HelloSign vs Certyneo comparison: which one to choose in 2026?

Introduction: why compare HelloSign and Certyneo in 2026?

With the progressive enforcement of the eIDAS 2.0 regulation and the generalisation of hybrid working, choosing an electronic signature solution has become a strategic issue for legal, HR and finance departments. HelloSign — rebranded as Dropbox Sign in 2023 but still widely known by its former name — and Certyneo position themselves in this market with very different philosophies. On one side, an American platform integrated into the Dropbox ecosystem; on the other, a European SaaS solution born to meet the regulatory requirements of the continental market. This article breaks down both offerings from the perspective of legal compliance, business functionality, pricing and user experience, to help you make an informed decision for 2026.

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1. Presentation of both platforms

HelloSign (Dropbox Sign): an American origin

Founded in 2011 and acquired by Dropbox in 2019, HelloSign is today marketed under the Dropbox Sign brand. The solution is very popular in English-speaking SMEs thanks to its ease of use and native integration with Dropbox, Google Workspace and Slack. It offers simple electronic signatures (SES) and, since 2022, an advanced form (AES) via third-party partners for certain European markets.

However, HelloSign remains a platform designed according to American standards (ESIGN Act, UETA), which creates regulatory friction for companies subject to European law. The data of signatories is hosted on American cloud infrastructures — a non-negligible constraint since the invalidation of Privacy Shield and the implementation of the Data Privacy Framework, which some legal experts still consider fragile.

Certyneo: a European SaaS solution focused on compliance

Certyneo is a B2B electronic signature SaaS designed and hosted in Europe, with an architecture built from the outset around regulation eIDAS No. 910/2014 and its eIDAS 2.0 evolution. The platform offers the three signature levels provided by the European framework — simple (SES), advanced (AES) and qualified (QES) — with qualified trust service providers (QTSP) referenced on the European Trusted List.

The solution natively integrates a comprehensive guide on the legal value of electronic signatures that legal teams can consult to calibrate the appropriate signature level for each document type. Hosting is carried out exclusively in ISO 27001 certified data centres located in the European Union, which significantly simplifies GDPR compliance.

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2. Regulatory compliance and legal value

HelloSign facing European law: structural gaps

The main weakness of HelloSign for European use lies in its relationship with eIDAS. The platform does not offer a qualified signature (QES) in its own right: to achieve this level, the user must resort to hybrid workflows with third-party providers, which complicates the chain of trust and dilutes traceability. However, certain legal acts — transfer of company shares, electronic notarial acts, certain credit contracts — require by French and European law a QES level or a notarial deed.

Moreover, the question of data localisation is central: without robust binding corporate rules (BCR) or without properly documented standard contractual clauses (SCC), exposing signatory data to American servers may contravene Articles 44 to 49 of the GDPR. A situation that has led several European DPOs to exclude HelloSign from their calls for tenders since 2024.

Certyneo and eIDAS: native compliance with three levels

Certyneo natively offers the three signature levels recognised by eIDAS, with automatic management of the required level according to the document type configured by the administrator. This approach reduces the risk of human error — signing a commercial lease with a simple SES when an AES is recommended — and simplifies the audit trail for compliance teams.

The eIDAS 2.0 regulation: understand everything introduces the European digital identity wallet (EUDIW), and Certyneo has committed to a compatibility roadmap with this new standard as early as the first quarter of 2026. HelloSign has, to date, published no official roadmap for the European market in this regard.

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3. Compared business functionality

Signature flow and automation

| Criterion | HelloSign (Dropbox Sign) | Certyneo | |---|---|---|| | Simple signature (SES) | ✅ | ✅ | | Advanced signature (AES) | ⚠️ Via third party | ✅ Native | | Qualified signature (QES) | ❌ | ✅ Native | | EU hosting | ❌ | ✅ | | REST API | ✅ | ✅ | | AI contract generator | ❌ | ✅ | | Qualified time-stamping | ⚠️ Limited | ✅ | | French language support | ⚠️ Limited | ✅ |

Certyneo distinguishes itself particularly through its AI-powered contract generator, which allows you to produce a legally structured document before submitting it for signature, without leaving the platform. HelloSign, refocused on its core "signature" business, does not offer an equivalent.

