The best e-signature app for a marketing, design or creative agency
An agency signs on both sides of the table. Clients sign proposals, master services agreements and a statement of work for every project. Freelancers and contractors sign NDAs and contractor agreements. Account managers, the founder and finance all touch the paperwork, so seats and templates matter as much as signatures. We compared five tools from each company's own pages as of November 2026. SignMaster is ours; if proposals are your main document, a proposal tool here is the better pick.
Updated November 5, 2026 · 3 min read
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The agency document stack
- Master services agreementSigned once per client: payment terms, ownership of the work, liability. A master services agreement template keeps it consistent.
- Statement of workOne per project, under the MSA: scope, deliverables, timeline and fee. See the statement of work template.
- Freelancer agreementsAn NDA and an independent contractor agreement before anyone sees client files.
- ApprovalsA client sign-off on a creative brief, a media plan or final files, without a full contract.
Five options at a glance
| Option | Team price | Strongest at | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| PandaDoc | Starter $19 a seat a month; Business $49, both billed annually | Proposals and sales documents | Starter allows 5 templates; CRM and branding start on Business |
| Bonsai | Premium $29 a user a month billed annually; Elite $49 with a 3-user minimum | Proposals, contracts, invoices and time tracking together | Priced per user, so seats add up |
| DocuSign | Standard $25 per user a month; Business Pro $40, billed yearly | Clients whose legal teams expect it | 100 envelopes per user a year; API and bulk send on Business Pro |
| Dropbox Sign | Standard $25 per user a month, from $600 billed yearly | Unlimited requests and simple templates | 15 templates on Standard; 5 or more users talk to sales |
| SignMaster | Crew $49 a month for 5 people; Company $99 for 15 | MSAs, SOWs and freelancer paperwork with webhooks and an API | No proposal builder, no invoicing |
How each fits an agency
PandaDoc: when proposals win the work
PandaDoc is built for proposals and quotes, and for an agency that sells through polished proposals it's the natural home. Starter is $19 a seat a month billed annually with unlimited documents but 5 templates; Business, at $49, adds unlimited templates, branding, CRM integrations, bulk send and payment collection. The free plan creates 5 documents a month for a quick trial.
Bonsai: the small studio's operating system
Bonsai bundles proposals, contracts with built-in e-signing, invoices, a client portal and time tracking. Premium is $29 a user a month billed annually, and Elite is $49 with a three-user minimum. For a studio of two to five people that wants one tool instead of five, it's worth a trial.
DocuSign: for enterprise clients
If your clients are large companies, their procurement teams may prefer DocuSign. Standard is $25 per user a month billed yearly, or $30 on an annual plan paid monthly, with 100 envelopes per user a year; API access, bulk send and web forms need Business Pro at $40 billed yearly. It does the job well, and every seat is priced separately.
Dropbox Sign: if client files already live in Dropbox
Dropbox Sign's Standard plan has unlimited signature requests and 15 templates, listed at $25 per user a month billed yearly. That template cap is tight for an agency with an MSA, several SOW formats and freelancer agreements. Teams of five or more are asked to contact sales.
SignMaster: contracts and automation for the team
SignMaster is a signing app, so it pairs with a proposal or invoicing tool rather than replacing one. For agencies it brings one price for 5 people on Crew, unlimited envelopes and templates, shared team roles, your logo on signing pages, and approve and decline fields for client sign-offs. On Crew and Company, webhooks and the REST API send signed data on to other tools, including Zapier through Webhooks by Zapier. It has no proposal builder, CRM sync or payments.
A tidy contract flow for a new client
- 1
MSA first, once
Send the master services agreement with the client's signer first and your founder second. File it under the client's name.
- 2
A short SOW per project
Template the statement of work with scope, deliverables, dates and fee as fields, so a new project is a five-minute send, not a new contract.
- 3
Freelancers before files
Send the NDA and contractor agreement to each freelancer as a pair in one envelope, before they get access to the client's drive.
Questions? Answers.
Should an agency use a proposal tool or an e-signature app?
If you win work with designed proposals and pricing options, a proposal tool like PandaDoc. If your proposal is a deck and the contract is a PDF, an e-signature app plus your invoicing tool costs less and stays simpler.
Can a client approve creative without signing a contract?
Yes. In SignMaster, add an approve field instead of a signature, and the approval prints on the page with the client's name and the time. A decline field lets them say no instead. See approve instead of sign.
Does SignMaster connect to HubSpot or our CRM?
Not directly. On Crew and Company, webhooks send signed-envelope data to tools like Zapier's Webhooks by Zapier Catch Hook, which can pass it on to your CRM. See Zapier.
How many people on our team can send?
On SignMaster Crew, 5 people share one price, and each extra person is $8 a month. Company covers 15 people. Per-user apps charge every account manager and producer who sends, so count them before you compare.
Can several documents go to a freelancer at once?
Yes. One SignMaster envelope can hold several documents, like an NDA and a contractor agreement, signed in one sitting and counted as one send.
Sources
- PandaDoc pricing · pandadoc.com
- Bonsai pricing · hellobonsai.com
- Bonsai online contract maker · hellobonsai.com
- DocuSign eSignature pricing · ecom.docusign.com
- Dropbox Sign pricing · sign.dropbox.com