E-Signature

sign-me

EU-Made Report an error

Panel rating · 6 judges · How to read the stars

Category median

Sovereignty: not determined

0–5 in half steps. 5 means the rubric's top anchor is met on the evidence.

by D-Trust GmbH · www.d-trust.net

An AI-assisted analysis of public evidence — not a hands-on test.

Every score, rationale and verdict on this page is AI-generated. Every claim cites the source it was read from. Nothing here is a human star review — and no score can be bought. How scores are made →

Method and versions

The Legal Counsel v1.0 · The HR Operations Lead v1.0 · The Revenue Operations Lead v1.0 · The Integration Engineer v1.0 · The Data Protection Officer v1.0 · The Skeptic v1.0 · rubric v1 · evaluated 15 Oct 2026

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<a href="https://whats-best.ai/software/e-signature/sign-me"><img src="https://whats-best.ai/badge/e-signature/sign-me.svg" alt="sign-me: AI-assisted analysis on whats-best.ai" height="66"></a>

Markdown

[![sign-me: AI-assisted analysis on whats-best.ai](https://whats-best.ai/badge/e-signature/sign-me.svg)](https://whats-best.ai/software/e-signature/sign-me)

Add ?theme=dark to the image address for dark backgrounds. The badge shows the category and the month of the latest evaluation, and EU-Made where that is the product’s provenance. It never shows a score.

sign-me at a glance

Vendor: D-Trust GmbH
Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026
Data hosting: Default not stated; pages mention Germany source, captured 13 Oct 2026
Free plan: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026
Panel verdict: The AI panel rates sign-me 2.5/5, the mean of 6 judges. sign-me is D-Trust GmbH's remote signature service; the vendor is itself the qualified trust service provider of the Bundesdruckerei group. how scores are made
As of: Vendor pages captured 13 Oct 2026; evaluated by the panel 15 Oct 2026. all sources

sign-me alternatives, European ones first →

Read this page as one judge. Each weighs the same scores by what they care about.

The Legal Counsel

Weighted verdict

Decides which contracts may be signed electronically and at which level. Wants SES, AdES and QES named per plan and country, the qualified trust service provider linked to the EU Trust List, and an audit trail with timestamps that still validates when the contract is disputed in eight years.

Same scores as the panel view — this lens weights them the way this judge cares.

Scored by The Legal Counsel

Panel median The Legal Counsel This judge’s scores over the panel median. Each label opens its reasoning below.

Scores per criterion, in stars out of 5
Criterion	Panel median	The Legal Counsel
eIDAS levels & trust services	3 of 5	3 of 5
Signer identification	3 of 5	3.5 of 5
Signing workflow & signer experience	2 of 5	2 of 5
Evidence, validation & retention	2.5 of 5	3 of 5
Integrations & API	2 of 5	2 of 5
European sovereignty	3 of 5	3 of 5
Pricing transparency	0.5 of 5	0.5 of 5

eIDAS levels & trust services

How this is scored

Which signature levels the platform offers — simple, advanced, qualified, and qualified seals — through which qualified trust service provider on the EU Trust List, for which countries and legal regimes (eIDAS, ZertES), and on which plans.

0 — No signature level named; the platform calls its signature "legally binding" without saying which kind it is.

3 — Simple signatures by default with "advanced" or "qualified" mentioned as available, but no trust service provider named and no statement on which plan or country offers which level.

5 — SES, AdES and QES offered and labelled in the product, the qualified trust service provider named, and which documents need which level explained for at least Germany or the EU.

8 — Every level documented with the plans and countries it is available in, the QTSP's entry on the EU Trust List linked, QES under eIDAS (and ZertES where relevant) stated, qualified electronic seals for company documents, and the signature level printed in the signed document and audit trail.

10 — Levels are an explicit product decision: the provider is or contracts a named QTSP with its conformity assessment published, level selection per document type or template, remote QES without a separate account, EUDI wallet support stated with a date, and the legal effect per level documented for the main EU markets.

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The Legal Counsel

All three eIDAS levels are named, simple and advanced triggered without a second factor in the portal, and the qualified trust service provider is D-Trust itself, the trust provider of the Bundesdruckerei group, with QES stated to equal a handwritten signature and to satisfy the written-form requirement, alongside qualified and advanced seals issued to organisations. We found no public information tying levels to plans or countries, no link to the provider's entry on the EU Trust List, and no statement that the chosen level is printed in the signed document or its evidence, which is what the higher anchors turn on. 2 5 6 7 12 14

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Signer identification

How this is scored

How the signer is identified for each level: email and SMS codes, video ident, eID card (Online-Ausweis), bank ident or EUDI wallet — who performs it, in which countries it works, and what happens to the ID data afterwards.

0 — Email link only; no statement on how signers are authenticated.

3 — Email plus SMS or access code, with "ID verification" mentioned as an add-on but no methods, provider or countries named.

5 — Identification methods for AdES and QES listed by name (for example video ident, eID, bank ident), the identification provider named, and the countries or ID documents they accept stated.

8 — Methods documented per level and country, automated and agent-based ident distinguished, reuse of an identification for later signatures explained, retention and deletion of ID data stated, and the ident provider listed as subprocessor.

