Smokeball
Westlaw
| Feature | Smokeball | Westlaw |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $39/mo | Contact sales |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | small-law-firms, mid-size-firms, litigation-practices, billable-hour-firms | law-firms, corporate-legal, judges, legal-researchers |
| Founded | 2007 | 1975 |
| Automatic Time Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Document Automation | ✓ | ✗ |
| Matter Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Billing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reporting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Microsoft Integration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Case Law | ✗ | ✓ |
| Statutes | ✗ | ✓ |
| Keycite | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Research | ✗ | ✓ |
| Practice Specific Tools | ✗ | ✓ |
| Litigation Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Smokeball Pros
- Automatic time recording
- Deep Microsoft Office integration
- Strong document automation
- Excellent for billing accuracy
✗ Smokeball Cons
- Windows-only desktop app
- Higher price point
- Learning curve for automation
✓ Westlaw Pros
- Best KeyCite system
- Comprehensive database
- AI-powered research
- Reliable results
✗ Westlaw Cons
- Very expensive
- Interface learning curve
- Complex pricing
The Verdict
Smokeball is built for small law firms and mid size firms, with a focus on automatic-time-tracking and document-automation. Westlaw targets law firms and corporate legal and leads with case-law and statutes.
Westlaw uses custom enterprise pricing, while Smokeball starts at $39/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Neither tool offers a free plan, so factor the subscription cost into your decision from the start.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.