Top 10 Litera alternatives in 2023

Productivity Boost

Jackson Kustec

jackson@macro.com

Published: Sun Oct 01 2023

Some of the best Litera alternatives you must try are Macro, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Microsoft 365, Smokeball, Westlaw Precision, Mycase, Hotdocs, Filevine, Juro, and NOVO Compare.

This article will walk you through their respective features, along with each tool’s pros and cons to help you decide which one is best for your business.

Why do you need a Litera alternative?

Litera is one of the most popular document drafting tools for legal professionals.

It gets the job done efficiently when it comes to drafting, managing, and comparing documents.

If it gets the job done, why do you need a Litera alternative?

Here are a few reasons 👇

Reason #1. Poor user experience

If you plan to switch from some PDF editor to Litera, the transition won't be easy. That's because of Litera's poor user experience.

For starters, the platform has no free trial for you to try the tool before you buy. All you can do is request a demo.

It has a clunky interface that requires A LOT of change management. Change management can cause bottlenecks for legal teams, especially when parts of a group are in one software, and the other in Litera. Getting acclimated to Litera takes weeks if not months.

Reason #2: Expensive and lacks transparency

Let’s have a look at Litera’s pricing.

To compare documents on Litera, prices start at $425 per user per year.

Want to analyze documents for errors? Litera can help you do it with AI. A single license starts at $624 per year, minimum.

And finally, pdfDocs – Litera’s PDF editor starts at $250 per user per year.

With these three tools, your total cart value comes to: 🥁

$1299 per user per year 🤯. Imagine having a team of 100 people and deciding to buy Litera’s subscription. Quite the invoice!

But the worst part comes from the abovementioned word “starting.” Litera’s licenses can go up in the tens of thousands. For the same products. The company is secretive about pricing and lacks transparency, with some clients paying 10x more than others.

Source

Reason #3: Missing key features

pdfDocs, Litera’s editor, doesn't handle PDFs well. It provides basic functionalities and lacks many parts needed for complex editing.

For example, Litera Compare doesn’t let you compare more than 2 documents simultaneously. This could pose a big problem when working on large deals with multiple stakeholders.

PDF editors like Macro offer advanced review and drafting document capabilities at a fraction of the cost. It’s why 25% of the AmLaw 100 uses Macro daily.

Top 10 Litera alternatives

#1. Macro

Macro is an all-in-one Word and PDF editor that legal professionals use to draft, review, edit, and compare legal documents.

Its modern and simple interface makes using the software game-changing for legal teams.

Capabilities like – defined terms interlinking, document comparison, and error detection are where Macro stands out from the crowd.

Macro features

Feature #1. Macro Compare

Compare multiple versions all at once

Email threads are a pest for professionals. Remember the last time you tried to find the most up-to-date version of a document in your email inbox?

Painful, right?

Macro solves this issue with the most advanced document comparison tool. With Macro's Compare feature, you can upload as many document versions as you like and color code redlines from each party involved in the editing process.

Once you hit

“Compare,”

Macro will return a consolidated version of the documents, along with all redactions, edits, and text movement. You can then approve or reject amendments, prepare the document’s final version, and export it to DOCX or PDF for execution.

Feature #2. Error detection

You might’ve heard the saying – Too many cooks spoil the broth.

The same happens when too many people work on the same PDF, especially long contracts.

There's a limit to monitoring every team member's activity in documents. You can try your best, but the final PDF version will have errors, some of which can have negative material impacts on your business.

Macro’s Error Detection tool finds them for you.

As soon as you upload a PDF, Macro will scan it for material errors like undefined terms, duplicate clauses, or misuse of annexes.

Feature #3. Definition pop-ups

Lawyers and other professionals must review long documents throughout their day. They must understand the contract's content to provide advice or suggest changes.

One problem they face is reading and understanding PDFs, which involves scrolling through hundreds of pages and manually bookmarking important information.

But that's when you don't use Macro.

Macro comes with automated defined-terms interlinking and bookmarks. With our software, you can click on a Defined Term, and instead of Googling it, you can read its definition without leaving the app.

Similarly, you can navigate sections with auto-generated bookmarks, saving hours.

Compare, error detection, and defined terms are where Macro sets itself apart from Litera.

Other Macro features worth exploring ⬇️

Automate document productions from templates
ChatGPT-enable copilot trained on legal documents
Merge and split PDFs
Draw or type your signature and e-sign PDFs safely
Add a watermark and redact text for confidentiality
Add, underline, strikethrough, and change text size

And much more…

Pros and cons

✅ Comes with a free desktop version.

