Published 2026-10-05 · 11 min read

Signable vs HelloSign (Dropbox Sign) for Landlords (2026): Lease Signing Compared

Signable vs HelloSign (Dropbox Sign) for Landlords (2026): Lease Signing Compared

Two e-signature tools, two completely different pricing philosophies. Signable is the UK challenger that charges per envelope — no seats, no users to count. HelloSign, now rebranded as Dropbox Sign, is the minimalist American tool that sells unlimited signature requests for a flat per-user subscription.

For a landlord, the comparison matters because signing volume is lumpy: a quiet month needs nothing, a turnover month needs everything. Pay per document or pay a flat subscription? This comparison answers that with real 2026 pricing for both, plus the features that matter when the documents are leases, addenda, and renewals.

Affiliate disclosure: we're a Signable affiliate — we earn 10% commission on any plan purchase for up to 1 year, paid out monthly via PayPal or Stripe. Our link carries a 90-day cookie, refreshed if you click again, with no minimum payout threshold. HelloSign (Dropbox Sign) is covered here as a plain reference; we have no affiliate relationship with them.

General information only — not legal advice. Electronic-signature validity rules vary by state and document type; confirm your state's requirements before going fully paperless.

The Short Version

(Pricing checked October 2026: Signable lists prices in GBP and updates them periodically — Pay As You Go is quoted around £1.50–£1.60 per envelope across listings; Dropbox Sign figures are from its 2026 pricing page. Plans and prices change; verify the current price on each provider's pricing page before you buy.)

Signable: Pay Per Envelope, No Seat Licenses

Signable is a Bristol-based e-signature company built around a simple idea: you shouldn't need a seat license to send a document. Its plans count envelopes (documents sent for signature), not users — every plan includes unlimited users and unlimited templates, which is genuinely landlord-friendly when a spouse or property manager sends documents too.

Pay As You Go (~£1.50 per envelope): no subscription, no commitment, pay only for documents you send. For a landlord signing a handful of leases a year, this is one of the cheapest legitimate e-signature routes available — five leases a year costs roughly five envelopes, not a monthly subscription that bills while you do nothing.

Small (~£29/mo or ~£319/yr): 50 envelopes per month, unlimited users and templates, custom branding, and API access. Fifty envelopes a month is far more than most small landlords need — it covers leases, addenda, renewals, and move-in/out paperwork with room to spare.

Medium (~£69/mo or ~£759/yr): 150 envelopes per month, plus team collaboration tools and bulk sending — one document to many recipients, useful for sending the same renewal offer or notice to dozens of tenants.

Large (~£169/mo, 400 envelopes) and Corporate (~£299/mo, 750 envelopes): growing-portfolio territory, with concierge onboarding, IP allowlisting, and dedicated account management at the top end. Bespoke plans cover anything above that.

Feature-wise, Signable covers the essentials: full audit trail on every document, sequential and parallel signing orders, document expiry dates, one-click reminders to slow signers, password protection, multi-factor authentication, and full legal compliance under eIDAS and the U.S. ESIGN Act. Signers never need an account — they get an email, click, and sign on any device. A 14-day free trial with no credit card lets you run a real lease through it before committing.

The honest caveats: Signable is a signature tool, not a document-management suite — it doesn't draft your lease or store a template library of state-specific legal forms. Its template and integration ecosystem is smaller than the giants, and brand recognition with tenants is lower (though tenants only see your branding and a clean signing page). Pricing in GBP means U.S. landlords absorb currency fluctuation.

Try Signable's pay-as-you-go or a paid plan here — the 14-day free trial needs no credit card.

HelloSign (Dropbox Sign): Flat Fee, Unlimited Sending

HelloSign was the indie e-signature darling long before Dropbox acquired it and rebranded it as Dropbox Sign. Its pitch is the mirror image of Signable's: instead of counting envelopes, it counts users. Every paid plan includes unlimited signature requests, so once you're in, sending more documents costs nothing extra.

Free ($0): 3 signature requests per 30-day cycle, plus unlimited self-signing that doesn't count against the cap. For a landlord who signs one lease this month and nothing next month, the free plan is genuinely viable — it's the only free tier in this comparison.

