Clio vs MyCase

Clio fits firms that want the largest integration marketplace and room to scale into AI-driven legal research. MyCase fits solo and small firms that want trust accounting, a client portal, and two-way texting built into a simple, lower-cost plan from day one.

Both are cloud-based legal case management platforms built for law firms. Clio Manage is the practice-management product inside the wider Clio suite, which also includes Clio Grow for intake. MyCase, now sold under its parent company's 8am brand, bundles case management, billing, and client communication into one product.

This page compares Clio Manage against MyCase on pricing, case and matter management, billing and trust accounting, intake and CRM, AI features, integrations, and client portal tools. Every price and feature below comes from each vendor's own pricing page; treat listed prices as a starting point and verify current pricing before you sign, since legal software vendors often adjust tiers and add-ons.

Clio vs. MyCase: Side-by-Side

Pricing: Clio vs MyCase plans

MyCase publishes three tiers; Clio publishes four. MyCase Basic starts at $50 per user per month billed annually ($60 billed monthly), Pro runs $100 per user per month ($120 monthly), and Advanced runs $130 per user per month ($150 monthly).

Clio Manage runs four tiers: EasyStart, Essentials, Advanced, and Complete. Public reporting puts EasyStart near $49 per user per month, Essentials near $89, Advanced near $119, and Complete near $149, all billed annually; verify current pricing directly with Clio before you budget.

MyCase also sells MyCase Accounting as a $39-per-user add-on for firms that want deeper general-ledger accounting beyond built-in trust accounting. Both vendors charge more for monthly billing than annual billing, and neither requires a long-term contract.

At the entry tier, MyCase Basic already includes trust accounting and unlimited document storage, features Clio spreads across its EasyStart and Essentials plans. Firms on a tight budget should compare what each entry tier actually includes, not just the sticker price.

• MyCase Basic: $50/user/month (annual) — case management, trust accounting, online payments
• MyCase Pro: $100/user/month (annual) — adds intake CRM, eSignature, and texting
• MyCase Advanced: $130/user/month (annual) — adds AI case and discovery assistants
• Clio EasyStart to Complete: ~$49 to ~$149/user/month (annual, verify current pricing)

→ Compare per-token pricing for every AI model

Case and matter management

Both platforms manage the core matter record: parties, dates, tasks, calendars, and documents. Clio Manage organizes work around matters with linked contacts, custom fields, and document templates available from its entry tier up.

MyCase organizes work around cases and contacts, with task management, shared calendaring, and unlimited document storage included even on the Basic plan. Neither platform requires an add-on just to track a matter from open to close.

The practical difference shows up in depth of customization. Clio's higher tiers add business-intelligence reporting and priority support, useful once a firm runs many matters at once and needs firm-wide visibility into workload and deadlines.

• Clio: matter records, custom fields, document templates, and court-rules based deadline calendaring
• MyCase: case and contact management with unlimited document storage on every tier
• Clio's Advanced and Complete tiers add business-intelligence reporting for firm-wide visibility

Billing and trust accounting

Both platforms build IOLTA-style trust accounting into their core product, not as a separate purchase. Clio Manage includes trust account management and time-and-billing on every plan, with online payments available from the entry tier.

MyCase includes trust accounting, time entry, and invoicing on its Basic plan, plus next-day deposits through its integrated LawPay payment processing. Split billing, useful for cases with multiple responsible parties, is limited to the MyCase Advanced tier.

Firms that want a full general ledger beyond trust and operating accounts can add MyCase Accounting for $39 per user per month. Clio instead integrates with outside accounting software like QuickBooks rather than selling a bundled general-ledger product.

• Both: IOLTA-compliant trust accounting built in, no separate purchase required
• MyCase: next-day deposits via LawPay; split billing on the Advanced tier only
• MyCase Accounting add-on: $39/user/month for full general-ledger bookkeeping
• Clio: integrates with QuickBooks rather than selling its own general-ledger product

Intake and CRM

MyCase builds intake and CRM directly into its product line. Client intake forms, a legal CRM, and e-signature are included starting on the Pro tier, with no separate purchase needed.

Clio handles intake through Clio Grow, a separate product from Clio Manage. Clio Grow is bundled only with the Complete plan, or sold as an add-on to lower Clio Manage tiers, which raises the effective cost for firms that want intake without upgrading their whole plan.

