Comparison
Draftiro vs Clio
The 800-pound gorilla of legal practice management.
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TL;DR
Clio Manage is the market-share leader in legal practice management. It's broad — matter management, billing, intake — but its AI layer (Clio Duo) is a recent addition layered on top of a 15-year-old core.
- Clio best for
- Established 3-15 attorney firms that already live in a practice-management ledger and want incremental AI.
- Draftiro best for
- Solos and small firms that want AI-first drafting + research without the practice-management overhead.
Draftiro vs Clio — overview
Clio Manage is the market-share leader in legal practice management, and for a firm whose center of gravity is billing, trust accounting, and a deep integration stack, it is hard to beat. Its AI layer, Clio Duo, is a more recent addition bolted onto a fifteen-year-old core. The honest question for a solo or small firm is not "is Clio good?" — it is "am I paying for a full practice-management ledger to get an AI assistant I could get cheaper elsewhere?"
Pricing, plainly
Clio Manage runs roughly $49–$149 per user per month depending on tier, with Clio Duo's AI bundled into the higher tiers. Draftiro starts with a free plan (no card) and paid tiers from $29/mo (Starter) and $89/mo (Solo). If you already need Clio's billing and trust-accounting depth, the price buys real things; if drafting and research are your bottleneck, you are paying for a platform to reach the assistant.
Who should switch
Switch to Draftiro if your day is drafting motions, demand letters, and discovery — not reconciling a trust ledger — and you want AI-native citation validation against CourtListener, conflict checks with an audit trail, and court-day math in the writing flow. Stay on Clio if trust accounting, LawPay, and a mature integration ecosystem are load-bearing for your practice.
Migration
Draftiro imports CSV exports of matters, contacts, and tasks from Clio; our team helps with the migration on Solo and Practice plans at no charge. You keep Clio for billing during the transition if you want to move incrementally.
Where Clio wins
- Maturity — 250+ third-party integrations
- Strong billing and trust-accounting workflows
- Brand recognition with bar associations
Where Draftiro wins
- AI-native experience instead of an AI bolt-on
- Citation validation against CourtListener (Clio does not)
- Lower entry price for solos who don't need Clio's full ledger
- Conflict checking with audit trail baked into the writing flow
Side by side
| Feature | Draftiro | Clio |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing transparency | Public, self-serve | Public |
| AI citation validation (CourtListener / equivalent) | Included | Not included |
| Conflict checking with audit trail | Included | Included |
| Court-day math (federal + state holidays) | Included | Not included |
| ABA Op. 512 auto time tracking | Included | Not included |
| Outlook calendar sync | Included | Included |
| Client portal share links | Included | Included |
| Self-serve signup (no sales call) | Included | Included |
| Free plan | Included | Not included |
Common questions
Can I keep Clio for billing and use Draftiro just for drafting?
Yes. Many solos run Draftiro for AI drafting, research, conflicts, and deadlines while keeping Clio for trust accounting and LawPay during a transition. Draftiro imports CSV exports of matters and contacts so you are not double-entering.
Does Clio validate citations the way Draftiro does?
Clio Manage does not validate case citations against a public case-law corpus. Draftiro checks every case cite the AI emits against CourtListener and flags statutes and rules as "unchecked" so you confirm them in your authority.
Is Draftiro cheaper than Clio for a solo?
Yes. Draftiro has a free plan with no card and paid tiers from $29/mo; Clio Manage runs roughly $49–$149 per user per month with Clio Duo AI bundled at the higher tiers.
Will my data train AI models?
No. Draftiro runs on Google Gemini's enterprise API tier, which is contractually prohibited from training on inputs. See our security page for the full posture.
Try Draftiro free
No credit card. Migration help included on Solo and Practice plans.
Start freeClio information sourced from https://www.clio.com and public reviews. We update this page as their offering changes.