Agree2 is launched
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 10:22AM Goodbye Fax, Goodbye Fedex, Goodbye Mont Blanc pens… Hello Agree2.
What started as a proof of concept prototype in creating agreements roughly 2 years ago is now officially launched. We have been in beta for a long time, but now we feel the time is right to lift the beta tag and introduce our commercial plans.
But first let me explain what Agree2 is all about. Plain and simple we are all about helping you reach agreement.
Agreements are core to any business and it should be easy to create and accept them. Too much ritual have been created about reaching agreement and we are trying to make it as easy as sending an email or shaking hands.
Both of the Agree2 founders Pelle and Lau are freelance software developers. Agree2 was born out of our annoyance with the eternal cycle of faxing or fedexing paper agreements around. There was no good modern alternative. This just seemed wrong to us.
What kind of agreements can you create in Agree2? Almost any type of agreement is possible. Consulting Agreements, Non Disclosure Agreements, User Agreements etc.
There is no extra software to install. Just use your web browser and your email program. Have a look at the video above to see how easy it is.
Find out more
Agree2 has a multitude of unique features:
- Our Templates get you started quickly
- Negotiating is integrated and actually kind of fun
- Great features for Small Businesses
- You can integrate Agree2 Agreements in your own web application
Our plans
Anyone who is already signed up with Agree2 during our beta period can continue using their account with no charge. We also still offer a limited free plan, which may suit you if you only create occasional agreements.
Multi User Plans
Most small businesses consist of more than one person. Even if the other person is a spouse, Dad or other advisor. These can help draft and otherwise collaborate with you on creating agreements.
Our various commercial plans will let you have from 3 to 100 users in an account.
Branding
Our commercial plans allow you to create themes to help brand your services to your clients and customers. You can add a logo and change the color scheme.
Advanced Web service features
Our free plan supports simple creation of agreements and is great for just getting started. Our commercial plans offers several new features that haven’t been available before.
Application Callbacks
If you enable Callback support for your application, we will let your server know when a user has accepted an agreement. You can use this to “unlock” part of your application or enable the users account.
Application Signing
Application Signing lets your application perform a digital signature of a new agreement. This means that you can automatically create and sign an agreement in one step from your application. We use this feature ourself for our customized user agreement.
New Ruby Library
Our new Agree2 Ruby Library is available on GitHub.
We will soon be offering documentation for non ruby users, demonstration applications and special subscription plans for developers of web applications.
Sign up today
We are offering 30 days free on all our commercial plans. You can downgrade to a free plan at any point before the 30 days are over.
Agree2
Reader Comments (3)
Congratulations Pelle !
Hope to see you again in SF or Chile.
Looks great! I hesitate to mention any features suggestions given how long you've been working on it, but...
It feels like typing in initials is too easy -- anyone could walk up to a browser and do that. Have you thought about more complicated ways of signing (having a password in addition to initials, sending an email asking to verify the signature before it is deemed signed-off, etc.)? Or perhaps it's already in there but wasn't mentioned in the video? I guess I have to wonder if anyone could get out of a contract in a court of law by stating that someone else must have visited the website on their computer and entered their initials without their knowledge.
Scott,
Great question.
We have looked at various models and actually started off with the email verification process. But in the end it broke the flow of the web application and decided to use a simpler model.
Almost all attempts to create electronic signatures have failed due to complexity. So simplicity is key.
What is hidden behind the scenes though is that we record every single part of the negotiation and acceptance process. This is available for all parties to view.
The process is fully compliant with both US and European e-signature law.
Saying all that, what we really are trying to do is to create a focus on the agreement itself and not just the signature.
While an e-signature is an important part of our service, we do not see ourselves as just another e-signature company. We see ourselves as an agreement company. That might sound all flowery and all, but it is an important distinction within law.
Contract law is a fairly well established set of rules governing the relationship that is known as an agreement (or contract). Many lawyers have told me that the signature itself has almost never been a cause for problems. It is generally the agreement and the process behind it that is the problem. This is where we are focused.
I think I need cover this difference in greater depth in a blog post, so thank you very much for bringing it up.