Lawmatics vs Smokeball (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 24, 2026, we pick Smokeball: it is third in our ranking of law practice software, and it grades higher too, 2.0 against 1.8.
Checked Oct 24, 2026 · graded Oct 24, 2026 by ToolGPA
Smokeball grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Lawmatics
Client intake, legal CRM and marketing automation for law firms
Paid
Smokeball
Practice management with automatic time capture and court forms
Paid
Which one is for you
Pick Lawmatics if
- Fits if leads reach your firm through forms and calls and you want a set path to a signed client
- Works for firms already on Clio, MyCase, Filevine or another case system that want intake on top
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: there's no published price or trial, and every plan is quoted after a demo, with a 3-user minimum
- Tight if you have many contacts: Essential stops at 500 and Premium at 10,000, and extra texts and MMS cost more
- Pricey if you want email marketing, the client portal, custom reports or ROI tracking, which all need Premium
- Not for you if you want cases and trust money handled here, and even time, billing and payments are an add-on
- Watch out: Merlin Qualify AI is a separate credit-priced add-on, and Essential allows only 10 automations
Pick Smokeball if
- Fits if your firm files lots of court and agency forms, in areas like family law or personal injury
- Works for lawyers who want time logged against the matter without running timers
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: there's no published price, and a quote depends on users, plan, contract term and add-ons
- Skip it if you want to try it first, as there's no free plan or trial on record, only a demo
- Pricey if you want AutoTime, intake or workflows below Prosper+, as they cost extra on Grow, and Archie AI is an add-on from Boost up
- Not for you if your firm runs on Macs, as the desktop app is Windows only and Boost runs in the browser
- Watch out: online payments and eFiling carry fees, and eSignature runs through InfoTrack
How we grade them
| 1.8GPALawmaticsWeak | 2.0GPASmokeballFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price is published. Lawmatics gives a price only on a sales call, after a demo, with a 3-user minimum, and time and billing and the Merlin Qualify AI cost extra on top. | CNo price is published. Smokeball gives a price only on a sales call, depending on your number of users, the plan, the contract term and any add-ons. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free on record: no free plan and no trial, only a demo. | FNothing free on record: no free plan and no trial, only a demo with the sales team. |
| Features | CIntake forms, pipelines, booking with round robin, e-signatures, texting, email campaigns and source reporting. It does the intake and CRM job fully, but that's a smaller job than this category's: no case management or trust accounting, and billing is an add-on. | BMatters, tasks and calendars, more than 20,000 court and agency forms, AutoTime, invoicing, online payments, a trust ledger, intake, workflows and the Archie AI assistant across its plans. That's the whole job, though the general ledger sits in QuickBooks Online. |
| Ease of use | CWe have no store rating on file for it. Forms, pipelines and automations have to be built for your firm, and it needs linking to the case system you run beside it. | CWe have no store rating on file for it. It's a whole firm system with matters, form templates, trust accounts and a QuickBooks link to set up, and you can't sign up yourself: it starts with a demo. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, linking to Clio, MyCase, Filevine, Smokeball, PracticePanther, Gmail, Outlook and CallRail. No desktop app on record. | BWeb, a Windows desktop app on Grow and Prosper+, and iPhone and Android apps, with Outlook, Word, QuickBooks Online and InfoTrack. No Mac app, and no API or Zapier on record. |
| Best for | turning law firm leads into signed clients | small firms that file many court forms |
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: Lawmatics and Smokeball. How we grade
Where they differ
- Lawmatics also covers sales pipeline, marketing automation, forms, email campaigns, business texting and appointment booking.
- Smokeball also covers templates, time tracking, invoicing, case management and trust accounting.
In commonWebiOSAndroidAI features
At a glance
| Lawmatics | Smokeball | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | Not published | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Lawmatics | Smokeball |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 24, 2026 | Oct 24, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Lawmatics
- Lawmatics publishes no prices: Essential, Premium and Enterprise are all quoted after a demo, with a 3-user minimum.
- Essential stops at 500 contacts and Premium at 10,000; more contacts, extra texts and MMS cost extra.
- Email marketing, the client portal, custom reports and ROI tracking need Premium.
- Time tracking, billing and online payments are a separate add-on, as is the credit-based Merlin Qualify AI.
Smokeball
- Smokeball publishes no prices: a quote depends on the number of users, the plan, the contract term and add-ons.
- Boost runs entirely in the browser; Grow and Prosper+ add the native desktop app, which Smokeball's site lists for Windows.
- AutoTime, Intake and Workflows come with Prosper+ only and cost extra on Grow; Archie AI is an add-on on Boost, Grow and Prosper+.
- Online payments and eFiling carry fees, and eSignature runs through InfoTrack.
Key features
Lawmatics
- Intake forms and automations
- Custom intake forms, file requests and document automation feed new leads into Lawmatics. Essential allows 10 automations; Premium allows unlimited automations and password-protected forms.
- Legal CRM and pipelines
- Track leads and clients through pipelines with tasks, calendaring and conflict checks (basic on Essential, advanced on Premium).
- Booking, e-signature and texting
- Appointment booking with round-robin scheduling, e-signatures (50 on Essential, unlimited on Premium), and two-way texting with 50 messages a month included.
- Email marketing
- Premium adds an HTML email builder, drip campaigns to segmented audiences, up to 50,000 sends a month and a custom sending domain.
- Reporting and ROI
- Source reporting on both plans; Premium adds custom reports and dashboards, UTM tracking and return-on-investment analysis by lead source.
- Merlin Qualify
- An AI add-on that scores each lead against the firm's criteria, explains the score and can trigger follow-ups or retainer agreements. Credit-based pricing.
Smokeball
- Matters, calendars and tasks
- Each matter holds its documents, tasks, events and contacts, with Microsoft 365 Outlook and calendar integration from Boost and iOS and Android apps for checking matters on the go.
- TemplateLab forms and documents
- A library of more than 20,000 court and agency forms and document templates that fill from the matter, with practice-area templates and calculators from Grow.
- AutoTime
- Logs each action against the matter being worked on, so time entries do not have to be started or written up. Included in Prosper+ and an add-on on Grow.
- Billing, payments and trust
- Invoicing, time and expense tracking, online payments and a trust ledger kept current as entries are made, with QuickBooks Online holding the general ledger.
- Archie AI
- An AI assistant that works inside a matter to draft, review documents and answer questions, sold as an add-on from Boost upward.
- Intake and lead management
- Intake forms are an add-on on Boost and Grow; Prosper+ includes them along with lead management, inquiry intake, custom workflows and profitability reporting.
Plans
Lawmatics
Pricing could not be confirmed. See lawmatics.com.
Smokeball
Pricing could not be confirmed. See smokeball.com.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Lawmatics or Smokeball?
As of Oct 24, 2026, Lawmatics has no price we could confirm, and Smokeball has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, Lawmatics or Smokeball?
As of Oct 24, 2026, neither Lawmatics nor Smokeball has a free plan.
Which platforms do Lawmatics and Smokeball run on?
As of Oct 24, 2026, only Smokeball lists a Windows app. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.