10 — Identification is transparent end to end: every method with its countries, assurance level and failure rate or completion guidance, EUDI wallet and national eID supported, ID data minimisation and retention committed, and the signer-facing privacy notice published.

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The Legal Counsel

Identification before QES is named by method — AusweisIDent via the German ID card's eID function, VideoIdent, or Point-of-Sale-Ident — operated jointly by D-Trust and Governikus, with accepted documents listed (German ID card, electronic residence permit, EU citizen card) and notified eID means of other EU states covered. The privacy policy states what happens to ID material, including permanent retention of qualified-certificate data under § 16 Abs. 4 VDG, and identification is described as a one-time step before QES use. We found no public subprocessor list for the identification chain and no assurance levels or completion guidance per method. 2 3 5 8 9 15

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Signing workflow & signer experience

How this is scored

Getting a document out and back signed: templates and form fields, signing order and roles, bulk sending, reminders and delegation, signing without an account or app, mobile signing, and accessibility for signers.

0 — Single-recipient signing of an uploaded PDF; no templates, order or reminders.

3 — Multiple signers and basic templates, but no signing order, no bulk send, and signers must create an account.

5 — Templates with field placement, sequential and parallel signing order, automatic reminders and expiry, signing without an account on mobile, and a status overview for the sender.

8 — Roles and conditional fields, bulk sending, delegation and substitute signers, team and approval workflows, branded signer experience, signer languages listed, and signer accessibility addressed.

10 — The workflow is complete and documented: web forms and self-service signing links, mixed signature levels within one process, in-person and remote signing, a published accessibility conformance statement, and team administration with shared templates and audit of sender actions.

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The Legal Counsel

The portal flow is register and identify, upload, sign with two-factor authentication on smartphone, tablet or laptop with no extra hardware, then download — while workflows, templates and PDF forms exist only as functions of the portiQ or D-Trust signature server. A published accessibility statement covers the sign-me web portal and new PDFs are prepared to the PDF/UA standard. We found no public information on multiple signers in one process, signing order, reminders, expiry, bulk sending or delegation, and registration plus identification is required before signing. 1 2 10 11 14 15

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Evidence, validation & retention

How this is scored

What proves a signature years later: the audit trail and certificate of completion, qualified timestamps, long-term validation (PAdES-LTV), validation reports, and how long signed documents and evidence are kept — and whether they can leave the platform.

0 — A signed PDF and nothing else; no audit trail, no statement on storage or deletion.

3 — An audit trail or completion certificate exists, but its contents, the timestamp source and the retention period are unstated.

5 — Audit trail with signer events, IP addresses and authentication method embedded in or attached to the signed PDF, timestamps applied, documents downloadable, and the retention period stated.

8 — PAdES signatures with long-term validation, qualified timestamps from a named provider, a validation tool or report, configurable retention and automatic deletion, and bulk export of documents with their evidence.

10 — Evidence outlives the subscription: LTV and archive timestamps documented, validation verifiable with independent tools such as the EU DSS validator, export to a DMS or archive with evidence intact, and post-termination access and deletion committed in the terms.

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The Legal Counsel

Every qualified signature automatically receives a qualified timestamp from the provider itself, with the long-term validation function and long-term archiving explicitly documented and tampering said to become clearly visible in common programs, and retention is stated: permanent keeping of qualified signature and seal certificate and proof data under § 16 Abs. 4 VDG, log files deleted after at most forty-five days. We found no public information on a customer-facing audit trail or completion certificate, a validation report or independent validator, configurable retention, or export of documents together with their evidence. 2 3 7 14

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Integrations & API

How this is scored

Signing from inside the systems where contracts are made: a documented API with webhooks and a sandbox, embedded signing, and connectors for Microsoft 365, CRM, HR, DMS and ERP systems.

0 — No API and no integrations; everything happens in the vendor's web app.

3 — A few named integrations or a Zapier connector, and an API mentioned without public documentation.

5 — A documented REST API with webhooks and a sandbox, plus connectors for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace and at least one CRM or HR system named.

8 — Embedded signing in the customer's own application, API access to every signature level, versioned API with rate limits published, SDKs, and connectors for named DMS, ERP or HR systems with their scope.

10 — Integration is a product: white-label and embedded flows documented, API parity with the web app, a status page with incident history, deprecation policy, and a marketplace of integrations with stated maintainers.

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The Legal Counsel

sign-me offers a direct API aimed at embedding into existing applications and specialised procedures, covers all eIDAS signature levels through the API, connects via portiQ, direct API or partner applications, with the seal-me sealing service attachable in every variant and on-premise installation available for data sovereignty. We found no public API documentation, no webhooks or sandbox, no named connectors for Microsoft 365, CRM, HR, DMS or ERP systems, and no rate limits or SDKs. 1 2 14 15

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European sovereignty

How this is scored

Who the contracting entity, the trust service provider and their owners are, where documents, audit trails and ID data are stored and processed, and who the subprocessors are. Independently sourced by the sovereignty pipeline.

