Clio vs PracticePanther: what each costs and where the ledger sits

Clio vs PracticePanther turns on two things: which plan gives you a general ledger, and how much of the price is published. Clio includes Clio Accounting, with a general ledger, on every plan [1]; PracticePanther keeps its general ledger, PantherAccounting Plus, for Business Pro, its top plan [2].

PracticePanther publishes every plan’s price, on monthly and annual billing [3]. Clio publishes only a starting price for Starter, its entry plan.

Clio vs PracticePanther side by side

Clio and PracticePanther: what each includes

Clio and PracticePanther: what each includes

Feature	Clio	PracticePanther
Trust accounting	Yes [1, 4]	Yes [3, 5]
Three-way reconciliation	Yes [1, 6, 7]	Yes [3, 8, 9]
General ledger	Yes [1, 10]	Yes: Business Pro [2, 3]
Bank feeds	Yes [11]	Yes: Business Pro [12]
Accounts payable	Yes [1, 13]	Yes: Business Pro [2, 3]
QuickBooks Online integration	Yes: Core, Signature, Elite [1, 14, 15]	Yes [3, 16, 17]
Xero integration	Yes: Core, Signature, Elite [1, 18]	No [19]
Built-in payment processing	Yes [20]	Yes [3, 21, 22]
LEDES billing	Yes [1, 23]	Yes: Business, Business Pro [3]
Client portal	Yes: Core, Signature, Elite [1, 24]	Yes [3]
Mobile app	Yes [1, 25]	Yes [3]
Free trial	Yes [1, 26]	Yes [3, 27]

Clio and PracticePanther: plans, published prices, ledger, contract and owner

Clio and PracticePanther: plans, published prices, ledger, contract and owner

Compared	Clio	PracticePanther
Plans	Starter, Core, Signature, Elite	Solo, Essential, Business, Business Pro
Prices published	Starter only, as a starting price with no billing term	Every plan, billed annually or monthly
General ledger	Clio Accounting, in every plan	PantherAccounting Plus, Business Pro only; other plans sync to QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online editions	Essentials, Plus and Advanced, on Core and above	Simple Start, Essentials and Plus, on every plan, one-way
Payment processing	Clio Payments	PantherPayments, run by Headnote, LLC, an affiliate
Card network fees	None	Passed through at cost when they apply
Trial length	7 days, no credit card	7 days, no credit card
Contract	30-day or 365-day billing cycle; cancel before renewal to avoid annual charges	No minimum contract; charges non-refundable; five days’ written notice to cancel or cut users
Owner	Clio (Themis Solutions Inc.), venture-backed	Panther Software, LLC, part of Paradigm

What Clio and PracticePanther cost at three team sizes

Clio Starter costs from $49 per user per month, billing term not stated [1, 28]. PracticePanther Solo costs $49 per user per month, billed annually [3, 29, 30], and its monthly-billing price is published too. The headline figures look alike but are not the same offer: PracticePanther’s is the annual-billing rate, and Clio’s is a starting price with no billing term.

Two comparisons can be made with published figures:

• Entry plans: Clio Starter against PracticePanther Solo. These are not like for like. Starter includes Clio Accounting and LEDES billing [1]; Solo has neither, and has no multiple bank accounts. Solo includes the client portal and the QuickBooks Online sync [3], which Starter leaves out [1].
• A general ledger inside the same system: Clio Starter against PracticePanther Business Pro. Business Pro is the cheapest PracticePanther plan with one [31].

