The 15 programs, by category
Most firms don't need all fifteen. In several categories you pick one, not all - I've grouped them that way.
Practice Management — pick one
Clio Manage
From $49 per user/monthThe most obvious central platform for cases, contacts, calendaring, documents, billing, client communications, and integrations. Higher tiers add workflows, reporting, intake, and AI features.
MyCase
$39/user/month annually, or ~$49 month-to-monthA strong Clio alternative with case management, billing, payments, texting, client portals, intake, and document tools.
PracticePanther
$49/user/month annually, or $59 monthlyParticularly approachable for solos. The Essential plan is $69 and Business is $89 per user/month with annual billing.
Smokeball
From $29 per user/monthPractice management with strong Microsoft Word integration, document automation, email management, billing, and automatic activity tracking. More capable packages cost considerably more.
Office & Productivity — pick one
Microsoft 365 Business Standard
$14/user/month annually, or $16.80 month-to-monthProvides Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, OneDrive, shared calendars, and business email. For a criminal defense firm, Microsoft 365 is generally more useful than buying Word and email separately.
Google Workspace Business Standard
$14/user/month annually, or $16.80 on the flexible planIncludes Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Meet, and 2 TB of pooled storage per user. A firm would normally choose either Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 - not both.
Money & Payments
QuickBooks Online Simple Start
$38 per monthHandles the firm's operating books, expenses, bank reconciliation, profit-and-loss statements, and tax reporting. The advertised $19 rate is a temporary new-customer discount; $38 is the ordinary listed price.
LawPay
$19/month, plus processing feesDesigned specifically for legal payments, including separation of trust and operating funds. It may be unnecessary as a separate subscription when comparable payment functionality is already included in the selected case-management platform.
Phone & Reception
RingCentral RingEX Core
From ~$20/user/month annuallyProvides business phone numbers, calling, texting, voicemail, mobile applications, call routing, and team messaging. Costs increase for advanced routing, recording, analytics, and AI receptionist services.
Smith.ai AI Receptionist
From $150 per monthThe AI plan can answer calls, collect information, route callers, and connect with other systems. Smith.ai's live human receptionist service starts at $300 per month for 30 handled calls.
Documents & Storage
Dropbox Standard
$15/user/month annuallyProvides shared cloud document storage, file recovery, permission controls, and large-file transfers. A solo can instead use Dropbox Plus for $9.99 monthly, although Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive may already be included in the firm's office suite.
Adobe Acrobat Pro
$19.99/month annuallyUseful for combining, editing, redacting, organizing, OCR-processing, password-protecting, and signing PDFs. Acrobat Pro for Teams is $23.99 per license/month.
DocuSign Personal
$10/month annuallyIncludes five signature envelopes each month. DocuSign Standard is approximately $25 per user/month annually and is better for firms sending a larger volume of fee agreements and authorizations.
Automation & AI
Zapier Professional
From $19.99/month annuallyConnects programs and automates repetitive work - for example, creating a Clio contact from a website form, sending an intake text, adding a consultation to the calendar, and creating a follow-up task. Usage limits can push the actual cost higher.
ChatGPT
$20/month Plus, or $25/user/month BusinessA solo could use Plus for drafting, research assistance, document analysis, marketing, checklists, and internal process development. ChatGPT Business is $25 per user month-to-month or $20 annually, but requires at least two seats and is better suited to protecting and managing firm work inside a shared business workspace.
A reasonable solo-firm starter stack
A relatively lean setup, one tool per category, before taxes and processing fees.
| Program | Monthly cost |
|---|---|
| Clio | $49 |
| Microsoft 365 | $14 |
| QuickBooks | $38 |
| RingCentral | $20 |
| Acrobat Pro | $19.99 |
| Zapier | $19.99 |
| ChatGPT Plus | $20 |
| Starter stack total | ~$181/month |
| Adding Smith.ai AI Receptionist | ~$331/month |
That's before payment-processing fees, telephone taxes, website expenses, legal research, review software, and receptionist coverage.
You could reduce duplication by using Clio's included payment, document, signature, and storage features rather than subscribing to a separate product for every function - the fifteen programs above are the market, not a shopping list you have to fully check off.
Prices checked July 14, 2026 and subject to change without notice - vendors adjust pricing, tiers, and included features regularly. Verify current pricing directly with each vendor before budgeting.
Not sure which of these your firm actually needs?
I review vendor stacks, budgets, and proposed marketing or practice-management investments as part of my consulting work - an independent second opinion before you sign another annual contract.
Start with the audit → Contact Russell Matson