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Legal · head to head

Litera vs Smokeball

Litera logo

Litera

Legal

Document lifecycle and contract intelligence platform for law firms, built through a decade of acquisitions including Kira Systems, Workshare and Doxly

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Smokeball logo

Smokeball

Legal

Practice management for small law firms with automatic time capture

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Litera there is no published pricing or self-service option anywhere; every engagement starts with a sales quote, which makes early-stage budgeting difficult for a firm evaluating multiple vendors.; Smokeball requires a Windows desktop component for automatic time capture, so it is not browser-only like its competitors
  • They diverge on capability: Litera covers Document comparison, Smokeball covers Automatic time capture.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Litera and Smokeball actually diverge.

Attributes where Litera and Smokeball differ
AttributeLiteraSmokeball
PlatformsWeb, WindowsWindows, Web, iOS, Android

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 Litera

  • Document comparison
  • Contract AI review
  • Document drafting and formatting
  • Deal and transaction management
  • Proofreading
  • DMS integration

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.

Litera

  • A mid-size firm wanting document comparison, drafting and contract AI review from a single vendor relationship rather than several separate point toolsnot Smokeball
  • A transactional practice needing deal and closing checklist management alongside document draftingnot Smokeball
  • A firm that previously used Kira Systems standalone and needs to understand it is now sold only as part of Literanot Smokeball
  • A large firm with high contract volume wanting AI-assisted due diligence review at BigLaw-comparable scale and costnot Smokeball

Smokeball

  • Firms billing hourly that lose revenue to unrecorded timenot Litera
  • Small practices replacing paper matter files and spreadsheetsnot Litera
  • Firms needing court form automation for high-volume matter typesnot Litera

Where each one falls short

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

Litera

  • There is no published pricing or self-service option anywhere; every engagement starts with a sales quote, which makes early-stage budgeting difficult for a firm evaluating multiple vendors.
  • The product is assembled from roughly a dozen acquisitions in two years, and modules originating from different acquired companies do not always share a consistent interface, which shows up as friction between drafting, comparison and contract AI tools.
  • Reported costs at scale, $300,000-plus a year for large deployments, put it in a similar bracket to purpose-built AI vendors like Harvey, so a firm should genuinely compare the two rather than assume Litera is the cheaper, safer choice by default.
  • Contract AI review functionality originates from Kira Systems, a 2021 acquisition, and firms should confirm how much that engine has been maintained and improved versus newer AI-native competitors.
  • Modules may be licensed and priced separately even within one Litera contract, so a quote for "document comparison" does not necessarily include contract AI review or vice versa.

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

Litera

On request
  • Litera (custom deployment)$undefined/year
    • No self-service or monthly subscription option
    • Reported $50,000-150,000/year for 10-20 users, 5,000-15,000 contracts/year
    • Reported $300,000+/year for 100+ user, 50,000+ contract deployments

Smokeball

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Smokeball review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Litera if

  • You need document comparison.
  • You work on Web, Windows.
  • You also want contract ai review.
Litera review

Choose Smokeball if

  • You need automatic time capture.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want matter management.
Smokeball review

Questions people ask

Is Litera or Smokeball better?
Neither clearly leads. Litera 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, Litera or Smokeball?
Litera starts at On request and Smokeball at On request.
Does Litera or Smokeball run on more platforms?
Litera runs on Web, Windows. Smokeball runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
What is Litera best used for?
Litera is most often used for a mid-size firm wanting document comparison, drafting and contract ai review from a single vendor relationship rather than several separate point tools, a transactional practice needing deal and closing checklist management alongside document drafting, a firm that previously used kira systems standalone and needs to understand it is now sold only as part of litera, a large firm with high contract volume wanting ai-assisted due diligence review at biglaw-comparable scale and cost. Of those, a mid-size firm wanting document comparison, drafting and contract ai review from a single vendor relationship rather than several separate point tools and a transactional practice needing deal and closing checklist management alongside document drafting are not what Smokeball is typically brought in for.
What can Litera do that Smokeball cannot?
Litera covers Document comparison, Contract AI review, Document drafting and formatting, Deal and transaction management. Smokeball covers Automatic time capture, Matter management, Document automation, Billing and trust accounting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Litera: Is Litera one product or several?

Functionally several. It combines document comparison (Workshare), contract AI (Kira Systems), deal management (Doxly) and drafting tools built or acquired separately, sold under one brand.

Smokeball: What does Smokeball cost?

Pricing is quoted per firm and not published.

Litera: Can I buy Kira Systems on its own?

Not as a fully independent product for law firms; Litera acquired the law firm side of Kira Systems in 2021 and it is now sold as part of the Litera portfolio.

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.

Litera: Is there a published price?

No. Every deployment is a custom quote; reported figures range from roughly $50,000 to over $300,000 a year depending on user count and contract volume.

Smokeball: Does it run on Mac?

The automatic time capture component is Windows-based, which is the main platform constraint.

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