0 — Non-EU contracting entity, no statement on where documents and signer data are stored, and subprocessors unnamed.

3 — An EU entity contracts, but documents or signer data are processed outside the EU by default without an explained safeguard, or the subprocessor list is absent.

5 — EU contracting entity and EU data storage stated, with a DPA, but the hosting, identification or trust service chain is non-EU-controlled without a stated safeguard.

8 — EU entity, documents, audit trails and ID data stored in named EU data centres, an EU qualified trust service provider, subprocessor list with locations published, and certifications (ISO 27001, ETSI conformity) published.

10 — Sovereign end to end and evidenced: European ownership, EU entity and EU QTSP, every processing location and subprocessor European, customer-selectable data residency, and certifications with their scope published.

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The Legal Counsel

D-Trust GmbH in Berlin, the trust provider of the Bundesdruckerei group, runs the sealing service in its own highly secure data centre in Germany with only hash values exchanged so documents never leave the customer's environment, and on-premise installation or managed cloud is offered. The independently collected sovereignty attributes nevertheless report the contracting entity's jurisdiction, ownership, data residency and subprocessor exposure as not confirmed on the captured vendor pages, and we found no subprocessor list with locations and no published certifications such as ISO 27001. 3 7 10 14

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Pricing transparency

How this is scored

Whether a buyer can compute the cost of their signing volume from public pages alone — plan prices, envelope or document limits, the per-signature price of AdES and QES, identification fees, API pricing and overage.

0 — No public prices at all; every plan is a sales conversation.

3 — Plan prices published, but envelope limits, QES and identification fees are unstated — the cost of a qualified signature is unknowable.

5 — Plans with envelope or document limits priced, but at least one commonly incurred cost (per-QES fee, video ident, API access, overage) is missing or "on request".

8 — Every plan and limit priced publicly, AdES and QES priced per signature, identification fees and overage stated, API pricing published, and contract term and notice period given.

10 — Complete cost computability: the cost of a given monthly volume per signature level derivable from public pages, volume tiers published, and every add-on and price-change term on a public page.

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The Legal Counsel

The only public price information we found is two free qualified signatures included on registration, no quantity limit on seal-me seals, and the terms' optional automatic renewal with six weeks' notice before expiry. Packages are otherwise quoted by the sales team, and we found no public plan prices, per-signature QES or identification fees, envelope limits or API pricing, so the cost of any real signing volume is not computable from public pages. 2 5 7

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European sovereignty — proven facts

0 of 4 dimensions proven

Built only from facts shown on the vendor's own pages. A dimension we could not prove is left open, not scored as zero.

Legal entity	Not determined ⚠ unverified	—	uncited Report an error
Ownership	Not determined	—	uncited Report an error
Data residency	Not determined ⚠ unverified	—	uncited Report an error
Subprocessors	Not determined	—	uncited Report an error

Questions about sign-me

Is sign-me European?

Yes. whats-best.ai classifies sign-me as EU-Made.

Where does sign-me store data?

The default storage location for customer data is not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026. The vendor’s pages mention Germany as hosting location, per the vendor’s page captured 13 Oct 2026.

Does sign-me have a free plan?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026.

What are the best alternatives to sign-me?

As of 15 Oct 2026, the panel rates Penneo (2.5/5), Youtrust (Yousign) (2.5/5) and MOXIS (2.5/5) highest among the other 14 E-Signature products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is Penneo (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: how scores are made. The full list, with European products first: sign-me alternatives.

Where this could be wrong

Evidence ages. The oldest capture behind this page is from 13 Oct 2026. Vendors change pricing and policies without notice; every fact reflects its source as of the capture date shown in the registry.
Weak sourcing — Legal entity, Data residency. Not confirmed on the vendor’s own pages as captured.
AI can misread a source. Extraction and judgement are automated; a citation guarantees traceability, not infallibility. If something here is wrong, say so — no account needed, every report is decided within 5 business days, and accepted corrections are published.

What we left out

A claim that does not survive our checks costs us the claim, not the page. This is what was taken off this one.

19 compliance facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
19 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
11 legal facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
5 subprocessors facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
2 support facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
2 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown. Know more? Tell us
6 of the readings below were written against an earlier fact sheet — a fact has been corrected, added or pulled since. Until the panel next runs on this product you are reading the older judgement. Know more? Tell us

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Sources (15)

The pages every claim on this page was read from — each one checked, dated, and kept verifiable.

1 Vendor homepage www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
2 Product page www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
3 Privacy policy www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
4 Legal notice www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
5 Terms of service www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
6 EIDAS levels & trust services — found from sitemap www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
7 EIDAS levels & trust services — found from sitemap www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
8 Signer identification — found from sitemap www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
9 Signer identification — found from sitemap www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
10 Signing workflow & signer experience — found from sitemap www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
11 Signing workflow & signer experience — found from sitemap www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
12 Evidence, validation & retention — found from sitemap www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
13 Evidence, validation & retention — found from sitemap www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
14 Integrations & API — found from sitemap www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →
15 Integrations & API — found from sitemap www.d-trust.net Checked 13 Oct 2026 Details →