ScopeLock vs DocuSign
ScopeLock vs DocuSign: who writes the document?
Where each one fits, what each actually costs, and the rows where DocuSign beats us. Sourced from DocuSign's own site, not from a roundup.
Straight up: we make ScopeLock, so we're not a neutral party and you shouldn't read this as if we were. Every DocuSign fact below comes from DocuSign's own website or help centre and was checked on 4 August 2026. The links are in the page — check them yourself, and tell us if we've got something wrong.
The short version
The short answer
If you need any document of any kind signed with an audit trail that stands up — contracts, subbie agreements, HR paperwork — use DocuSign. It's the category standard and it earned that.
The difference is what happens before the signature. DocuSign starts from a document you've already written: you prepare it, place the fields, and send it. That's a desk job, and it's the right shape for prepared agreements. A variation isn't that — it's two extra downlights, decided in a hallway, that needs a price and a signature before you pick the tool back up. ScopeLock writes that document for you from a few taps and returns it signed. If your paperwork is broader than variations, DocuSign will cover all of it; if the bottleneck is getting extra work agreed on site, it's the wrong shape.
Who ScopeLock is for
Trades who need a variation agreed before the tool comes out
Tradespeople who need a variation priced, explained and approved on site — on a phone, in under a minute. It does one job: the moment between “while you're here, could you…” and picking the tool back up. If you need scheduling, timesheets and job costing, this isn't that.
Who DocuSign is for
Businesses that need any document, of any kind, legally signed
DocuSign is the most established e-signature platform there is, and it's very good at the thing it does: routing a document to the right people in the right order and producing an audit trail that stands up. If your paperwork goes well beyond variations — contracts, subbie agreements, HR — it will handle all of it in one place.
Credit where it's due
What DocuSign does better than us
DocuSign is the more capable product on almost every axis that isn't "standing on a roof".
- Any document, not just variationsContracts, subcontractor agreements, employment paperwork, leases. ScopeLock produces exactly one kind of document and nothing else.
- Routing and approval orderMulti-party signing in a defined sequence, with roles and permissions. We have two parties: you and your customer.
- The audit trailThe Certificate of Completion is the most recognised evidence artefact in e-signature and it timestamps every event in the envelope.
- Integrations and scaleIt plugs into almost everything, and it's built for organisations far larger than a trade business.
Feature by feature
What each one actually does
Every mark in the right-hand column comes from the vendor's own website or help centre. Where we couldn't find a public answer we've said so rather than guessed.
- Yes
- Partial — see the note
- No
- Couldn't verify
| Feature | ScopeLockVariation approvals | DocuSignE-signature platform |
|---|---|---|
| On-site variation approvalPrice the extra work and get it agreed before you start it | Yes. Built for exactly this — draft, price and send from the register in under a minute. | No. Signs a document you've already written. It doesn't price work or build a variation. |
| Customer signature on mobileThey sign on a phone, yours or theirs | Yes. Customer signs on their own phone from a link, or on yours. | Yes. Signing on a phone is core to the product. |
| SMS deliverySend the approval link by text, not just email | Yes. SMS and email delivery. 100 SMS segments a month included on Business. | Partial. An add-on, from about A$0.60 per SMS delivery. Standard includes a one-off five. |
| Signed PDF evidence packsOne PDF holding the scope, price, photos and both signatures | Yes. Scope wording, price, time impact, your photos, both signatures and the timestamp on each. | Yes. Signed PDF plus a Certificate of Completion, though you assemble the contents yourself. |
| Timestamped recordsWhen it was sent, opened and signed | Yes. Every response carries both signatures and the timestamp on each one. | Yes. Certificate of Completion timestamps every event in the envelope. |
| Pay-as-you-go pricingPay per variation instead of a monthly seat fee | Yes. A$10 or A$25 per approved variation, and nothing at all under A$500. | Partial. Overage envelopes bill per-envelope, but you still need a paid subscription underneath. |
| Xero / QuickBooks exportGet the approved amount into the books | Yes. Xero and QuickBooks invoice-import CSV drafts. | No. There's no job or invoice data in DocuSign to push to Xero or QuickBooks. |
| Automated remindersChases the customer who hasn't tapped yet | Yes. Automated follow-up on the Business plan. | Yes. Automatic reminders and expiry are configurable per envelope. |
| Free tier for small jobsA permanently free path, not a 14-day trial | Yes. Anything under A$500 is free forever. No card. | No. Free trial only — the cheapest ongoing plan is A$15/month. |
Where these answers came from
Pricing
What you'll pay
Two different shapes of pricing. ScopeLock charges per approved variation; most job-management and e-signature tools charge a monthly seat fee whether you raise a variation that month or not.
