Assembly Neos vs Smokeball
Smokeball scores 8.2/10 vs 7.3/10. Best for: Small firms that want automatic time capture and a massive document template library so they can bill more hours without manual tracking.
Smokeball scores higher overall at 8.2/10 vs 7.3/10. Smokeball's automatic time tracking genuinely captures revenue that other tools miss. If your firm leaks billable hours because attorneys forget to start timers, this pays for itself. The catch: you need the $149/user Grow plan to get it.
Assembly Neos 
Smokeball Rank
#18 of 39
Rank
#2 of 39
Features
17/18
Features
17/18
Starting at
Custom
Starting at
$29/mo
User reviews
4.1/5 (80)
User reviews
4.8/5 (500)
What they cost
| Assembly Neos | Smokeball | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting at | Contact for pricing | $29 /mo |
| Free trial | No | No |
| Number of plans | Custom | 3 |
What the pricing really means
Smokeball publishes their pricing upfront, which is a good sign. Assembly Neos requires you to contact sales for a quote. When a company hides pricing, it usually means the cost is high enough that they want a salesperson to justify it before you see the number. Always ask for total year-one cost, not just the monthly subscription.
Where Assembly Neos wins
- Purpose-built for plaintiff firms with medical provider tracking, lien management, and settlement disbursement sheets
- Intake module captures leads from web forms, phone calls, and referral sources with attribution tracking
- Workflow automation can move cases through stages automatically based on triggers and deadlines
- Integrates with medical record retrieval services
Where Smokeball wins
- Automatic time tracking runs in the background and captures billable activity you'd otherwise forget to log — firms report 20-30% more captured time
- 1,000+ built-in document templates for common legal forms, which saves hours compared to building templates from scratch
- G2 and Capterra ratings (4.8/5 on both) are the highest in the category, and reviews back it up with genuine praise
- Bill plan at $29/user is one of the cheapest entry points if you just need billing and time tracking
Where Assembly Neos falls short
- No public pricing — custom quotes suggest mid-market pricing
- Only useful for plaintiff-side litigation — defense firms and transactional practices need to look elsewhere
- Fewer reviews and smaller user base than CASEpeer or Filevine
- The Neos brand (formerly known as LawRuler for CRM) can be confusing
Where Smokeball falls short
- No free trial — you have to commit based on a demo, which means trusting the sales pitch
- The Grow plan at $149/user is expensive and you need it for automatic time tracking, which is the main differentiator
- Smaller integration ecosystem than Clio — about 50 integrations vs 250+
- No mobile app — desktop-first architecture means attorneys can't access cases from their phone
- Originally built for Australian and UK markets, so some US-specific workflows feel bolted on
Who is each product built for?
Assembly Neos
Target: 5-100 attorneys
Assembly Neos competes with CASEpeer and Filevine for PI firm market share. It's a solid option if those two don't fit your workflow. Request demos from all three before deciding.
Smokeball
Target: 1-30 attorneys
Smokeball's automatic time tracking genuinely captures revenue that other tools miss. If your firm leaks billable hours because attorneys forget to start timers, this pays for itself. The catch: you need the $149/user Grow plan to get it.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Assembly Neos | Smokeball |
|---|---|---|
| Case Management | ||
| Case / matter management | ||
| Contact management | ||
| Conflict checks | ||
| Client intake forms | ||
| Client portal | ||
| Documents & Automation | ||
| Document management | ||
| Document automation | ||
| E-signatures | ||
| Email management | ||
| Billing & Accounting | ||
| Time tracking | ||
| Billing & invoicing | ||
| Trust / IOLTA accounting | ||
| Scheduling & Deadlines | ||
| Calendar management | ||
| Task management | ||
| Court rule deadlines | ||
| Platform | ||
| Reporting / analytics | ||
| Mobile app | ||
| API access | ||
Common questions
Smokeball scores 8.2/10 vs Assembly Neos's 7.3/10 in our ranking. Smokeball is the better pick for 1-30 attorneys. Assembly Neos is better if you need plaintiff litigation firms that need a case management system designed specifically for the plaintiff workflow — intake, medical records, settlement, disbursement.
Assembly Neos uses custom pricing (contact sales). Smokeball starts at $29/month. Watch for add-on costs — the base price often does not include all features. Pricing last verified 2026-04-11.
Assembly Neos: No free trial. Smokeball: No free trial. Always test with your actual workflow before committing to an annual plan.
Assembly Neos covers 17 of 18 features we track. Smokeball covers 17 of 18. Both are tied on feature coverage, but more features does not always mean better — pick the tool that covers what your business actually needs.
Yes, Assembly Neos has a mobile app. Smokeball does not.
Yes. The main effort is migrating your data (customer lists, job history, invoices). Plan for 1-2 weeks of overlap where you run both. Most legal practice management tools can import CSV data. Ask both vendors about migration support before you sign.
The bottom line
Pick Assembly Neos if...
Plaintiff litigation firms that need a case management system designed specifically for the plaintiff workflow — intake, medical records, settlement, disbursement.
Pick Smokeball if...
Small firms that want automatic time capture and a massive document template library so they can bill more hours without manual tracking.