MyCase vs CARET Legal (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, MyCase and CARET Legal share a 2.2 GPA, neither has a free plan, and MyCase starts cheaper, at $50 a month for each person against $79 a month for each person.
Checked Oct 24, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 24, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
MyCase grades higher on the free plan. CARET Legal grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
MyCase
Case management, billing and client portal for small law firms
CARET Legal
Cloud practice management with billing and accounting for law firms
Which one is for you
Pick MyCase if
- Fits if you're a solo or small firm that wants cases and billing in one place
- Works for firms that already take card payments through LawPay
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you need intake forms, eSignature, workflows or texting, which all need Pro at $100 a user billed yearly
- Tight if you want conflict check tracking, split billing, Desktop Drive or the open API, as those are Advanced only at $130
- Watch out: three-way trust reconciliation is the $39 a user MyCase Accounting add-on, and Basic can't have it
- Watch out: court-rules calendaring is a separate subscription, and fees already paid aren't refunded if you cancel
- Skip it if you want to stay free, as there's only a 10-day trial and no free plan
Pick CARET Legal if
- Fits if you want matters, billing and accounting in one cloud product
- Works for firms that live in Outlook and Word on Windows
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you want dashboards, workflows or custom permissions, which start at $99 a user a month
- Tight if you hate fees on top: a one-time implementation fee applies and the amount isn't published
- Skip it if you want a clear trial, since its length isn't stated
- Watch out: zolasuite.com now redirects to caretlegal.com and the vendor doesn't explain how the names relate
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAMyCaseFair | 2.2GPACARET LegalFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CBasic is $50 a user a month billed yearly, or $60 monthly. That's this category's dearer quarter, when most rivals with a published price start at $49. Intake, the CRM, eSignature and texting need Pro at $100, twice the middle. | C$79 a user a month billed annually, which is where the dearer quarter of law-practice tools starts. Dashboards and workflows need $99. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 10-day trial with full access and no card. There's no free plan, so after ten days you're paying or you're out. | DA trial is offered on request, and its length isn't stated. No free plan. |
| Features | CCases, a shared calendar, unlimited documents, time, invoices, trust ledgers, LawPay payments, a client portal and AI assistants. The listing's gaps keep it here: three-way trust reconciliation needs the $39 MyCase Accounting add-on, and court-rules calendaring is a separate subscription. | BMatters, email and calendars, billing and accounting, payments and a mobile app. Nothing basic is missing, though the extras are on higher plans. |
| Ease of use | CWe have no store rating on file for it. It's a whole firm system, so cases, contacts, trust ledgers and LawPay payments all need setting up before it does much for you. | CNo store rating on record. A practice and accounting system comes with an implementation fee and setup. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, QuickBooks, Dropbox, Zapier and a read-only Claude connector. No desktop app, and the open API is on Advanced only. | BWeb with iPhone and Android apps and eight integrations. The Outlook and Word plugins are Windows only. |
| Best for | solo and small firms keeping cases and billing together | cloud practice management with billing |
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: MyCase and CARET Legal. How we grade
Price against what you get
MyCase starts at $50 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. CARET Legal starts at $79 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
CARET Legal scores higher, and starts $29 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other law practice software on the chart, 1 scores higher than MyCase for less, and 1 scores higher than CARET Legal for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- MyCase also covers forms and business texting.
- CARET Legal also covers workflow automation, bookkeeping and dashboards.
At a glance
| MyCase | CARET Legal | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $50 per user / month, billed annually ($60 billed monthly) | $79 per user / month, billed annually |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 10-day free trial with full access, no credit card required | Free trial offered on request; the length is not stated on the pricing page |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | 8am, LLC | CARET |
| Price read from | mycase.com | caretlegal.com |
| Checked | Oct 24, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
MyCase
- Intake forms, the legal CRM, eSignature, workflows and two-way texting all need Pro at $100 per user / month, billed annually.
- Conflict check tracking, split billing, Desktop Drive and the open API are limited to Advanced.
- MyCase Accounting, for three-way trust reconciliation, is a $39 per user / month add-on on Pro and Advanced only.
- Court-rules calendaring needs a separate subscription, and fees already paid are not refunded on cancelling.
CARET Legal
- Pricing is per user plus a one-time implementation fee whose amount is not published.
