PandaDoc

What it is

PandaDoc is built for the documents that sell something: proposals, quotes, sales agreements. You build them in a drag-and-drop editor with embedded video and pricing tables, send them for signature, and see what the recipient did with them, including which sections they read and how long they spent.

The e-signature is part of it rather than the whole point. On Business you get CRM integrations, approval workflows, content libraries, deal rooms, bulk send and payment collection, and Enterprise adds configure-price-quote, workflow automation, SSO and API access.

Who it's for (and who it isn't)

It fits sales teams whose proposals matter to the outcome: agencies, consultancies, B2B services, anyone whose quote is a document rather than a number in an email. Recipient analytics is genuinely useful here, because knowing a prospect reopened the pricing page twice tells you when to call.

It is a weaker fit if all you need is a signature on a standard contract, where DocuSign is simpler and more widely recognized. It is also not a contract lifecycle system for a legal department: obligations, renewals and clause libraries at that level are a different category of product.

Pricing

PandaDoc is freemium. The free plan includes 60 documents per year, 5 legally binding eSignatures per month, up to 5 templates, the drag-and-drop editor, real-time tracking and 24/7 support. Starter is $19 per seat per month billed annually and adds unlimited document uploads and templates. Business is $49 per seat per month billed annually and adds CRM integrations, custom branding, content library, deal rooms, approval workflows, web forms, bulk send, pricing tables, payment collection and recipient analytics. Enterprise is priced per seat or per document on request. Annual billing saves up to 46% against monthly.

The free plan is unusually generous for this category and worth taking seriously: 60 documents a year covers a freelancer or a small consultancy completely.

Set it up

Official guide: Create a document (new experience)

1. Create a PandaDoc account on the Free plan. The Free plan includes 60 documents per year, 5 legally binding eSignatures per month (a legally binding eSignature is a signature a customer adds online) and up to 5 templates. Have your latest proposal at hand, because you will rebuild it in the next step. You now land in your PandaDoc workspace.
2. Build your template. A template is a reusable master copy of a document, so you only change the details that differ per customer. Select "Templates" in the left panel, then "+Template". Choose "+Blank", or pick one from the Template gallery, or convert a .docx file. Click the preview to edit, add your standard sections, and select "Save changes". You now see your template with a role called Client.
3. Make the customer's details fill themselves in. A role is a placeholder for a future recipient. In the editor, type {{Client.FullName}} where the customer's name belongs. When you later assign a person to the Client role, their name appears everywhere you used it.
4. Select "Use this template" to create your first real proposal. The guided flow opens with a step indicator at the top. In the "Add recipients" step, assign your customer, or a colleague as a test, to the Client role. You now see that person's name on the Client role.
5. On the last step, check the document name, the "Send to" list, the email subject and the email message. Then select "Send document" in the top-right corner, which emails the document to everyone on that list. You can select the link icon next to it to get a shareable link instead. The document now goes out.
6. Go to Home and open the "Waiting for others" tab. Your proposal is listed there as "Sent" until a recipient opens it, and as "Viewed" after. To nudge a customer, hover over the document, click the three dots on the far right and select "Send reminder", which emails the customer. The customer now gets a reminder.

When this works, your standard proposal is a template, one real proposal has gone out, and you can see on the Home page whether it was opened. Next, create your next proposal from the same template and change only the customer details.

Strengths and limitations

The strength is that the document is a sales instrument, not just a signature carrier. Templates plus pricing tables plus tracking shorten the time from conversation to signed agreement, and the free plan means you can prove that before paying.

The limitations are tier placement and price. The features people actually want, CRM integration, analytics, approval workflows and pricing tables, sit on Business at $49 per seat per month, which for a three-person sales team is a real annual number. Legal depth beyond signing is not the product. And as with any e-signature, whether a simple electronic signature is sufficient depends on the document type and the country, so check before assuming.