How do I get an electronic signature?

You can get an electronic signature three ways: type your name into a signature field, draw it with a mouse or finger, or use a signing platform that verifies identity and timestamps the act. All three are legally valid in the US under the E-SIGN Act.

Creating your own is genuinely that simple; a typed name with intent to sign binds. The platform route adds evidence, an audit trail of who signed what and when, which is what you want for contracts worth arguing about.

Free options cover most needs: several signing tools have free tiers, and some document generators include signing in the flow. The pragmatic rule: casual documents, typed name; client contracts, a flow that records the signing event.

ContractMaker builds free online contract signing into the document itself, so the signature and the contract arrive together.