How to sign a PDF for free, without an account

You can sign a PDF for free in your browser, with no account, using Sign. Upload the PDF, add yourself (and anyone else who needs to sign) as a signer, sign from your private link, and download the signed PDF with its completion certificate.

Below are the exact steps, the free tools that may already be on your computer, and how to tell which kind of signature you need.

Two kinds of "signing a PDF"

People mean two different things by it.

1. Putting your signature on the page. You have a form, a lease page or a permission slip. You need your signature on it, then you email it back. Any tool that places an image of your signature on the PDF does this.
2. An electronic signature with a record. You are agreeing to something with another person, and you both want proof of who signed, when, and which version. That needs an audit trail, not only an image.

For the first kind, a tool you already have may be enough (see below). For the second, use an e-signature tool. Sign does both, free.

How to sign a PDF yourself with Sign

1. Open Sign and drop your PDF on the page. Files up to 10 MB work. No sign-up.
2. Add yourself as a signer: type your name. Email is optional.
3. Place your fields. Pick a field type (signature, initials, date, name or text) and click where it goes on the page. Drag a field to move it, and drag its corner to resize it. Every signer needs at least one signature or initials field.
4. Press Send for signature. Sign shows a private signing link for each signer, which here is just you.
5. Open your link, fill in your fields, draw or type your signature, and press Finish and sign.
6. Download the signed PDF. It ends with a completion certificate that records when you signed, from which browser, and a SHA-256 fingerprint of the exact document.

No PDF yet? Choose Write or paste text instead. Sign turns the text into a clean PDF and adds a signature, name and date for each signer at the end.

How to get someone else to sign a PDF

The steps are the same, with their name added as a signer instead of, or as well as, yours.

• Add each person who needs to sign, and place each person's fields.
• After you send, copy each signer's private link into a message, or use the Email button to open a ready-made email in your own mail app. Sign does not send email itself.
• Send each person only their own link. Anyone with a signer's link can sign as that signer.
• Keep your admin link. It shows who has opened the document and who has signed, and it is where you download the final PDF.

Signers do not need an account or an app. They sign in the browser on a phone or a computer. When everyone has signed, each of them can download the same signed PDF from their own link.

One practical note: each signer should open their link on their own device. If a browser has already opened one signer's link, Sign asks you to open a second signer's link in another browser or a private window. That keeps one person from signing for two.

Free tools you may already have

If you only need your signature on a page, and no record, these work and cost nothing:

• Mac: open the PDF in Preview and use the signature tool in the markup toolbar.
• iPhone and iPad: open the PDF in Files or Mail, tap the markup button and add a signature.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader: the free reader has a Fill & Sign tool.

These place a picture of your signature on the page. They do not record who signed or when, and they do not give the other side a matching copy. For an agreement between two people, that record is the part that matters.

Is a free electronic signature legally binding?

In the US (the ESIGN Act and UETA), the EU (eIDAS, for simple electronic signatures) and most other countries, an electronic signature is valid when the people involved intend to sign and a record is kept. Sign asks each signer to agree to sign electronically before it records their signature, and it keeps the audit trail. Some documents, such as wills and some real estate filings, need more than an electronic signature, so check the rules for yours. This is not legal advice.

Sign is not the only free option for this. DocuSeal and OpenSign are open source e-signature tools with free hosted tiers, and both can be self-hosted. For a longer look at paid and free tools, see the best free DocuSign alternatives.

What Sign does not do

• No bulk sending, CRM integrations or ID verification. If you need those, a paid tool such as DocuSign fits better.
• Password-protected PDFs need the password removed first.
• Sign does not email your signers. You send the links, by email, chat or text.

If you would rather have an AI assistant draft the agreement and send it for you, see how to have ChatGPT or Claude send a contract for signature.

Questions

Can I sign a PDF for free without creating an account?

Yes. With OpenApps Sign you upload the PDF, add yourself as a signer and sign from your private link, with no account. The people you send it to do not need accounts either.

Is a typed signature as valid as a drawn one?

In most places, yes. Under laws like the US ESIGN Act and the EU's eIDAS rules, what counts is that you intended to sign and that a record was kept, not how the signature looks. OpenApps Sign lets you draw or type your signature and records both the same way.

Can I sign a PDF on my phone?

Yes. OpenApps Sign works in the browser on any phone. Open your signing link, fill in your fields, draw your signature with your finger or type it, and download the signed PDF.

Who can see the PDF I upload to Sign?

Only you, anyone you give the admin link to, and the signers you add, each through their own private link. OpenApps Sign links are long and random, so they cannot be guessed.

Is there a limit on how many PDFs I can sign for free?

No. OpenApps Sign has no paid plan and no limit on documents or signers. The only limit is file size: an uploaded PDF can be up to 10 MB.