DocuSeal
Open-source document signing - field builder, multiple submitters, verified PDF eSignatures - with no envelope counting.
One-click deploy, from $13/mo on a Miget plan.
E-signature SaaS invented the strangest meter in software: the envelope. DocuSign Standard charges $30 per user per month and still caps you at 100 envelopes a year - sending an NDA twice a week exhausts it. DocuSeal is the open-source answer, and its signing core is genuinely complete in the free edition.
You get a WYSIWYG field builder (12 field types), multi-submitter flows, automatic PDF eSignatures with verification, an API, and webhooks - one Rails container on a managed Postgres, with attachments on a volume or S3.
Emails drive signature requests, so any SMTP relay plugs in - including the catalogue’s mailpit for testing the flow end-to-end before pointing at a real relay.
Upstream project: DocuSeal
#what you get
- WYSIWYG template builder with 12 field types
- Multiple submitters, signing order, completion webhooks
- Automatic PDF eSignature + verification
- API for programmatic sends; embeds in the Pro tier
- Managed Postgres via one DATABASE_URL; S3 storage optional
- AGPL core - the signing features are not paywalled
#topology
| Service | Role | Public |
|---|---|---|
| docuseal | app (:3000, fixed port) | no |
| web | nginx :5000 -> docuseal:3000 | yes |
| db | Postgres - managed service on Miget, container locally | no |
#miget sizing
// this stack needs
2 GiB RAM · 10 GB disk · 3 services
A single Puma process serves typical signing volume comfortably; documents live on the volume (or S3). Raise WEB_CONCURRENCY with RAM if traffic grows.
Hobby - recommended fit
$13/mo
1 vCPU · 2 GiB · 50 GiB disk
Headroom for your own apps: 2 GiB at $19/mo
Professional - production
$22/mo
1 vCPU · 2 GiB · 10 GiB disk
Dedicated resources, production SLOs - plan details
One Miget plan is a fixed pool of compute - the whole stack (managed databases included) deploys inside it, and anything left over runs your other apps. No per-service or per-seat math.
#vs. the managed service
What the hosted equivalents charge, against the flat Miget plan this stack fits on. Prices as of June 2026, sources linked.
| Service | Plan | Monthly | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| DocuSeal on Miget ★ | 2 GiB plan | $13 | this whole stack, flat - no usage meters, and room left for your own apps |
| DocuSign | Standard | ~$30 | per user/mo (annual) - capped at 100 envelopes per user per YEAR, overage billed per envelope |
| Dropbox Sign | Essentials | ~$15 | 1 user, 5 templates ($10/mo billed yearly) |
| DocuSeal Pro | cloud/on-prem | ~$20 | per user/mo - adds white-label, SSO, reminders, bulk send to the free core |
The envelope is the strangest meter in SaaS; self-hosted signing has no counter at all.
#vs. other PaaS
Estimated monthly cost of running this exact stack (2 GiB RAM, 10 GB disk, 3 containers) elsewhere, from published June 2026 rates.
| Platform | Est. monthly | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Miget ★ | $13 flat | compose stacks first-class: one deploy, dedicated vCPU, managed Postgres/Valkey, volumes and TLS all included in the plan |
| Heroku | ~$100 | no volumes; nothing between 1 GB ($50) and 2.5 GB ($250) dynos - 2 GB containers cost far more than shown |
| DO App Platform | ~$29 | no persistent volumes - stateful containers need managed DBs/Spaces (base $5 Spaces included here) |
| Render | ~$28 | per-service instances (0.5 GB $7, 2 GB $25) - every container is its own paid service |
| Railway | ~$22 | usage-based ($10/GB RAM-mo); vCPU billed separately at $20/vCPU-mo on top |
| Fly.io | ~$13 | cheapest sticker price - but burstable shared CPUs (1/16 core; dedicated vCPUs cost ~2-3×), no compose deploys (one app per container, manual wiring), managed DBs billed extra |
Estimates assume RAM fully allocated at published on-demand rates - and sticker price isn't the whole comparison: the cheaper rows buy burstable shared CPUs, per-service wiring instead of a compose deploy, and managed databases billed separately. Heroku and DO App Platform have no persistent volumes at all - stateful stacks like this one need workarounds there.
#deploy it
On Miget
- Create a Compose Stack in app.miget.com pointing at the templates repository
- Set the stack path to
docuseal -
Set the required variables:
SECRET_KEY_BASE, openssl rand -hex 64 - pin it across redeploysHOST / FORCE_SSL, the app’s domainSMTP_*, signature-request emails (mailpit:1025 for testing)
- Deploy. Miget layers
compose.miget.yaml(RAM, privacy, volumes, managed services) automatically
Locally first?
Every template is portable, vanilla Docker Compose - the Miget overrides are ignored locally:
git clone https://github.com/deployable-sh/stacks
cd miget-compose-templates/docuseal
docker compose up -dSame files, same behavior. The template README covers connection strings and scaling notes.
#faq
What does the math look like vs DocuSign?
DocuSign Standard: $30/user/month, 100 envelopes per user per year, overage billed per envelope. DocuSeal here: $25/month total, unlimited users and documents. A 5-person team sending contracts weekly saves over $1,500 a year and stops counting envelopes entirely.
Are self-hosted signatures legally valid?
DocuSeal produces standard PDF eSignatures with verification and a full audit trail - the same technical mechanism the SaaS products use, generally valid for ESIGN/eIDAS-grade consent flows. For qualified/advanced signature regimes, consult counsel; that is true of every e-sign product.
What is in the Pro tier I am not getting?
White-labeling, SSO/SAML, automated reminders, bulk CSV sends, conditional fields, and the embeddable signing components - $20/user/month upstream. The core loop (build template, send, sign, verify, webhook) is fully in the free edition.
DocuSeal or Documenso?
DocuSeal is lighter (half the RAM) and fastest to value; Documenso has the more polished product UX, team management, and PKCS#12 document sealing. Both are in the catalogue - deploy both for a weekend and keep the one your team likes.
Ship DocuSeal today
One compose stack, 2 GiB of RAM, from $13/month flat, and it runs on your laptop with the same files.