Integrations and API

HelloSign has a mature API and native integrations with Salesforce, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and Dropbox. This is an undeniable strong point for teams already integrated into these ecosystems.

Certyneo offers a documented REST API with OpenAPI 3.0, real-time webhooks and certified connectors for major HR systems (Workday, Lucca, Factorial) and ERP (SAP, Sage). For HR solutions, integration with employment contract management workflows, amendments and dematerialised pay slips is particularly advanced.

Signatory experience and mobility

Both platforms offer a signature experience without account creation for the signatory. Certyneo, however, offers a fully localised French interface, with contextual guides explaining the legal value of each signature type — an asset appreciated when rolling out to populations unfamiliar with digital tools.

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4. Pricing and economic model

HelloSign: a pricing grid focused on signature volume

HelloSign offers three pricing tiers: Essentials (~15 €/month/user), Standard (~25 €/month/user) and Premium (on quotation). Pricing is based on the number of sends per month, which can become expensive for businesses with high volumes of recurring documents. Note: advanced eIDAS compliance features are generally only available from Premium plans, with additional charges.

Certyneo: transparency and budget predictability

Certyneo adopts a per-user pricing model with signature allowances included, with no billing per transaction for standard use. You can view the full pricing grid on the Certyneo pricing page and simulate your return on investment via the ROI calculator available online.

For companies looking to migrate from another solution, the migration offer to Certyneo includes technical and legal support, as well as migration of existing workflows — a commitment rarely offered by American players.

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5. Support, accompaniment and ecosystem

Quality of French language support

HelloSign offers English-language support with variable response times depending on the plan subscribed to. In practice, French-speaking users report difficulties in obtaining precise answers to questions about European compliance, these issues often being redirected to general documentation.

Certyneo has a support team based in France, reachable by chat, telephone and email, with contractual SLA commitments from intermediate plans onwards. The Certyneo Help Centre brings together more than 200 articles in French covering business use cases, regulatory aspects and technical integrations.

Partner ecosystem and consulting

Certyneo collaborates with a network of systems integrators, law firms and accounting experts trained in eIDAS compliance. This consulting dimension — absent from the HelloSign offering — is determining for companies rolling out electronic signatures in sensitive contexts: mergers and acquisitions, litigation, healthcare or real estate sector.

Legal framework applicable to electronic signatures in 2026

European founding texts

Electronic signatures in Europe are governed by regulation eIDAS No. 910/2014 (Electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services), which is directly applicable in all Member States without national transposition. This regulation defines three signature levels:

• SES (Simple Electronic Signature): any data in electronic form attached to or logically associated with other data, used to sign.
• AES (Advanced Electronic Signature): linked uniquely to the signatory, allowing his identification, created with data under his exclusive control, and detecting any subsequent modification.
• QES (Qualified Electronic Signature): AES created using a qualified signature creation device (QSCD) and based on a qualified certificate issued by a QTSP registered on the European Trusted List. Only QES enjoys a legal presumption of equivalence to handwritten signature throughout the EU (Art. 25§2 eIDAS).

In French law, Articles 1366 and 1367 of the Civil Code recognise electronic signature as equivalent to handwritten signature provided it allows the identification of the signatory and guarantees its link with the deed. Decree No. 2017-1416 specifies the technical conditions applicable.

GDPR and data localisation

GDPR regulation No. 2016/679 requires that personal data of signatories (identity, IP address, time-stamping, certificate) be processed with a legal basis and, in case of transfer outside the EU, on the basis of an adequacy decision or appropriate safeguards (Art. 44 to 49). Hosting this data on American servers, even within the framework of the 2023 Data Privacy Framework, exposes data controllers to a residual risk documented by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB).