ScopeLock
Pay-as-you-go, or A$49/month once you're doing five or more paid ones a month.
- Under A$500No card, no trial clockFree
- A$500 – A$5,000Per approved variationA$10
- Above A$5,000Per approved variationA$25
- ScopeLock BusinessPer month — unlimited approvals, 100 SMS segments, automated remindersA$49
Charged only when your customer approves. Never for a draft, never for one they knock back. Cancel Business and you drop back to pay-as-you-go — everything you've signed stays downloadable.
DocuSign
Per user, per month. Envelope allowances apply.
- Personal1 user · 5 envelopes a month (60 a year)A$15/mo
- StandardPer user · 100 envelopes per user per yearA$37/mo
- Business ProPer user · 100 envelopes per user per yearA$59/mo
- Enhanced50+ users, custom termsContact
Envelopes beyond your plan's allowance are billed per-envelope on top of the subscription. Annual billing is cheaper than monthly.
Pricing checked 4 August 2026. Verify on DocuSign's site — plans change and we don't always hear about it.
On the job
The four things that decide it on site
Most of this software was built for an office. These are the details that change whether a variation actually gets agreed while you're standing in the room.
01Your customer never makes an account
They get a link, they read a plain-English summary, they sign. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for. Every account you ask a homeowner to create is a variation that gets approved tomorrow instead of now.
02Works on whatever phone is in the room
It runs in the browser. No app store detour on a roof in the rain, no “I'll do it when I'm back at the computer”, no wondering whether their five-year-old Android is supported.
03You sign first, then they do
The variation is a two-sided record: you commit to the scope and the price, then they agree to it. Both signatures and both timestamps land in the same PDF, which is a different thing from a customer ticking a box on a quote.
04One PDF that holds the whole story
The scope wording, the price, any time impact, the photos you took standing there, both signatures and the timestamps. That's the document you want six weeks later when everyone remembers the conversation slightly differently — and you're both being honest.
Which one you actually need
Who should use what
These two barely overlap, so the choice is usually obvious once you name the document.
DocuSign on its own
Your signing needs go well beyond variations, someone writes the documents at a desk, and you want one platform for all of it.
DocuSign and ScopeLock together
Bigger outfits often run both: DocuSign for contracts and subbie agreements, ScopeLock for the extras raised on site during the week.
ScopeLock on its own
The only thing you regularly need signed is extra work, and you'd rather not pay a monthly seat fee for a platform that assumes you've already typed the document.
Straight answers
Questions people actually ask
Can't I just use DocuSign for variations?
You can, and some people do. The friction is that DocuSign signs a document you've already written — you still have to write the scope, price it, produce a PDF and place the signature fields before anything gets sent. ScopeLock produces that document from a few taps on site, which is the part that decides whether the variation gets raised at all.
What does DocuSign do better than ScopeLock?
Nearly everything to do with signing generally: any document type, multi-party routing in a defined order, a widely recognised Certificate of Completion, deep integrations and enterprise scale. We do one document, for one situation.
Is a ScopeLock signature as valid as a DocuSign one?
Electronic signatures are recognised in Australia under the Electronic Transactions Act and its state equivalents, and ScopeLock records both signatures with timestamps in the signed PDF. What usually decides an argument is whether you can show what was agreed, when, and that both sides saw the same words. This isn't legal advice — if you're in a dispute, talk to someone qualified.
How much is DocuSign?
From A$15 a month for Personal (one user, five envelopes a month), A$37 for Standard and A$59 for Business Pro per user per month, with envelope allowances and per-envelope overage above them. There's no free tier. ScopeLock is free under A$500 a variation and charges only when your customer approves.
Last verified 4 August 2026. We re-check every comparison on this site quarterly; an out-of-date comparison page is worse than none.
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Try it on the next one
Keep the job. Add the bit that's missing.
No card, no trial clock. Price the next bit of extra work, hand over your phone, and keep the signed PDF. If it's under A$500 it costs you nothing, ever.
Works in the browser on the phone already in your pocket. Your customer doesn't need an account.