How to Choose the Best Waiver Software for Your Organization

Businesses, nonprofits, schools, youth sports teams, and many other organizations use waivers to protect their well-being and that of their members. However, creating waiver forms and obtaining signatures is a pain point for many organizations, particularly with traditional paper waivers. And if you ever need to find a paper waiver to reference, combing through a file cabinet can be inefficient and time-consuming. 

Waiver software mitigates the stress of administering waivers. In this guide, we’ll cover the basics of waiver software and the top features to look for when choosing a provider. In this guide, we'll cover the basics of waiver software and the top features to look for when choosing a provider:

• Digital Waiver FAQ
• 8 Features to Look for In Digital Waiver Software
• 10 Top Waiver Software Providers

Digital Waiver FAQ

What is a digital waiver?

Waivers are legal documents that are typically used to obtain a release of liability from those who sign them. They also make participants more aware of the risks associated with the activity or event they will be participating in. Because the legality of waivers can vary based on local laws, it’s best to work closely with a lawyer when drafting and using waivers.

A digital waiver, also called an online waiver, contains the same key elements as a traditional waiver but can be accessed and signed online. While paper waivers procure “wet signatures” (those made via pen and paper), online waivers obtain electronic signatures (those transmitted electronically). 

Online waivers are a more convenient alternative to paper waivers. For example, if your nonprofit is preparing for a large volunteering event, having each volunteer sign a paper waiver on-site could eat into the time they have to work. Instead, you might send each registrant a link to the online waiver beforehand so they can complete it prior to the event.

What are the benefits of waiver software?

While it’s common to associate waivers with risky activities like zipline jungle tours or kayaking excursions, they are used every day by many different kinds of organizations. For example, here are some scenarios where an organization would use a waiver:

• A nonprofit organization asks participants to sign waivers before competing in its charity 5K.
• A school sends waivers and permission forms to parents before taking students on a field trip.
• A youth sports team requires players’ parents to sign waivers before the athletes can compete or attend practices.
• A local gym requests that customers sign a waiver before joining group fitness classes or booking an appointment with a personal trainer.

In addition to securing a liability release, online waiver software has other benefits such as:

• Easy waiver management. Because they are stored virtually rather than in a file folder, organizing digital waivers is faster and easier. Data is also more secure when housed in a protected database, and it’s easy to find any individual waiver just by searching for a name or date. Additionally, your organization can make the most of the data collected via waivers, like using engagement history to personalize marketing efforts.
• Better user experiences. Users can sign the document from any device (mobile phone, tablet, desktop, etc.), making it much more convenient to complete the waiver ahead of time. They also won’t need to print or send a hard copy. If users forget to sign in advance, your organization can set up on-site kiosks at your event to ensure waiver completion.
• Increased accessibility. It’s much easier to make accessibility-based changes when using digital waivers. Your organization can update things like font size and language in just a few clicks. And because they can access waivers in advance, users can take all the time they need to read over the terms or get help from a caregiver or screen reader.

Online waivers can even make your organization more sustainable by reducing paper use (and, as a result, printing-related costs). The next step to taking advantage of these benefits is choosing a trusted waiver software provider.

Can you create your own waiver?

Yes, you can create your own waiver, especially when you have the right digital waiver software to help you out. We do recommend you work with a lawyer to write the waiver. They’ll be the best source of information on local regulations and have the expertise needed to draft legally binding documents.

From there, you just need to make the digital waiver by loading that language into your waiver software of choice. In the upcoming sections, we’ll discuss what you need to look for in the tool, starting with a user-friendly form builder.

8 Features to Look for In Digital Waiver Software

1. Intuitive Form Builder

Whether you’re converting a paper form into a digital waiver or starting from scratch, an easy-to-use form builder is a must. Ideally, the form builder should allow you to:

• Add unlimited custom fields and questions to suit your operational needs
• Insert signature and initial boxes wherever they’re needed
• Allow users to toggle between different languages (e.g., English, French, Spanish, or simplified Chinese)

Smartwaiver’s Waiver Editor is designed to be user-friendly and adaptable, allowing you to edit the templates at any time. Plus, you can have our team convert your existing waivers into digital Smart Waivers for you, saving your team time.

2. Flexible Customization Options

Your organization will likely need to customize the waiver to its niche, whether you run a summer camp, a boat rental company, or a nonprofit. For example, let’s say a business offers river rafting tours, and families with children make up a significant portion of its customer base. Minors obviously can’t waive liability, so their parents would need to complete the form, but how can the business adapt the form in this scenario?

