Template Library
Central management of approved templates ensures consistent language across contracts and consent forms while reducing drafting errors and preserving institutional clauses.
Life sciences organizations must balance regulatory compliance, secure signatures, and budget constraints; comparing signNow and Close helps determine which tool aligns with HIPAA needs, research workflows, and cost expectations.
Clinical operations teams manage study documents, informed consent forms, and site agreements. They require reliable signature capture, fast turnaround, and audit trails that demonstrate who signed and when, plus retention capabilities aligned with sponsor requirements.
Research administrators coordinate contract execution, subaward paperwork, and institutional approvals. They need templates, routing rules, and integration with grants or IRB systems to minimize manual handoffs and preserve compliance records.
Procurement, compliance, and IT stakeholders jointly assess eSignature and CRM fit for regulated projects.
Final purchasing decisions usually require proof of compliance, integration tests, and a clear pricing comparison to justify selection for life sciences workflows.
Central management of approved templates ensures consistent language across contracts and consent forms while reducing drafting errors and preserving institutional clauses.
Dynamic fields that display based on previous inputs reduce signer confusion and help enforce required disclosures or clauses relevant to specific study types.
Automated routing by role ensures documents pass through the correct approvers, such as PI, legal, and compliance, before final signature.
Configurable retention and export options support alignment with sponsor or regulatory document retention requirements for audits and inspections.
Administrative reports on signature status, signer latency, and exception handling support operational oversight and help demonstrate compliance readiness.
SSO simplifies user management, supports centralized authentication policies, and facilitates deprovisioning when staff change roles or leave the organization.
Persistent electronic signature capture with configurable signature fields, signer sequencing, and time stamps to produce legally admissible records under ESIGN and UETA.
Comprehensive transaction logs record signer identity, IP addresses, and timestamps to support internal audits and regulatory inspections.
RESTful APIs and prebuilt connectors allow document generation, signature requests, and retrieval from CRMs, LIMS, and cloud storage systems.
Reusable document templates reduce errors and speed execution for recurring agreements like NDAs, clinical study agreements, and data transfer agreements.
| Setting Name | Configuration |
|---|---|
| Reminder Frequency | 48 hours |
| Signature Order | Sequential |
| Authentication Method | Email + MFA |
| Template Library Access | Restricted |
| Auto-Archiving | On completion |
Ensure chosen solutions work across desktop, mobile, and tablet platforms your teams use, with consistent security and auditability.
Confirm browser versions, mobile OS compatibility, and any special device management requirements with IT to maintain secure access for clinical and research staff.
A university clinical trials office needed a compliant eSignature process for multi-site consent documents
Resulting in consistent documentation and faster site activation timelines.
A mid-size biotech used Close as its CRM to manage sponsor contacts and sales pipelines
Leading to centralized contract records and clearer audit reporting for audits.
| Feature | signNow (Recommended) | Close | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HIPAA compliance | Requires third-party | ||
| API for documents | Different focus | ||
| Bulk Send | Limited | Close is CRM-first | |
| Native eSignature | Close needs add-on |
| Plan / Metric | signNow (Recommended) | signNow Enterprise | Close Starter | Close Professional | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | $8/user/mo | Contact sales | $29/user/mo | $149/user/mo | Approximate; verify |
| Billing model | Per user billing | Contracted enterprise | Per user billing | Per user billing | Annual or monthly |
| Minimum users | 1 user | Enterprise minimums | 1 user | 2+ users | Depends on plan |
| Support level | Standard support | Dedicated support | Email support | Priority support | SLA varies |
| Compliance add-ons | HIPAA BAA available | Custom controls | No native eSign BAA | Contact sales | Integration needed |