E-signatures

Docusign, Adobe Acrobat Sign or a cheaper option: what Irish and EU law accept, and what each costs

Article 25 of the EU's eIDAS Regulation stops an electronic signature being denied legal effect, or refused as evidence, only because it is electronic, and section 13 of the Electronic Commerce Act 2000 lets one be used where a signature is required, if whoever receives it agrees to an electronic signature. The tools differ in price and in the level of signature they give, and section 10 of the Act keeps some documents outside those rules.

By Oscar CobbeCurrent as at 30 October 20268 minute read13 sources

Three levels of electronic signature

The EU's eIDAS Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 910/2014, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2024/1183) defines three levels of electronic signature in Article 3. In each, the signatory is a natural person (Article 3(9)).

Level	What the Regulation requires	Where
Electronic signature	Data in electronic form, attached to or logically associated with other electronic data, that the signatory uses to sign	Article 3(10)
Advanced electronic signature	Uniquely linked to the signatory and capable of identifying them; created with signature creation data the signatory can use, with a high level of confidence, under their sole control; linked to the signed data so that any later change can be detected	Article 3(11) and Article 26
Qualified electronic signature	An advanced electronic signature created by a qualified signature creation device and based on a qualified certificate for electronic signatures	Article 3(12)

Which level the tools give

Docusign's plans and Microsoft's eSignature service both describe their standard signatures as simple electronic signatures under eIDAS, the first level in the table. Advanced and qualified signatures are extra options, set out below.

What each level is worth

Article 25(1): an electronic signature cannot be denied legal effect, or refused as evidence in legal proceedings, solely because it is electronic or because it does not meet the requirements for a qualified signature.

Article 25(2): a qualified electronic signature has the equivalent legal effect of a handwritten signature. Under Article 24a(1), a qualified signature based on a qualified certificate issued in one member state is recognised as a qualified signature in all the others.

Article 2(3) sets the limit of all this: the Regulation does not affect Union or national law on the conclusion and validity of contracts, other legal or procedural requirements of form, or sector-specific requirements of form. In Ireland the Act on the subject is the Electronic Commerce Act 2000, which provides for the legal recognition of electronic contracts, writing and signatures.

What the Electronic Commerce Act 2000 adds

Section 13(1): where a signature is required or permitted, by law or otherwise, an electronic signature may be used. Section 13(2) attaches the condition. A signature given to a public body needs that body's consent, and must meet any technical requirements the body has made public; one given to anyone else needs that person's consent to an electronic signature.

Section 19(1) says a contract is not denied legal effect, validity or enforceability solely because it is wholly or partly electronic. Section 22 stops the rules of evidence being used to refuse an electronic signature in legal proceedings solely because it is electronic, or because it is not an advanced signature or not based on a qualified certificate.

Two kinds of document ask for more. Where a signature must be witnessed, section 14 treats the requirement as met only if the document says the signature has to be witnessed, and both the signer and the witness use an advanced electronic signature based on a qualified certificate. Where a document must be under seal, section 16 asks for the same kind of signature from whoever seals it, with the document saying it is to be under seal. Both sections also need the consent of the person receiving the document or, where a public body receives it, that body's consent and any requirements it has published.

The legislation directory on the Irish Statute Book, updated to 21 October 2026, lists no amendment to sections 10, 13, 14, 16, 19 or 22.

Words from the old directive

The Act's definitions refer to Directive 1999/93/EC, which eIDAS repealed with effect from 1 July 2016. Article 50(2) of eIDAS says references to that directive are to be read as references to the Regulation.

Where an electronic signature is not enough

Section 10(1) of the Act says sections 12 to 23, which include its sections on writing, signatures, witnessing, seals, originals, contracts and evidence, are without prejudice to the law governing:

1The creation, execution, amendment, variation or revocation of a will, codicil or other testamentary instrument to which the Succession Act 1965 applies, a trust, or an enduring power of attorney (section 10(1)(a)).
2How an interest in real property, including a leasehold interest, is created, acquired, disposed of or registered, though not contracts to create, acquire or dispose of one (section 10(1)(b)).
3The making of an affidavit or a statutory or sworn declaration, or its use for any purpose (section 10(1)(c)).
4The rules, practices or procedures of a court or tribunal (section 10(1)(d)).

One extension so far: registered land

Section 10 lets the Minister extend the Act into these areas by regulations. The Irish Statute Book lists one set: S.I. No. 55 of 2022, which applies sections 12 to 23 to the law on how an interest in registered land is created, acquired, disposed of or registered. Unregistered land and the other documents above stay outside the Act's rules.

