Free PDF signature · no sign-up

Sign a PDF without an account

You can sign a PDF online for free with no account on free-sign.com: drop the file, type your email and name, and confirm with a 6-digit code we email you. The PDF never leaves your browser — only its SHA-256 fingerprint is sent — and the download is a cryptographically signed PAdES PDF with your own X.509 certificate, not a pasted signature image. There is no password, no card and no monthly document cap.

What “no account” means here

Most “sign PDF free” tools still ask you to sign up, or let you sign only documents someone else sent through their platform. FreeSign has no user accounts at all — there is nothing to log in to. Instead, every signing ceremony is verified on its own:

Email one-time code. You type an email address; a 6-digit code is sent to it and is valid for 10 minutes. Typing it proves you control that inbox right now. The verified address is written into your signing certificate.
Optional passkey. After a successful signature you can save a passkey, so next time you confirm with Touch ID, Windows Hello or your phone instead of waiting for a code. Skipping it changes nothing about the signature.
A browser-held key. Your browser creates a non-extractable signing key for the ceremony (WebCrypto) and signs your consent with it; the server checks that signature before it issues anything.

So “no account” does not mean “anonymous”: the signature is still bound to a verified email and the name you typed. It means there is no profile, no password and no document library on our side to manage, leak or pay for.

A real signature vs a pasted image

Many free PDF signers stamp a drawn or typed image onto the page. That looks like a signature but proves nothing: anyone can copy the image, and nothing detects later edits. FreeSign produces a cryptographic signature that PDF software can check.

What you get	FreeSign (free, no account)	Pasted signature image
PDF uploaded to the service	No — only a SHA-256 hash	Usually yes, to place the image
Detects any later change to the file	Yes — CMS signature over the signed byte range	No
Signer identity in the file	Per-signer X.509 certificate: your typed name + verified email	Only the picture
Trusted time of signing	RFC 3161 timestamp (PAdES-B-T) + OpenTimestamps anchor to Bitcoin	None
Audit trail	Evidence embedded in the signature; tamper-evident hash-chained audit log	None
Verify with independent tools	Adobe Reader, `openssl`, pyHanko, /verify	Nothing to verify
Adobe Reader signature panel	Yellow — integrity & time verified, CA not on Adobe's AATL list	No signature panel

The signed PDF also gets an appended certificate of signatures page listing each signer, so a human reader sees who signed without opening a signature panel. Every signature additionally carries a post-quantum co-signature.

How to sign a PDF online free, step by step

These are the actual controls on free-sign.com. A first signature typically takes about a minute, most of it waiting for the email.

Drop the PDF. Drag it into the dropzone or click Choose PDFs — up to 10 files at once, max 50 MB each. Your browser computes the document's SHA-256 and shows a first-page preview. Nothing has been uploaded.
Enter your email and full legal name, then tick consent. The name appears as the signer on the certificate page of the signed PDF and in the certificate itself.
Click Sign in this browser. That is step 1 of 2: it requests your code. A quick human check may run first; the code is emailed as soon as it passes.
Type the 6-digit code and click Verify & sign. Your browser signs the consent payload, the server issues your one-ceremony certificate and timestamp, and the signature is merged into the PDF locally. The app re-verifies the signed file before showing your receipt.
Click Download signed PDF. That single file is the whole evidence package. You can also save a passkey for next time, or download the .ots timestamp proof separately.

Signing several PDFs? Drop them together: one code covers the whole batch, and each document gets its own signature. If the other party needs to sign, send them the signed file; they repeat the same steps and their signature is added as a new revision. Contract-specific walkthroughs: sign an NDA without an account and sign a PDF without uploading it.

Limits and honest caveats

You need a working inbox. No email, no code. Codes expire after 10 minutes, and resends are rate-limited (a short cooldown between codes and a cap per 15 minutes) to stop abuse.
You need a modern browser. Signing relies on WebCrypto and local storage for the ceremony key — any current Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge works, on desktop or mobile.
Adobe shows yellow, not green. The FreeSign CA is not on Adobe's AATL trust list, so Reader warns by default even though integrity and time verify. Recipients can trust the FreeSign CA locally once; the AATL green check is an Enterprise option on request (pricing).
No hosted workflow. No sender dashboard, routing, reminders, templates or document storage — you keep the PDF and send it on yourself. That follows from never holding the file.
Not a qualified signature. The evidence is designed for ESIGN/UETA and eIDAS Article 26 (advanced-signature-style) use, not QES.
What is retained. Per the privacy policy: no PDF, ever. For signed envelopes we keep hashes, the signing certificate (which contains your typed name and verified email), a keyed hash of your email used to match you to the envelope, a request fingerprint (IP, browser, coarse Cloudflare location) and the audit chain, for 10 years as evidence. Abandoned attempts are pruned automatically, typically within a few days. The signed PDF carries your name and email in plain text, so whoever you send it to can read them.

Checking the result

Drop the signed file into the FreeSign verifier (it runs in your browser; its source is open on GitHub) or open it in Adobe Reader's signature panel. Technical readers can check it with openssl cms -verify or pyHanko — no FreeSign account, API key or call to our servers needed. More background: what a free e-signature is and why no-upload matters.

FAQ

Can I really sign a PDF without creating an account?

Yes. There is no sign-up, no password and no card. Each signing is verified with a one-time 6-digit code sent to the email you type, so you need access to a real inbox, but not an account.

Is it actually free, or is there a monthly limit?

It is free with no document or signature cap and no per-seat fee. The only limits are technical: up to 10 PDFs per pass, 50 MB per file, and anti-abuse rate limits on how often codes can be emailed.

Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?

No. The browser sends only the document's SHA-256 hash and the signing-ceremony data. The PDF bytes are hashed, previewed and sealed on your device.

What does FreeSign keep after I sign?

No PDF. For signed envelopes it keeps hashes, the signing certificate (which contains your typed name and verified email), a keyed hash (HMAC) of your email used to match you to the envelope, a request fingerprint and the hash-chained audit trail, for 10 years as evidence. Abandoned, unsigned attempts are pruned automatically, typically within a few days. The signed PDF itself contains your name and email in plain text.

Will Adobe Reader show a green check?

Not on the free tier. Adobe Reader shows a yellow warning because the FreeSign CA is not on Adobe's AATL trust list. Integrity and signing time still verify, and a recipient can trust the FreeSign CA locally once to see green on their device. The AATL green check is an Enterprise option on request.

Can the other party countersign without an account too?

Yes. They open free-sign.com, drop the signed PDF and repeat the same steps with their own email. Their signature is appended as a new revision and both signatures stay verifiable in the same file.

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