Essentials ($15/mo billed annually, $180/yr; $20 month-to-month): single user, unlimited signature requests, up to 5 templates or template links, audit trail, reminders and notifications, signer fields with data validation, and integrations with Google Drive, Microsoft Word, and HubSpot.

Standard ($25/user/mo billed annually, $30 month-to-month): 2 to 4 users purchasable online (custom pricing beyond that), unlimited signature requests, 15 templates, plus branding, bulk send, in-person signing, signer access codes (a password-like code signers must enter before viewing), and Salesforce integration.

Premium (custom): 5 or more users, unlimited templates, advanced signer fields, multi-team management, SSO, and data residency options — enterprise territory.

Where Dropbox Sign shines is simplicity. The product is deliberately minimalist: a dashboard showing what needs signing and what's been signed, templates, documents, integrations. Tenants get a clean signing page that works on any device, and the audit trail on every plan supports record-retention needs. The integrations with Dropbox, Google, and Microsoft storage mean a signed lease can live exactly where your other files live.

The honest caveats: Essentials is a single-user plan, so a spouse or property manager signing too means upgrading to Standard at $25 per user per month — the flat fee stops being flat as soon as a second person needs a seat. Template counts are tight at the low end (5 on Essentials). And unlimited sending is only as valuable as your volume — if you send four leases a year, Signable's pay-as-you-go will almost always be cheaper than $180 a year.

Head-to-Head: The Numbers That Matter for Landlords

The core question is volume. Here's how the two price a realistic landlord year — say 6 leases, 6 renewals, 6 addenda, and a few move-in/out condition reports: roughly 20 signing events.

On Signable's Pay As You Go at ~£1.50 per envelope, that's about £30 for the year — under $40 at typical exchange rates. On Dropbox Sign's Essentials at $180 a year, you pay the full subscription whether you send 20 documents or 200. At this volume, Signable wins by a wide margin.

The break-even math shifts as volume rises. At around 10–12 envelopes a month, Signable's Small plan (£29/mo) costs more than Dropbox Sign's Essentials ($15/mo) for a single user — but that assumes one sender. The moment a spouse, partner, or property manager also needs to send documents, Dropbox Sign jumps to Standard at $50–$100/month (2–4 users), while Signable's unlimited-users model charges nothing extra for more senders. Multi-sender households and small teams are where Signable's envelope model is most defensible.

Templates tell a similar story. Signable includes unlimited templates on every plan, including pay-as-you-go — your standard lease, your renewal form, your pet addendum, your move-out checklist, all saved as reusable templates. Dropbox Sign gives you 5 templates on Essentials and 15 on Standard. A landlord with a proper template library (lease, addenda, notices, applications) can bump against 5 quickly, forcing the jump to Standard.

For a landlord-style year at 20 signing events from a single sender, Signable is roughly 75–80% cheaper. For a two-person office sending 150 documents a year, Dropbox Sign's Standard ($600/yr for two users) vs Signable's Small (£348/yr) still favors Signable — and the gap widens when unlimited templates matter.

Signing Experience and Landlord-Specific Features

Both tools get the signing basics right: email your tenant a link, they sign on any device, no account required, full audit trail. For most landlords, the day-to-day difference is small.

Reminders and nudges. Both offer automatic reminders to slow signers — critical when a lease needs signing before a move-in date and the tenant keeps forgetting. Signable's one-click reminders are straightforward; Dropbox Sign's reminders and notifications are comparable.

Signing orders and expiry. Signable supports sequential and parallel signing orders plus document expiry dates — useful when the lease must be signed by both co-tenants in order, or when an offer expires. Dropbox Sign supports multi-party signing and has comparable controls, with signer access codes (Standard and up) adding a layer of security for sensitive documents.

Bulk send. Renewal season is where bulk send earns its keep: one renewal template, dozens of tenants. Signable includes it on Medium and up; Dropbox Sign includes it on Standard and up. If you send annual renewals to a portfolio, you'll want this feature — factor it into the plan choice.

Branding. Tenants trust documents that look professional. Signable includes custom branding from the Small plan; Dropbox Sign requires Standard. If your leases carry your logo, that's a point for Signable at the low end.

Compliance. Both are ESIGN-compliant with full audit trails. Signable also covers eIDAS for EU transactions, which matters only if your operation touches Europe. Neither replaces legal advice about what constitutes a valid signature in your state for specific document types.