Docusign's Irish prices

From Docusign's Irish pricing page, in euro, in October 2026. Its plans give simple electronic signatures. Allowances are counted in envelopes: one sending, with any number of documents and signers, counts once. The page did not say whether VAT is included.

Plan	Billed annually	Billed monthly	Allowance and extras
Personal	€9 a month (€108 a year)	€14 a month	5 envelopes a month
Standard	€23 a user a month (€276 a year)	€39 a user a month	100 envelopes a user a year on annual billing, 10 a user a month on monthly; shared templates and your own branding
Business Pro	€38 a user a month (€456 a year)	€62 a user a month	As Standard, plus web forms, sending in bulk and taking payment while signing
Enhanced	On enquiry	On enquiry	Advanced (AES) and qualified (QES) signatures, among other options

A qualified signature costs extra

Docusign's page lists an EU QES add-on, for qualified electronic signatures, from €10 per recipient. Advanced and qualified signatures are also in its Enhanced plans.

Adobe Acrobat Sign

Adobe's Irish plans page puts e-signatures in its Acrobat plans. It says Acrobat Standard lets you fill in forms, sign documents and request e-signatures, and that Acrobat Pro adds reusable e-sign templates, web forms, sending in bulk, and your own logo and web address on agreements. The page fills in its prices in the browser, and it refused our automated browser in October 2026, so no Adobe price is given here.

For the higher levels, Adobe says Acrobat Sign supports advanced and qualified signatures with digital IDs from trust service providers. For a qualified signature the provider has to be one on the EU trusted lists, and Adobe does not sell the digital IDs itself.

There is a free route too. Adobe's online request-signature tool lets a free Adobe account send two signature requests every 30 days, and Acrobat Reader can send documents for signature from Tools, then Request E-signatures. The people signing do not need to buy any Adobe product.

Signing you may already pay for

Microsoft 365. Microsoft's eSignature service sends Word documents and PDFs for signature to people inside or outside the organisation, and records each step in an audit log. Microsoft describes it as using simple electronic signatures under eIDAS. It is pay-as-you-go: the organisation links an Azure subscription for billing and an administrator sets the service up, and Microsoft Learn lists the charge as $2.00 a request, in US dollars, with up to 10 recipients in a request. It can also send PDFs through Docusign or Acrobat Sign.

Google Workspace. Google's eSignature in Docs and Drive is included in Workspace Individual, and in Business Standard, Business Plus and the Enterprise editions once an administrator turns it on; Business Starter is not on Google's list. A request can go to up to 10 signers, and the signed PDF ends with an audit trail page.

Which to use

Whichever tool you choose holds the signers' names, email addresses and documents. Where it handles them on your behalf it is your processor, and Article 28(3) of the GDPR requires a contract with it: what that contract must contain. And if a signed agreement is then retyped into another system, that is the kind of job what to automate first is about.

By document:

1An everyday agreement with a customer or supplier, signed now and then: Adobe's free allowance, or the eSignature in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace if you already pay for it. Agree with the other side, before sending, that the agreement will be signed electronically: section 13(2) makes the consent of whoever receives a signature a condition.
2Regular sending with shared templates: Docusign Standard or Business Pro, or Acrobat Pro.
3A document that must be witnessed or sealed: sections 14 and 16 ask for an advanced electronic signature based on a qualified certificate, from the witness as well as the signer, which a simple signature from a standard plan does not meet. Docusign's EU QES add-on and Acrobat Sign with a qualified trust service provider give qualified signatures, which Article 3(12) of eIDAS defines as advanced signatures based on a qualified certificate.
4A will, trust, enduring power of attorney, affidavit or statutory declaration, anything under a court's or tribunal's own rules, or a transfer of unregistered land: section 10 keeps these outside the Act's electronic signature rules, and their own formal rules decide how they are made.

Sources

From signature to the next step

Build joins your e-signature tool to the systems around it, so a signed agreement is filed with the customer's record and the next job starts without anybody retyping it, and every automation retries and alerts a person when it fails. €1,500 for one connection, €3,000 for up to five workflows.

See Build

Who wrote this

Oscar Cobbe · Founder, FourWinds Digital

Writes and maintains the legal explainers on this site, and does the compliance work behind them. Every date and article number here is checked against the legislation itself before it is published, and each article shows the date it was last checked.

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