How to sign a PDF for free

First, we should be upfront

Sign PDF has no free plan. The Light plan is $5 a month for two documents and the Full plan is $10 a month for unlimited documents. You can upload a PDF and watch us place the signature boxes without signing up, but sending it needs a plan.

So this page lists what is genuinely free, including other companies' tools, and explains where each one stops.

Free ways to put your own signature on a PDF

These cost nothing, have no monthly limit and do not watermark the file.

• Preview on Mac: Sign button in the Markup toolbar. Saves signatures for reuse. Mac only.
• Markup on iPhone and iPad: Files app or Mail, Add button, Add Signature. Saves signatures. Apple devices only.
• Microsoft Edge on Windows: Draw tool. No saved signature, you redraw each time.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader (desktop and mobile): Fill & Sign. Saves signatures. Large install and frequent prompts to upgrade.
• Google Drive on Android: annotate pen. Freehand only, saves as a copy.

Free ways to get someone else's signature

This is where free gets thin. Figures below are from each company's own pricing page as checked on 24 October 2026; they change, so check before relying on them.

• Dropbox Sign: free plan with 3 signature requests a month.
• PandaDoc: free plan with 5 documents a month.
• Zoho Sign: free plan with 5 envelopes a month.
• Smallpdf: free plan with 2 documents a month.
• DocuSign: free to sign documents others send you; sending needs a trial or a paid plan.
• Google Docs eSignature: included with Workspace Individual and certain business plans, which are themselves paid; not on free personal Gmail.

The catch with the do-it-yourself route

You can, technically, email a PDF and ask the other person to sign it in Preview or Edge and send it back. It costs nothing and is legally an electronic signature. The problem appears months later, if they deny signing or claim the payment terms were different. You hold a file with a picture on it and an email thread. There is no verified identity, no timestamp you did not create, and nothing to show the clauses were not edited afterwards.

Free tiers from e-signature companies do record that evidence, so for one or two documents a month they are a sensible choice. When you outgrow them, compare monthly prices rather than annual ones, as several providers only quote the annual rate up front.

When paying $5 makes sense

If you send a couple of contracts a month (a lease, a freelance agreement, a consent form), Sign PDF's Light plan covers two documents, each with as many signers as you like, for $5 a month with no annual commitment. A document counts once, however many people sign it, and drafts are free. You get the certificate of completion, the hash-chained audit trail and the DigiCert-timestamped seal on every document, not just on a higher tier.