Legal · head to head
CosmoLex vs Tabs3
CosmoLex
Legal
Practice management with a full legal general ledger and trust accounting built in
- From
- $89/month
- Rated
- -
Tabs3
Legal
Billing, trust and general ledger accounting for small and mid-sized US law firms
- From
- $69/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: CosmoLex the built-in accounting suits a single law firm entity, so practices with multiple entities, payroll or unusual revenue recognition still need an external accountant and a second system.; Tabs3 the interface follows Windows desktop conventions from an earlier era, so new fee earners and staff take longer to train than they would on a browser-based competitor.
- They diverge on capability: CosmoLex covers Built-in general ledger, Tabs3 covers Tabs3 Billing.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which CosmoLex and Tabs3 actually diverge.
Identical on both: pricing model (Per user per month), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Legal).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in CosmoLex
- Built-in general ledger
- Three-way trust reconciliation
- Time and expense capture
- Billing and LEDES
- CosmoLex Pay
- Matter management
Only in Tabs3
- Tabs3 Billing
- Trust accounting
- General ledger and accounts payable
- PracticeMaster
- On-premises or cloud subscription
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
CosmoLex
- A two to ten lawyer firm that wants to stop paying for and reconciling QuickBooks alongside its practice systemnot Tabs3
- A firm that has failed or fears failing a bar trust account audit and needs three-way reconciliation as standardnot Tabs3
- A solo practice with no bookkeeper that needs the books to be correct without accounting knowledgenot Tabs3
- A firm doing insurer defence work that must produce LEDES invoices without a separate billing toolnot Tabs3
Tabs3
- Small firms billing hourly that want billing and the firm general ledger in one system rather than reconciling twonot CosmoLex
- Practices that must run three-way trust reconciliation without a separate bookkeeping packagenot CosmoLex
- Firms that need an on-premises deployment because of client or insurer restrictions on cloud-hosted matter datanot CosmoLex
- Long-established practices replacing a decades-old billing system while keeping accounting in housenot CosmoLex
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
CosmoLex
- The built-in accounting suits a single law firm entity, so practices with multiple entities, payroll or unusual revenue recognition still need an external accountant and a second system.
- Document management is basic storage rather than versioned matter-centric DMS, so firms with heavy document workflow outgrow it and bolt on something else.
- The integration catalogue is materially smaller than Clio, so niche intake, e-discovery or automation tools often require manual export instead of a native connection.
- Ownership sits with ProfitSolv alongside Tabs3, TimeSolv and Rocket Matter, and buyers have limited visibility into which brand receives investment over a three-year contract.
- The interface and reporting feel dated next to newer competitors, and custom reporting in particular often means exporting to a spreadsheet.
Tabs3
- The interface follows Windows desktop conventions from an earlier era, so new fee earners and staff take longer to train than they would on a browser-based competitor.
- On-premises deployment puts backup, disaster recovery, server upgrades and patching on the firm, which small practices without IT support routinely underestimate.
- It is built around hourly and flat fee billing, so a contingency practice tracking case costs and settlement disbursements will find the case financial model a poor fit.
- PracticeMaster case management is priced separately from billing, so the advertised per-user rate is not what a firm wanting matter management actually pays.
- Choosing the on-premises option no longer avoids a subscription, because it is billed per user per month like the hosted version.
Pricing, plan by plan
CosmoLex
$89/month- CosmoLex$89/month
- Per user per month billed annually, higher month to month
- General ledger and trust accounting included rather than sold as an add-on
- Payment processing charged at card and bank transaction rates
Tabs3
$69/month- OnSite Subscription$69/month
- Deployed on the firm server
- Billing, trust accounting and general ledger
- PracticeMaster add-on at 32 USD per user per month
- Tabs3 Cloud$89/month
- Hosted by the vendor
- Billing, trust accounting and general ledger
- PracticeMaster add-on at 35 USD per user per month
Which should you pick?
Choose CosmoLex if
- You need built-in general ledger.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want three-way trust reconciliation.
Choose Tabs3 if
- You need tabs3 billing.