Clio Starter and the four PracticePanther plans: cost a year at three team sizes

Clio Starter and the four PracticePanther plans: cost a year at three team sizes

Plan	Cost a year, 1 user	Cost a year, 5 users	Cost a year, 20 users
Clio Manage Starter Published a,b	from $588 [1, 28]	from $2,940 [1, 28]	from $11,760 [1, 28]
PracticePanther Solo, billed annually Published c	$588 [3, 29, 30]	$2,940 [3, 29, 30]	$11,760 [3, 29, 30]
PracticePanther Solo, billed monthly Published c	$708 [3, 29, 30]	$3,540 [3, 29, 30]	$14,160 [3, 29, 30]
PracticePanther Essential, billed annually Published c	$828 [3, 29, 30]	$4,140 [3, 29, 30]	$16,560 [3, 29, 30]
PracticePanther Essential, billed monthly Published c	$948 [3, 29, 30]	$4,740 [3, 29, 30]	$18,960 [3, 29, 30]
PracticePanther Business, billed annually Published c	$1,068 [3, 29, 30]	$5,340 [3, 29, 30]	$21,360 [3, 29, 30]
PracticePanther Business, billed monthly Published c	$1,188 [3, 29, 30]	$5,940 [3, 29, 30]	$23,760 [3, 29, 30]
PracticePanther Business Pro, billed annually Published c	$1,368 [2, 3, 31, 36]	$6,840 [2, 3, 31, 36]	$27,360 [2, 3, 31, 36]
PracticePanther Business Pro, billed monthly Published c	$1,488 [2, 3, 31, 36]	$7,440 [2, 3, 31, 36]	$29,760 [2, 3, 31, 36]

Clio’s Core, Signature and Elite plans show “Get pricing” and no figure [1], so comparing PracticePanther Essential or Business with a Clio plan above Starter takes a written quote from Clio.

Full plan detail is on the PracticePanther pricing page and the Clio pricing page.

Where the general ledger sits

Clio includes Clio Accounting on every plan, Starter included [1]. It has a chart of accounts, journal entries and general ledger reports [10], vendor bills [13], and bank feeds through Plaid [11].

PracticePanther puts the same kind of tools in PantherAccounting Plus, on Business Pro only: a chart of accounts, general ledger, automatic journal entries, financial statements, and recording and paying firm bills with vendor 1099 reporting [2]. Bank feeds through Plaid also need Business Pro [12].

QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop and Xero

On Solo, Essential and Business, the firm’s books live in QuickBooks Online. PracticePanther sends contacts, invoices and payments to it one way, including trust balances by contact and matter. It works with Simple Start, Essentials or Plus [16]. It does not support QuickBooks Desktop [17] or Xero [19].

Clio’s QuickBooks Online integration starts at Core [1] and works with Essentials, Plus and Advanced [14]. For QuickBooks Desktop, Clio exports files to import rather than syncing [15]. Xero works on Core and above with the firm’s own Xero subscription [18]. How the pairing works in practice is covered in QuickBooks Online for law firms.

Both connect to TrustBooks, a trust accounting product: Clio on Core and above [1], PracticePanther through a one-way integration [37]. TrustBooks has the same parent company as PracticePanther [38].

Three-way reconciliation

A three-way reconciliation checks the bank statement, the trust account’s own ledger and the total of the client ledgers against each other. In Clio, trust accounts in Clio Accounting go through a three-way reconciliation [6], and Clio Accounting is on every plan. Every PracticePanther plan has a trust ledger and trust reconciliation and can show a three-way trust reconciliation report. The guided three-way reconciliation is on Business Pro only [3], with blocks on overdrafts and commingling and alerts when a client’s trust balance runs low [5].

How often you must reconcile depends on your state. Illinois requires three-way reconciliation reports for every trust account at least quarterly Ill. RPC 1.15A(b)(7) [39]. New Jersey’s Office of Attorney Ethics says a three-way reconciliation is required monthly New Jersey, OAE outline Part III.B 'Three-Way Reconciliation', p. 12 (PDF p. 15) [40]. More on what the rules ask of software is in trust accounting software for law firms.

Payment processing: Clio Payments against PantherPayments

Both are built into every plan, at the same rates on each [1] [3].

