head to head · open source
Docuseal vs signaturepdf
Docuseal has 18,558 GitHub stars, 1,867 forks, 121 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. signaturepdf has 831 stars, 108 forks, 69 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. Docuseal leads on adoption by 2,133% (18,558 vs 831 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 13%. 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.
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Side by side
| Docuseal | signaturepdf | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 831 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 108 |
| 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 is an open source document filling and signing platform for individuals and teams, and its repository describes it as an open source alternative to DocuSign. It is built in Ruby on Rails and uses a self hosted deployment model, with interface components associated with Tailwind CSS, Vue, and Hotwire Turbo.
read the full Docuseal overview →
About signaturepdf
Signature PDF is a free, open source web application under the AGPL 3.0 licence that lets people sign a PDF alone or together with others while also organizing pages, editing metadata, and compressing the file, and it is aimed at individuals, associations, cooperatives, and hosting providers who would rather run document signing on infrastructure they control than hand documents to a third party service.
read the full signaturepdf overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Docuseal or signaturepdf more popular?
Docuseal has 18,558 GitHub stars and signaturepdf has 831. 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 (18,558 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.