✍️ Inkseal
Self-hosted e-signatures. First document free, then $149 once for unlimited envelopes.
Inkseal at a glance
| Price | $149, once — no renewal |
| Replaces | DocuSign at $10/mo — roughly $120 a year, every year |
| Type | Web app — self-hosted |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Category | Finance & Admin |
Inkseal features
🖱️ Drag-and-drop fields
Render any PDF with pdf.js, drop signature / initials / date / text fields, assign each to a color-coded signer, mark required or optional.
🔀 Sequential or parallel routing
Signer 2's link only activates after signer 1 finishes — or send to everyone at once.
🖊️ Real signing experience
Signers open a unique link, see their fields highlighted, draw or type a signature, and must check "I agree to sign electronically" before finishing.
📄 Flattened final PDF
Signatures and text are embedded into the original PDF via pdf-lib at the exact recorded coordinates — plus an appended audit certificate page.
🔗 Hash-chained audit trail
Every event records the UTC timestamp, signer name and email, IP address and browser user agent, chained with sha256(prev_hash + event) and rooted in the original document's own SHA-256. One-click Verify recomputes the whole chain and pinpoints any tampering.
📜 Certificate of Completion
Every final PDF gets an appended certificate page: envelope ID, document SHA-256, every signer's email, consent time and signing time, and the full audit trail with chain hashes.
⚖️ ESIGN / UETA / eIDAS-aware
Explicit consent capture, click-to-sign intent, signature-record association and tamper-evident retention — simple electronic signatures, honestly documented (no QES, no certification claims).
📋 Templates
Save a document's field layout once, spin up new envelopes from it with fresh signers by role. Decline, void and remind flows included.
$149 once — that's the whole pricing page
DocuSign charges $10/mo — roughly $120 a year, every year. Inkseal is a single payment, and it keeps working whether or not we ever sell another copy.
Or get Inkseal inside the full suite — every app in the catalog, currently $97 for the bundle. See the bundle →
Inkseal guides & pages
Honest answers
How does "first document free" work?
Every install can create and fully complete one envelope free — send it, collect all signatures, download the flattened PDF with its certificate page. Creating a second envelope asks for a $149 lifetime license key (sold on Whop). One payment, unlimited documents forever.
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes — the full source is MIT-licensed at github.com/bensblueprints/inkseal-mvp and always will be. The $149 buys the license key plus the signed Windows installer, 1-click setup and updates instead of running git clone yourself.
Are the signatures legally valid?
Inkseal implements the core requirements commonly associated with ESIGN/UETA (US) and basic eIDAS "simple electronic signature" validity: demonstrated intent via click-to-sign, consent capture (completion is refused without the "I agree to sign electronically" checkbox), association of the signature with the record, a tamper-evident hash-chained audit trail, and copies for all parties. It is NOT a Qualified Electronic Signature (eIDAS QES) — no certificate-based digital signatures, no Qualified Trust Service Provider, no KBA identity verification, and no compliance certification is claimed. That's fine for everyday agreements like leases, contracts and NDAs; legal sufficiency depends on jurisdiction and document type, so if you need QES or work in a regulated industry, consult a lawyer first. Full details on the Inkseal compliance page.