Clio vs MyCase (2026)

Verdict

Pick MyCase if you want a rate card you can put in a partner meeting without a sales call. Pick Clio if the staff you will hire already knows it, and you will get the Core-and-up quote in writing before you sign. Do not pick HubSpot as a substitute. It will not hold a matter, a trust balance, or a billable hour. Do not pick either product because a demo mentioned AI. Drafting tools are Aiacent’s catalog.

This fork is for US solos and small firms under ~50. The law-firm CRM ranking is the short list, including PracticePanther. The law-firm ops stack is the rest of the pile: the ledger, the bank, and payroll. We are not your ethics counsel. Trust accounting, IOLTA, and what your state bar requires are not settled by a software review.

Pricing as of September 23, 2026

These figures are the public cards we froze on September 20, 2026 for the law-firm ranking. We did not find a newer published grid on this pass. Confirm both sites before you budget.

Clio’s pricing page lists plans starting at $49 USD per user per month. Higher tiers are “get pricing.” We do not reprint retired $89 / $109 / $149 blog grids as if they were current. If a rep quotes Core, Signature, or Elite, save the PDF. Payments and add-ons sit on top.

MyCase publishes the ladder. Basic $50 per user per month billed annually, $60 month-to-month. Pro $100 annual, $120 monthly. Advanced $130 annual, $150 monthly. The help article we used was dated June 1, 2026, and it said there is no setup fee. Older $39 Basic posts are stale.

• Solo who wants a number tonight: MyCase Basic at $50 annual, if that card is still live. Clio’s $49 is only the floor.
• Three lawyers on MyCase Pro annual: 3 × $100 = $300 a month before payments. Clio at that size is a quote. Do not pretend they cost the same.
• Advanced is where MyCase puts document automation and split billing. Buy it for a feature you will use this quarter.
• PracticePanther Solo is $49 annual on our September 20 read. It is the third column if both of these feel wrong. See the ranking.

The job

A small firm needs people, matters, time, and a bill in one file. Trust funds have to reconcile. Clients need a portal that does not depend on a partner forwarding PDFs. Both Clio and MyCase are practice systems. That is why they outrank a general CRM on the law-firm page.

Clio’s advantage is gravity. The person you hire next has probably touched it. The marketplace is larger. The disadvantage is the unpublished middle of the card. MyCase’s advantage is the printed ladder and a calmer path if you will run the admin yourself. The disadvantage is leaving Clio later, if you started there, because the staff will not want a second migration.

QuickBooks can still be the firm’s books, or the practice system’s accounting can be the file your CPA opens. Pick one chart of accounts story. Two sets of books is a Saturday you will not get back. Payments (LawPay-family tools on the MyCase side, Clio payments on the other) are a rate card of their own. Model a retainer, not a slogan.

Who should pick which

• You are a solo who bills, and you want to see Pro before you talk to sales: MyCase.
• You are hiring associates who will ask “are we on Clio?” and you have the quote: Clio.
• You already live in one of them: stay, unless a written gap (trust reports, a specific integration) is worth a migration. Switching for a sticker is how matters get split across two systems.
• You do not practice law: leave this page. HubSpot or Pipedrive is a CRM. It is not a matter system.
• Your malpractice carrier or a predecessor firm standardized the file: follow that, then confirm the price. A cheaper login that the insurer will not accept is not cheaper.

When you outgrow both

A multi-office firm with a billing committee, LEDES, and a dedicated intake team is past this fork. That is an implementation, not a Tuesday-night trial. PracticePanther remains the published-price alternative while you are still small. HubSpot can sit in front of intake only if the matter system stays the system of record. Two contact lists is how a client gets two emails and no engagement letter.

Export matters, contacts, and documents before you cancel. Do not run both as writable systems for a month. One of them is read-only, or you will bill the same hour twice.