Best E-Sign Software for UK Businesses (2026): Signable vs Foxit Compared

Quick answer

Signable is the cleaner choice for UK businesses that primarily need straightforward electronic signatures — simple to set up, UK-hosted, legally valid, priced in GBP, and can have a document out for signing within minutes.

Foxit is stronger when signatures are part of a broader PDF workflow involving editing, OCR, forms, document comparison and redaction. It is also the leading cost-effective alternative to Adobe Acrobat.

The right choice depends on whether your problem is signatures only or documents end-to-end.

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Feature comparison: Signable vs Foxit

Feature	Signable	Foxit PDF Editor+
E-signatures	Yes — core product	Yes — 150 envelopes/year bundled
PDF editing	No	Yes — full editing, OCR, redaction
UK data hosting	Yes	No (US-hosted)
Pricing currency	GBP	USD
Mobile apps	Signing only	Full editor + signing (PDF Editor+)
Templates	Yes	Via eSign component
Bulk send	Yes (Medium+)	Via eSign plans
Audit trails	Yes	Yes
API access	Yes (Medium+)	Yes (eSign Business)
Integrations	Zapier, Xero, Salesforce	Enterprise integrations
In-person signing	Yes	Yes
OCR	No	Yes
Document comparison	No	Yes
Redaction	No	Yes (Smart Redact on Editor+)
Free trial	14 days, no card required	Free trial available
Pricing from	£1.50/envelope or £29+VAT/mo	~$8.25/mo (PDF Editor)

See the full Foxit review | See the full Signable review

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Signable pricing

Signable has five pricing tiers, all in GBP plus VAT:

Plan	Price	Envelopes
Pay As You Go	£1.50/envelope	No minimum
Small	£29+VAT/month	50/month
Medium	£69+VAT/month	150/month
Large	£169+VAT/month	400/month
Corporate	£239+VAT/month	750/month

Annual billing gives one month free across all plans. Unlimited users are included on all paid plans — seat count does not increase cost. Only envelope volume drives plan selection.

See the full Signable pricing guide

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Foxit pricing

Foxit has four main plans, all in USD:

Plan	Price	What's included
PDF Editor	~$8.25/mo annual ($99/yr)	Desktop/macOS/web editing, OCR, forms, redaction
PDF Editor+	~$13.75/mo annual ($165/yr)	PDF Editor + mobile apps + AI Smart Redact + 150 eSign envelopes/yr
eSign Essentials	~$8/user/mo annual	Standalone eSign — 250 envelopes/yr per user
eSign Business	~$12/user/mo annual	Unlimited envelopes — 5+ user minimum

See the full Foxit pricing guide

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UK legal and compliance: what makes a UK e-signature valid?

For most ordinary business documents, electronic signatures have been legally valid in the UK since the Electronic Communications Act 2000. The EU's eIDAS regulation was retained into UK law as UK eIDAS after Brexit, providing the regulatory framework that governs e-signatures in the UK today.

Three types of electronic signature recognised under UK eIDAS

1. Simple Electronic Signature (SES) — a name typed at the bottom of an email, a scanned signature, or a click-to-sign on a platform like Signable. Legally valid for most everyday business documents.

2. Advanced Electronic Signature (AES) — uniquely linked to the signer, capable of identifying the signer, and any subsequent change to the document is detectable. Most modern e-signature platforms (including Signable) produce AES-level signatures with audit trails.

3. Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) — the highest level, requiring a qualified digital certificate from a trust service provider. Required for specific regulated contexts such as certain land registry transactions and high-value regulated financial contracts.

What Signable provides

Signable produces signatures with full audit trails — timestamp, signer IP address, email address, document hash and signing history. This satisfies the evidential requirements for most UK business documents. Signable is UK-hosted and GDPR-compliant, removing the data sovereignty question that applies to US-hosted alternatives.

What Foxit eSign provides

Foxit eSign produces audit trail documentation and supports certificate-based signing. For teams already using Foxit for PDF editing, the eSign component adds legally valid signing without switching tools.

When to seek legal advice

For high-value contracts, regulated financial documents, property transactions, wills, and documents requiring witness signatures, always verify with a solicitor that e-signature is appropriate for that specific document type. E-signature is not universally accepted in every legal context — the document type and jurisdiction matter.

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Who each product is for

Signable: buyer profiles

Small UK accountancy practice — 3–10 staff sending 20–60 engagement letters and client agreements per month. Small plan at £29+VAT/month. The Xero integration (Large plan) connects signing to the existing accounting workflow. No PDF editing needed — documents are prepared in Word or existing templates.

Letting agent or estate agent — sending tenancy agreements, offer letters and property documents daily. Medium plan at £69+VAT/month for 150 envelopes covers most mid-size portfolios. In-person signing supports viewings where a buyer or tenant signs on a tablet.

Freelance consultant or sole trader — sending 5–15 engagement letters per month. PAYG at £1.50/envelope (£7.50–£22.50/month) may be cheaper than the Small plan until volume consistently exceeds 20 envelopes per month.

