Legal · head to head
Filevine vs iManage
Filevine
Legal
Configurable case management for plaintiff litigation, intake and mass tort firms
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
iManage
Legal
Document and email management for law firms and professional services
- 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.; iManage it manages documents and email but not matters, billing or accounting, so it is an addition to a practice management system rather than a replacement for one.
- They diverge on capability: Filevine covers Project templates, iManage covers iManage Work.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Filevine and iManage 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 iManage
- iManage Work
- Outlook email filing
- Security Policy Manager
- Records Manager
- Full text and metadata search
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 iManage
- A mass tort practice managing thousands of claimants against shared case phases and bulk document generationnot iManage
- A firm replacing spreadsheets and shared drives where each practice area has different deadline rulesnot iManage
- An immigration or workers compensation practice that needs form-heavy document assembly from case datanot iManage
iManage
- Corporate firms whose matter record lives largely in email and must be filed and searchablenot Filevine
- Firms with client confidentiality obligations requiring need-to-know access per matternot Filevine
- Practices with records retention obligations spanning electronic and physical filesnot Filevine
- Financial services, accounting and government teams with the same matter-centric document problemnot 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.
iManage
- It manages documents and email but not matters, billing or accounting, so it is an addition to a practice management system rather than a replacement for one.
- Administration requires specialist skills, and organisations without a dedicated document management administrator tend to run it badly configured.
- Its value depends on fee earners filing email consistently, which is a behaviour change firms routinely fail to enforce.
- Nothing about pricing is published and the surrounding modules are licensed separately, so the gap between the core product and a working configuration is discovered late.
- The market-share figures it cites, such as 81 per cent of the Am Law 200, are vendor published and not independently audited.
Pricing, plan by plan
Filevine
On request- Filevine$undefined/year
- Quoted per user per month on an annual contract
- Separate one-off implementation and configuration fee
- Lead Docket, Vinesign and AI drafting priced as add-on modules
iManage
On request- iManage Work$undefined/year
- Per user licensing quoted per organisation
- Cloud or on-premises deployment
- Security, records and analytics modules licensed separately
Which should you pick?
Choose Filevine if
- You need project templates.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want lead docket intake.
Choose iManage if
- You need imanage work.
- You work on Windows, Web, macOS, iOS, Android.
- You also want outlook email filing.
Questions people ask
- Is Filevine or iManage better?
- Neither clearly leads. Filevine starts at On request and iManage at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Filevine or iManage?
- Filevine starts at On request and iManage at On request.
- Does Filevine or iManage run on more platforms?
- Filevine runs on Web, iOS, Android. iManage runs on Windows, Web, macOS, 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 iManage is typically brought in for.
- What can Filevine do that iManage cannot?
- Filevine covers Project templates, Lead Docket intake, Document assembly, Vinesign. iManage covers iManage Work, Outlook email filing, Security Policy Manager, Records Manager.
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.
iManage: Does iManage replace practice management software?
No. It handles documents and email. Firms run it alongside a practice management and billing system such as Aderant or Elite 3E.
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.
iManage: Who owns iManage?
It has been independent since a management buyout from Hewlett-Packard completed in July 2015. Bain Capital Tech Opportunities made a minority growth investment in April 2023, with management retaining control.
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.
iManage: Is iManage worth it for a small firm?
It is sold to small firms as well as large ones, but the licensing and administrative overhead usually outweighs the benefit over a well organised document store below roughly twenty fee earners.
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