- You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want trust accounting.
Questions people ask
- Is CosmoLex or Tabs3 better?
- Neither clearly leads. CosmoLex starts at $89/month and Tabs3 at $69/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, CosmoLex or Tabs3?
- CosmoLex starts at $89/month and Tabs3 at $69/month.
- Does CosmoLex or Tabs3 run on more platforms?
- CosmoLex runs on Web, iOS, Android. Tabs3 runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
- What is CosmoLex best used for?
- CosmoLex is most often used for a two to ten lawyer firm that wants to stop paying for and reconciling quickbooks alongside its practice system, a firm that has failed or fears failing a bar trust account audit and needs three-way reconciliation as standard, a solo practice with no bookkeeper that needs the books to be correct without accounting knowledge, a firm doing insurer defence work that must produce ledes invoices without a separate billing tool. Of those, a two to ten lawyer firm that wants to stop paying for and reconciling quickbooks alongside its practice system and a firm that has failed or fears failing a bar trust account audit and needs three-way reconciliation as standard are not what Tabs3 is typically brought in for.
- What can CosmoLex do that Tabs3 cannot?
- CosmoLex covers Built-in general ledger, Three-way trust reconciliation, Time and expense capture, Billing and LEDES. Tabs3 covers Tabs3 Billing, Trust accounting, General ledger and accounts payable, PracticeMaster.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
CosmoLex: Do I still need QuickBooks?
No. CosmoLex carries its own general ledger and trust ledgers, which is the main reason firms choose it over Clio or MyCase.
Tabs3: Is Tabs3 right for a personal injury firm working on contingency?
No. It is built for hourly and flat fee billing with a firm general ledger. A contingency practice needs case cost tracking and settlement disbursement handling, which is what CASEpeer and Filevine are built around.
CosmoLex: Does it handle IOLTA compliance?
Yes. Trust ledgers, overdraft prevention and three-way reconciliation are in the core product rather than in a paid tier.
Tabs3: Can I still buy Tabs3 as a perpetual licence?
No published perpetual price exists. The on-premises option, called OnSite Subscription, starts at 69 USD per user per month, with the hosted Tabs3 Cloud starting at 89 USD per user per month.
CosmoLex: Who owns CosmoLex?
ProfitSolv, a private-equity backed group that also owns Tabs3, TimeSolv, ImagineTime and Rocket Matter.
Tabs3: Does it replace QuickBooks?
For most firms yes. It includes a double-entry general ledger and accounts payable, which is the usual reason firms choose it over billing-only products.
Related pages
Other head to heads
- CosmoLex vs Aderant
- CosmoLex vs Clio
- CosmoLex vs Smokeball
- CosmoLex vs MyCase
- CosmoLex vs Actionstep
- CosmoLex vs Docketwise
- CosmoLex vs Litera
- CosmoLex vs iubenda
- CosmoLex vs Filevine
- CosmoLex vs Harvey
- CosmoLex vs Ironclad
- CosmoLex vs Lawmatics
- CosmoLex vs LexisNexis
- CosmoLex vs Luminance
- CosmoLex vs Rocket Matter
- CosmoLex vs CASEpeer
- CosmoLex vs iManage
- CosmoLex vs Westlaw
- CosmoLex vs Logikcull
- CosmoLex vs Cookiebot
- Tabs3 vs Aderant
- Tabs3 vs Clio
- Tabs3 vs Smokeball
- Tabs3 vs MyCase
- Tabs3 vs Actionstep
- Tabs3 vs Docketwise
- Tabs3 vs Litera
- Tabs3 vs iubenda
- Tabs3 vs Filevine
- Tabs3 vs Harvey
- Tabs3 vs Ironclad
- Tabs3 vs Lawmatics
- Tabs3 vs LexisNexis
- Tabs3 vs Luminance
- Tabs3 vs Rocket Matter
- Tabs3 vs CASEpeer
- Tabs3 vs iManage
- Tabs3 vs Westlaw
- Tabs3 vs Logikcull
- Tabs3 vs Cookiebot