Why self-host DocuSeal instead of DocuSign
DocuSign's pricing starts at $15/month for one user and five envelopes, climbing steeply as volume grows. For a ten-person team sending 50 NDAs and contracts per month, the annual bill quickly reaches four figures — for infrastructure you do not own and cannot audit. DocuSeal is AGPL-3.0 — source-auditable, self-hosted, and free at any volume. It stores signed documents on your own server, generates a completion certificate with IP address, email and timestamp for each signature, and exposes a REST API so you can automate signing from any workflow.
What you get with a self-hosted DocuSeal
- Drag-and-drop PDF template editor: place signature, initials, date, text, checkbox, stamp and image fields on any PDF upload.
- Multi-party signing: sequential or parallel workflows — each signer sees only their own fields.
- Shareable signing links: no signer account required; works in any browser on desktop or mobile.
- Audit trail with IP address, email, timestamp and a completion certificate per document.
- REST API and webhooks: integrate DocuSeal into your onboarding flow or trigger automations in n8n or Make.
- White-labelling: custom logo, colours and sender email via admin settings.
- Single Docker container with SQLite — idles under 256 MB RAM, zero external dependencies by default.
Requirements
A ServOrbit VPS with Ubuntu 24.04 and 1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended for high document volume). Docker is provisioned automatically. SMTP is optional. A custom domain is not required for basic operation.
Deploy DocuSeal on your VPS
One-click deploy from the ServOrbit marketplace
Open your ServOrbit control panel, go to Marketplace → Collaboration & Productivity → DocuSeal, and click Deploy. Docker pulls docuseal/docuseal:latest and starts the container in under 30 seconds. Documents and the database are stored in a persistent Docker volume at /data.
Create the admin account
Navigate to http://<your-vps-ip>:3000. DocuSeal shows a first-run wizard — enter your email and a strong password. This is the only required setup step.
Create your first PDF template
Click Templates → New template and upload a PDF. Use the drag-and-drop editor to place fields (Signature, Initials, Date, Text, Checkbox) and assign each to a signer role. Save to make it ready to send.
Send your first signing request
From the template view, click Send, fill in each signer's name and email, and click Send again. DocuSeal emails a unique signing link to each party. Without SMTP, copy links from the Submissions tab and share manually.
Configure SMTP for automatic email delivery (optional)
In Settings → Email, enter your SMTP credentials (Gmail, SES, Postmark). Once saved, DocuSeal sends signing invitations, reminders and completion notifications automatically.
Set up HTTPS with a reverse proxy (recommended)
Install Caddy (apt install -y caddy), add sign.yourdomain.com { reverse_proxy localhost:3000 } to /etc/caddy/Caddyfile, and reload. Caddy handles Let's Encrypt automatically.
Logging in for the first time
Open the URL: DocuSeal shows its initial sign-up screen, where you create the administrator account (name, e-mail, password). Allow up to a minute after the installation before the interface responds (database migrations run on first start).
Back up the /data volume before any upgrade
DocuSeal stores its SQLite database, templates and signed documents in the /data volume. Before upgrading: docker run --rm -v docuseal-data:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/docuseal-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /data. Automate this to an S3 bucket for production.
DocuSeal vs DocuSign vs HelloSign: a practical comparison
DocuSign and HelloSign are SaaS — fast to start, expensive at scale, and your documents live on their servers. DocuSeal self-hosted means your signed contracts never leave your infrastructure. Compared to Documenso, DocuSeal requires fewer dependencies (SQLite vs PostgreSQL) and has a simpler first-run experience. The main trade-off vs SaaS: you manage uptime and backups — covered by ServOrbit's daily VPS snapshots.
