Independent directory Witness Score RON vs mobile vs walk-in. Not a top-10 list.

Directory · August 2026

Remote online notarization vs mobile notary in 2026: pick the product before the logo

The useful question is not “which app has the most notaries.” It is which product you are buying: a video session with a notary commissioned in a RON state, a person who drives to you, or a bank or UPS counter during lobby hours. Those three things share a stamp and almost nothing else.

Updated August 2026 · Independent · How the three grades work · Affiliate disclosure

Proof’s 2026 RON map (updated July 8, 2026) is the citation we use for the country, not a press release we rewrote. 42 states plus Washington, D.C. have effective laws that let their commissioned notaries perform remote online notarization. Five states — Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina — do not. California signers can use out-of-state RON now. California’s own statute for California-commissioned notaries is not operative until the Secretary of State finishes the technology project, or 1 January 2030, whichever is earlier.

This directory does not publish another “best online notary 2026” list. Every vendor below gets three grades that are allowed to disagree with each other:

  1. Availability — 24/7 on-demand versus a scheduled visit versus store hours.
  2. Identity check — published IDV (credential analysis, KBA, biometrics) versus in-person satisfactory evidence.
  3. Session record — published recording or document retention. If they do not print a number, we do not invent one.

A platform can be an A at midnight and a D on the session file. That is not a contradiction. It is the point.

A fourth question sits on every state page and is not a vendor grade: can a notary commissioned in this state perform RON, or only an out-of-state notary? Proof’s map answers that for notaries. Signers are a different question.

Pick the product before you pick the brand

Remote online (RON)

Live audio-video, identity check, electronic seal. The notary’s commissioning state is the law that applies. Official session floors we cite: NotaryLive ~$25/session; Proof/Notarize ~$25 first seal / $15 extra; OneNotary online ~$25.

Mobile notary

Someone travels to a kitchen table, hospital, or escrow. Wet ink if the receiving desk wants it. OneNotary publishes mobile from ~$80. Independent mobiles set their own travel fees — we do not invent those.

Bank / UPS walk-in

You go to them. Hours are lobby or store hours. The notary is commissioned where you are standing. California publishes a statutory maximum; counters set their own prices. We do not invent a UPS sticker.

The use-case

Form 1583 for a mailbox signup is a notary job, not a mailbox review. LLC packets and bank/KYC files are often a different receiving-desk rule than a personal affidavit. Start with California or Form 1583.

What the 42-state count actually is

Proof’s sentence is easy to misuse. “42 states + DC have RON laws” means those jurisdictions authorize their notaries to perform RON. It does not mean a signer in Mississippi is locked out. Interstate recognition is how a Virginia-commissioned notary can close a session for a signer sitting in Jackson. Proof says documents notarized remotely by a properly commissioned notary are accepted for use in all 50 states — and then immediately notes that a receiving institution can still have its own policy.

The five states with no effective RON-for-notaries law, on that same map: Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina. Connecticut is the sharp exception for local real estate closings — Proof says the state prohibits RON there, including by out-of-state notaries. We will not flatten that into “RON is fine everywhere.”

California is not on the five-state list. It has a statute. It does not yet let California notaries flip on a webcam. The California Secretary of State customer alert (October 24, 2023) is the primary source we use for that delay: the rest of SB 696 becomes operative when the technology project is complete, or by January 1, 2030, whichever is earlier. A video image is still not personal appearance for a California-commissioned notary.

Official session floors — and what we refuse to invent

The market prints $25 in three different units. We keep the unit next to the number.

Vendor Published floor Unit Extra seal / signer / witness Source
NotaryLive ~$25 Per session Seals: no extra charge. Signer $5. Witness $10. notarylive.com/pricing
Proof / Notarize Network ~$25 first seal / $15 extra Per seal Witness $15. Extra signer $10. (Consumer page.) notarize.com/pricing
OneNotary ~$25 online; mobile from ~$80 1 stamp / 1 signer (online) Online: seal $10, signer $10, witness $15. OneNotary individuals pricing
BlueNotary Not published as a consumer session floor Homepage lists $10 on-demand witness. We stop there. bluenotary.us

Those are official pages retrieved in August 2026. We do not average them into a “typical cost.” We do not mint a BlueNotary $25 to make the table tidy.

Scorecards

Letters are explained on the methodology page. They are not Trustpilot restatements. We do not publish aggregate ratings.

Proof (Notarize Network)

Remote online notarization
Availability
A
Published 24/7 Notarize Network. Consumer page says connect in less than a second.
Identity check
B
Published IDV on the session. We have not lab-tested the stack.
Session record
C
RON recording exists. Retention years are not printed on the consumer pricing page, so the letter stays conservative.

Consumer RON through the Notarize Network, a Proof product. On-demand video session, digital seal, identity check before the notary joins.

Published price: Consumer Notarize Network page: $25 first seal, $15 each extra seal, $15 on-demand witness, $10 each extra signer. Retrieved August 2026.

Extra seal / signer / witness: $15 extra seal (consumer page); $10 extra signer (consumer page); $15 on-demand witness (consumer page)

Recording / storage: Session is recorded as a RON act. A single consumer-facing retention period is not printed on the pricing page we retrieved. We do not invent a number of years.

Official page

NotaryLive

Remote online notarization
Availability
A
Published 24/7/365. FAQ says no scheduling required.
Identity check
B
Credential analysis plus KBA is printed on the site. We have not lab-tested pass rates.
Session record
B
10-year document storage is a published number. That is the unit they print; it is not a Trustpilot score.

Pay-as-you-go RON billed per session, not per seal. Browser session; no app required on the pricing page we retrieved.

