The best e-signature app for photographers: contracts, retainers and releases

The documents a photographer signs

• Booking contractsDate, coverage hours, deliverables, retainer and cancellation terms. A wedding photography contract is the big one.
• Model releasesPermission to use a person's likeness, signed on the shoot day. See the model release form.
• Second shooter agreementsWho owns the images, how the associate is paid and what they can post, agreed before the wedding season starts.
• Event photo releasesGuests at a corporate event or school function agreeing to appear in photos, often dozens at once.

What to look for

• Retainer and contract together, so a couple can't sign and forget to pay, or pay without agreeing to your cancellation terms.
• Signing on your phone, fast, for a release with a model or a property owner who has two minutes.
• Both partners signing, each from their own email, for wedding and family sessions.
• Reusable templates with the date, package and price as fields, since most bookings differ only in those.

Five options at a glance

What each one does well

HoneyBook: the booking flow, start to finish

HoneyBook's Starter plan, at $30 a month billed annually, includes proposals and contracts, invoices and payments, a client portal and its template library, which HoneyBook describes as lawyer-approved. Clients sign on any device with no download. Essentials, at $38 a month billed annually, adds automations, unlimited scheduler sessions and room for up to 2 team members. If you want the client to sign the contract and pay the retainer in one sitting, this is the most complete option here.

Dubsado: automation for busy seasons

Dubsado's yearly plans are Starter at $335 and Premier at $525, or $35 and $55 billed monthly, both with unlimited projects and clients. Its homepage describes contracts as legally binding and signed in minutes, sent together with the proposal and invoice, plus payment plans with automatic reminders and a branded client portal. Workflows and scheduling are on Premier. The free trial runs 21 days with full Premier access and no card.

Bonsai: if photography is one of several services

Bonsai's Essentials plan covers proposals, contracts with built-in e-signing, invoices with payments and a client portal, at $19 a month billed annually or $25 monthly. It's aimed at freelancers broadly rather than photographers in particular, which suits someone who also does video or design work.

SignWell: just the signatures

If invoicing already lives in your accounting app, SignWell handles the contract alone. Free covers 3 documents a month; Light removes the cap at $10 a month billed yearly. In-person signing, handy for a release on location, needs Business at $30 a month billed yearly.

SignMaster: releases on the spot

SignMaster has no invoicing or payments, so it pairs with your booking tool rather than replacing it. What it does well: in-person signing of a model release on your iPhone on every plan, including Free, with the screen locked until you take the phone back; a public link with a QR code for event guests to sign photo releases on their own phones; and signing pages in 6 languages for destination clients or Spanish-speaking families. Couples can sign the contract from their own links in any order you set.

A simple setup for most studios

1. 1

   Keep booking contracts with your invoicing

   If you use HoneyBook, Dubsado or Bonsai for retainers, let the contract live there too, so payment and signature stay linked.

2. 2

   Put releases on your phone

   Save your model release as a template and run it in person on the shoot, so the model signs before the first frame.

3. 3

   Use a QR code for events

   Print a QR code for the photo release at the check-in table. Guests sign on their own phones while they wait.