Documenso

How Open Source Documenso Grew to Challenge DocuSign's Dominance

February 9th, 2025

Founded By

Lucas Smith

Founders

Profitable

Yes

Year Started

2022

Customer

B2B & B2C

Founded By
Lucas Smith: Founders
2

Profitable
Yes: Year Started
2022

Customer
B2B & B2C

Who is Lucas Smith?

Lucas Smith, the co-founder of Documenso, is an Australian developer who has been coding since the age of 13. With experience across various industries including government, telecoms, and startups, Lucas has a deep passion for coding and open-source platforms.

What problem does Documenso solve?

Documenso solves the costly and frustrating problem of limited and opaque digital document signing options by providing an open-source platform that users can customize and self-host for complete control and transparency.

Documenso

How did Lucas come up with the idea for Documenso?

Lucas had a background in software development and had long dealt with the complexities of working with PDFs in various industries. His co-founder, Timur, saw a gap in the document signing market dominated by older, closed-source solutions and wanted to apply the transparency and flexibility of open-source software to this field. Their experiences made them realize there was a significant opportunity in creating an open-source document signing platform that was easily customizable and accessible worldwide.

To validate their idea, Lucas and Timur closely observed the issues faced by businesses regarding document signing, like tricky APIs and expensive proprietary solutions. They determined that an open-source approach would not only solve these problems but also empower developers and companies in regions with limited resources. Throughout their journey, they faced skepticism regarding why users would opt for a paid service when self-hosting was an option, a common question in the open-source community. They addressed this by emphasizing the reliability, compliance, and other benefits provided by their hosted service.

The key lesson Lucas learned was the importance of aligning passion with a clear market need, choosing a problem that connected with his interests and experience. This personal connection, combined with a strong open-source philosophy, provided the impetus to develop Documenso into a tool that aims to democratize digital signing through transparency and community involvement.

How did Lucas Smith build the initial version of Documenso?

The development of Documenso began with a focus on creating a seamless open-source document signing platform. The first version, Documenso 0.1, was built using a tech stack centered around React, Next.js, Prisma, and PostgreSQL, with a strong emphasis on achieving end-to-end type safety using TypeScript and TRPC. Initially, the product development was challenging, involving a complete rewrite from the ground up to facilitate scalability and accessibility, ensuring that the codebase was contributor-friendly. To manage the complexities of a monorepo setup, they used TurboRepo alongside npm workspaces for efficient package management and build processes. This journey of building the first prototype was far from easy, encountering hurdles such as ensuring GDPR compliance for hosting in Europe while operating from Australia and tightly integrating with modern tools to maintain a seamless user experience.

What was the growth strategy for Documenso and how did they scale?

Community Engagement

Documenso focused heavily on building a community around their product, which significantly contributed to their growth. They encouraged contributors to participate in the development process by leveraging their open-source nature. This included setting up systems for bounties and tips, rewarding contributors who provided value through code contributions. This open and inclusive approach not only helped improve their product but also created a sense of ownership and loyalty among users.

Why it worked: Engaging a community effectively extends the development team and creates advocates for the product. By being open-source, they appealed to developers who were excited to contribute, learn, and improve the platform. This strategy not only brought fresh ideas but also helped in spreading the word organically through community channels.

Building in Public

Documenso embraced transparency by adopting an open startup model, sharing many aspects of their journey publicly. They built in public, which included discussing challenges, successes, and even salaries. This approach was reflected in their social media activities where they shared updates, milestones, and learnings from their product development and business growth.

embed:tweet

Why it worked: Transparency builds trust and authenticity. By sharing their journey, they connected on a deeper level with their audience, gaining support from both potential users and collaborators. It demystified their operations and showed confidence in their product and business practices, which is attractive to both customers and potential investors or partners.

The team at Documenso actively used platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn to talk about their product, insights, and industry trends. They shared thoughtful content, not just marketing messages, to engage their audience. They also took advantage of random opportunities for publicity, such as when a significant influencer in their field showcased their product, which led to a substantial spike in interest and traffic.

Why it worked: Consistent and insightful presence on social media can drive significant interest and engagement. Sharing valuable content rather than pure marketing helps in positioning the brand as knowledgeable and credible. Additionally, leveraging unexpected viral moments can lead to explosive, albeit short-term, growth in exposure and user acquisition.

Self-hosting and Customization Options

Documenso offered their platform to be self-hosted, along with extensive customization capabilities. This appealed to companies looking for control and compliance, particularly in sectors dealing with sensitive data. This approach was key in distinguishing them from competitors who may not offer such flexibility.

Why it worked: Providing a self-hosting option meets the needs of enterprise clients who have strict compliance and customization requirements. It removes barriers for organizations that want to integrate the signing tool deeply within their existing systems. Such flexibility is a strong selling point in the B2B space, fostering adoption by larger clients who require bespoke modifications.

What's the pricing strategy for Documenso?

Documenso offers a free tier allowing users to send five documents monthly, with paid plans removing this limit and access to premium features.

Documenso Pricing

What were the biggest lessons learned from building Documenso?

Embrace Open Source Benefits: Documenso thrived by being open source, allowing community contributions, which accelerated growth and innovation.
Navigate Global Teams Wisely: Managing a team across different time zones and cultures can be challenging. Effective communication and understanding cultural nuances were crucial for Documenso.
Focus on Clear Value Proposition: Offering both self-hosted and hosted options helped Documenso appeal to diverse customer needs, focusing on transparency and trust to differentiate from closed competitors.
Adapt and Integrate Feedback: By staying open to user feedback and being flexible with improvements, Documenso was able to refine its platform continually while engaging its community.
Consistency in Public Engagement: Building in public and maintaining transparency fostered trust and community interest, helping Documenso connect deeply with its user base and potential clients.

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