DocsAutomator vs. Adobe Document Generation API
When your Adobe Document Generation prototype is ready to go live, your next stop is Adobe sales. Paid use is an annual agreement with no published price, and getting a contract signed means licensing Acrobat Sign too. DocsAutomator fills the same Word templates (or Google Docs) for $59 a month for 1,000 documents, billed yearly, and the API call that fills the template can also send it for signature.
After the free 500 documents
What changes when your prototype goes into production.
| DocsAutomator | Adobe Document Generation API | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | On the pricing page: $29, $79 or $199 a month for 100, 1,000 or 5,000 documents. Billed yearly: $19, $59 or $149 a month. | Free for 500 Document Transactions a month. Past that, no price on Adobe's site: you ask Adobe sales for a quote. |
| How you buy | Sign up and pay online, monthly or yearly. | An annual agreement (ETLA or VIP) through Adobe sales or a reseller. |
| What counts | A document. A signed or accepted one still counts once. | A Document Transaction: one per generated document of up to 50 pages. |
| API keys | One API key from Settings, then API. | New ones for the paid account. Free-tier credentials stay in the free tier. |
| Signing | E-signature and one-click Acceptance in every plan. | Acrobat Sign, licensed separately from the PDF Services API. |
| Requests | 2,000 per 15 minutes per API key, about 133 a minute. | 25 a minute on the free tier, 100 on enterprise. |
| Where data is processed | Database in Ireland, files in the EU, app servers in Frankfurt. | The US by default. Adobe's docs list an EU region once you've bought. |
Getting the contract signed
With Adobe, you can type Acrobat Sign text tags such as {{Sig_es_:signer1:signature}} into the Word template, but they only turn into signature fields when the finished PDF is sent through Acrobat Sign. Adobe's own contract example works that way: Document Generation makes the PDF, then the Acrobat Sign API sends it out.
With DocsAutomator, you switch on e-signing or Acceptance in the automation, and the POST /createDocument call that fills the template also sends it. Signers sign in order or all at once, get reminders, and webhooks tell your app when it's done.
There are fewer calls, too. Adobe's guide makes one document in five steps: get a token, upload the template, create the job, poll it, and download the result. Here the template is already saved in your automation, and your one call carries the automation ID and your data. More on the REST API.
Bringing your Word templates
Upload the .docx as a Word template and it keeps its fonts, tables, headers, footers and page breaks. Plain fields keep their double braces too: {{client_name}} stays {{client_name}}. Three things need changing. Adobe's {% table-start %} markers become a line item row, its conditional sections become named sections, and its expr() calculations move into the data you send. Or make it a Google Doc, if that's where your team edits.
If you'd rather not move the tags yourself, we'll do it. Our done-for-you setup moves your templates, signers and signing flows over. It costs $499 once with a yearly plan, and the yearly Scale plan includes it.
Frequently asked questions
What customers are saying about us
Read what hundreds of happy customers are saying about DocsAutomator.
Before I discovered Docsautomator, generating reports from Airtable was a time-consuming task that drained both my time and energy. However, Docsautomator changed everything and made the process feel effortless.
As a botanical garden operator staffed by volunteers, DocsAutomator has revolutionized our document generation process. This powerful tool seamlessly integrates with our Airtable databases, allowing us to effortlessly create a wide range of docs!
I had a complex process with Airtable and Fillout I was trying to work out and an Airtable consultant told me about DocsAutomator as a much better alternative to Airtable's Page Designer for external documents. She also said Rupert was very helpful.
Start automating & signing in minutes!
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