This matters most for firms whose biggest bottleneck is turning leads into signed clients. A firm on MyCase Pro gets intake and CRM inside its base subscription, while a Clio firm on EasyStart or Essentials needs to add Clio Grow separately to match that.

• MyCase: intake forms and legal CRM included from the Pro tier up, no separate product
• Clio: intake and CRM live in Clio Grow, a separate product bundled only with Complete
• Firms that lead with intake automation should price Clio Manage plus Clio Grow together, not Clio Manage alone

AI features: Clio Duo vs 8am IQ

Clio's AI assistant, Clio Duo, reads a firm's own matter data to prioritize tasks, flag overdue items, draft client updates, summarize documents, and auto-generate bills. Clio has expanded this work under the Manage AI name and added Draft AI for document assembly and Vincent AI for legal research, gained through Clio's 2025 acquisition of vLex.

MyCase brands its AI tools 8am IQ. The Writing and Document Assistant is included from the Pro tier, while the Case Assistant and Discovery Assistant, which adds OCR for scanned documents, are limited to the Advanced tier.

Clio's AI stack reaches further, especially into legal research through Vincent AI, but that depth comes with a broader product to configure. MyCase gates its most advanced AI tools, Case Assistant and Discovery Assistant, behind its top Advanced plan, so budget accordingly if AI-assisted discovery is the deciding feature.

• Clio Duo / Manage AI: task prioritization, automated billing, document summaries and drafts
• Clio Draft AI and Vincent AI: document assembly and legal research, added via the vLex acquisition
• MyCase 8am IQ Writing and Document Assistant: included from the Pro tier
• MyCase 8am IQ Case Assistant and Discovery Assistant (OCR): Advanced tier only

Integrations and client portal

Clio wins on integration breadth. Its App Directory lists more than 200 apps, covering accounting, e-signature, calendaring, and legal research tools, backed by an open API for custom builds.

MyCase lists more than 70 integrations on its Pro tier and up, with an open API available on Advanced. That is a smaller marketplace than Clio's, though it covers the common tools most small firms already use.

Both platforms give clients a portal to view matter updates, share documents, and pay invoices. Clio adds its portal at the Essentials tier, while MyCase offers a limited portal on Basic and a full-featured portal, plus two-way texting and a call log, from Pro up.

• Clio: 200+ integrations through its App Directory, plus an open API
• MyCase: 70+ integrations on Pro and up, plus an open API on Advanced
• Clio client portal: available from Essentials up
• MyCase client portal: limited on Basic, full-featured with texting and chat from Pro up

Which should you choose?

Choose Clio if you want the largest integration marketplace and plan to grow into AI-assisted legal research. Its App Directory, Clio Grow intake add-on, and Vincent AI research tool give a firm room to scale into a bigger tech stack over time.

Choose MyCase if you run a solo or small firm and want trust accounting, a client portal, and client texting built into one simple, lower-cost plan. MyCase keeps more core features, including trust accounting and unlimited storage, in its entry-level Basic tier.

Weigh intake needs carefully. A firm that leans on intake automation gets it inside the base MyCase Pro subscription, while a Clio firm below the Complete tier needs to add Clio Grow separately, which changes the real cost comparison. In workflow-audit conversations with small firms, the deciding factor is rarely the feature list — it is usually whether staff will actually use a second product (Clio Grow) or a bundled one (MyCase Pro) without extra training.

• Pick Clio for the deepest integration ecosystem and AI legal research via Vincent AI
• Pick MyCase for built-in trust accounting, client portal, and texting at a lower entry price
• Price Clio Manage plus Clio Grow together if intake and CRM matter to your firm
• Other "Clio vs" matchups worth a quick look: Smokeball, Filevine, and LEAP, each a case-management alternative with its own AI and automation angle

The Verdict

Clio Manage is the stronger pick for firms planning to scale, run a wide integration stack, or lean on AI-assisted legal research through Vincent AI. Its EasyStart plan costs less than MyCase Basic, but matching MyCase's built-in intake and CRM requires adding Clio Grow.

MyCase is the stronger pick for solo and small firms that want trust accounting, a client portal, and two-way client texting bundled into one plan from day one. Its Advanced tier gates the most capable AI tools, Case Assistant and Discovery Assistant, so budget for that tier if AI-assisted discovery matters to your practice.

Neither platform is a universal best fit. Map your firm's intake volume, trust accounting needs, and AI priorities against each tier's actual feature list before you commit to a multi-year subscription.