Aequis vs Clio
for Family Law
Clio is a strong general-purpose practice platform. Aequis is built for exactly one thing: family law. Here is an honest comparison — every claim about Clio below is verified against Clio's own pricing page or our dated competitive review, and anything we could not verify is left out.
| Feature | Aequis (every plan) | Clio |
|---|---|---|
| Child & spousal support calculators (all 50 states + DC, with controlling-authority citations) | Included | Not offered — attorneys buy third-party calculator software separately (July 2026 review) |
| AI assistant | Included unlimited on every plan (premium Opus deep research metered) | Add-on (Manage AI), quote-priced; not available on the entry tier † |
| Trust ledger & trust account management | Included | Included |
| Full legal accounting with trust & operating reconciliation | Included — IOLTA three-way reconciliation on every plan | Add-on (Clio Accounting), quote-priced, US only † |
| Court forms & document automation | Included — official fillable state PDFs (FL, OH, TX, VA) plus working drafts | Add-on (Clio Draft), quote-priced † |
| Client intake & CRM | Included | Add-on (Clio Grow), quote-priced; bundled only on the Expand tier † |
| E-signature | Unlimited on every plan | 3 on EasyStart, 15 on Essentials; unlimited from Advanced † |
| Workflow automation | Included | Advanced tier and up † |
| Split billing | Included | Advanced tier and up † |
| Client portal | Included | Essentials tier and up † |
| Co-parent communication portal (monitored, with AI tone help and a DV-aware safe mode) | Included | Not offered natively (July 2026 review) |
| Custody & parenting-time schedule builder | Included | Not offered natively (July 2026 review) |
| Built-in e-filing submission | Not yet — form assembly and validation today; submission is on our roadmap | CA, TX, and GA state courts, pay per filing † |
| Pricing model | Flat per firm — $149/mo covers 2 users with every feature | Per user, from $49/user/mo (EasyStart); higher tiers quote-priced † |
† clio.com/pricing, retrieved July 12, 2026. "July 2026 review" = our competitive review dated July 2, 2026. Rows we could not verify are omitted entirely.
Where Clio is genuinely strong
An honest switcher page says this part out loud. Clio ships unlimited document storage on all plans, native iOS and Android apps, built-in e-filing for CA, TX, and GA state courts (pay per filing), a 300+ app integration marketplace, and 24/5 support (all per clio.com/pricing, July 12, 2026). Aequis offers 50 GB to 500+ GB storage by plan (with inexpensive add-on blocks), an installable web app (PWA) rather than native mobile apps, and connectors for Gmail, Outlook, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, QuickBooks, Clio, and Zapier plus a developer API and webhooks. If your practice is mostly outside family law, Clio may be the better fit — that is who it is built for.
All-inclusive vs base-plus-add-ons
The sticker price is not the comparison — the stack total is.
Aequis — 2-person family law firm
$149/mo
or $1,490/yr (about $124/mo). Grow to 4 users at $69/mo per added professional seat ($35/mo staff).
- Every feature on every plan — nothing is tier-gated
- AI assistant included unlimited
- 50-state + DC support calculators with citations
- IOLTA trust with three-way reconciliation
- Court forms, e-signature, intake/CRM, client portal
- Co-parent portal and custody scheduling
Clio — 2-person family law firm
$98/mo+
2 × $49/user on EasyStart, Clio's published entry price (July 12, 2026) — before the family-law stack.
- Client portal requires Essentials or higher †
- Unlimited e-signature and workflows require Advanced †
- AI (Manage AI), intake/CRM (Grow), document automation (Draft), and accounting are separate quote-priced add-ons †
- No child- or spousal-support calculator at any tier — third-party calculator software ran about $70/mo at our July 2, 2026 review
- At that review, Clio Essentials listed around $89/user/mo and Advanced around $119/user/mo — putting a 2-user Advanced setup plus a family-law calculator near $308/mo before AI, intake, or accounting add-ons
Switching is an afternoon, not a project
Aequis ships a real Clio API importer — connect your Clio account and it brings your practice over directly. No consultant, no spreadsheet gymnastics.
The import runs in resumable pages, so large firms come over reliably — and you can keep working in Clio until you are ready to cut over. Prefer CSV? That works too.
Aequis vs Clio FAQ
Can I import my Clio data into Aequis?
Yes — with a real API importer, not a spreadsheet exercise. Connect your Clio account from the Aequis import wizard and it pulls contacts, matters (with client links preserved), tasks, time entries, documents, billing, and calendar events directly through the Clio API, with duplicate detection so re-runs are safe. You can also import via CSV if you prefer.
Is Aequis a full replacement for Clio in a family law practice?
For the core of a family law practice — matters, contacts, calendaring with court-deadline rules, time and billing, IOLTA trust with three-way reconciliation, documents, e-signature, intake, and a client portal — yes, and Aequis adds family-law tools Clio does not ship natively, like 50-state support calculators, custody scheduling, and a monitored co-parent portal. To be fair the other way: Clio offers built-in e-filing submission in CA, TX, and GA, native iOS/Android apps, unlimited document storage, and a 300+ app marketplace. If those are must-haves today, weigh them.
What does Aequis cost compared to Clio?
Aequis is a flat $149/mo for a 2-person firm (attorney + paralegal) with every feature included, growing to 4 users at $69/mo per added professional seat. Clio prices per user starting at $49/user/mo for its entry tier (as of July 2026), with its higher tiers quote-priced — and AI, intake/CRM, document automation, and accounting each sold as separate quote-priced add-ons. Aequis has no feature-gated tiers and no add-on menu beyond seats and storage.
Does switching mean losing my payment setup?
Aequis processes online payments through your own Stripe, Square, or PayPal account — you connect your existing processor and keep your merchant relationship, with trust-aware routing for retainers.
Is there a free trial?
Yes — 14 days with every feature included on every plan. A credit card is required and you can cancel anytime before the trial ends. You can also try the free public child support calculator with no account at all.
Built only for family law
Import your Clio data with one connection and run your whole practice — calculators, trust, forms, portal, and AI — for one flat price.
Start Free Trial14-day free trial. Every feature included. Credit card required; cancel anytime before the trial ends.