Legal · head to head
Filevine vs Smokeball
Filevine
Legal
Configurable case management for plaintiff litigation, intake and mass tort firms
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Smokeball
Legal
Practice management for small law firms with automatic time capture
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Filevine there is no built-in general ledger or three-way trust reconciliation, so the firm still pays for and reconciles QuickBooks separately, which undermines the single-system argument used during the sale.; Smokeball requires a Windows desktop component for automatic time capture, so it is not browser-only like its competitors
- They diverge on capability: Filevine covers Project templates, Smokeball covers Automatic time capture.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Filevine and Smokeball actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 Filevine
- Project templates
- Lead Docket intake
- Document assembly
- Vinesign
- Case texting
- Reporting and dashboards
Only in Smokeball
- Automatic time capture
- Matter management
- Document automation
- Billing and trust accounting
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Filevine
- A personal injury firm that wants advertising spend, intake conversion and settlement value reported in one placenot Smokeball
- A mass tort practice managing thousands of claimants against shared case phases and bulk document generationnot Smokeball
- A firm replacing spreadsheets and shared drives where each practice area has different deadline rulesnot Smokeball
- An immigration or workers compensation practice that needs form-heavy document assembly from case datanot Smokeball
Smokeball
- Firms billing hourly that lose revenue to unrecorded timenot Filevine
- Small practices replacing paper matter files and spreadsheetsnot Filevine
- Firms needing court form automation for high-volume matter typesnot Filevine
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Filevine
- There is no built-in general ledger or three-way trust reconciliation, so the firm still pays for and reconciles QuickBooks separately, which undermines the single-system argument used during the sale.
- Pricing is quoted per user with an implementation fee, so a firm with paralegals and case managers who log in occasionally pays full seat cost for light users.
- Configuration flexibility becomes a liability without an internal owner, and firms that skip that role commonly end up with duplicate fields and reports nobody trusts.
- It is built around contingency and litigation workflow, so corporate, conveyancing and other transactional practices find the project model a poor fit.
- Implementation commonly runs weeks to months with paid professional services, and the annual contract starts before the firm is live, so the first year buys less usable time than it appears to.
Smokeball
- Requires a Windows desktop component for automatic time capture, so it is not browser-only like its competitors
- Quote-only pricing with no published rates
- Aimed at small firms; larger practices with complex billing arrangements generally outgrow it
Pricing, plan by plan
Filevine
On request- Filevine$undefined/year
- Quoted per user per month on an annual contract
- Separate one-off implementation and configuration fee
- Lead Docket, Vinesign and AI drafting priced as add-on modules
Smokeball
On requestNo published plan breakdown. See the Smokeball review.
Which should you pick?
Choose Filevine if
- You need project templates.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want lead docket intake.
Choose Smokeball if
- You need automatic time capture.
- You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want matter management.
Questions people ask
- Is Filevine or Smokeball better?
- Neither clearly leads. Filevine starts at On request and Smokeball at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Filevine or Smokeball?
- Filevine starts at On request and Smokeball at On request.
- Does Filevine or Smokeball run on more platforms?
- Filevine runs on Web, iOS, Android. Smokeball runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
- What is Filevine best used for?
- Filevine is most often used for a personal injury firm that wants advertising spend, intake conversion and settlement value reported in one place, a mass tort practice managing thousands of claimants against shared case phases and bulk document generation, a firm replacing spreadsheets and shared drives where each practice area has different deadline rules, an immigration or workers compensation practice that needs form-heavy document assembly from case data. Of those, a personal injury firm that wants advertising spend, intake conversion and settlement value reported in one place and a mass tort practice managing thousands of claimants against shared case phases and bulk document generation are not what Smokeball is typically brought in for.
- What can Filevine do that Smokeball cannot?
- Filevine covers Project templates, Lead Docket intake, Document assembly, Vinesign. Smokeball covers Automatic time capture, Matter management, Document automation, Billing and trust accounting.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Filevine: Does Filevine handle trust accounting?
No. It tracks case costs and settlement disbursement but has no legal general ledger, so trust accounting is done in QuickBooks or a dedicated legal accounting product.
Smokeball: What does Smokeball cost?
Pricing is quoted per firm and not published.
Filevine: Is pricing published?
No. Filevine quotes per user per month on an annual contract and adds an implementation fee, so compare total first-year cost rather than the seat rate.
Smokeball: How does automatic time capture work?
A desktop application observes work on matters and turns activity into billable entries, rather than depending on someone remembering to start a timer.
Filevine: Is it suitable for a two-person firm?
Rarely. The configuration overhead and contract minimums suit firms with dedicated intake and case management staff.
Smokeball: Does it run on Mac?
The automatic time capture component is Windows-based, which is the main platform constraint.
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