# APISign

> APISign is an e-signature API built for software and AI agents. You write a contract as Markdown (or import a Word file), send it to signers by email, and get back a signed PDF with a SHA-256 completion seal. It works through a remote MCP server, a REST API, a CLI and a web dashboard. Pricing is $0.25 per contract sent, with no subscription or per-seat fees, and every new account starts with 20 free contracts.

Key facts, current as of October 2026:

- **Pricing:** $0.25 each time a contract is sent. A resend counts as another send. Extra signers cost nothing extra. Test-mode contracts are free. There are no subscriptions, seats or minimums. Customers keep a prepaid balance, with optional auto-recharge, and a send with too little balance returns HTTP 402. New organizations get $5.00 of credit (20 contracts) without a card.
- **MCP server:** `https://apisign.io/mcp`, Streamable HTTP transport, authenticated with OAuth 2.1 (dynamic client registration, PKCE; Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor connect with just the URL and a sign-in) or an `x-api-key` header. It has 12 tools: `template_list`, `template_get`, `template_create`, `template_update`, `template_upload`, `template_archive`, `contract_list`, `contract_get`, `contract_create`, `contract_update`, `contract_send`, `contract_cancel`. A Read Only key exposes only the list and get tools. It is listed in the official MCP registry as `io.apisign/apisign`. Claude's connectors and Claude Code connect over OAuth; with an API key, Claude Code and Cursor connect directly and Claude Desktop through the `mcp-remote` bridge. Agents poll `contract_get` for status, because MCP has no push.
- **REST API:** base URL `https://apisign.io/api`, JSON bodies, authenticated with an `x-api-key` header. A contract is created with `POST /contract/create` and sent with `POST /contract/send`. There is an OpenAPI spec at `https://apisign.io/api/openapi`.
- **CLI:** npm package `apisign-io` (binary `apisign`), Node 18+. `auth login --api-key`, `template list/get` and `contract list/get` are the dependable commands today.
- **Contracts:** Markdown with `{{variable}}` placeholders. Creator variables are filled in when the contract is created; signer fields (signature, initials, signer name, timestamp, text, email, phone, date) are filled in when signing. Word `.docx` files can be imported; legacy `.doc` and PDF cannot. There is a library of 37 free contract templates, and an AI assistant in the template editor drafts, edits and reviews templates on request.
- **Signing:** each signer gets an emailed link and needs no account. Signatures are drawn by mouse or finger. All signers are emailed at once and can sign in any order; `signing_order` only sets display order. The signing deadline is 1–365 days, 30 by default; after it passes, the link stops working.
- **Completion:** when every signer has signed, the contract status becomes `signed`. A PDF with a visible SHA-256 completion seal and a link to a public verification page (`/verify/{id}`) is emailed to every signer and to the sending organization. Every view and signature is logged with time, IP address and device.
- **Statuses:** contracts are `draft`, `sent`, `signed` or `cancelled`. A contract past its deadline may also show `expired`. Signers are `pending`, `signed` or `declined`.
- **Webhooks:** `contract_created`, `contract_sent`, `contract_resent`, `contract_viewed`, `contract_signed`, `contract_completed`, `contract_declined`, `contract_expired`, `contract_cancelled`. Each delivery is signed with HMAC-SHA256 (`X-Webhook-Signature: t=…,v1=…`).
- **Test mode:** set when a contract is created. A test contract is never charged and needs no balance. Its emails go to the sender instead of the signers, and its PDF is stamped TEST.
- **Not currently offered:** embedded or iframe signing, official SDKs, SMS delivery, in-person signing, bulk send, enforced sequential signing, typed or uploaded signatures, automatic reminders, a decline button for signers, SSO, a SOC 2 report or HIPAA BAA, and on-premise hosting.
- **Contact:** help@apisign.io, or https://apisign.io/support.

## Docs: Getting Started

- [Quick Start](https://apisign.io/docs/quick-start): Sign up, create your first template and send a contract for signature in minutes.

## Docs: Templates

- [Templates Overview](https://apisign.io/docs/app/templates): Understand how templates work and their role in contract creation.
- [Creating Templates](https://apisign.io/docs/app/templates/creating): Build templates with the editor, the template library, Word import and the AI assistant.
- [Template Variables](https://apisign.io/docs/app/templates/variables): Use dynamic placeholders for names, dates, amounts, signatures and other fields.
- [Writing Guide](https://apisign.io/docs/app/templates/writing-guide): Best practices for clear, professional contract language.