We recommend looking for these capabilities:

• Parent/guardian relationship designations. To solve for the example listed above, choose a provider that allows you to have users indicate who will be participating in the activity: adults, minors, or adults and minors. From there, they’ll be directed to the appropriate form. Parents or guardians will fill out the form and give consent on behalf of the minors they are responsible for.
• Flagged questions. When these questions are answered a certain way, the waiver will be flagged in your database. For example, you might ask if the participant has any special needs or allergies. In this case, you would set up the question so that if a user checks “Yes,” the waiver will be flagged. Then, you can easily identify and follow up with those with special needs. 
• Safety and instructional videos. Certain activities require participants to have training before they can join in. Maintain compliance with local regulations or business standards by embedding safety and training videos directly into the waiver form. Require users to review the video before they can submit the waiver to satisfy safety requirements.

Customization features like these cultivate a more seamless experience for your customers. Rather than reviewing training materials as a separate process, for example, you can integrate custom videos into the waiver.

3. Driver’s License Scanning

Your customers’ driver’s licenses contain much of the information needed to complete waivers. Take advantage of this by choosing software with a built-in driver’s license scanning tool. Use a barcode scanner to scan the barcode on the participant’s license, and the feature will automatically fill in the following information:

• Full name
• Address 
• Gender
• Date of birth
• Driver’s license or ID card number
• Issuing state

This speeds up the process and makes completing the waiver more convenient for participants. Plus, responses will be more accurate with less room for human error (e.g., a user accidentally entering their address as 157 Club Court rather than 156 Club Court).

4. Waiver Kiosk App

While one of the key benefits of digital waivers is that customers can complete them ahead of time, not everyone will do this. You’ll need to provide an on-site alternative as a backup option.

Waiver kiosks allow you to collect digital waivers in person. Once you’ve set up an account with your digital waiver software provider, the process looks something like this:

1. Download the waiver kiosk app to your tablet.
2. Log in to your digital waiver software account from a computer and register the kiosk. The app should display a registration code.
3. Adjust the settings on the tablet, such as designating an inactivity timeout limit, and choose which waivers you’d like to display to guests.
4. Launch the waiver on the app and start collecting waivers!

Some waiver kiosk apps are able to collect waivers offline. This means that even if your business is in a remote location with a shaky internet connection, you can still safely store signed waivers. 

5. Auto Photo Capture

If your organization uses waiver kiosks, you can equip auto photo capture tools. Here’s how Smartwaiver’s auto photo capture tools work:

1. The participant begins signing the form using a waiver kiosk.
2. Using the device’s built-in camera, the Smartwaiver app automatically snaps photos of the person signing at three points in the waiver signing process.
3. The participant signs the waiver, and the photos are attached to the PDF copy of the form.

These photos add an extra layer of security and protection to the waivers, using real-time photos to verify signatures.

6. Secure Database

Waivers are important legal documents that can contain sensitive data, making data security a top priority. When comparing platforms, review the provider’s commitment to security. Are they practicing these digital security measures?:

• Data encryption
• Compliance with relevant security certifications (e.g., SOC 2 Type II)
• Two-factor authentication (2FA)
• A written pledge not to sell, share, or distribute data (i.e., a privacy policy)
• Role-based permissions that you can adjust to ensure only those who need access to signed waivers can access the data
• A certificate of authenticity for each signed waiver, assigning each form a unique document ID

Your waiver database should be secure and convenient to use. Look for providers that offer searchable databases so you can easily locate specific waivers by searching the participant’s name, birth date, date of attendance, etc.

7. Offline Functionality

Imagine this: your ziplining company is about to head out on a tour, and you’re waiting for the last few participants to submit their waivers via your waiver kiosk. Suddenly, the building loses its internet connection. You end up having to delay the tour until your connection is restored, but what if there were a better way?

As we mentioned earlier, some waiver kiosk apps can collect waivers without an internet connection. This is great for businesses that operate in remote locations or deal with unreliable connections, but let’s face it—internet outages can happen to any business. Choose software with an offline collection to give customers consistent, reliable experiences, ensuring they don’t even notice when your WiFi is on the fritz.

In most cases, all you’ll need to do is update your kiosk app to the latest version, toggle the offline capabilities “on,” and start collecting waivers. Once your device connects to the internet, the waivers collected offline will automatically sync to your database.

