Legal billing software does three jobs that ordinary invoicing apps don't: it records billable time against matters, keeps client money in trust apart from your own, and produces bills in the formats that insurers and corporate clients ask for. For a solo attorney the published entry prices sit close together, between $49 and $59 a user a month. The real differences are in what the cheapest plan leaves out: LEDES billing, trust reconciliation and full accounting. Every price below comes from the vendor's own pricing page, in US dollars. If you hold no client money and no client asks for LEDES, a general invoicing tool costs less.
Legal billing software at a glance
| Software | Entry plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | LEDES billing from | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clio | Starter | From $49 per user (term not stated) | — | Not stated | 7 days |
| PracticePanther | Solo | $49 per user | $59 per user | Business, $89 | 7 days |
| CosmoLex | Launch | $49 per user | $59 per user | Core, $99 | 10 days |
| MyCase | Basic | $50 per user | $60 per user | Pro, $100 | 10 days |
| Rocket Matter | Essentials | $59 per user | Not published | Pro, $95 | Yes, length not stated |
| TimeSolv | Pro or Legal | Not shown | Not shown | Not stated by plan | 10 days |
| Smokeball | Bill | Quote only | Quote only | Not stated | Not stated |
| LEAP | — | Quote only | Quote only | Not stated | Not stated |
The "LEDES billing from" prices are per user a month, billed annually.
First-year cost of the entry plans: a solo attorney and a 3-attorney firm
- Solo attorney
- 3 attorneys
Show the numbers
| Solo attorney | 3 attorneys | |
|---|---|---|
| Clio Starter | $588 | $1,764 |
| PracticePanther Solo | $588 | $1,764 |
| CosmoLex Launch | $588 | $1,764 |
| MyCase Basic | $600 | $1,800 |
| Rocket Matter Essentials | $708 | $2,124 |
What the cheapest plans leave out
Every entry plan here tracks time, turns it into invoices, takes online payments and keeps some kind of trust ledger. Three things separate the cheap plans from the next tier up:
- LEDES and UTBMS billing. If you bill insurance carriers or corporate legal departments, they may require invoices in the LEDES format with UTBMS task codes. No entry plan in this guide includes it.
- Trust reconciliation and full accounting. A trust ledger records what you hold for each client. Reconciling it against the bank statement and your client ledgers (three-way reconciliation), and keeping your operating books in the same system, often costs more.
- Split billing. Sending one matter's bill to several payers, such as co-defendants or a client and an insurer, is usually a higher-tier feature.
PracticePanther: best for the lowest published card rate
PracticePanther's Solo plan costs $49 per user a month billed annually, or $59 month to month. It includes time and expense tracking, invoicing, a client portal, document templates, workflows and PantherPayments, PracticePanther's own payment processor. Its trust account ledger includes a three-way reconciliation report on every plan.
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | $49 per user | $59 per user | Time, billing, trust ledger, PantherPayments |
| Essential | $69 per user | $79 per user | Multiple bank accounts, check printing, custom fields |
| Business | $89 per user | $99 per user | LEDES and UTBMS billing, texting, unlimited eSignature |
| Business Pro | $114 per user | $124 per user | PantherAccounting Plus: trust and operating accounting |
PantherPayments has no monthly fee and charges 2.95% on all cards with no per-transaction fee, and 1% on eChecks. PracticePanther notes that card brand network fees may apply.
What to watch:
- One bank account on Solo. Adding separate operating and trust accounts starts on Essential, at $69.
- LEDES costs $40 more per user. It starts on Business at $89, billed annually.
- Full trust and operating accounting is Business Pro only. The guided three-way reconciliation and general ledger are in PantherAccounting Plus, at $114 per user.
Choose it if you take a lot of card payments and want the processor built in at a flat rate.
CosmoLex: best for trust and business accounting in one system
CosmoLex builds legal accounting into the product. Launch costs $49 per user a month billed annually, or $59 monthly, and includes time tracking, invoicing, retainers, online payments by card (US) and eCheck, trust accounting and ledgers with automatic trust transfers and holds, and trust compliance and reconciliation reports.
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | $49 per user | $59 per user | Billing, payments, trust ledgers and compliance reports |
| Core | $99 per user | $109 per user | LEDES and split billing, bank reconciliation, matter budgets |
| Pro | $129 per user | $139 per user | General ledger and payables, bank feeds, open API |
What to watch:
- Launch has no bank reconciliation. Reconciling your trust and operating bank accounts starts on Core, at twice the price.
- The full books are on Pro. A general ledger with payables and bank feeds, so you don't need separate accounting software, is the $129 plan.
- Payment fees are not published. The pricing page describes CosmoLex Pay but gives no card or eCheck rate.
All plans include live onboarding with guided data migration.
Choose it if you want your trust account and your firm's books in the legal software itself rather than in QuickBooks. If you'd rather keep the books in separate software, see bookkeeping software for freelancers.
MyCase: best for LEDES billing with case management
MyCase Basic costs $50 per user a month billed annually, or $60 monthly. It covers case and contact management, time entry, invoicing, trust accounting with trust balances per case, online payments with next-day deposits, and a limited client portal. There is no setup fee and no long-term contract.
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $50 per user | $60 per user | Billing, trust accounting, LawPay payments |
| Pro | $100 per user | $120 per user | LEDES billing, workflows, eSignature, intake forms and CRM |
| Advanced | $130 per user | $150 per user | Split billing, conflict check tracking, open API |
What to watch:
- LEDES doubles the price. It starts on Pro, at $100 per user billed annually.
