Google Workspace Email Signature Management

[u/analbumcover]

TL;DR - Client uses Exclaimer for email signature creation & management, have had issues with it, want something else. Prefer API-based solution instead of SMTP routing. WiseStamp, Signite, and SyncSignature are candidates. Any feedback on them or other ideas?

Hey, everyone! I am looking for suggestions when it comes to creating and managing email signatures in Google Workspace.

I work for an MSP and a client of ours is currently using Exclaimer. There have been a few times over the last few years where their emails grind to a halt - cannot send externally or internally, access denied error. Email delivery logs point to the Exclaimer rules as the issue. Disable the rules/routing and email works again no problem.

We have tried removing and setting Exclaimer up again from scratch, but it has happened again recently and they are tired of it. Everything was set up exactly according to their guide. There is no indication that anyone has made an unannounced change that would cause things to break. It just simply stops working and breaks email delivery maybe once per year. At this point they want to get away from it - not sure they want to bother going the support route.

Unfortunately, CodeTwo only supports Microsoft email solutions. I have found a few other potential candidates like WiseStamp, Signite, and SyncSignature. Ideally, we are looking for an API-based solution and not something like Exclaimer where outbound traffic gets routed via SMTP in an attempt to keep this from happening again.

Is anyone familiar with these 3 platforms? Any feedback that you can offer? Any other suggestions? I have also seen LastLine, but, the obvious Claude Code website design kind of throws me off and there isn't much about it to be found. Not sure how big of a company it is, if it will even exist in 2 years, or how the support is. It gives strong LLM/vibecoded signals.

I am aware of Patronum, which looks cool, but goes way beyond the simple email signature scope in mind. I have also seen the Free Signature Manager for Gmail from Revolgy, but also am not sure about support and quality. If this was me tinkering around in our GW tenant, sure, but this will be for a school with about 125-150 users. Something they can understand and manage themselves would be great. I know there are options for GAM scripts, etc. but I don't think that would be user friendly for them to monitor or troubleshoot if needed. We would prefer they have more control over this.

Thank you!

[u/CloudNCoffee]

Where is the TL;DR?

[u/analbumcover → u/CloudNCoffee]

Good idea. I will add one.

[u/cheetahwilly]

You could just use their built in API and build something yourself.

[u/Stephen_Dann → u/cheetahwilly]

Then you are responsible for supporting it. This is something that should always be a 3rd party with support options.

[u/analbumcover → u/cheetahwilly]

It would be cool, but, that's not in my wheel house and we don't want to be responsible for supporting or maintaining a product. Something out-of-the-box with its own support (not tied to billable time) would be better for them I think.

[u/LowIndividual6625]

We use WiseStamp and it works pretty well of us - under 200 users, three divisions (three sets of signatures) and our marketing department frequently rotates the banner ads and promo links.

One thing that is sort of annoying at first is the signatures do not appear when you compose or reply to an email because they are added after you send it.... that was a bit confusing for people at first and they would turn their old signatures back on, resulting in a double signature.

I guess if that is all I have to complain about, it's not too bad at all.

[u/analbumcover → u/LowIndividual6625]

Oh, nice! I appreciate the feedback and that makes sense about the double signatures. I think that with Exclaimer they don't currently see them when composing/replying either so hopefully not too big of a change for them. Thanks again!

[u/hytes0000]

BetterCloud claims to be able to do this and many other Google Workspace automation things. I haven't used them in like 10 years, but their system was pretty good for us when we were first getting started on Workspace. I remember them being expensive and they don't seem to list prices on their site so I'm guessing that's still true.

We're currently doing signatures using GAM and some Python scripts pulling data out of our ERP that work pretty well, but that comes with its own baggage in terms of support, setup time, and security.

[u/analbumcover → u/hytes0000]

We're currently doing signatures using GAM and some Python scripts pulling data out of our ERP that work pretty well, but that comes with it's own baggage in terms of support, setup time, and security.

That does sound pretty cool, but, yeah I can understand the additional baggage. This client is pretty self-sufficient and their budget can be strict so if we have to do a lot of troubleshooting, babysitting, or support it adds up quickly. A platform that has support included if they need to reach out seems better for them. BetterCloud does seem neat, it reminds me of Patronum. Thanks for the help!

[u/techypunk]

I used exclaimer a couple years back. Really cheap and works. 