8. Integrations

Integrating your waiver software with your reservation, ticketing, or email marketing software will further streamline registration processes for your customers. Having an integrated tech stack also keeps your data consolidated, ensuring your database is always complete and up-to-date. Smartwaiver integrates with leading software providers for all kinds of industries—see if yours are included!

10 Top Waiver Software Providers 

1. Smartwaiver: The Best All-In-One Solution

Overview

Smartwaiver offers digital waiver software that enables organizations to set up forms in just a few minutes. You can choose between form templates and fully customizable options to build forms that suit your needs. 

Features

Smartwaiver makes it easy to tailor waivers to your needs, ensuring you collect all of the information you need to protect your organization and learn more about your customers. Your organization can customize forms with:

• Signature and initial boxes
• Auto photo capture (to take images of the user signing the form)
• Flagged questions
• Multilingual options
• Parent/guardian relationship distinctions
• Custom questions
• Video embedding capabilities for any training or safety videos

Smartwaiver also offers features like: 

• Driver’s license scanning: Using a scanner tool, leverage Smartwaiver to automatically extract and pre-fill participants' personal information (name, address, date of birth, and ID number) into the waiver.
• Waiver kiosk app: This free app for iOS and Android allows you to transform a tablet into a dedicated waiver kiosk for in-person signing in your lobby or event check-in.
• Offline waiver collection: Securely collect waivers via the waiver kiosk app even if you don’t have an internet connection. When you connect back to the internet later, these stored waivers will automatically sync to the cloud.
• Website embeds and shareable links: Share waivers ahead of time by embedding widgets on your website or sending links via SMS or email. 
• Multi-language support: Boost accessibility by allowing users to toggle to a different language, including English, Spanish, French, and Simplified Chinese.
• Waiver Console: Easily sort through a database of your organization’s waivers to find specific data or participants. Search for signed waivers by entering details like last name, birthday, or custom tags that you assign to the waiver (e.g., a specific event name).
• Integrations: You can do more with your waiver software and streamline business processes by integrating with other powerful tools. Smartwaiver integrates with popular email services like MailChimp, Emma, and Constant Contact, as well as top reservation and marketing tools. 
• Customer-centric tech support: Our U.S.-based support team is ready to help you set up your first waiver, optimize your workflow, and answer any questions that come up along the way.
• High security standards: Your waivers are protected by AES 256-bit encryption, the same standard the U.S. government uses. Smartwaiver is also SOC 2 Type II compliant, highlighting our deep dedication to protecting customer data. 

2. WaiverFile: Best for Managing Group Events

Overview

WaiverFile’s software makes it especially easy to track who has signed waivers during group events. The software offers online waivers that participants can sign either in advance or at the event. If your organization chooses to leverage integrations with services like MailChimp, you can send your waivers out to participants through the email marketing services you already use.

Features

WaiverFile offers features like:

• Online waiver signing in advance or in-person
• Waiver dashboard grouped by specific events
• Easy validation tracking for group check-ins
• Integrations with email marketing services like MailChimp

Key Considerations

WaiverFile can be helpful for organizations that frequently host large group events and need a simple, event-based dashboard to track who has completed their paperwork. The ability to group attendees by event makes the front-desk experience more efficient, helping the organization stay organized and provide a great customer experience.

While it handles group organization well, businesses looking for a comprehensive waiver platform might find it limiting. For example, organizations that need deeper customization, minor-to-guardian linking, and specialized, enterprise-level integrations should look to a more robust solution.

3. WaiverSign: Best for Bundling Multiple Waivers

Overview

WaiverSign is dedicated to providing smooth, positive user experiences with its easy-to-use interface. In addition to offering online waivers that are accessible across all devices, this provider allows you to bundle several waivers together. With this capability, users can complete multiple waivers at once while entering their personal information only one time. The documents are also shareable, customizable, and include multi-language options. 

Features

WaiverSign provides convenient, accessibility-driven features like:

• Cross-device accessibility
• Document bundling, allowing users to enter their personal information just once
• Multi-language options and customized branding
• Signing and age parameters
• Expired waiver tracking

Key Considerations

This platform is highly effective for organizations that need participants to sign multiple agreements (e.g., a liability waiver, a photo release, and an equipment rental agreement) at the same time. The bundling feature can reduce customer friction, and its multi-language support makes it functional for diverse customer bases.