If you already use Dropbox for file storage, Dropbox Sign's integration is a genuine convenience — signed leases land directly in your Dropbox folders. Signable integrates with Dropbox, Google Drive, HubSpot, Slack, and Zapier too, but the native Dropbox-plus-signature experience is smoother on Dropbox Sign.

When Signable Wins

• Low volume (under ~10 envelopes/month): Pay As You Go at ~£1.50 per envelope is the cheapest legitimate route — a few leases a year costs a few pounds.
• Multiple senders: unlimited users on every plan means your spouse, partner, or property manager sends documents at no extra cost — no second seat, no upgrade.
• Template-heavy workflows: unlimited templates on every plan, including pay-as-you-go.
• Seasonal volume: pay only in the months you send; quiet months cost nothing.

When Dropbox Sign Wins

• High volume from one person: unlimited signature requests for $15/month is unbeatable if one person sends dozens of documents monthly.
• Free tier needs: the free plan's 3 requests per 30 days covers genuinely occasional signing at zero cost.
• Dropbox ecosystem: native Dropbox integration keeps signed leases in your existing storage without export steps.
• Simple, familiar UX: the minimalist interface is the easiest in the industry for non-technical senders and signers.

The Verdict for Landlords

For most landlords, Signable is the better buy. The rental business is low-volume and multi-sender by nature: a few leases, renewals, and addenda a year, often sent by more than one person. Signable's pay-per-envelope model with unlimited users prices that reality honestly, while Dropbox Sign's per-user subscription is built for sales teams that send documents all day. The exception is the solo high-volume operator — one person sending 50+ documents a month should take Dropbox Sign's unlimited Essentials plan, and the genuinely occasional signer should just use its free tier.

Get started with Signable's pay-as-you-go plan — 14 days free, no credit card required.

Related Reading

• Signable vs DocuSign for Landlords — the other side of the envelope-vs-subscription debate, with the market leader in the comparison.
• Signable vs PandaDoc for Landlords — how Signable stacks up against the proposal-and-contract platform.
• Jotform vs HelloSign for Landlords — if you also need fillable forms and applications, not just signatures.
• Jotform vs DocuSign for Landlords — another angle on the form-builder-plus-signature question.
• Best Lease Agreement Templates for Landlords — the documents you'll be sending through whichever tool you pick.
• Jotform Review for Landlords — the online form builder many landlords pair with an e-signature tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is HelloSign the same as Dropbox Sign?

Yes. Dropbox acquired HelloSign and rebranded it as Dropbox Sign; all HelloSign plans are now Dropbox Sign plans. Old HelloSign links and branding redirect to the same product.

How much does Signable cost a landlord who signs 20 leases a year?

On Pay As You Go at roughly £1.50 per envelope, about £30 a year — the cost of sending ~20 envelopes. That's the realistic number for a small landlord: no subscription, no monthly fee in quiet months.

Can tenants sign without creating an account on either platform?

Yes, on both. The tenant gets an email link, opens the document on any device, and signs — no account creation, no app download required.

Which is cheaper: Signable Small or Dropbox Sign Essentials?

Signable Small is ~£29/month and Dropbox Sign Essentials is $15/month (billed annually), so Essentials is cheaper in absolute terms — but it covers one user with 5 templates, while Signable Small covers unlimited users with unlimited templates and 50 envelopes a month. Multi-sender landlords usually come out ahead on Signable.

Does either tool handle bulk lease renewals?

Both do, at the mid tier: Signable on the Medium plan and up, Dropbox Sign on the Standard plan and up. If you send annual renewals to a whole portfolio, budget for at least the mid tier of whichever you choose.

Are electronic lease signatures legally valid?

In the U.S., the ESIGN Act and state-level laws (including UETA, adopted in nearly every state) generally make electronic signatures as enforceable as wet-ink signatures for real-estate contracts — but rules vary by state and document type, and some documents (like certain eviction notices) have special requirements. Confirm with your state law before going fully paperless.

Can I start with Signable's free trial and switch later?

Yes — the 14-day free trial needs no credit card and gives you full Small-plan access, so you can run a real lease through it and compare against Dropbox Sign's free plan (3 requests per 30 days) before spending anything.