Scrive

What Is Scrive?

In 2003, Sweden launched BankID — a digital identity system that would quietly become one of the most successful authentication platforms in the world. Within a decade, over 8 million Swedes (in a country of 10 million) were using it to sign documents, access government services, and verify their identity online. Norway, Denmark, and Finland followed with their own electronic identity schemes. By the time the EU passed the eIDAS regulation in 2014, establishing a legal framework for electronic signatures across all member states, the Nordic countries had already spent years living in the infrastructure it described.

Scrive was born in 2010, right at the inflection point of this transformation. Founded in Stockholm, the company set out to build an e-signature platform designed from the ground up around electronic identity — not as an afterthought or add-on, but as the architectural foundation. Where American platforms like DocuSign treated eID as one integration among many, Scrive made Nordic electronic identities the core of its signing experience.

Today, Scrive serves over 10,000 customers across 50+ countries. It holds EU-certified Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP) status, meaning it can issue Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) — the highest level of legal assurance under eIDAS, equivalent to a handwritten signature in court. Backed by London-based private equity firm Vitruvian Partners since 2020, with offices in Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Munich, Scrive has evolved from a Nordic specialist into a pan-European e-signature platform with a distinctive identity-first approach.

Key Features

All Three eIDAS Signature Levels

Scrive supports Simple (SES), Advanced (AES), and Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) within a single platform. SES covers everyday documents — internal approvals, NDAs, standard contracts. AES adds stronger signer authentication for higher-value agreements. QES, backed by Scrive's QTSP status, carries the full legal weight of a handwritten signature under EU law. This matters for regulated industries where courts or regulatory bodies may scrutinise how a signature was created.

Native Nordic eID Integration

This is where Scrive's history gives it a genuine edge. The platform integrates natively with Swedish BankID, Norwegian BankID, Danish MitID, and Finnish Trust Network. For organisations operating in Scandinavian markets, this means signers can authenticate using the identity they already use for banking and government services — no separate verification step, no video call, no uploading passport photos. The signing experience is fast, familiar, and carries high legal assurance because the identity behind it is already verified to a national standard.

Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP) Status

Scrive's approach to QES is innovative. Rather than requiring signers to obtain a long-lived qualified certificate from a separate certificate authority — the traditional (and cumbersome) approach — Scrive issues short-term qualified certificates linked to the signer's national eID at the moment of signing. Swedish BankID is the first supported eID for this workflow. The result is that a signer with BankID can execute a Qualified Electronic Signature in seconds, without any pre-registration or certificate management. This dramatically lowers the friction barrier that has historically limited QES adoption.

Extended Compliance (EC) Mode

For organisations with strict data sovereignty requirements, Scrive offers Extended Compliance — a configuration where data is hosted and operated exclusively on European-owned infrastructure. This eliminates exposure to the US CLOUD Act, FISA, and similar foreign jurisdiction laws. It is a meaningful differentiator for public sector organisations, financial institutions, and legal firms that need to demonstrate their data remains fully under EU protection.

API and Workflow Automation

Scrive's REST API (documented at apidocs.scrive.com) covers the full document lifecycle: creating, sending, signing, and archiving. The platform includes a browser-based API explorer for testing calls directly against your own account. Beyond the API, Scrive connects to Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Microsoft 365 through native integrations. Workflow automation tools — Microsoft Power Automate, Zapier, and Make — extend connectivity further. The Salesforce integration is particularly mature, enabling document generation and signing directly from deal records.

Audit Trail and Evidence Package

Every signed document produces a tamper-proof evidence package documenting exactly who signed, when, how they authenticated, and what they saw. For QES documents, this includes the qualified certificate chain. The evidence package is designed to hold up in legal proceedings — a critical concern for contracts, employment agreements, and regulatory filings.

Pricing

Scrive's pricing is transparent but firmly positioned in the paid-only category. There is no permanent free tier — a 14-day trial provides access to most eSign Online features, after which you must choose a plan.

Essentials at EUR 18 per user per month provides unlimited documents with SES and AES signatures, basic workflows, and email signing invitations. This covers the needs of small teams doing straightforward document signing without identity verification requirements.