Despite these strengths, organizations with specialized or complex needs may need a more powerful solution. If your business relies on more advanced third-party integrations, offline modes or kiosks for remote check-ins, or sophisticated tools for strict identity verification, a tool like Smartwaiver can offer the specialized, all-in-one feature set you’re looking for.

4. WaiverForever: Best for Customer Relationship Tracking

Overview

With WaiverForever, organizations can request digital waivers from groups, scan driver’s licenses, and track check-ins. Tracking check-ins denotes both the signed waiver and attendance to the event or activity, providing a clearer understanding of who actually attended in person. For returning participants, users can send out renewal waivers that allow them to skip questions they’ve already answered (like their name or contact information). 

Features

• Driver’s license scanning
• Check-in tracking, validating both waiver and physical attendance
• Customer relationship board for grouping signers
• Easy contact information export

Key Considerations

WaiverForever is a strong option for businesses that need their waiver tool to double as a basic customer relationship system. Its ability to track physical attendance alongside signed waivers and speed up the process for returning participants makes it useful for membership-based organizations or businesses with frequent repeat customers.

However, using your waiver platform as a primary customer relationship tool may not integrate well with larger, more complex tech stacks. Organizations that already use dedicated CRMs should focus on solutions that will integrate seamlessly with their existing customer management software.

5. Wherewolf: Best for Securing Signatures in Advance

Overview

With Wherewolf, your organization can eliminate paper waivers completely. This provider offers solutions for most industries, including products specific to tour waivers, activity waivers, and liability waivers. Wherewolf is suitable for many different fields and businesses, including restaurants, health services, and even theme parks.

Features

• Automated email communications to manage waivers and user experience
• Industry-specific solutions (tour, activity, and liability waivers)
• Dedicated check-in app designed for iPads
• Tools for diverse fields like restaurants, health services, and theme parks

Key Considerations

Organizations that want to automate waiver management and communications should consider Wherewolf as an option. By using automated emails to manage waivers, organizations can reduce staff workloads and give participants smoother experiences. 

However, organizations looking for a truly comprehensive waiver solution might need more advanced capabilities. While automated emails are an excellent tool for managing basic pre-arrival communications, businesses with more complex, multi-step check-in workflows may quickly outgrow the system. 

6. Jotform: Best for Automated Document Workflows

Overview

Jotform’s waiver product, Jotform Sign, combines e-sign documents with automation. This limits your organization’s involvement in the waiver process, allowing your team to focus on more important tasks. For example, your customer completes a waiver and sends it to you. Then, the software sends it to a staff member for approval (if necessary). Finally, Jotform automatically stores the document.

Features

• E-sign documents combined with workflow automation
• Automated routing for staff approval
• Automatic document storage
• Broad, versatile document creation (job applications, contracts, rental agreements)

Key Considerations

Jotform might be the right choice for organizations that need a flexible, all-purpose form builder rather than just a liability waiver tool. For instance, if your human resources or sales teams frequently need to create job applications or sales contracts with automated staff approval routing, Jotform’s flexibility can be very useful.

But because Jotform is designed to be a broad form builder, it lacks the specialized tools organizations might need for high-volume, event-based check-ins. Businesses like camps or adventure companies that need quick participant processing, offline collection tools, and the ability to link parents or guardians to specific minors should consider a more specialized tool.

7. CleverWaiver: Best for Integrated Payment Processing

With CleverWaiver, your organization can create, collect, and manage waivers with its name and branding. CleverWaiver makes it easy to accept payments within the waiver document through its integration with Stripe Payments. Additionally, you can share waivers from CleverWaiver in a variety of ways—via customized QR codes, email, or website embeds.

Features

• Custom-branded waiver creation and management
• In-waiver payment collection via Stripe integration
• QR codes for walk-ins
• Website embedding options
• Offline mode for collecting waivers without an internet connection

Key Considerations

Organizations that want to simplify their transaction process should consider this platform. Its Stripe integration, combined with flexible sharing options like QR codes and offline collection, makes it a practical option for remote events or mobile businesses that need an all-in-one payment and signing step.

Keep in mind that processing payments within a waiver is typically more convenient for smaller operations, as larger organizations often rely on dedicated point-of-sale (POS) systems or booking CRMs to manage this step. If this is the case for your organization, you might look for a solution that integrates with your existing, complex booking software rather than acting as a standalone payment portal.

