How to Install Documenso on Saplo: Electronic Document Signing Instead of DocuSign

You send a contract to your client as a PDF, they print it, sign it, scan it with their phone, and send back a crooked file three days later. Or, you pay for DocuSign per user and keep an eye on your monthly envelope limit. Documenso is an open alternative: you upload a document, mark where who needs to sign, and the recipient does it in their browser, without creating an account. On Saplo, you set it up from the App catalog, on your own domain, and without a fee for each subsequent document.

What Documenso offers and how it differs from DocuSign

Documenso handles the most crucial aspects of document signing:

• You upload a PDF and drag signature fields, dates, names, or initials onto the page.
• You add recipients and set the signing order.
• You can see who has already opened and signed the document, and who hasn't yet.
• The final file receives a digital seal with a certificate, making any subsequent content changes detectable.

The main difference from DocuSign is in the billing. With a cloud service, you pay a monthly subscription, usually per user, and cheaper plans have a limit on the number of documents sent. According to our catalog, this is around $44 per month. Your own Documenso installation does not count documents or signers. You pay for the hosting it runs on, and your contract files are stored with you, not on external company servers. You can find the code and documentation on the Documenso project page.

First, the law: What kind of signature is this?

Documenso provides an ordinary electronic signature as defined by the eIDAS regulation. In Poland, this is sufficient for most everyday documents: accepting an offer, an order, a contract for specific work or a mandate contract without a special form, an acceptance protocol, consent, or terms of cooperation. It has evidential power, and the signature history shows who signed it and when.

However, it does not replace a written form. If a regulation requires a written form under penalty of nullity, a qualified electronic signature is needed (Art. 78¹ of the Civil Code). A good example for agencies: a contract transferring proprietary copyrights to a project must be concluded in writing, so simply clicking in Documenso is not enough here. For high-value contracts or in case of doubt, consult a lawyer to choose the appropriate form.

Requirements on Saplo

Documenso's recipe in the Saplo catalog runs two Docker containers: the application itself and a separate PostgreSQL database just for it. The declared minimum is 2 GB RAM and 5 GB disk, so in practice you start with Box M (2 GB RAM, 30 GB SSD), and if your company website or other applications are also to run on the same Box, it will be more convenient on Box L. Prices and differences between plans are in the price list.

Before installation, prepare:

• an active Box with free resources,
• a subdomain under which clients will open documents, for example sign.yourcompany.com (you can also start with a free Saplo subdomain),
• SMTP credentials for the mailbox from which Documenso should send signature invitations.

You do not configure the database yourself. The recipe sets it up, generates passwords and encryption keys, and connects it to the application.

Step-by-step installation

1. Go to the Documenso page in the Saplo catalog and click the deployment button or select Documenso from the app list in your panel.
2. Provide the app name and a domain or subdomain.
3. Wait a few minutes. The first launch takes longer because Docker images are downloaded and the database schema is created. An SSL certificate for the domain is issued automatically.
4. Open the application address and create the first account right away. Documenso doesn't have a pre-created administrator account: the registration form creates the first account, so do this immediately after installation, before anyone else accesses the address.

In the app catalog, the installer leaves a DOCUMENSO-SETUP.txt file with a summary: the address, certificate information, and a command to view logs.

Connect your email, otherwise, no one will receive an invitation

After installation, the Documenso panel works normally, but signing invitations won't be sent until you provide your own SMTP server. This is a conscious decision: the document to be signed should come from your company's address, not someone else's.

You enter the SMTP data in the docker-compose.yml file in the application directory, in the environment section of the documenso container. The following variables are needed:

NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_HOST=smtp.yourserver.com
NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_PORT=465
NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_SECURE=true
NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_USERNAME=contracts@yourcompany.com
NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_PASSWORD=mailbox-password
NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_FROM_ADDRESS=contracts@yourcompany.com
NEXT_PRIVATE_SMTP_FROM_NAME=Your Company

You edit the file via SFTP or SSH (console access is available from Box M upwards), and then reload the application with the docker compose up -d command in its directory. Send yourself a test document to sign before the first one goes to a client. If nothing arrives, check the container logs: an incorrect password or port will be immediately visible there.

Document Seal Certificate

Each signed PDF is digitally sealed. The recipe generates a self-signed certificate valid for one year upon installation, so signing works from the very first minute. Two things are worth knowing:

• With such a certificate, the PDF reader may show a warning that the issuer is not trusted. The content of the document is protected just the same; it's only about who confirms the identity of the seal.
• If you have a company certificate in .p12 format, upload it in place of the cert.p12 file in the application directory, enter the certificate password in docker-compose.yml, and restart the container.

Mark the certificate's expiration date in your calendar; it will need to be renewed in a year.

Your first document to sign

1. In the Documenso panel, click to add a document and upload the contract PDF.
2. Add recipients: first name, last name, and email address. If the order matters, for example, the client first, then you, set it here.
3. Drag the signature and date fields to where they should be. You assign each field to a specific recipient.
4. Send. The recipient receives an email with a link, signs in the browser on a computer or phone, without registration.
5. Once everyone has signed, everyone receives the completed PDF, and you see the entire process in the panel.

Do you often send the same type of contract? Save it as a template with pre-filled fields, and next time you'll only need to change the recipient.

Backups and Security

Signed agreements are documents you definitely don't want to lose. For plans from Box L upwards, backups are included (7, 14, or 30 days, depending on your plan). If you're on a smaller plan, or just to be extra safe, download signed PDFs periodically and store them in your company's archive. Once your entire team has accounts, disable public registration by adding the NEXT_PUBLIC_DISABLE_SIGNUP=true variable in docker-compose.yml. Otherwise, anyone who knows the address can create an account and send documents through your inbox. Protect accounts with strong passwords and two-factor authentication, which Documenso has built-in.

Who is it for?

• Agencies and freelancers: Quotes, contracts, and work acceptance protocols signed in minutes instead of days.
• Law firms and accounting offices: Powers of attorney and cooperation agreements signed without printing or scanning, with all documents stored securely on your own server.
• Companies with multiple signatories: Instead of paying for each account in DocuSign, every person has an account in one installation.

Want to try it with your own document? Host Documenso on Saplo and send yourself the first agreement today.