- Three-way trust reconciliation is an add-on. MyCase Accounting costs $39 per user a month and is available on Pro and Advanced only.
- Payment rates aren't on the MyCase page. Payments run through LawPay with "no monthly fee", but MyCase lists only "competitive processing rates". LawPay sold on its own costs $19 a month plus 2.99% + $0.30 per Visa, Mastercard or Discover payment and 1% per eCheck.
- No refunds on cancel. MyCase says previously paid fees are non-refundable.
Choose it if you want case management and billing in one product and need LEDES or eSignature from Pro.
Rocket Matter: best for LEDES with unlimited storage
Rocket Matter lists annual prices only: Essentials costs $59 per user a month, paid annually. Its FAQ still says plans start at $49, but no $49 plan is listed. Every plan includes Rocket Matter Pay, trust accounting with matter-based trust accounts and automatic trust transfers, evergreen retainers, batch billing, unlimited support and free data migration.
| Plan | Paid annually | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $59 per user | Billing, trust accounting, payments, 25GB of document storage |
| Pro | $95 per user | LEDES codes and e-billing, convenience fees, unlimited storage |
| Premier | $115 per user | Split billing, fee allocation |
| Elite | $145 per user | Built-in business accounting: reconcile operating, trust and card accounts |
What to watch:
- Essentials costs $10 more than the cheapest rivals and stores only 25GB of documents.
- Reconciling accounts in the app is Elite only. Reconciling operating, trust and credit card accounts comes with Elite's built-in accounting. Rocket Matter also connects to QuickBooks Online, though not while you use Elite's accounting.
- Extras have setup fees. The CRM add-on ($39 per user a month billed annually, Pro and Premier only) has a $399 onboarding fee and a 3-user minimum; the website add-on is $149 a month plus $599 setup.
Choose it if you need LEDES invoices and keep a lot of documents: Pro, at $95 per user, has both, for $6 more than PracticePanther Business.
Clio: Starter is priced, the other plans on request
Clio says its plans start at $49 USD per user per month. That is the Starter plan, which includes contact, matter and document management, time and expense tracking, online payments by card, eCheck, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and reconciliation of trust and operating accounts. Clio doesn't say whether $49 is the annual or monthly rate.
The other three plans (Core, Signature and Elite) show "Get pricing" rather than a price. Core adds AI-drafted bills and a client portal; Signature adds custom permissions, split bills across payers and billing in multiple currencies; Elite bundles Clio Grow for client intake. The free trial is 7 days with no credit card.
What to watch:
- Only Starter has a price. Core, Signature and Elite are quote-only.
- The billing term isn't stated. The plan card shows "Starting at $49/user" without saying whether that is the annual or the monthly rate.
Choose it if you want the widest set of integrations and are prepared to ask for a quote above Starter.
TimeSolv, Smokeball and LEAP
- TimeSolv has two plans, Pro and Legal, but its pricing page didn't show either price when we checked; it says volume pricing is available for additional users. It is running a promotion: 25% off the first year on an annual plan, or the first four months on a monthly plan. Its feature list includes LEDES billing, split billing, trust accounting and built-in payment processing. The free trial is 10 days.
- Smokeball has four plans (Bill, Boost, Grow and Prosper+), all priced on request. The Bill plan covers invoicing, time tracking, online payments and trust accounting. Smokeball says the price depends on users, plan and contract term.
- LEAP gives prices only on request and says a one-time implementation fee may apply for setup, data migration and training.
Bill4Time is left out because its pricing page could not be opened to confirm current prices.
What it costs with LEDES billing
If your clients require LEDES invoices, the entry plans won't do. Here is the first-year cost of the cheapest plan with LEDES at each vendor that publishes prices.
| Plan with LEDES | Solo attorney | 3 attorneys | How it is worked out |
|---|---|---|---|
| PracticePanther Business | $1,068 | $3,204 | $89 per user × 12, billed annually |
| Rocket Matter Pro | $1,140 | $3,420 | $95 per user × 12, paid annually |
| CosmoLex Core | $1,188 | $3,564 | $99 per user × 12, billed annually |
| MyCase Pro | $1,200 | $3,600 | $100 per user × 12, billed annually |
Paralegals and assistants who log in count as users at every vendor here, so add them to the user count.
Payment processing fees
Card fees often cost more than the software. On a $2,500 invoice paid by Visa:
| Processor | Card rate | Fee on $2,500 | eCheck |
|---|---|---|---|
| PantherPayments (PracticePanther) | 2.95%, no per-transaction fee | $73.75 | 1% ($25) |
| LawPay (sold on its own) | 2.99% + $0.30 | $75.05 | 1% ($25) |
LawPay sold on its own also charges $19 a month and a card network pass-through allocation of $7.99 a month, and 3.90% + $0.30 on American Express. CosmoLex, Clio and MyCase don't publish their rates on their pricing pages. Rocket Matter supports credit card surcharging on every plan.
How to choose
- Solo, hourly billing, no LEDES? PracticePanther Solo, CosmoLex Launch or Clio Starter, all from $49 per user a month.
- You want the trust account and the firm's books in one place? CosmoLex: Core for bank reconciliation, Pro for the full general ledger.
- Insurance or corporate clients that require LEDES? PracticePanther Business ($89) is the cheapest published option; Rocket Matter Pro ($95) adds unlimited document storage.
- Billing plus full case management, intake and eSignature? MyCase Pro, at $100 per user billed annually.
- Comparing quotes from Smokeball, LEAP or Clio's upper plans? Ask for the contract term, setup fees and the card processing rate in writing.
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