PandaDoc's document limit and per-document fees

The free plan is clear; the paid plans are metered somewhere else

PandaDoc's Free eSign plan states its allowance up front: "Includes 60 docs for free per year" on the pricing page, and the help centre puts it more precisely — "up to 5 uploaded documents per calendar month (templates or editable documents are not included)", each to "a maximum of 2 recipients". Integrations are unavailable, and the Payments app was removed from the plan on 25 March 2025.

The paid plans look simpler than they are. The pricing page lists documents sent as unlimited on Starter, Business and Enterprise, while the FAQ on the same page answers "What happens when I reach my document limit?" with per-document rates of $3.50 on Starter Monthly, $2.00 on Starter Annual and $2.60 on Business Monthly. Read only that page and the two statements look contradictory.

They are not. The reconciliation is in the help centre, and it is the thing worth knowing before you buy: manually sent documents really are unlimited on paid plans. Automated document generation is metered separately, as "usage credits."

Usage credits: what is actually capped

PandaDoc's definition: "One usage credit = 1 document generated via PandaDoc's automatic features, including Forms, Bulk Send, Automations, and iPaaS connectors (Zapier, Make, Workato, etc.)."

So the meter runs on exactly the usage that scales — anything generated by a workflow rather than by a person clicking send.

| Plan | Included usage credits | |---|---| | Business and Enterprise, monthly | 10 per month (first year only) | | Business and Enterprise, annual | 120 per year (first year only) | | Business and Enterprise trial | 10 credits, which do not carry into a paid subscription |

Three conditions attach, and each one matters more than the headline number:

They expire after year one. PandaDoc: "Free usage credits are included in subscription plans for the first 12 months of the account's lifetime only. Upon renewal after the 12-month mark, accounts will no longer receive free recurring usage credits." So an automation that ran inside the allowance all year begins costing money on the first renewal, with no change in your usage.

Nothing rolls over. "Unused usage credits will not roll over to a following annual subscription term or renewal period."

The overage price is not published. "If you exceed your included usage credits, the fees for such additional usage credits will be equal to the applicable per unit fee on the Customers then current Order." Your rate is on your own order form. Packages of 50–500 documents can be bought from the billing page, though the Increase limit control is unavailable during a trial.

That combination — a meter on automated volume, free for twelve months, then priced at a rate held in your contract — is the mechanism behind the reports of per-document charges arriving as a multiple of the subscription. It is not a surprise fee so much as a surprise schedule.

Also true, from the pricing page: unused documents do not roll over between billing periods — "Each month/year starts fresh with your full document allowance."

What counts as a document sent

PandaDoc's definition is usefully broad and worth reading before estimating volume: "A document sent includes any document delivered to recipients for signature, approval, or review. This covers e-signatures, contracts, proposals, and forms. Document templates, drafts, and documents shared internally don't count toward your limit."

Two consequences. Documents sent for review or approval — not just signature — consume the allowance, so a proposal iterated three times with a client may cost three. And internal sharing is free, which is the right call and makes the counting rule easier to live with than most.

Other caps on the same page

Volume is not the only thing metered. From the plan comparison:

• Templates are capped at 5 on Starter and Business. For a team whose whole reason for using the product is reusable documents, five is a real constraint.
• Rooms are capped at 3 on one tier and unlimited above.
• CRM integrations, Salesforce, web forms, bulk send, API, SSO, HIPAA compliance and workflow automation are marked optional on the tiers that list them — meaning paid add-ons rather than included features, including on the $49-a-seat Business plan.
• Qualified Electronic Signature and recipient verification are annual-plan only.

The add-on structure is the practical answer to why reported PandaDoc spend often exceeds the seat price multiplied by headcount. HIPAA compliance and API access being separately priced above $49 a seat is the detail most likely to change a total.

Costing a real workload

Five people sending 300 documents a month is 3,600 a year. On the Free plan that is 60 included and 3,540 over, with no overage route — you must upgrade.

On a paid plan the answer now splits cleanly, which is why the mechanism matters more than the rate:

• Sent by hand? Unlimited on Starter and above. 3,600 documents a year costs nothing beyond the seats.
• Generated by a workflow — a form, a bulk send, a Zapier or Make automation? Metered. Business annual includes 120 credits in year one, so 3,600 automated documents is 3,480 over. In year two the included figure is zero, so all 3,600 are billable.

And the rate for those is not published — it is "the applicable per unit fee on the Customers then current Order." So the cost of the same workload is unquotable in advance, and changes at the twelve-month mark without you doing anything differently. That is the question to put to their sales team in writing, and to get the per-unit fee stated on the order form before signing.

For comparison, PearSign publishes both halves: Professional is $39 a month for 1,000 envelopes a month across the account, 15 team members included, and the free plan is 10 a month with no card. The 3,600-a-year workload sits inside Professional, and the allowance is on the pricing page rather than implied by an overage rate.

FAQ

How many documents does PandaDoc's free plan include?

Sixty per year. PandaDoc's pricing page states "Includes 60 docs for free per year", and the plan comparison shows it as 5 documents sent and 5 legally-binding eSignatures per month. No credit card is required.

What is PandaDoc's document limit on Starter or Business?

Manually sent documents are unlimited. What is capped is automated generation, metered as usage credits: 10 a month on monthly billing or 120 a year on annual, on Business and Enterprise, and only for the account's first 12 months. The pricing page does not mention credits at all — the figures are in the help centre's Account Billing and Ownership article — so the pricing page alone does not describe how a paid plan is metered.

How much does PandaDoc charge per extra document?

$3.50 per document on Starter Monthly, $2.00 on Starter Annual and $2.60 on Business Monthly, per PandaDoc's own FAQ. Charges appear on the next billing cycle. No rate is published for Business Annual. Figures widely quoted elsewhere as a flat "$3 per document" do not match the current page.

Does a document sent for review count toward the limit?

Yes. PandaDoc defines a document sent as any document delivered to recipients "for signature, approval, or review", which includes contracts, proposals and forms. Templates, drafts and documents shared internally do not count.

Do unused PandaDoc documents roll over?

No. PandaDoc states that unused documents do not roll over between billing periods and that each month or year starts fresh with the full allowance. Annual plans do let you use the whole yearly allocation at any point during the year.

How many templates does PandaDoc allow?

Five on Starter and five on Business, per the plan comparison table. Unlimited templates are not part of those tiers.

Does bulk send or a Zapier automation use up my allowance?

Yes — that is precisely what usage credits meter. One credit is one document generated through Forms, Bulk Send, Automations or an iPaaS connector such as Zapier, Make or Workato. A person manually sending a document does not consume a credit. So the more you automate, the more of the plan you are actually using, which is the opposite of how most metering works.

What happens to my PandaDoc automations after the first year?

The included usage credits stop. PandaDoc states free credits are included "for the first 12 months of the account's lifetime only" and that after the 12-month renewal "accounts will no longer receive free recurring usage credits." The automation keeps working, but every generated document is now billable at the per-unit fee on your order form.