What is a Docusign Envelope?

When you are ready to send a document for electronic signature, it is important to ensure that you are sending it properly. Saving an agreement as a PDF and attaching it to an email presents multiple risk factors to all parties involved. That’s why, when you prepare and send a document or multiple documents for signature using Docusign eSignature, those documents are added to a secure electronic container called an envelope.

Read on to learn:

• What is an envelope?

• How do I manage envelopes? 

• How do I add more envelopes to my plan?

• What is my envelope allotment by plan?

• How do seats work with envelopes?

What is a Docusign envelope?

A Docusign envelope is an electronic container used to send documents for signature via Docusign eSignature. Think of it like sending documents by physical mail, but delivered to the recipient’s email inbox. An envelope is not the document itself—it can contain multiple documents and can be sent to multiple recipients for signing or review.

How do I manage envelopes?

Envelopes are created and managed from the Manage page. From this page, users can:

• View the details of envelopes

• Sort and filter envelopes by status, sent date, or sender

• Make corrections to envelopes 

• Void or delete envelopes

• Make copies of envelopes

• Save an envelope as a template 

• Forward completed envelopes

• Share access to envelopes

To learn more about how envelopes work, including audit trails, certification of completion, checkout our support page on managing envelopes

Adding more envelopes to your plan

Docusign pricing plans start with a fixed number of envelopes and you can purchase additional envelopes or upgrade your plan as your needs increase. You can see how many envelopes you have available by logging into your account and going to the Plans and Billing page in the Settings tab.

Should you need more envelopes than the allowance on your plan, you can purchase additional envelopes on the Plans and Billing page as well. Note - you must have a Standard or Business Pro Web account and have Administrative access in order to purchase additional envelopes. Once you purchase more envelopes, you can start sending them immediately.

If you have any questions on adding envelopes or upgrading your plan, please reach out to our Customer Support team to assist you. 

Envelope Allotments by Plan

eSignature Personal Plan

Our eSignature Personal Plan includes five envelopes every month. Should you need more than five envelopes per month, you can upgrade to a Standard or Business Pro plan that offers more envelopes and greater flexibility to customize your plan based on your needs.

eSignature Standard and Business Pro Plans

We believe that send volume (i.e., number of envelopes sent for signature) should not be a deciding factor in selecting your eSignature provider, and we understand that you may not know how many envelopes you’ll need to send for signature in your first year with Docusign. Based on historical usage of our existing customer base, we know that 100 envelopes per seat per year far exceeds the needs of most customers. Therefore, Standard and Business Pro annual plans include an allowance of up to 100 sent envelopes per seat per year. Monthly plans include an allowance of up to 10 sent envelopes per user per month.

If you still have questions about envelope allotment, please contact our support team.

How do seats work with envelopes?

A Docusign seat grants one user access to create, manage, and send documents and envelopes with Docusign. For customers on Standard and Business Pro Web accounts, additional seats also grant access to more envelopes that can be used across the account.

When an organization has multiple people who want to collaborate on a document simultaneously, they will require multiple seats. While not strictly necessary to take advantage of the benefits of Docusign eSignature’s suite of tools, having multiple seats can often expedite the process of negotiating and editing agreements, especially when multiple departments are involved.

You can purchase more seats by logging into your account and going to the Users page in the Setting tab. From here, you can review the seats and assigned users you have tied to your account and purchase seats to provide Docusign access to teammates.

Send agreements securely with Docusign 

Docusign envelopes allow you to send any agreement with confidence. See for yourself how easy this process is with a Docusign free trial.