send it out without installing desktop software.

The editor handles text edits, highlights, drawings, comments, page reordering, merging and splitting. Documents can go to several signers in a set order, with templates and an audit trail. Files can be opened from Google Drive, Gmail and Google Classroom as well as Dropbox, Box and OneDrive. The free plan shares three uses per month across core features; Basic and Pro are low-cost per-user subscriptions, and a Site License covers whole schools or companies.

DocHub fits teachers, freelancers and small teams living in Google Workspace who sign and annotate documents occasionally. It is not a full replacement for Adobe Acrobat when you need advanced PDF production or desktop editing, and its signing workflows are lighter than dedicated e-sign suites. pdfFiller has a bigger form library and signNow focuses on high-volume e-sign workflows and APIs, both from the same parent company.

Buying tip: prices are localised, so European visitors see euros instead of dollars, and annual billing cuts about 25%. Because airSlate owns three overlapping products, compare limits across DocHub, pdfFiller and signNow before you commit.

Dropbox Sign, known as HelloSign until 2022, is an electronic signature service owned by Dropbox, which acquired HelloSign in 2019. It sends documents for legally binding signature, collects signatures in a simple browser flow and stores a full audit trail for every request, with an API that lets software companies embed signing directly into their own products.

The web app covers reusable templates, signing order, automatic reminders, signer fields and attachments, team management, custom branding and bulk send on higher tiers. Integrations include Dropbox, Google Drive, Gmail, Microsoft Office, Slack and Salesforce, among others. Plans include a free tier with a few signature requests per month, Essentials with unlimited requests for one sender, Standard for teams with branding, and separately priced API plans for embedded signing, templates and white-labeling.

It suits small and mid-size teams, freelancers and developers who want straightforward e-signatures without the complexity and price of DocuSign, and its signer experience is among the easiest in the category. It has fewer advanced workflow, payment and contract lifecycle features than DocuSign and no real CLM, so legal teams managing large contract volumes look at DocuSign, Ironclad or Juro. PandaDoc combines signing with document generation and quotes, while SignWell and the open-source Documenso are cheaper options for basic signing.