HR team at a growing SMB — monthly onboarding forms, employment contracts, policy acknowledgements. Small or Medium plan depending on headcount growth. Unlimited users means the whole HR team can send without increasing seat cost.

Foxit: buyer profiles

Individual professional replacing Adobe Acrobat — needs OCR, editing, annotation and occasional document comparison. PDF Editor at $8.25/month annual is the practical choice. If also sending 10–12 documents per month for signature, PDF Editor+ at $13.75/month includes the eSign component.

Legal or finance team working with complex PDFs — redaction, Bates numbering, form creation, document comparison. PDF Editor covers all of this. Teams sending higher volumes of documents for signature should model whether a standalone Signable plan alongside Foxit PDF Editor is more cost-effective than Foxit eSign plans.

Team replacing a legacy PDF workflow — moving from Adobe Acrobat or a similar enterprise tool. Foxit's familiarity for Acrobat users and cross-platform support (Windows, macOS, web, mobile on Editor+) makes migration straightforward.

Developer or operations team needing e-sign API access — eSign Business at $12/user/month (5+ user minimum) provides REST API access and advanced workflow capabilities. Compare against Signable's API offering (available from Medium plan at £69+VAT/month) on integration requirements.

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Envelope math: calculating the right plan

Envelope pricing only works if you know your monthly volume. Use these steps:

1. Count current monthly volume — how many documents go out for signature in an average month? Check the last three months.

2. Identify the peak month — seasonal businesses (estate agents, accountants, HR at onboarding periods) may send double their average in peak periods. Size your plan for the peak, not the average.

3. Check envelope scope — does one envelope contain one document with multiple signers? Or one document per signer? Signable uses the standard envelope model (one envelope = one sending event, which can include multiple signers and documents). Check your platform's definition.

4. Apply the plan maths:

   • Fewer than 20/month: Signable PAYG at £1.50/envelope (£30/month) vs Small (£29/month) — similar cost, PAYG avoids commitment
   • 20–50/month: Signable Small at £29+VAT/month — clear value
   • 50–150/month: Signable Medium at £69+VAT/month
   • 150–400/month: Signable Large at £169+VAT/month
   • For Foxit eSign Essentials (250/year per user): works out to ~21/month — best for low-volume individual users

5. Add 20% headroom for growth — choosing the plan that just covers current volume means you will upgrade within months.

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Getting started: Signable

1. Go to Signable and start the 14-day free trial — no credit card required on most plans
2. Upload a real document (PDF or Word file)
3. Drag signature fields onto the document at the positions you want signers to sign
4. Add signer email addresses and any message
5. Send — signers receive an email with a link to sign directly in their browser, no account required
6. Download the completed document and audit trail

The whole process from account creation to first completed envelope typically takes under 30 minutes. Test the full flow including the signer experience before the trial ends.

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Getting started: Foxit

1. Go to Foxit and start the free trial
2. Download the desktop application for Windows or macOS, or use the web interface
3. Open a PDF and test the editing features relevant to your workflow: OCR if you have scanned documents, form creation if you build fillable forms, redaction if you handle sensitive data
4. If testing eSign (PDF Editor+ or eSign plans), upload a document, add signature fields and send a test envelope to yourself
5. Verify the audit trail output meets your compliance or record-keeping requirements
6. Use the 30-day money-back guarantee on annual plans — commit only once you have validated the full workflow

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Decision checklist

Before choosing between Signable and Foxit, answer these questions:

• Do you need PDF editing (OCR, redaction, forms, comparison) or only e-signatures?
• How many envelopes do you send per month on average? What was your peak month?
• Does UK data hosting matter for your compliance or client commitments?
• Does your team use Xero, Salesforce or Zapier (Signable integrations)?
• Are you replacing Adobe Acrobat? (Foxit is the more direct replacement)
• What is your budget in GBP? (Signable is GBP-priced; Foxit is USD — factor in conversion)
• Do you need mobile editing or mobile signing only?
• Do you need API access for workflow automation?

If signatures only → start with Signable. 14-day free trial, no card required.

If editing + signing → evaluate Foxit PDF Editor+. Free trial available.

If replacing Acrobat → Foxit PDF Editor at $8.25/month is the most direct comparison.

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Bottom line

Signable is the focused UK e-sign shortlist for businesses that primarily need documents signed quickly, legally and cost-effectively in GBP. Foxit is the broader document workflow shortlist for teams that work with PDFs daily and want editing plus signing in one subscription.

The two tools are more complementary than competing — many document-heavy teams use Foxit for editing and Signable for client-facing signing workflows. Model the combined cost if you are evaluating both.

Compare Foxit vs Signable for a side-by-side breakdown.

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Pricing checked

Pricing and plan details in this guide were checked in May 2026 from public provider pricing pages and help documentation. Treat them as a buyer-friendly snapshot, not a contractual quote. Always verify live pricing with the provider before purchase.