Clio Accounting vs LegalClaw
Clio Accounting
clio.com
LegalClaw
erpclaw.aiSide by side
| Figure | Clio Accounting | LegalClaw |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $49/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 2 |
| Spec score · Trust Accounting Software | 9.2 (#1) | 8.6 (#9) |
| Founded | 2008 | 2014 |
| Integrations | Clio advertises more than 250 app integrations, including QuickBooks, Xero, OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, NetDocuments, Gmail, Outlook, and Zapier. | The legal page says Stripe can collect retainers and case payments; ERPClaw’s integrations page also describes Stripe, Plaid, Shopify, and S3 integrations. |
| Intended users | Clio is designed for law firms of every size and is used by legal professionals in more than 130 countries. | The legal page names solo practitioners, small firms with 3–10 attorneys, and boutique litigation firms as example users. |
| Purpose | Clio Accounting is legal and trust accounting software built for legal professionals and law firms. | LegalClaw is ERPClaw’s legal vertical for matter management, time billing, trust accounting, and law-firm operations. |
| Rating on Apple App Store | 4.8 out of 5 from 9K ratings for Clio for Law Firms and Lawyers. | No star rating overview is displayed because the LegalClaw app has not received enough ratings or reviews. |
| Support | Every plan includes 24/5 live chat, phone, and email support, an online help center, user community access, and training. | Self-hosted pricing includes community support via GitHub, while managed hosting includes priority email support; paid implementation and ongoing support are also offered. |
| Trust accounting | It separates earned and unearned funds, reconciles trust and operating accounts, and provides trust ledgers and reconciliation reports. | The module supports IOLTA and escrow accounts, deposits, disbursements, transfers, reconciliation and interest distribution. |
| What it does | Clio Accounting is cloud accounting and bookkeeping software for law firms, integrated into Clio Manage. | LegalClaw is ERPClaw’s legal-practice module for matters, billing, documents, trust accounting, court calendars, conflicts and bar/CLE compliance. |
Plans
Clio Accounting
- Starter$49 a month
- CorePriced on request
- ElitePriced on request
- SignaturePriced on request
In their own words
Clio Accounting
Clio Accounting is legal and trust accounting software for legal professionals and law firms. It provides a system of record for firm finances and automates financial workflows, transaction matching, and reconciliation. The software keeps earned and unearned funds separate, reconciles trust and operating accounts, and provides ledger and reconciliation reports. Financial features include accounts receivable and payable, vendor and expense management, cash-flow oversight, and tax reports; bank transactions are matched to the firm's books automatically. Accounting is included with Clio plans from Starter upward, but it cannot be bought on its own and requires a Clio Manage subscription. Starter is listed at $49 a month, billed per user, and includes Clio Manage, legal accounting, and trust and operating reconciliation. Clio supports more than 250 app integrations, including QuickBooks and Xero, and offers an API for custom integrations and workflow automation. It is available on web, Android, iOS, and through an API. Clio was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.
LegalClaw
LegalClaw is ERPClaw’s legal vertical for matter management, time billing, trust accounting, and law-firm operations. Its legal feature set lists 69 law-firm-specific actions across trust accounting, billing, documents, and reporting. Billing handles retainer, contingency, hourly, and flat-fee arrangements, with billable hours tracked by matter and attorney. Matter documents include version control and retention policies; reports cover realization, collection, and attorney productivity. The small-firm offering describes conflict screening against client and party history, as well as court-date and statute-of-limitations tracking. Trust tools include individual client subledgers, three-way reconciliation, separation of trust funds, and an immutable ledger with a chain-hashed audit trail. LegalClaw is self-hosted and supports SQLite or PostgreSQL; installation requires Python 3.10 or newer and git. The Self-Hosted plan is free, with every module, unlimited users and companies, and community support via GitHub. Managed hosting is priced at onboarding by request. The listed platform options include API, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, and web.