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Legal · head to head

iManage vs Tabs3

iManage logo

iManage

Legal

Document and email management for law firms and professional services

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tabs3 logo

Tabs3

Legal

Billing, trust and general ledger accounting for small and mid-sized US law firms

From
$69/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; 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: iManage covers iManage Work, Tabs3 covers Tabs3 Billing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which iManage and Tabs3 actually diverge.

Attributes where iManage and Tabs3 differ
AttributeiManageTabs3
Starting priceOn request$69/month
Pricing modelquotePer user per month
PlatformsWindows, Web, macOS, iOS, AndroidWindows, Web, iOS, Android

Identical on both: 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 iManage

  • iManage Work
  • Outlook email filing
  • Security Policy Manager
  • Records Manager
  • Full text and metadata search

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.

iManage

  • Corporate firms whose matter record lives largely in email and must be filed and searchablenot Tabs3
  • Firms with client confidentiality obligations requiring need-to-know access per matternot Tabs3
  • Practices with records retention obligations spanning electronic and physical filesnot Tabs3
  • Financial services, accounting and government teams with the same matter-centric document problemnot Tabs3

Tabs3

  • Small firms billing hourly that want billing and the firm general ledger in one system rather than reconciling twonot iManage
  • Practices that must run three-way trust reconciliation without a separate bookkeeping packagenot iManage
  • Firms that need an on-premises deployment because of client or insurer restrictions on cloud-hosted matter datanot iManage
  • Long-established practices replacing a decades-old billing system while keeping accounting in housenot iManage

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

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.

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

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

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 iManage if

  • You need imanage work.
  • You work on Windows, Web, macOS, iOS, Android.
  • You also want outlook email filing.
iManage review

Choose Tabs3 if

  • You need tabs3 billing.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want trust accounting.
Tabs3 review

Questions people ask

Is iManage or Tabs3 better?
Neither clearly leads. iManage starts at On request and Tabs3 at $69/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, iManage or Tabs3?
iManage starts at On request and Tabs3 at $69/month.
Does iManage or Tabs3 run on more platforms?
iManage runs on Windows, Web, macOS, iOS, Android. Tabs3 runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
What is iManage best used for?
iManage is most often used for corporate firms whose matter record lives largely in email and must be filed and searchable, firms with client confidentiality obligations requiring need-to-know access per matter, practices with records retention obligations spanning electronic and physical files, financial services, accounting and government teams with the same matter-centric document problem. Of those, corporate firms whose matter record lives largely in email and must be filed and searchable and firms with client confidentiality obligations requiring need-to-know access per matter are not what Tabs3 is typically brought in for.
What can iManage do that Tabs3 cannot?
iManage covers iManage Work, Outlook email filing, Security Policy Manager, Records Manager. Tabs3 covers Tabs3 Billing, Trust accounting, General ledger and accounts payable, PracticeMaster.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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