8. PandaDoc: Best for General E-Signatures & Complex Proposals

Overview

PandaDoc is a document management platform designed to help businesses create, send, and collect electronic signatures for digital documents. While it offers a generalized e-signature tool rather than dedicated waiver software, it does provide specific digital waiver capabilities. Users can create legally binding waivers, track document status, and manage the signing process from the platform’s centralized dashboard.

Features

PandaDoc offers the basic waiver features needed to collect legally binding electronic signatures, along with:

• Intuitive drag-and-drop document editor
• Extensive template library, including waiver templates
• Integrations with major CRMs, such as Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.
• Document tracking and analytics

Key Considerations

This platform is a good choice for organizations that regularly need to send out highly customized, multi-page contracts, sales proposals, or quotes along with their liability waivers. If your workflow involves a heavy sales cycle and requires integrations with an enterprise CRM, PandaDoc’s document ecosystem is capable of handling it.

But because it is built for general business document management rather than rapid, high-volume check-ins, it doesn’t have the specialized features needed to manage high-traffic recreational businesses. Organizations that need features like offline waiver collection, kiosks, or minor-to-guardian linking should consider a specialized platform like Smartwaiver instead.

9. Google Forms: Best for Free, Basic Data Collection

Overview

Google Forms is a free, widely used form builder included within the Google Workspace suite. It allows users to easily create online surveys, questionnaires, and custom forms. This platform is absolutely not designed to function as a legal document or e-signature platform, but it is sometimes used by organizations with small budgets or casual organizers.

Features

Google Forms offers basic form and survey functionality, including:

• Customizable drag-and-drop form builder
• Page branching and conditional logic based on user answers
• Automatic data syncing to Google Sheets
• Custom colors, images, and fonts for basic branding
• Mobile-responsive design

Key Considerations

Google Forms is best for very small organizations, casual community clubs, or internal school use where budget is the primary deciding factor. If you simply need a free way to gather basic information like participant names, t-shirt sizes, or to acknowledge simple rules, it can do this and cleanly organize the data into a spreadsheet.

However, organizations should be extremely wary of using Google Forms as a liability waiver. Google Forms does not capture legally compliant electronic signatures or provide the audit trails (such as IP tracking or timestamps) you need to prove a document wasn't forged. For waivers that will hold up in court, be sure to choose a dedicated waiver tool that meets the requirements outlined in the ESIGN Act.

10. Happy Waiver: Best for Quick, AI-Enabled Waivers

Overview

Happy Waiver is a straightforward digital waiver platform designed to simplify the waiver process at an affordable cost. It provides a custom builder to create digital forms and a searchable database to store them, emphasizing its low storage fees. It also offers an AI waiver generator tool that can help users quickly draft waiver copy.

Features

• Custom digital waiver builder
• Secure cloud storage and searchable document database
• QR code generation 
• AI waiver generator

Key Considerations

Happy Waiver is a solid choice for small businesses or smaller, casual organizers who simply want to eliminate paper forms and easily sign waivers via QR codes or email. It also includes integrated customer surveys and the option to host a referral program, helping build relationships with customers.

However, its focus on simplicity means it may lack the advanced operational depth required by growing or high-volume organizations. Additionally, while AI waiver generator tools can save time upfront, they may present additional risks. These tools don’t have all of the necessary context about your business and may insert contradictory clauses, use vague phrasing, or even have legal “hallucinations” that have no actual basis in court—this is why it’s best to work with a lawyer when drafting these documents.

Wrapping Up

Investing in digital waiver software has a host of benefits for any organization that routinely uses waivers. With the help of waiver software and a legal professional, you can provide better experiences for those signing the liability waiver, all while reducing the time and effort you need to spend collecting and organizing. 

To learn more about Smartwaiver’s solution and try it for yourself, check out our video demo and sign up for a free trial!

To get the most out of your waiver software, check out these resources:

• Industry-Leading Digital Waiver Features - Smartwaiver. If you’re curious about Smartwaiver’s features, explore this page for more details about our platform’s capabilities. 
• Want a Free Online Waiver Signing Tool? Read This First. Considering a free digital waiver tool? Read this guide to learn about the red flags you might uncover with “free” software.
• How to Maximize Your Digital Waiver Software. Waiver software can do much more than manage liability releases. Discover the ways you can leverage software to benefit your organization.