Business at EUR 39 per user per month adds templates, automation, integrations with business tools, and the option to purchase eID/BankID authentication as an add-on. Note the word "option" — eID authentication is not included by default on the Business tier, which may surprise teams who chose Scrive specifically for its Nordic eID capabilities.

Enterprise pricing is custom and unlocks QES, Extended Compliance mode, dedicated service, and custom workflow configuration. For organisations that need Qualified Electronic Signatures, this is where the platform's QTSP status becomes directly accessible.

All licences are personal — every user sending documents needs their own licence. Scrive does not offer a per-envelope or per-signature pricing model, which simplifies budgeting for teams with predictable sending volumes but penalises organisations with many occasional users.

EU Compliance & Privacy

Scrive's compliance credentials are among the strongest in the e-signature category. As a Swedish company (Scrive AB), it falls under EU jurisdiction by default. All data is hosted in EU data centres. The platform is ISO 27001:2022 certified, with annual audits maintaining that certification.

The QTSP designation is independently verified and listed on the EU Trusted List — it is not a self-declared claim. This is a higher bar than most e-signature providers clear. DocuSign, for comparison, partners with third-party QTSPs rather than holding the status itself.

Scrive's Privacy by Design approach means the platform was architectured around GDPR compliance rather than retrofitted. The Extended Compliance option goes further by ensuring all infrastructure is European-owned, addressing concerns about US-headquartered cloud providers and their obligations under the CLOUD Act.

For public sector procurement and regulated industries in the EU, Scrive checks virtually every compliance box.

Who It's Best For

Nordic enterprises using BankID as part of their customer onboarding, contract signing, or identity verification workflows. Scrive's native eID integration is unmatched by any global competitor.

Regulated industries — banking, insurance, legal, public sector — that need Qualified Electronic Signatures with full eIDAS compliance and evidence packages that hold up in court.

Organisations with strict data sovereignty requirements that need the Extended Compliance option to ensure data stays on EU-owned infrastructure, beyond standard GDPR compliance.

Development teams building signing into applications via API, particularly those who need programmatic access to eID verification and QES capabilities within automated workflows.

The Verdict

Scrive occupies a distinctive position in the European e-signature market. It is not the cheapest option — the lack of a free tier and the per-user pricing model ensure that. It is not the most globally recognised — DocuSign and Adobe Sign dominate mindshare outside the Nordics. But for organisations that need electronic signatures built around strong identity verification, with genuine QTSP status rather than a third-party workaround, and with data sovereignty that extends to the infrastructure layer, Scrive delivers capabilities that the American incumbents cannot match. The Nordic eID integration alone justifies evaluation for any company operating in Scandinavian markets. The growing European footprint — Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich — signals that Scrive is no longer content to be a Nordic specialist, and the compliance fundamentals are strong enough to back that ambition.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Scrive legally valid across the EU?

Yes. Scrive supports all three eIDAS signature levels and holds EU-certified QTSP status, making its signatures legally valid in all EU/EEA member states. Qualified Electronic Signatures carry the same legal weight as handwritten signatures under EU law.

How does BankID signing work with Scrive?

When a signer authenticates with Swedish BankID, Scrive issues a short-term qualified certificate linked to that identity, enabling a Qualified Electronic Signature in seconds. The signer opens their BankID app, verifies, and the signature is complete — no separate certificate management required.

What is Scrive Extended Compliance?

Extended Compliance (EC) is a configuration option where all data is hosted and operated on exclusively European-owned infrastructure. This eliminates exposure to the US CLOUD Act and similar foreign jurisdiction laws, going beyond standard GDPR compliance.

Can Scrive replace DocuSign for a European company?

For most European use cases, yes. Scrive covers all eIDAS signature levels, integrates with major CRMs and business tools, and offers stronger EU compliance. The main gap is ecosystem size — DocuSign has more third-party integrations and wider global brand recognition, which matters if you frequently sign with counterparties outside Europe.

Does Scrive support electronic signatures outside the Nordics?

Yes. While Scrive's strongest differentiation is Nordic eID integration, the platform supports standard e-signatures (SES and AES) globally. QES is currently available via Swedish BankID, with plans to expand to additional European eID schemes as they become notified under the eIDAS framework.