- The zolasuite.com address now redirects to caretlegal.com, and the vendor's pages do not say how the two names relate.
- Dashboards, automated workflows, custom permissions and AI document summaries start at Enterprise Plus ($99 per user / month).
- The Outlook and Word plugins are listed for Windows only, and the free trial length is not stated.
Key features
MyCase
- Cases, calendar and documents
- Each case holds its notes, tasks, events, documents and contacts. A shared firm calendar shows statute of limitations dates, and document storage is unlimited on every plan.
- Time, billing and trust accounting
- Track time and expenses, turn them into invoices, and keep trust ledgers per client and per case with reconciliation. LEDES and batch billing, payment plans and interest come with Pro.
- Payments through LawPay
- Clients pay by card, eCheck or financing through 8am LawPay, with next-business-day deposits. LawPay has no monthly fee; processing rates apply.
- Client portal and texting
- Clients see their case and messages in a secure portal (limited on Basic). Pro adds unlimited two-way texting with images, a call log, internal chat and online intake forms.
- 8am IQ assistants
- Pro includes AI writing and document assistants. Advanced adds a Case Assistant for summaries and timelines and a Discovery Assistant that runs OCR on 5,000 pages per user a month.
- Claude connector and open API
- An official read-only MCP connector lets Claude look up cases, documents and firm financials. The open API for building other links is on the Advanced plan.
CARET Legal
- Matters, email and calendars
- Matter management with automated workflows, tasks and a calendar, plus email that syncs with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or any IMAP account.
- Billing and accounting
- Time tracking, LEDES and split billing, pre-billing and legal accounting in one system. The vendor's billing page says it follows ABA and IOLTA guidelines.
- Payments
- Clients can pay retainers and invoices by credit card, ACH or e-check through the client portal, using the vendor's CARET Pay processing.
- AI features
- Quick Summary condenses long documents, and the vendor lists Capture for suggesting billable time, Command for flagging items that need attention and Court Rules for deadline calculation.
- CARET Analytics
- Standard dashboards and reports come with Enterprise Plus. Enterprise Insights lets a firm configure its own dashboards and metrics.
- Mobile app
- Native iOS and Android apps for tasks, contacts, calls and texts, with Touch ID protection and a business card scanner.
Plans
MyCase
MyCase Basic$50
per user / month, billed annually ($60 billed monthly)
Case and contact management, time entry, invoicing, trust accounting, online payments, unlimited document storage and a limited client portal.
MyCase Pro$100
per user / month, billed annually ($120 billed monthly)
Adds unlimited eSignature, document generation, workflows, intake forms and legal CRM, two-way texting, premium billing and the 8am IQ writing assistant.
MyCase Advanced$130
per user / month, billed annually ($150 billed monthly)
Adds the 8am IQ Case and Discovery assistants, advanced document automation, Desktop Drive, conflict check tracking, split billing and the open API.
CARET Legal
Enterprise$79
per user / month, billed annually
Email, documents, calendar, tasks, billing, accounting, client portal, LEDES invoicing, integrated payments and 24/7 phone support. Implementation fee extra.
Enterprise Plus$99
per user / month, billed annually
Adds CARET Analytics standard dashboards, automated workflows, custom permissions, department-based accounting, native document editing and AI document summaries.
Enterprise Insights$119
per user / month, billed annually
Enterprise Plus plus configurable CARET Analytics reports and dashboards, with custom visualizations and metric selection.
Ways to pay less
MyCase
- Annual discount
Save up to 16% with yearly billing
MyCase's pricing page lists savings of up to 16% for paying a year upfront: $120 a year per user on Basic and $240 a year per user on Pro and Advanced.
- Other savings
Bar association member discounts
MyCase lists a member benefit for each of its partner bar associations and legal groups; ABA Advantage members, for example, get a 20% lifetime discount.
CARET Legal
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, MyCase or CARET Legal?
As of Nov 12, 2026, MyCase is cheaper to start with: $50 a month for each person, against $79 a month for each person for CARET Legal. MyCase starts at $50 per user / month, billed annually ($60 billed monthly), and CARET Legal starts at $79 per user / month, billed annually.
Which has a free plan, MyCase or CARET Legal?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither MyCase nor CARET Legal has a free plan. Both have 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.