head to head · open source
Docuseal vs Documenso
Docuseal has 18,979 GitHub stars, 1,933 forks, 121 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Documenso has 15,633 stars, 3,432 forks, 238 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Docuseal leads on adoption by 21% (18,979 vs 15,633 stars). Docuseal is written in Ruby under AGPL-3.0; Documenso is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Docuseal has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Documenso 22%. Documenso was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 5 topic tags (document-signing, e-signature, open-source, pdf), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Docuseal | Documenso | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 16K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 3.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Docuseal if
- You weight community size — 19K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Documenso if
- You want the Documenso feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Documenso fits your workflow better
About Docuseal
DocuSeal Open source document filling and signing DocuSeal is an open source platform that provides secure and efficient digital document signing and processing. Create PDF forms to have them filled and signed online on any device with an easy to use, mobile optimized web tool. ✨ Live Demo ☁️ Try in Cloud Features PDF form fields builder (WYSIWYG) 12 field types available (Signature, Date, File, Checkbox etc.) Multiple submitters per document Automated emails via SMTP Files storage on disk or AWS S3, Google Storage, Azure Cloud Automatic PDF eSignature PDF signature verification Users management Mobile optimized…
read the full Docuseal overview →
About Documenso
The Open Source DocuSign Alternative. Learn more » Discord · Website · Documentation · Issues · Upcoming Releases · Roadmap About Documenso Signing documents digitally should be fast and easy and should be the best practice for every document signed worldwide. This is technically quite easy today, but it also introduces a new party to every signature: The signing tool providers. While this is not a problem in itself, it should make us think about how we want these providers of trust to work. Documenso aims to be the world's most trusted document signing tool. This trust is built by empowering you to self host…
read the full Documenso overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Docuseal or Documenso more popular?
Docuseal has 18,979 GitHub stars and Documenso has 15,633. Docuseal has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docuseal and Documenso free?
Both are open source. Docuseal is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Documenso under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Docuseal and Documenso?
Docuseal is written in Ruby and Documenso in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Docuseal or Documenso?
Choose Docuseal if you want the larger community (18,979 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Documenso if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.