Disclosure: Brun is our product. DocuSign is a strong product too, and below we say plainly where it is the better pick.
What DocuSign is built for
DocuSign is the category leader in e-signature. It handles signing workflows of almost any shape: multiple signers in a set order, templates, bulk sends, identity verification options, and connections to hundreds of other business systems. Its plans are priced per user with an annual envelope allowance, and agreement management and AI features come on top. For a firm whose main problem is getting signatures at volume, it is very good at that.
What Brun is built for
Brun is a client portal for small law firms, and e-signature is one part of it. The fee agreement goes out on the same private page where the client sends you their documents, reads your progress updates and messages your team. Everything on that page is encrypted in the browser, so Brun never holds a key that opens it.
The difference shows after the signature. With an e-signature service, the signed agreement comes back and the rest of the matter carries on by email: “please send your documents”, “did you get them?”, “any update?” With Brun, those happen on the same page, and the client sees when your firm opened what they sent.
Side by side
| DocuSign eSignature | Brun | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | E-signature and agreement workflows | The whole client exchange, including e-signature |
| Signer needs an account | No | No |
| Encryption | AES-256 at rest, TLS in transit; DocuSign holds the keys by default | End-to-end: encrypted in the browser, Brun never holds the key |
| Customer-held keys | Available with DocuSign's Security Appliance add-on | Always: the keys live in your firm's browsers and the client's link |
| AI that reads agreements | Yes, AI-assisted summaries and extraction | No. Brun can't read them |
| Signers per document | Many, with routing order | One client signer, plus your countersignature |
| Fillable fields | Yes, extensive | Signature, initials, date, name, text, checkbox; detects existing PDF fields |
| Templates, bulk send, integrations | Yes | No |
| Client sends you files | Signer attachments on higher plans | Any file, up to 2 GB each, any time |
| Progress updates and messaging | No | Timeline and one encrypted thread per matter |
| Proof the firm opened the client's files | No | Opened by name, shown to the client |
| Envelope limits | Annual allowance per user on standard plans | None |
Which one to pick
DocuSign is the better pick when
- Documents need several signers in a set order.
- You send high volumes from templates, or in bulk.
- Signing has to connect to other software (CRM, practice management, storage).
- You need advanced identity verification options.
Brun is the better pick when
- Signing is one step in working with a client, not the whole job.
- The agreement or the client’s documents shouldn’t be readable by any vendor’s systems.
- You also need clients to send photos, video and files, and to see you got them.
- You’d rather not count envelopes.
What Brun doesn’t do
No signing order across several clients, no templates library, no bulk send, no integrations or API, and no AI. Brun is built for small firms (solo practices to about five attorneys) and is not a document-management or practice-management system.
Can you use both?
Yes. Some firms keep DocuSign for multi-party transactional documents and use Brun for everything with an individual client: the first inquiry, the engagement letter, the document collection, the updates. Brun’s plans include e-signature, so there’s nothing extra to buy for the client-facing part.
Related: is DocuSign secure for sensitive information? and how to get clients to sign documents online.
Sources (checked November 2, 2026): docusign.com/trust/security/esignature, docusign.com/trust/privacy/data-mgmt-privacy, ecom.docusign.com/plans-and-pricing/esignature, docusign.com/products/electronic-signature/signers. DocuSign is a trademark of its owner; Brun is not affiliated with DocuSign.