Clio Manage vs 8am MyCase vs Smokeball: the AI built into practice management
What the AI in Clio Manage, 8am MyCase (8am IQ), and Smokeball (Archie AI) does, whether your data can be used to improve products, where it is processed, and what it costs. Sourced from vendor pages, checked Oct 19, 2026.
Last checked
| What we compared | Clio Manage | 8am MyCase with 8am IQ | Smokeball with Archie AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| The AI feature | Built in AI that drafts bills, suggests client updates, pulls dates from documents, summarizes matters, and answers questions about matters | 8am IQ: Writing, Document, Case, and Discovery Assistants (Discovery reads scanned pages) | Archie AI assistant, works inside one matter at a time; includes Westlaw Deep Research |
| Which plans get the AI | Included on Core and above; not on Starter | Pro gets Writing and Document Assistants; pricing page lists Case and Discovery under Advanced (8am's AI page says Pro has Case) | Add on on every plan, including Prosper+ |
| Pricing published | Partly. From $49 per user per month (Starter); higher plan prices not restated here | Yes. Yearly $50, $100, $130 per user per month; monthly $60, $120, $150 | No. Depends on users, plan, contract term, and add ons. Archie price not published |
| Used to train or improve products? | Pricing page: never used for AI training. Help center: never used to train external AI models | Never used to train third party AI models, but the FAQ says 8am may use inputs and outputs to develop and improve its products | Does not provide customer data to third parties for AI training. Whether Smokeball itself trains is not published |
| AI provider named | Not published | Yes, an OpenAI large language model | Not published |
| Where data and AI are processed | AWS in Canada, US, Europe, or Australia. Security page says AI is processed in your region; help center says it may be outside your jurisdiction | Not published | AWS across multiple availability zones; country not stated |
| Can you turn AI off? | Firm wide setting, but help center says it stays on for licenses that include AI; contact support | Yes, firm wide in Firm Settings. Discovery OCR runs automatically; turning it off needs support | Archie is an add on, so you choose whether to buy it. Off switch details not published |
| Security audit | Annual SOC 2 Type II and SOC 1 Type II | 8am says it is SOC 2 Type II certified | ISO 27001 certified. Its own SOC 2 report is not published (SOC reports on its page are AWS's) |
This is for a firm comparing case management systems partly on their built in AI. All three now include an AI assistant. They differ on which plan gets it, what they promise about your data, and how much they publish.
Where they differ
What you get and on which plan. Clio Manage includes its AI on Core and above (Clio pricing, checked Oct 19, 2026). 8am MyCase splits 8am IQ across Pro and Advanced. Its own two pages disagree on which plan gets the Case Assistant (MyCase pricing, 8am AI page, checked Oct 19, 2026). Smokeball sells Archie AI as an add on, even on its top plan (Smokeball pricing, checked Oct 19, 2026).
Training and product improvement. Read these lines closely, because they aren't the same promise. Clio's pricing page says firm data "is never used for AI training" (Clio pricing). 8am says client data is never used to train third party models, but it "may use inputs and outputs to develop and improve our products" (8am IQ FAQ). Smokeball says it doesn't give customer data to third parties for AI training, and is silent on its own use (Smokeball security), all checked Oct 19, 2026.
Where it runs. Clio lets you choose a hosting region, but its security page and help center disagree on whether AI requests stay in that region (Clio security, Clio help, checked Oct 19, 2026). 8am names OpenAI as its model provider but doesn't publish a storage location. Smokeball hosts on AWS without naming a country.
Price. MyCase publishes every plan price. Clio publishes its starting price. Smokeball publishes none, and its price depends on contract length (Smokeball pricing, checked Oct 19, 2026).
What to check
- Ask each vendor in writing whether your data, prompts, or AI outputs are used to train or improve any model, theirs or anyone else's.
- Ask where AI requests are processed for your region.
- Ask whether you can switch AI off for the whole firm, and how.
- Get the full price for the plan that actually includes the AI you want.
- Ask about export and retention. MyCase and Smokeball don't publish them. Clio gives 90 days after you cancel (Clio pricing, checked Oct 19, 2026).
Our take
This is our opinion, based on the sourced facts above. Clio is best for firms that want the most published security detail and AI included in the plan price. MyCase is best for firms that want to see every price up front and know which AI provider is involved. Smokeball is best for firms that live in Word and Outlook and want AI kept inside one matter at a time. None of the three answers every data question on its public pages, so the questions above are worth asking whichever you choose.
Sources
Vendor pages and public records this page is based on.
- clio.com · /pricing/
- clio.com · /security/
- help.clio.com · /hc/en-us/articles/41990965598491-AI-Features-in-Clio-Manage
- mycase.com · /pricing/
- 8am.com · /ai/
- supportcenter.mycase.com · /en/articles/9370197-8am-iq-faqs
- smokeball.com · /pricing
- smokeball.com · /security