Clio Grow AI vs Lawmatics: intake and CRM for small firms
How Clio Grow with Grow AI and Lawmatics charge, what their AI does, and what each says about training, data location, audits, and leaving. Sourced from vendor pages, checked Oct 19, 2026.
Last checked
| What we compared | Clio Grow with Grow AI | Lawmatics |
|---|---|---|
| What the AI does | AI agents answer new leads by web chat, email, and phone, collect details, score fit, flag possible conflicts, and follow up. Voice agent is US only | Merlin AI tools, including QualifyAI for screening leads. QualifyAI does not read files leads upload |
| Pricing published | Partly. Grow is included in Elite; add on price for Core and Signature is contact sales. Grow AI is pay per matter hired; the dollar amount is not on Clio's pricing page | No. Custom quotes only |
| How the AI is billed | Per hired matter Grow AI assisted. A hiring target is not a billing cap, per Clio | QualifyAI is an add on that uses credits. Credit price not published |
| Minimum users | Not published for Grow | Three user minimum on Essential and Premium |
| Used to train AI? | Clio says firm data is never used to train external AI models. Lead scoring learns from your own firm's case history | Terms say Customer Data is not used to train or fine tune AI models, and AI subprocessors may not train on it |
| AI provider named | Not published | Yes, OpenAI models through OpenAI's developer API |
| Where data is stored | AWS, hosted in Canada, the US, Europe, or Australia. Clio's pages differ on whether AI requests stay in your region | AWS in the United States |
| Security audit | Annual SOC 2 Type II and SOC 1 Type II, reports through trust.clio.com | Annual SOC 2 Type 2; report available on request |
| Contract terms | Accrued Grow AI usage is invoiced right away if you cancel Grow; turning it off does not cancel accrued charges | Fees for the full term are non cancellable and non refundable unless your agreement says otherwise; auto renews unless notice 30 days before |
| Leaving with your data | Export in open formats while active or within 90 days after cancelling | Retrieve for 60 days after the subscription ends; then deleted within 30 days, backups within 35 |
| BAA | Included with Clio's Personal Injury add on | Not stated. Ask vendor |
This is for a firm choosing a system to catch, screen, and follow up with new leads. Clio Grow with Grow AI lives inside Clio. Lawmatics is a separate intake and marketing tool that connects to Clio, 8am MyCase, Filevine, and others (Lawmatics pricing, checked Oct 19, 2026).
Where they differ
What the AI does. Grow AI goes further on its own. Its agents reply to leads by chat, email, and phone, then follow up without anyone stepping in (Clio help: Get Started with Grow AI, checked Oct 19, 2026). Lawmatics' QualifyAI screens leads inside a broader system of forms, follow ups, and marketing (Merlin help, checked Oct 19, 2026).
How you pay. Grow AI charges when a lead it helped becomes a hired matter. Clio warns that your monthly hiring target "is not a billing cap" (Clio help: Manage Your Grow AI Subscription, checked Oct 19, 2026). Clio doesn't show the per hire dollar amount on its pricing page. Lawmatics publishes no prices at all, requires three users on its main plans, and sells AI screening by the credit (Lawmatics pricing, checked Oct 19, 2026).
Commitment. This is the biggest practical difference. Lawmatics' terms lock in fees and seats for the whole term and renew automatically unless you give notice 30 days before (Lawmatics terms, checked Oct 19, 2026). With Clio, cancelling Grow means any accrued Grow AI usage gets invoiced right away (Clio help, checked Oct 19, 2026).
Data. Both say they don't train AI on your data. Lawmatics' promise is in its terms and also covers its AI subprocessors (Lawmatics terms). Clio's says "external AI models" (Clio help). Both have SOC 2 Type II audits (Clio security, Lawmatics terms), all checked Oct 19, 2026.
What to check
- Clio: get the current per hire price in writing, plus what counts as Grow AI "assisting" a lead.
- Clio: ask which is right about AI processing, the security page ("in your region") or the help center ("outside your home jurisdiction").
- Lawmatics: ask for the term length, the seat count, and the price per QualifyAI credit before you sign.
- Both: ask how long call recordings and chat transcripts are kept.
Our take
This is our opinion, based on the sourced facts above. Clio Grow AI is best for firms already on Clio that want hands off, after hours lead response and pay per result. Lawmatics is best for firms with three or more users that want deep marketing automation and the most explicit written data terms. Grow AI launched in August 2026, so it's new. Lawmatics' main risk is contractual: read the order form closely.
Sources
Vendor pages and public records this page is based on.
- clio.com · /pricing/
- clio.com · /security/
- help.clio.com · /hc/en-us/articles/52130854899099-Get-Started-with-Grow-AI
- help.clio.com · /hc/en-us/articles/52131731711003-Manage-Your-Grow-AI-Subscription
- help.clio.com · /hc/en-us/articles/41990965598491-AI-Features-in-Clio-Manage
- lawmatics.com · /pricing
- lawmatics.com · /security
- lawmatics.com · /terms-of-use
- help.lawmatics.com · /en/articles/15890617-merlin-ai-suite-overview