Filevine vs Law Ruler (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Filevine grades higher than Law Ruler: 2.0 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 24, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 24, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Filevine grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Filevine
Case management and the LOIS legal AI system, sold by quote
Free trial
Law Ruler
Legal CRM, client intake and marketing automation for law firms
Paid
Which one is for you
Pick Filevine if
- Fits if your firm runs heavy caseloads, such as personal injury or mass torts
- Works for prosecutors, public defenders and other government legal offices
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a price before a demo, as every package is quoted by the sales team
- Watch out: intake, depositions and signatures are separate packages, and analytics, court deadline rules and the client portal are extensions
- Not for you if you want to try case management first, since the free LOIS Explore trial is AI only and closed to existing customers
- Not for you if you'd rather set it up yourself, as setup runs through Filevine's certified partners
- Skip it if you need phone apps, as the listing has it as web only
Pick Law Ruler if
- Fits if you want intake forms and marketing campaigns in one CRM
- Works for firms that want an open API to link other tools
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need a price to plan with, as every plan is quoted by sales
- Pricey if you are small: a one-time onboarding fee applies and Pro and Premium cover 3 users
- Tight if you want billing, since time and billing is an add-on with extra fees
- Watch out: Enterprise has a 10-user minimum
- Watch out: billing is monthly on an annual term, with 15% off for prepaying the year
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAFilevineFair | 1.8GPALaw RulerWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price is published. Filevine gives a price only on a sales call, after a demo, and intake, depositions and signatures are separate packages on that quote. | CNo price is published; every plan is quoted by sales, which puts it in the middle. |
| Free plan and trial | DThe only free thing is LOIS Explore, a no-card trial of the AI research and drafting. It leaves out case management and is closed to existing customers, so the main product can't be tried before a demo. | FNo free plan and no trial; the pricing page offers a demo. |
| Features | CMatters, unlimited documents, document assembly, LOIS AI, deposition tools, intake, timekeeping, LEDES billing and payments. The gaps the listing shows: no trust ledger on record, and analytics, court deadline rules and the client portal are paid extensions. | CIntake, CRM, campaigns, analytics and document automation are covered, but time and billing is an optional add-on with extra fees and it is a CRM, not a full case system. |
| Ease of use | CWe have no store rating on file for it. Setup goes through Filevine's certified implementation partners rather than a sign-up you run yourself, so there's a project before the first matter. | CNo store rating is on record, and intake forms, automations and campaigns have to be built. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Outlook, Word, Gmail, Zoom, Dialpad, Workato and Domo. The listing has no desktop or phone apps, so away from a browser it can't follow you. | BWeb only, with an open API and an integrations page, though the listing records no named integrations. No phone or computer app is listed. |
| Best for | firms with heavy caseloads, like personal injury | law firms that run intake and marketing in a CRM |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Filevine and Law Ruler. How we grade
Where they differ
- Filevine also covers time tracking, invoicing, reports and business texting.
- Law Ruler also covers sales pipeline, marketing automation, workflow automation, forms and dashboards.
In commonWebCase management
At a glance
| Filevine | Law Ruler | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | Not published | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | LOIS Explore: a free trial of its AI research and drafting for verified legal professionals, without case management | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Filevine, Inc. | Law Ruler Software, LLC |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 24, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Filevine
- Filevine publishes no prices: every package is quoted by its sales team after a demo.
- Intake, depositions and signatures are separate packages; analytics, court deadline rules and the client portal are extensions to Matters.
- The free LOIS Explore trial covers AI research and drafting only, not case management, and is closed to existing Filevine customers.
- Setup is handled by Filevine's certified implementation partners rather than self-serve onboarding.
Law Ruler
- No prices are published; every plan is quoted by sales, and a one-time onboarding fee applies.
- Subscriptions are billed monthly on an annual term, with 15% off for annual prepayment.
- Time and billing with payments is optional and carries additional fees.
- Plans are Pro and Premium (3 users each, 3 and 100 automations) and Enterprise (10-user minimum, unlimited automations).
Key features
Filevine
- Matter management
- Each matter collects tasks, contacts, deadlines, calendar events, emails and notes, with custom reports and dashboards built from any field in Filevine.
- Document management and assembly
- Unlimited document storage with search, PDF splitting and combining, and document assembly that fills templates from matter data.
- LOIS legal AI
- Ask LOIS answers questions about a matter with cited sources, AI Drafting writes from case facts, LOIS for Word works inside Microsoft Word, and LOIS Legal Research checks case law.
- Deposition tools
- Schedule depositions and book court reporters, get live transcription and follow-up suggestions from Depo Copilot, and keep summarized transcripts in a searchable library.
- Intake with Lead Docket
- Captures and qualifies leads, tracks referral fees, takes online payments and moves signed clients into case files, with AI lead summaries as an option.
- Timekeeping, billing and payments
- Multiple timers, time tracked from email, LEDES billing codes and bulk invoicing, with Filevine Payments for online payment that it says is IOLTA compliant.
Law Ruler
- Client intake
- Customizable logic-based intake forms with file requests, document assembly, one-click e-signature and appointment management.
- Legal CRM
- Organizes leads, prospects and clients, with automated follow-ups, a built-in softphone, text and video messaging and referral tracking.
- Marketing automation
- Email drip campaigns, SMS and MMS texting, voice campaigns and automated workflows. The number of automations depends on the plan.
- Analytics
- Intake and marketing dashboards, marketing source reporting and custom reports. Basic versions come on Pro and advanced ones on Premium and above.
- Document automation
- Document automation for Word, PDF and Excel files is listed on all plans.
- Integrations and API
- Open API access on every plan with no API fee, and the vendor says it integrates with dozens of legal tools.
Plans
Filevine
Pricing could not be confirmed. See filevine.com.
Law Ruler
Pricing could not be confirmed. See lawruler.com.
Ways to pay less
Filevine
No public discounts listed.
Law Ruler
- Other savings
15% off annual prepaid subscription
The pricing page says subscriptions are billed monthly on an annual term and that enrolling in the annual prepaid subscription saves 15%.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Filevine or Law Ruler?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Filevine has no price we could confirm, and Law Ruler has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Filevine or Law Ruler?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Filevine nor Law Ruler has a free plan. Filevine has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.