Cheaper alternative to Yousign: the 2026 comparison
Yousign is a solid solution — but if you're looking for predictable pricing, certified EU hosting and a more flexible API, Certyneo is worth a look. Permanent free plan, 5 envelopes/month, no credit card required.
Comparison last updated
Why look for an alternative to Yousign?
No permanent free plan
Yousign offers a 14-day trial, then you must subscribe. For low or irregular volume, no sustainable free option exists.
API requires Premium plan
The REST API and webhooks are reserved for the Premium plan, at €40 excl. VAT per user per month. This is the entry ticket to automate your sendings.
Billing per sending user
Each person who sends documents adds a seat to the invoice. A growing team sees its cost grow at the same pace, regardless of the number of documents sent.
Ten interface languages
If your signers are outside Western Europe, they will sign in a language that is not theirs — a point of friction at the worst moment of the journey.
Certyneo vs Yousign — quick comparison
Figures taken from the vendors' official websites in April 2026. Yousign® is a registered trademark of Yousign SAS, a French vendor whose data is hosted in the European Union. Re-check these details before committing to a contract.
| Criteria | Certyneo | Yousign |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent free plan (no credit card) | ||
| Per-envelope pricing rather than per sending user | ||
| REST API included from the first paid plan | ||
| Interface available in more than 40 languages | ||
| SES, AES and QES levels (eIDAS) | ||
| Data hosted in the European Union | ||
| Timestamped audit trail and exportable signature evidence |
What you really pay, at equal volume
The two pricing grids cannot be compared line by line: Certyneo charges for sent envelopes, Yousign charges for users who send. The gap therefore only appears once your headcount is set.
| Criterion | Certyneo | Yousign |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes — 5 envelopes the first month, then 2 per month, no credit card required | No — 14-day trial, then mandatory paid plan |
| Paid entry price | €9/month, 25 envelopes included | €12/month per sending user |
| Billing model | Per envelope sent — the team can grow at no extra cost | Per sending user — each sender adds a seat |
| Budget for 5 senders, 100 envelopes per month | €19/month — Standard plan, 10 users included | ≈ €185/month — 5 × €37/user/month |
| REST API and webhooks | Included from the first paid plan | Reserved for higher-tier plans |
Entry prices verified from the public pricing pages of both publishers in May 2026, excluding tax. Yousign® is a registered trademark of Yousign SAS. Pricing grids change: re-check before any commitment.
The other alternatives to Yousign
Yousign is not the only option — and neither is Certyneo. Here are the main electronic signature platforms on the market, with their free offer and their exposure to the US Cloud Act, so you can compare before choosing.
| Platform | Permanent free plan | Cloud Act exposure | Detailed comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certyneo | Yes | No | — |
| Yousign | No | No | View comparison |
| DocuSign | No | Yes | View comparison |
| Adobe Acrobat Sign | No | Yes | View comparison |
| PandaDoc | Yes | Yes | View comparison |
| Dropbox Sign | Yes | Yes | View comparison |
| SignNow | No | Yes | View comparison |
Cloud Act exposure is determined by the vendor's legal domicile, not by the country of the data centre. Each name cited is a registered trademark of its respective vendor.
Why choose Certyneo?
Predictable pricing, no surprises
Permanent free plan with up to 5 envelopes per month. Paid plans by envelope or subscription — no hidden fees and no extra charge for additional users.
Data in the European Union
Certyneo is a French company, and your documents and signature data stay hosted in the European Union on our own infrastructure. GDPR-compliant by design, with no transfer outside the EU and no Cloud Act exposure.
Onboarding in 5 minutes
No sales rep, no qualification call. Create your account, upload a document, send your first envelope — in under 5 minutes.
How to migrate from Yousign to Certyneo in 3 steps
Our team supports you free of charge. Average timeframe: 48 hours to 5 business days depending on volume.
1. Export from Yousign
We retrieve your existing templates, your signatory address book and the history of signed procedures in PDF + signature proof format. Your Yousign documents remain accessible on their platform throughout the transition period.
2. Certyneo Configuration
Reconstruction of your templates in the Certyneo editor (signatures, initials, custom fields), branding configuration (logo, colors, sender email) and creation of user accounts with equivalent roles and permissions.
3. Production deployment and training
Switch new sends to Certyneo, video training (1 hour) for your team, redirection of API integrations and webhooks. Your Yousign signatures remain valid for life; you can also re-archive them in the Certyneo vault to consolidate.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Certyneo really an alternative to Yousign?