## Docs: Contracts

- [Contracts Overview](https://apisign.io/docs/app/contracts): Learn the contract lifecycle from creation to completion.
- [Creating Contracts](https://apisign.io/docs/app/contracts/creating): Create contracts in the dashboard or with the API, from a template or your own content.
- [Signing Process](https://apisign.io/docs/app/contracts/signing): Understand how signers receive, review, and sign contracts, and what happens when everyone has signed.

## API, MCP and CLI reference

- [API Overview](https://apisign.io/docs/api/reference): Quick start guide, base URL, and error handling.
- [Authentication](https://apisign.io/docs/api/auth): API keys and security best practices.
- [Contracts API](https://apisign.io/docs/api/contracts): Create, send, and manage contracts for signing.
- [Templates API](https://apisign.io/docs/api/templates): Manage reusable contract templates with variables.
- [Webhooks](https://apisign.io/docs/api/webhooks): Receive real-time notifications when contracts are viewed, signed, or completed.
- [MCP Server](https://apisign.io/docs/api/mcp): Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other AI agents with OAuth or an API key to manage templates and send contracts.
- [CLI](https://apisign.io/docs/api/cli): Manage templates and contracts from your terminal, or from a script.

## Machine-readable

- [All documentation as one Markdown file](https://apisign.io/llms-full.txt): every page above, in full
- [OpenAPI 3 spec](https://apisign.io/api/openapi): the REST API as JSON
- [MCP server card](https://apisign.io/.well-known/mcp.json): remote MCP server at https://apisign.io/mcp, registry name io.apisign/apisign

## Product

- [Pricing](https://apisign.io/pricing): $0.25 per contract sent, no subscription, 20 free contracts to start
- [Contract template library](https://apisign.io/templates): 37 free contract templates with fill-in variables, usable as-is in APISign
- [Comparisons](https://apisign.io/compare): APISign compared with other e-signature providers
- [Support](https://apisign.io/support): contact the team