Card processing cost a year in three scenarios

Card processing cost a year in three scenarios

Product	Card rate	Bank transfer rate	$5,000 a month in 10 card payments	$25,000 a month in 25 card payments	$100,000 a month in 50 card payments	Also needs
Clio Payments	2.95% Published [1, 20, 41–43]	1% (eCheck)	$1,770 [1, 20, 41–43]	$8,850 [1, 20, 41–43]	$35,400 [1, 20, 41–43]	Requires a Clio Manage plan
PantherPayments	2.95% Published [21, 30, 44–46]	1% (eCheck)	$1,770 [21, 30, 44–46]	$8,850 [21, 30, 44–46]	$35,400 [21, 30, 44–46]	Requires a PracticePanther plan

Where they differ:

• Card network fees. Clio charges no card brand network fees on top of its rate [1]. PracticePanther passes card network fees through at cost at the end of each month when they apply, and says they do not apply to every transaction [44].
• American Express. Clio charges more for Amex [1]. PracticePanther applies one rate to all cards [21].
• ACH. Clio publishes a rate for direct ACH [1], which a firm qualifies for after a record of payments with few disputes [43]. PracticePanther accepts ACH but publishes a rate only for eCheck [21].
• Pay Later. Clio offers it through Affirm; the firm pays the fee and cannot pass it on [43].
• Chargebacks. Both charge a flat fee per chargeback [47] [48]. PracticePanther’s compliance team helps gather evidence at no extra cost [48].

Processing costs across more products are compared in law firm payment processing.

Payments into trust

Both keep processing fees out of the trust account. Clio deposits trust payments in full and takes the fees from the firm’s operating account [41]. PracticePanther charges fees on trust payments to the operating account too [45].

Why this matters depends on your state. The ABA model rule lets a lawyer put the lawyer’s own money in a trust account only to pay bank service charges ABA Model Rule 1.15(b) [49]. Florida’s bar says that, unless lawyer and client agree otherwise, the lawyer pays transaction fees and they do not come from trust funds Fla. Bar Ethics Op. 21-2, Conclusion 3 [50].

Contract terms, training and moving your data

Clio. Subscriptions run on a 30-day or 365-day billing cycle [28]. Clio’s help center says to cancel before the renewal date to avoid annual charges. To cancel, the account administrator calls support [51]. Starter gets self-serve migration tools; Core and above get guided migration, and Signature and Elite add live onboarding training [1]. Moving documents costs extra [32].

PracticePanther. There is no minimum contract; an annual plan is paid for the next 12 months [29]. All charges are non-refundable, and canceling or cutting users needs written notice at least five days before the term ends [30]. Live one-on-one training is included: one session on Solo, three on Essential, unlimited on Business and Business Pro [3]. Firms that move data in get help from an onboarding and migrations team, but PracticePanther does not say whether this costs extra [34].

Trust history. Clio cannot import past trust and operating transactions; only opening balances per matter or contact move across [32]. Ask PracticePanther in writing what its migration will bring across.

Who owns each

PracticePanther is sold by Panther Software, LLC [30], whose parent is Paradigm [52]. Paradigm’s portfolio also includes Bill4Time [53] and TrustBooks [54], and announced a growth investment from Francisco Partners in 2021 [55]. PantherPayments is run by Headnote, LLC, which PracticePanther’s terms call an affiliate [30]. In November 2025 Clio announced a Series G round led by NEA [56].

PracticePanther vs Clio: which suits which firm

Neither wins overall: with Clio’s prices above Starter unpublished, total cost cannot be compared for most firms. By need:

• You want every price before talking to sales: PracticePanther [3]. Clio publishes only Starter’s starting price [1].
• You want a general ledger on the entry plan: Clio, which includes Clio Accounting from Starter up [1]. PracticePanther needs Business Pro [31].
• You keep your books in QuickBooks Online and want the sync on the cheapest plan: PracticePanther, on every plan, Simple Start included [16]. Clio needs Core or above [1].
• You want a client portal on the entry plan: PracticePanther Solo includes one [3]; Clio’s starts at Core [1].
• You need LEDES billing on the entry plan: Clio Starter includes it [1]; PracticePanther starts it at Business [3].
• You keep your books in Xero or QuickBooks Desktop: Clio connects to Xero on Core and above [18], and exports files for QuickBooks Desktop rather than syncing [15]. PracticePanther connects to neither [19] [17].
• You want card fees with nothing passed through on top: Clio [1].

For another head-to-head, see Clio vs MyCase; for the wider market, the law firm accounting software rankings by cost.