Guide
Digital Signature vs. Electronic Signature: What's the Difference?
An electronic signature is any electronic indication of intent to sign — a typed name, a drawn mark, a click to accept. A digital signature is one specific, cryptographically secured way of implementing that. Every digital signature is an electronic signature; most electronic signatures are not digital signatures — and for the overwhelming majority of business documents, that's completely fine.
Electronic signature: the legal category
The ESIGN Act defines an electronic signature about as broadly as possible: "an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record." That covers a typed name, a mouse-drawn signature, a stylus signature on a tablet, or even clicking an "I agree" button — as long as the surrounding process establishes intent, consent, and attribution. See what makes an e-signature legally binding for the full list of conditions.
Digital signature: the technology
A digital signature is a specific cryptographic technique — it uses a public/private key pair, usually issued by a certificate authority, to bind a signature to a document in a way that's mathematically verifiable and tamper-evident at the cryptography level. It's the underlying mechanism in some regulated or high-assurance contexts: certain government filings, specific industries under stricter rules (like FDA-regulated records under 21 CFR Part 11), and the EU's "qualified electronic signature" tier under eIDAS, which has requirements well beyond what most U.S. business contracts need.
Why the confusion happens
Plenty of e-signature software (DocuAgree included) uses cryptographic hashing to make a signed document tamper-evident — computing a hash of the final document so any later change to it is detectable. That's a real, meaningful integrity guarantee, and it's part of a solid audit trail. But it's not the same thing as a PKI-based digital signature with a certificate authority behind it, and describing it that way would overstate what's actually happening. A hash proves a document hasn't changed since it was completed; a digital signature (in the formal sense) additionally proves cryptographic identity through a certificate chain.
Which one do you actually need?
For contracts, proposals, NDAs, service agreements, and the vast majority of everyday business paperwork: an electronic signature, built on a sound ESIGN/UETA-compliant process, is exactly what the law requires and what courts expect. You need a formal digital signature only if a specific regulation, government agency, or contract counterparty explicitly requires one — that's the exception, not the default, and it'll usually be stated outright in whatever you're signing.
General information, not legal advice. If a counterparty or regulation specifically requires a digital signature (rather than an electronic one), confirm the exact requirement before you rely on standard e-signature software.