## Optional

- [APISign vs Adobe Acrobat Sign: Pay-Per-Contract API](https://apisign.io/compare/adobesign)
- [APISign vs DocuSeal: Managed API vs Self-Hosted Signing](https://apisign.io/compare/docuseal)
- [APISign vs DocuSign: $0.25 Contracts, No Subscription](https://apisign.io/compare/docusign)
- [APISign vs eSignatures.com: Same Model, Half the Price](https://apisign.io/compare/esignatures)
- [APISign vs Xodo Sign (eversign): Pay-Per-Use Alternative](https://apisign.io/compare/eversign)
- [APISign vs GetAccept: The Developer-First Alternative](https://apisign.io/compare/getaccept)
- [APISign vs Dropbox Sign (HelloSign): API Pricing Compared](https://apisign.io/compare/hellosign)
- [APISign vs OneSpan Sign: The Simpler Developer Alternative](https://apisign.io/compare/onespan)
- [APISign vs PandaDoc: Simple Contract Signing API](https://apisign.io/compare/pandadoc)
- [APISign vs SignNow: API-First E-Signature Alternative](https://apisign.io/compare/signnow)
- [APISign vs Zoho Sign: E-Signature API Without Seats](https://apisign.io/compare/zohosign)
- [13 Free Contract Templates Small Businesses Actually Send](https://apisign.io/blog/2026/free-contract-templates-small-business): The contract templates small businesses use most, from NDAs and contractor agreements to waivers and bills of sale, and how to set each one up for e-signature.
- [How to Send a Contract for Signature, Start to Signed](https://apisign.io/blog/2026/how-to-send-a-contract-for-signature): A step-by-step guide to sending your first contract for e-signature with APISign, from template to signed PDF, including the test send and the mistakes to avoid.
- [Turn a Word Contract into an E-Signature Template](https://apisign.io/blog/2026/your-contract-is-already-a-word-doc): Import a .docx contract into APISign, fix what doesn't convert, mark variables and signature fields, then send a free test before a real signer sees it.
- [MCP in Practice — Wiring Agents to Your Contracts](https://apisign.io/blog/2026/mcp-in-practice): How the APISign MCP server works at the wire level, how to connect it to Cursor or Claude Code with an API key, and agent workflows worth building.
- [A Signal Across the Water — APISign Is on Facebook](https://apisign.io/blog/2026/signal-across-the-water): APISign now has a Facebook page. Gilberto on building in public, and where to follow our product updates, engineering notes and news from the lighthouse.
- [MCP for You — Letting AI Agents Send Your Contracts](https://apisign.io/blog/2026/mcp-for-you): Gilberto on the Model Context Protocol, the open standard that lets AI assistants use tools, and the APISign MCP server that lets an agent send your contracts.
- [Building a Fortress One Signature at a Time](https://apisign.io/blog/2026/security-fortress): Document signing security isn't about paranoia — it's about understanding that every signature is a door, and you better know who has the keys.
- [Why Your Business Doesn't Need Another Dashboard](https://apisign.io/blog/2026/api-first-vs-traditional): How developers skip bloated signing dashboards and send contracts from their own code at $0.25 each, with no seats, no subscription and no workflow designer.
- [The Distance Between Send and Signed](https://apisign.io/blog/2026/the-distance-between-send-and-signed): Gilberto reflects on signing documents by email in 2026 — how a lighthouse keeper who has never sent an email thinks about the world's fastest envelope.
- [When AI Meets the Signature Line](https://apisign.io/blog/2026/ai-powered-document-signing): Gilberto on AI in document signing, which promises are still brochure talk, and what already works today, from AI-drafted templates to agents sending contracts.
- [Time and the Paperwork Sea](https://apisign.io/blog/2025/time-and-the-paperwork-sea): Gilberto's sharpest critique — how administrative tasks that add no value are drowning us, and the story of a fisherman who lost two years of his life to forms.
- [What the Fog Teaches You About Trust](https://apisign.io/blog/2025/what-the-fog-teaches-you-about-trust): On foggy nights ships trust the lighthouse. Gilberto on trust, contracts, and the difference between agreements that build bridges and ones that burn them.
- [The Oldest Promise](https://apisign.io/blog/2025/the-oldest-promise): From Sumerian grain receipts to today's e-signatures — five thousand years of written agreements, and how we nearly ruined the simplest invention we have.
- [Contracts at the Edge of the World](https://apisign.io/blog/2025/contracts-at-the-edge-of-the-world): Maritime law, handshake deals, and why we write things down — lessons from sailors who made agreements in foreign ports with nothing but their word.
- [The Weight of a Signature](https://apisign.io/blog/2025/the-weight-of-a-signature): Gilberto reflects on what it means to sign your name — from ancient clay tablets to the lighthouse keeper's log he's signed for fifty years.
- [A Light for the Paper Storms](https://apisign.io/blog/2025/hello-world): Gilberto introduces APISign from his lighthouse off the coast of Greenland — a reflection on time, isolation, and why document signing shouldn't sink your ship.
- [Meet Gilberto Mares, Keeper of the Kråkeholm Light](https://apisign.io/blog/2025/meet-gilberto): Introducing the voice behind the APISign blog — a lighthouse keeper who has spent fifty years watching the world from the edge of it.
- [Apartment Lease Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/apartment-lease)
- [Bill of Sale](https://apisign.io/templates/bill-of-sale)
- [Business Purchase Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/business-purchase)
- [Commercial Lease Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/commercial-lease)
- [Consignment Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/consignment-agreement)
- [Consulting Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/consulting-agreement)
- [Copyright Assignment](https://apisign.io/templates/copyright-assignment)
- [Employee Non-Compete Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/employee-non-compete)
- [Full-Time Employment Contract](https://apisign.io/templates/employment-full-time)
- [Part-Time Employment Contract](https://apisign.io/templates/employment-part-time)
- [Freelance Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/freelance-agreement)
- [Independent Contractor Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/independent-contractor)
- [Internship Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/internship-agreement)
- [Lease Termination Letter](https://apisign.io/templates/lease-termination)
- [Release of Liability Waiver](https://apisign.io/templates/liability-waiver)
- [Licensing Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/licensing-agreement)
- [LLC Operating Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/llc-operating-agreement)
- [Loan Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/loan-agreement)
- [Maintenance Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/maintenance-agreement)
- [Marketing Services Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/marketing-services)
- [Model Release Form](https://apisign.io/templates/model-release)
- [Month-to-Month Rental Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/month-to-month-rental)
- [Music/DJ Performance Contract](https://apisign.io/templates/music-dj-contract)
- [Non-Disclosure Agreement (One-Way)](https://apisign.io/templates/nda-one-way)
- [Non-Disclosure Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/nda)
- [Non-Compete Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/non-compete)
- [Employment Offer Letter](https://apisign.io/templates/offer-letter)
- [Partnership Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/partnership-agreement)
- [Photography/Videography Contract](https://apisign.io/templates/photography-contract)
- [Power of Attorney](https://apisign.io/templates/power-of-attorney)
- [Promissory Note](https://apisign.io/templates/promissory-note)
- [Purchase Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/purchase-agreement)
- [Room Rental Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/room-rental)
- [Sales Commission Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/sales-commission)
- [General Service Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/service-agreement)
- [Sublease Agreement](https://apisign.io/templates/sublease-agreement)
- [Employment Termination Letter](https://apisign.io/templates/termination-letter)