- Yes. Certyneo covers the same core use cases: eIDAS-compliant SES, AES and QES electronic signatures, multi-signer workflows, audit trail and REST API. Both vendors are French and host data in the European Union — the legal value is identical. The difference is the commercial model: Certyneo offers a permanent free plan and bills per envelope, whereas Yousign bills per sending user after a 14-day trial.
- Can I migrate my templates from Yousign to Certyneo?
- Certyneo accepts standard PDF documents. If your Yousign templates can be exported as PDFs, you can re-import them into Certyneo without losing your layout. Contact our support team for personalized assistance.
- Does Certyneo support qualified electronic signatures (QES) like Yousign?
- Yes. Certyneo natively offers all three eIDAS levels: SES (simple), AES (advanced) and QES (qualified). Certyneo's QES goes through a qualified QTSP on the EU trusted list — itsme or Evrotrust, the signer's choice, with video identity verification and documents issued by 56 countries accepted — and costs €9.90 per signature on every plan, including Free, with no add-on and no enterprise tier — cheaper and simpler than Yousign or DocuSign at that level.
- Why Certyneo instead of Yousign?
- Three structural differentiators: (1) permanent free plan (5 envelopes/month) where Yousign only offers a 14-day trial; (2) per-envelope pricing rather than per-sender-user (Yousign charges €9 to €40/user/month) — Certyneo cuts costs for teams of 5+ people; (3) REST API included from the Standard plan at €19/month (at Yousign only from the Premium plan at €40/month).
- Are Certyneo and Yousign both eIDAS compliant?
- Yes, both are. Simple electronic signatures (SES) and advanced electronic signatures (AES) issued by Certyneo and Yousign comply with European regulation eIDAS no. 910/2014 and are legally binding throughout the European Union. The difference lies in product features and pricing, not in legal value.
- What is the pricing difference between the two?
- Yousign charges per sender user (€9 to €40/user/month depending on the plan). Certyneo charges per envelope (from €9/month for 25 envelopes, up to €99/month for 1,000 envelopes), with users included. For a team of 10 people each sending 30 documents/month, Certyneo Business at €39/month replaces a Yousign Standard plan at €250/month (10 × €25).
- Can you migrate your Yousign templates to Certyneo?
- Yes. Our assisted migration team retrieves your templates, your address book and the history of signed envelopes (PDF + audit trail). Reconstruction in Certyneo is free for standard volumes; a custom service starts at €990 excl. VAT for organizations with over 1,000 envelopes or complex integrations. See /offre-migration.
- Does Certyneo offer an API like Yousign?
- Yes, and included earlier. OpenAPI-documented REST API, HMAC-signed webhooks, official SDKs and free test environment — available from the Standard plan at €19/month. At Yousign, REST API is only accessible from the Premium plan at €40/user/month.
- What is the best free alternative to Yousign?
- Certyneo offers a permanent free plan: 5 envelopes per month, for life, without a credit card, with eIDAS compliance and hosting in the European Union. Yousign, on the other hand, only offers a 14-day trial after which you must subscribe — this is the structural difference between the two entry-level offers.
- Is Yousign hosted in the European Union?
- Yes. Yousign is a French company whose data is hosted in France, with OVHcloud, and is not subject to the American CLOUD Act. On this specific criterion, Yousign and Certyneo are equal: data sovereignty is not a deciding argument between these two solutions. The real differences lie in the pricing model, the free plan, the level at which the API becomes accessible, and the number of languages.
- How much does API access cost at Yousign and Certyneo?
- At Yousign, the REST API and webhooks are reserved for the Premium plan, at €40 excl. VAT per user per month. At Certyneo, they are included from the Standard plan at €19 per month, billed per envelope and not per sending user. For a team that automates its sendings, the gap widens with each additional seat.
- Do my documents already signed with Yousign remain valid if I migrate?
- Yes, indefinitely. An eIDAS electronic signature is legally binding for life, regardless of the platform that issued it — this is the principle of open standards PAdES and RFC 3161. Your Yousign archives remain verifiable after migration, and can be re-archived in the Certyneo vault if you wish to consolidate everything in the same place.
Also worth exploring
Ready to switch to Certyneo?
Permanent free plan, no credit card required. Assisted migration available.