head to head · open source
Docuseal vs signaturepdf
Docuseal has 18,979 GitHub stars, 1,933 forks, 121 open issues and last shipped yesterday. signaturepdf has 832 stars, 113 forks, 69 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. Docuseal leads on adoption by 2,181% (18,979 vs 832 stars). Docuseal is written in Ruby under AGPL-3.0; signaturepdf is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0. Docuseal has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, signaturepdf 14%. Docuseal was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Docuseal | signaturepdf | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 832 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 113 |
| 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 signaturepdf if
- You want the signaturepdf feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and signaturepdf 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 signaturepdf
Signature PDF Free web software for signing (alone or with others), organizing (merge, sort, rotate, delete, extract pages, ...), editing metadatas or compressing PDFs. Instances List of instances where you can use this software: pdf.24eme.fr (by 24eme) pdf.libreon.fr (by Libreon) signature.pdf.hostux.net (by Hostux) pdf.nebulae.co (by Nebulae) pdf.kaosx.ovh pdf.ti nuage.fr (by Ti Nuage) pdf.cemea.org (by Les Ceméa) pdf.caph.info (by caph.info) pdf.spirio.fr (by Spirio.fr) pdf.sequanux.org (by Sequanux) pdf.deblan.org (by Deblan) pdf.ouvaton.coop (by OUVATON) signpdf.liber it.fr (by Liber IT)
read the full signaturepdf overview →
More in Business Software
Related comparisons
More Document Management & E-Signatures projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Document Management & E-Signatures field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Docuseal or signaturepdf more popular?
Docuseal has 18,979 GitHub stars and signaturepdf has 832. Docuseal has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docuseal and signaturepdf free?
Both are open source. Docuseal is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and signaturepdf under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Docuseal and signaturepdf?
Docuseal is written in Ruby and signaturepdf in JavaScript. 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 signaturepdf?
Choose Docuseal if you want the larger community (18,979 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose signaturepdf if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.