✅ Very easy to use and get accustomed to the platform.

✅ Helps you with errors in your legal documents.

✅ Makes the document review process 5x faster with enhanced navigation capabilities.

❌ Doesn’t have an online version.

Pricing

Macro has a free downloadable app for both Windows and Mac.

If you need more advanced features and support, upgrade to Macro's Professional version for $49/user per month or contact Macro’s sales team for a custom Enterprise plan.

#2. Adobe Acrobat pro

Adobe Acrobat Pro is a popular document management tool that helps you read, edit, and annotate PDFs. It’s a great Litera alternative that overcomes Litera’s OCR issues.

Adobe Acrobat pro features

Acrobat’s powerful PDF creation and editing tools allow you to modify text, change design, and add annotations.
Lets you protect PDFs with password management and enabling encryption.
Convert Word documents, PPTs, Excel files, and images into PDFs.
Comes with a document comparison feature that helps you detect differences between two PDF versions.
Has an OCR functionality to convert images into a PDF file.

Pros and cons

✅ Adobe Acrobat Pro's OCR is among the best for legal teams and professionals.

✅ It’s a one-tool-for-all that can satisfy anyone’s document management needs.

❌ The tool's free version doesn't have impactful features, and its paid plans are expensive.

❌ Lacks workflow and collaboration features that Litera has.

Pricing

The standard Adobe Acrobat plan starts at $12.99 per month . If you want the Pro plan, it costs $19.99 per month . This makes the tool a little too expensive for some professionals.

#3. Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 isn't a specialized PDF editor; it lets you convert PDFs automatically into Word documents and edit them.

Microsoft 365 features

Comprehensive text and visual editing tools with options to change text, images, formats, etc.
Comment on PDFs and collaborate with your team. Annotate your document by highlighting, underlining, and changing font style.
Compare any two documents to see the differences and similarities.
Split a PDF, remove pages, or convert it into different file formats.

Pros and cons

✅ Satisfactory document creation and editing features.

✅ Several collaboration features for people working in teams.

❌ No OCR functionality to scan images and convert them into PDFs.

❌ The software could be expensive if you want to onboard a large team.

Pricing

With brand new Windows PCs, you get Microsoft 365's access free for a limited time, after which you will have to select and subscribe to any of the 3 plans below:

Personal: $6.99 per month
Business Basic: $6 per user per month
Business Standard: $12.50 per user per month

#4. Smokeball

Smokeball is a legal practice management software that helps you with email and document management. It streamlines a business's workflow structure and takes care of all the accounting-related operations in your company.

Smokeball features

Create and fill customized legal forms automatically with Smokeball’s document automation features and save your team’s time.
Easy integration with Microsoft Word to create and edit documents faster.
Collaborate with your team via commenting on documents, assigning tasks, tracking performance in real-time, and easy file sharing.
Manage all transactions with Smokeball's law firm accounting software, eradicating human errors.

Pros and cons

✅ Provides a centralized document repository to store and organize your case-related documents.

✅ Create customizable documents and forms.

❌ The tool is expensive compared to other document management tools.

❌ Limited integrations with other software.

Pricing

Smokeball has 4 paid plans to choose from:

Bill: $39/user per month
Boost: $89/user per month
Grow: $179/user per month
Prosper+: $219/user per month

#5 Westlaw Precision

Westlaw Precision is an online legal research and document management service. It helps you find data-driven insights for your cases. The software has document management solutions to manage tasks, deadlines, client files, and documents.

Westlaw Precision features

Help you carry out comprehensive legal research.
Annotate your legal document with elements like highlighting, underlining, and strikethrough.
Comes with a desktop and mobile version to review case documents from your office or on the go.
Compare document statuses and regulations with Westlaw Precision document comparison.

Pros and cons

✅ Lets you download cases and statuses as PDFs.

✅ Use an open API to integrate with your SaaS or any other software.

❌ If you’re a solo practitioner, the tool’s not for you.

Pricing

Westlaw has 3 plans to choose from:

Classic: Starts at $102.50 per month
Edge: Starts at $122.20 per month
Precision: Custom pricing

#6. Mycase

Mycase can help you with case management, client communication, and billing. It lets you keep all your case details and documents in one location. With it, you can get a 360-degree view of your law firm’s prospective client pipeline.