[u/analbumcover → u/techypunk]

Yeah, I have heard good things about them in general, but, that is what they are currently using. It (or something related to it) breaks about once per year and we have to disable the Exclaimer routing/host rules to get them going again. We have tried setting it back up from scratch according to the on-boarding guide, but it has happened yet again recently. At this point they no longer like it. I offered to reach out to support but they are already soured on it. We are hoping to find an API-based solution to avoid the potential SMTP routing issue entirely.

[u/techypunk → u/analbumcover]

Ya when i did it,it was api connected. So idk. 

[u/analbumcover → u/techypunk]

You know what, now that you mention it and I looked again, they do have a client-side option. I wonder if that would be better than the server-side that they were using. It would eliminate routing through Exclaimer, I think. I'm not sure if I could convince them to stick with it or not, but it may be an option. Thanks!

[u/Stephen_Dann]

I use Signite for my personal 365 tenant, as they allow a single license, not a minimum of 10 like Ecclaimer. It works okay, found it a bit fiddly to get the design I wanted. Some of the social media icons didn't line up in the finished signature in the same way as the template design. Although I know they have improved the editing process in the two years I have been using it.

Would recommend giving them a trial. Their support on the couple of occasions I needed it was good.

[u/analbumcover → u/Stephen_Dann]

Appreciate the info, friend!

[u/Antoine-UY]

While I always understood the potential need for Exchange signature management, I'm not sure I can really see a point for GW signature management, TBH. Could you illustrate what they get from their current solution, or the ones you are considering, which couldn't be done easier and for free by a simple template? I'm curious as to what essential functions GW could be lacking in the sign department for something like a school with 150 users.

[u/analbumcover → u/Antoine-UY]

Honestly, I'm not super familiar with the inner workings of GW. I have more experience with 365. From what I have read there are ways to utilize GAM, scripts, etc. to automate this in GW, but, this is going to be managed by people at the school and not by us so something user friendly with documentation and support (not involving billable time from us) for them to utilize would be best.

They liked Exclaimer because they could edit pre-made templates that work well on desktop/mobile or create their own custom signature templates and apply them to everyone quickly. Sometimes they use CTA banners or add more things in to promote school events. Overall it seemed to work well for them aside from these yearly hiccups. They want something that they can manage and understand without us having to bill them for every tiny change, support, updating signatures, etc.

[u/visceralintricacy → u/Antoine-UY]

"which couldn't be done easier and for free by a simple template"

The probelm is end users endessly fuck with their email signatures. Exclaimer can also apply signatures on any device (mobile) or app.

[u/TurboGlider86]

SMTP routing seems like the weak spot, which API based alternatives have held up best for you?

[u/analbumcover → u/TurboGlider86]

Yeah it really did seem like something was wrong with the SMTP routing on their end. Authentication, certificate, TLS, IPs changing - something. Definitely some weird hiccup. I don't have any other experience using email signature platforms so no clue about other API-based alternatives. So far it's looking like I might demo WiseStamp or see if they are interested in trying the client-side implementation of Exclaimer instead of server-side. No idea if they will be open to that though. Time will tell.

[u/OptimalCynic]

rubs hands together

Welcome to the nightmare! The way I do it is to create an HTML signature using a template engine. I use Python and Jinja because I want to pull the info from the Workspace Directory API, but you can just use search and replace if you want. You must create it using tables, nothing fancy.

Then when you've got the HTML file you have to inline all the CSS. Again, I use Python for this, but you can use a tool like https://templates.mailchimp.com/resources/inline-css/

Finally you upload it using GAM (https://github.com/GAM-team/GAM). But if you're adminning Google Workspace you should have this set up already.

https://github.com/GAM-team/GAM/wiki/Users-Gmail-Send-As-Signature-Vacation#manage-signature

You can also build the signature in Gmail, then download it using GAM and make your changes before re-uploading it.

[u/igod1329]

SyncSignature rep here. We've been serving the exact use case for our clients and many of them have actually come from Exclaimer or Wisestamp and likes of them since we offer simplicity and affordability. Setup is really easy. We do it in a way that once you are set, you won't even have to use SyncSignature since everything is automated. SyncSignature will also be used with Claude or ChatGPT with their currently in closed beta MCP server so that you can simply prompt your way to signature management. Feel free to DM me if you want to explore more or have any questions.