What pdfFiller actually costs
pdfFiller is sold as a subscription. Its plans typically run from roughly $8 to $20 per month when billed annually, which works out to about $96 to $240 a year. The free trial usually lets you fill a form, but downloading or sending the finished document pushes you toward a paid plan. For people who only need to fill out the occasional PDF — a rental application, a school form, a tax document, a contract — a yearly subscription is a lot of money for a one-time job.
That's the gap FillSign fills. If your need is "open this PDF, type into it, sign it, and download the result," you don't need a subscription at all.
What FillSign does for free
- Open any PDF by dragging it onto the page — including scanned forms.
- Click anywhere to add text, adjust the font size, and reposition it.
- Drop in checkmarks for checkbox-style fields.
- Draw a signature with your mouse or finger, place it, and resize it.
- Download the finished PDF instantly — no watermark, no paywall, no email required.
It all runs inside your browser using your own device's processing power. Because there's no server doing the work, there's almost nothing to charge you for.
Honest comparison: FillSign vs. pdfFiller
We want to be fair here. pdfFiller is a full document platform, and it genuinely does things a simple browser tool does not. Here's a straight comparison so you can pick the right tool for your situation.
| Feature | FillSign | pdfFiller |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (optional $15 one-time Pro) | ~$96-$240 / year |
| Sign up / account needed | No | Yes |
| Files leave your device | No — runs locally | Yes — uploaded to cloud |
| Fill text & checkmarks | Yes | Yes |
| Draw / place signature | Yes | Yes |
| Works on scanned PDFs | Yes | Yes |
| Cloud storage of documents | No (by design) | Yes |
| Reusable templates | Pro only | Yes |
| Bulk / mass send & request signatures | No | Yes |
| Audit trail / certified e-signature workflow | No | Yes |
The honest bottom line: if you run a business that needs cloud document storage, signature request workflows, bulk sending, or a formal audit trail, pdfFiller earns its subscription. If you just need to fill and sign a PDF for yourself once in a while — and you'd rather your document never touch someone else's server — FillSign is the better fit, and it's free.
FillSign's real edge: free, private, and one-time
Free
Core filling and signing cost nothing and will stay that way. There's an optional one-time $15 Pro purchase (never a subscription) that adds saved signatures, reusable templates, and batch filling — but you never need it for everyday use.
Private by design
Your PDF is opened and edited in your browser's memory. It is never uploaded anywhere. If you disconnect from the internet after the page loads, FillSign keeps working — which is the simplest proof that your file stays with you. That matters for tax forms, medical paperwork, leases, and contracts.
No account, no ambush
There's no signup wall and no "you've finished filling everything in, now pay to download" surprise. You open, you fill, you download.
When pdfFiller is still the right call
We won't pretend FillSign replaces everything. Choose pdfFiller (or a comparable platform) if you need to store and organize many documents in the cloud, send forms to other people and collect their signatures, run bulk send campaigns, or keep a certified, court-ready audit trail of who signed what and when. Those are real features that a lightweight, private, browser-only tool intentionally does not have.
Try it now — nothing to install
The fastest way to know if FillSign works for your form is to try it. It takes seconds and costs nothing.