Mycase features

Comes with collaboration features like sharing, tagging, and commenting on documents in real-time.
You can prepare and sign case documents with eSignatures and add password protection to files.
Has a legal CRM for better client communication and handling.
Integrate Mycase with Google Calendar and Outlook so you can keep track of all your case dates.
All files are saved on the cloud so your team can access them whenever they want.

Pros and cons

✅ Comes with every feature you might need for document management.

✅ Plenty of integrations to make your workflow smoother.

❌ The software might sometimes become unresponsive when you open multiple tabs.

Pricing

Mycase has 3 plans to choose from:

Basic: $49 per month
Pro: $79 per month
Advanced: $99 per month.

#7. Hotdocs

Hotdocs is a document automation and assembly software that helps improve document workflow. The platform is trusted by the likes of Royal Bank of Scotland, Lockmann Krane, ECE, and many brands globally.

Hotdocs features

Comes with document management features like easy search, drag and drop, and cloud storage.
Has document automation functionality that helps you and your team automate repetitive tasks like copy-paste and search-and-replace.
Redact sensitive information in your legal documents.
Create customized forms, open and sign documents, or request signatures for your clients.

Pros and cons

✅ Has a personalized training to learn how to use the software.

✅ Lets you and your team work simultaneously on a document.

✅ Smooth user interface.

❌ Creating and maintaining templates can be tricky as you need to have basic coding knowledge.

Pricing

Hotdocs doesn’t reveal its plans and pricing on the official website.

#8. Filevine

Filevine is a legal case and contract management software that is a complete legal tech stack used by many legal teams for task automation, client communication, and managing legal documents.

Filevine features

Lets you create, edit, store, and collaborate on documents. Also, work with case files like contracts, deals, and forms.
Automate document creation and legal drafting with document assembly features.
Has several AI tools like DemandsAI, AIFields, and ImmigrationAI to reduce manual effort.
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology uses visual recognition to make text searchable in PDFs and JPGs.
Has SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA compliant, ISO 27001/2 certified environment for file security.

Pros and cons

✅ Highly customizable features for document assembly.

✅ Basic document editing features are good enough to avoid using other tools.

✅ Easy to learn and use.

❌ The customer service is not as good as other legal document management software.

❌ Data entry can sometimes need multiple tries.

Pricing

Filevine hasn’t made the pricing public.

#9. Juro

Juro is a contract management software that leverages AI to help create, agree, and manage contracts. Unlike other tools on this list, Juro has features dedicated only to contract management. If you just want to edit contracts, this can be a good Litera alternative.

Juro features

Juro AI drafts contracts with case-specific commands. It has options to revise and refine clauses if needed.
Create contracts with editable templates. You can drag and drop existing form fields or add custom fields.
Draft, summarize, and review contracts with Juro's AI assistant.
Automate contract revisions with Juro’s browser-native environment.
Juro's advanced electronic signature (AdES) standard complies with eIDAS, E-SIGN, and UETA acts.

Pros and cons

✅ The AI in Juro helps automate workflows, thus saving time.

✅ Integrates with 5000+ tools.

❌ You can’t send the same contract to multiple emails.

Pricing

Juro has three plans: Essential, Growth, and Enterprise. You can contact Juro's sales team for pricing.

#10 NOVO Compare

NOVO Compare comes with light, fast, and accurate comparison tools built for legal professionals to deal with legal documents.

NOVO Compare features

NOVO’s QuickCompare lets you compare current documents with previous versions, another open document, and the last opened document.
Lets you compare Word documents and PDFs side-by-side.
Integrates with enterprise DMS and content management systems to eliminate additional steps in the document comparison process

Pros and Cons

✅ Good for comparing documents quickly

❌ Bad user experience from top to bottom

❌ Can’t compare more than two documents simultaneously

Pricing

NOVO Compare offers a single paid plan of $149 per user per year.

Read and edit documents faster with Macro

Efficiency in drafting, managing, and comparing documents is crucial for legal professionals.

Why?

Legal teams spend most of their time on documents. The more productive they are, the more time they can spend on high-value tasks that deliver excellent client service.

Thus the importance of choosing the best solution for your business to run as it should. You need a secure tool with modern features that elevate your speed and quality of work.

All the Litera alternatives mentioned above are excellent choices (You can sign up and try them out), but Macro stands out as the leader.

If you’re ready to start, sign up for Macro today for a free downloadable software that lets you review, draft, and edit your legal documents easily.