ETSI technical standards

Electronic signature formats for advanced and qualified signatures are standardised by ETSI: EN 319 132 (XAdES), EN 319 122 (CAdES) and EN 319 142 (PAdES for PDFs). These standards guarantee interoperability and the long-term persistence of signatures. A solution that does not generate signatures in these standardised formats exposes its users to risks of non-recognition during audits or disputes.

Time-stamping and archiving

Qualified time-stamping (Art. 41 eIDAS) brings a legal presumption on the date and time of an electronic event. It is essential for the long-term probative value of signed documents. Probative electronic archiving, governed in France by the NF Z42-020 standard, complements this arrangement for regulatory retention periods (10 years for business contracts, 5 years for accounting data, 50 years for certain civil status acts).

Legal risks of a non-compliant solution

Using an electronic signature solution that does not comply with eIDAS exposes the company to the nullity of signed acts, to evidentiary difficulties in case of dispute and, in terms of data processing, to GDPR penalties that can reach 4% of annual global turnover (Art. 83§5 GDPR).

Use cases: HelloSign vs Certyneo in real situations

Scenario 1: a law firm specialising in business law with 20 collaborators

A law firm specialising in corporate law handles dozens of share transfers, shareholder agreements and transactional protocols each month. These documents require at least an advanced electronic signature (AES) to be enforceable, and often a QES for the most sensitive acts.

With HelloSign, the legal team quickly identified the absence of native QES as a blocking point: for each document requiring this level, it was necessary to switch to a third-party provider, generating breaks in the chain of traceability and additional delays of 24 to 48 hours. After migrating to Certyneo, the firm reduced the processing time for transfer cases by 65%, by centralising the entire workflow — document generation, signature level selection, sending, automatic reminders, archiving — in a single interface.

Scenario 2: an SME in the industrial sector managing 300 supplier contracts per year

An SME in the manufacturing sector with a procurement management of 5 people must have contracts signed by suppliers spread across 12 European countries. The diversity of contacts — some of whom are not comfortable with digital — requires a simple signatory experience, available in multiple languages, without account creation.

HelloSign responded well to the "volume" dimension but presented gaps in French language localisation and customisable automatic reminders. With Certyneo, the procurement team configured distinct workflows by contract category, with appropriate signature levels (SES for internal NDAs, AES for framework contracts) and automatic reminders at D+3 and D+7. The average time for signed contracts to return fell from 8.2 days to 2.4 days, a 70% reduction, consistent with benchmarks published by professional associations in the sector.

Scenario 3: a hospital group with approximately 1,200 beds

A public health facility must digitally sign several types of documents: practitioner engagement contracts, clinical research protocols, agreements with institutional partners. The regulatory framework of the healthcare sector requires enhanced traceability and data hosting that complies with HDS requirements (Healthcare Data Host, ASIP Santé certification).

HelloSign, hosted on American infrastructure, was immediately excluded from the HDS regulatory scope. Certyneo, whose healthcare offering is built on HDS-certified hosting in France, allowed the facility to deploy electronic signature for all its HR and administrative processes in less than six weeks, with integrated user training and dedicated support. The estimated saving on recruitment and practitioner engagement processes was estimated to be equivalent to 0.8 administrative FTE per year, for a positive ROI from the fourth month of use.

Conclusion

The HelloSign vs Certyneo comparison reveals two opposing philosophies: HelloSign is a generic American solution, effective for simple use cases in English-speaking environments, but structurally limited in the face of European regulatory requirements of 2026. Certyneo, designed natively for the European market, meets the three eIDAS levels, guarantees GDPR-compliant hosting in the European Union and integrates advanced business functionality — AI contract generator, qualified time-stamping, French-language support — which are lacking in its American competitor.

For businesses subject to French and European law, the choice is clear: regulatory compliance cannot be improvised, and each document signed with an inappropriate solution is a latent legal risk. If you wish to evaluate Certyneo for your organisation, request a demonstration or create your account on certyneo.com — migration from another solution is accompanied and fully supported.