Published price: Official pricing page: $25 per session. Extra signer $5. Extra 25 pages $5. On-demand witness $10. Additional seals: no extra charge. Retrieved August 2026.

Extra seal / signer / witness: No extra charge for additional seals (pricing page); $5 extra signer (pricing page); $10 on-demand witness (pricing page)

Recording / storage: Pricing page lists 10-year document storage.

Official page

OneNotary

RON and mobile
Availability
B
Online side is published 24/7. Mobile is scheduled and priced from $80 — a different product on the same logo.
Identity check
C+
Live video is required. A printed KBA/credential stack is not on the individuals pricing page we retrieved.
Session record
D
7-day document storage is the number they print. That is a real limit, not an insult.

The only vendor in this set that publishes both an online RON sticker and a mobile (notary travels to you) sticker on the same consumer pricing page.

Published price: Individuals pricing page: online notarization $25 with 1 stamp and 1 signer; extra seal $10; extra signer $10; OneNotary witness $15. Mobile notarization from $80 with 1 stamp and 5 pages. Retrieved August 2026.

Extra seal / signer / witness: $10 extra seal online; $5 extra seal on mobile (pricing page); $10 extra signer online (pricing page); $15 OneNotary witness online (pricing page)

Recording / storage: Individuals pricing page lists 7 days document storage for the consumer plan.

Official page

BlueNotary

Remote online notarization
Availability
A
Homepage: on-demand, 24/7.
Identity check
B
KBA, biometrics, and credential analysis are documented on the help desk. We have not lab-tested them.
Session record
B
At-least-10-year journal and recording retention is a published help-center number.

RON platform with a published 24/7 on-demand product and a $10 on-demand witness line. No consumer per-session sticker on the homepage we retrieved — we will not invent one.

Published price: Homepage lists $10 for on-demand witness. A consumer $25-style session floor is not printed there. We do not invent a BlueNotary session price.

Extra seal / signer / witness: Not published on the consumer homepage we retrieved; Not published on the consumer homepage we retrieved; $10 on-demand witness (homepage)

Recording / storage: Help center: electronic journal and related records retained at least 10 years unless a state requires longer. Recording downloadable by signer or notary.

Official page

Bank lobby or UPS Store walk-in

In-person counter
Availability
D
Store hours. A Sunday-night LLC packet does not get a lobby notary.
Identity check
C
In-person satisfactory evidence. Different from RON IDV, not automatically worse. The receiving bank still decides.
Session record
D
Paper journal, no session recording. Fine for many wet-ink packets. Weak if a later dispute needs the video.

You travel to a bank lobby or a pack-and-ship counter. The notary is commissioned in the state you are standing in. Hours are store hours. There is no national session sticker we can cite.

Published price: California publishes a statutory maximum for in-person notarial acts. Individual UPS Store and bank counters set their own prices at or below that schedule. We do not invent a UPS or bank sticker.

Extra seal / signer / witness: Per-signature statutory or store price; Each signer appears in person; You bring the witness, or the store may decline

Recording / storage: Paper journal if the state requires one. No audio-video recording of the act unless the notary separately records, which a walk-in counter generally does not.

Official page

Mobile notary (travels to you)

In-person travel
Availability
C
Scheduled. Useful for wet-ink, hospitals, and signers who cannot pass KBA. Not 24/7.
Identity check
C
Physical appearance. The right tool when a receiving desk wants ink and a raised seal, or when KBA fails.
Session record
D
Journal, not a ten-year video file. Cite OneNotary’s 7-day consumer storage only for their own online plan — not for a random mobile.

A commissioned notary comes to a home, office, hospital, or escrow table. OneNotary publishes a mobile floor. Independent mobiles set their own travel fees. We cite the published floor and do not invent the rest.

Published price: OneNotary individuals page: mobile from $80 with 1 stamp and 5 pages; extra page $0.60; extra seal $5; travel to hard-to-reach areas $10–$50. Independent California mobiles are not that sticker.

Extra seal / signer / witness: OneNotary mobile: $5 extra seal (pricing page). Independents: not invented.; Each signer must appear. Travel fee may or may not cover extra people.; You usually supply the witness.

Recording / storage: Paper or electronic journal per state law. Not a RON audio-video file unless the notary is performing IPEN on an approved device — do not assume they are.

Official page

How to use this site

  1. If you are in California and the packet is an LLC, a bank/KYC file, or a mailbox Form 1583, start on the California scorecard. A California-commissioned notary still cannot perform RON, and people still need a stamp this week.
  2. If the document is PS Form 1583, read the Form 1583 notarization page before you pay a random notary who has never seen the June 2024 revision.
  3. If you only need wet ink during business hours, a walk-in is a product, not a failure. Grade it as hours and a paper journal.
  4. Scorecard links say Official page. We may earn a commission if you finish a session through a link we mark as an affiliate. See the disclosure.

Sources for this page

  1. Proof, “Where Is Remote Online Notarization Legal?” (updated July 8, 2026) — 42 states + DC; AL, CT, GA, MS, SC; California signers and the 2030 statute.
  2. California Secretary of State, Notary customer alerts — SB 696 operative schedule; personal appearance still means physically present for California notaries.
  3. Notarize / Proof consumer pricing — $25 first seal, $15 extra seal, $15 witness, $10 extra signer.
  4. NotaryLive pricing — $25/session; 10-year document storage; 24/7/365.
  5. OneNotary individuals pricing — $25 online; mobile from $80; 7-day document storage.
  6. BlueNotary and journal retention help article — $10 witness; ≥10-year records. No invented session price.
  7. PS Form 1583, June 2024 — notary or CMRA witness; real-time audio-and-video is on the form.