CloudLex vs Smokeball
Smokeball scores 8.2/10 vs 7.2/10. 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 7.2/10. 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.
CloudLex 
Smokeball Rank
#20 of 39
Rank
#2 of 39
Features
17/18
Features
17/18
Starting at
Custom
Starting at
$29/mo
User reviews
4.7/5 (80)
User reviews
4.8/5 (500)
What they cost
| CloudLex | 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. CloudLex 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 CloudLex wins
- Medical records module tracks providers, treatments, liens, and balances in one timeline view
- Demand package builder assembles settlement demands from case data automatically
- G2 rating of 4.7 shows strong satisfaction among PI firms that use it
- Built in the cloud from day one, unlike competitors that migrated from desktop
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 CloudLex falls short
- No public pricing — custom quotes only
- Only useful for personal injury and related practice areas
- No trust accounting built in
- Smaller ecosystem and fewer integrations than generalist tools like Clio
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?
CloudLex
Target: 1-25 attorneys
CloudLex competes directly with CASEpeer for PI firms. The medical records module and demand builder are strong. Get demos from both CloudLex and CASEpeer and pick based on which workflow fits your firm better.
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 | CloudLex | 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 CloudLex's 7.2/10 in our ranking. Smokeball is the better pick for 1-30 attorneys. CloudLex is better if you need pi firms that want a cloud-native case management system with medical records tracking, demand package creation, and settlement management.
CloudLex 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.
CloudLex: No free trial. Smokeball: No free trial. Always test with your actual workflow before committing to an annual plan.
CloudLex 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, CloudLex 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 CloudLex if...
PI firms that want a cloud-native case management system with medical records tracking, demand package creation, and settlement management.
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.