A PracticePanther alternative, with the cost laid out

PracticePanther is often the product solos pick when they want a full suite at a lower starting price, and its pricing page shows every number. People searching for an alternative are usually weighing the step between plans: intake forms, e-signature and LEDES billing arrive on Business, and the full accounting suite on Business Pro. This page sets out what PracticePanther lists for each plan, and then what Coil offers, including the parts Coil does not have yet.

PracticePanther at a glance

From PracticePanther’s pricing page, as listed on October 28, 2026. Prices are per user per month.

• Billing. The annual toggle says it saves $120 per user per year.
• Trial. Seven days free, no credit card. You subscribe with a card at the end if you continue.
• Every plan. Contact and matter management, time and expense tracking, a secure client portal, unlimited storage, iPhone, iPad and Android apps, internal chat, document templates, task and event workflows, PantherPayments for card and eCheck payments, the trust account ledger with a three-way reconciliation report, and QuickBooks Online sync.
• Essential adds. Custom fields, custom security roles, invoice read alerts, automated payment reminders, recurring payment plans, batch billing, multiple bank accounts, check printing, and Dropbox, Box and email and calendar sync.
• Business adds. Two-way business texting, text reminders, intake forms, native e-signature with unlimited sends, calendar rules (a LawToolBox subscription is required), UTBMS coding and LEDES billing, the attorney revenue report, and Zapier and the API.
• Business Pro adds. PantherAccounting Plus: operating accounting with a general ledger and chart of accounts, a guided three-way reconciliation wizard, and expense and bank transaction tracking.
• Services. Live trainings run from 1 on Solo to unlimited on Business and Business Pro. Support is Basic on the lower two plans and VIP on the upper two.
• AI. The pricing page does not describe AI features.

Coil at a glance

Coil is hosted practice management for solo and small US firms. It is in beta.

• Price. Free during the beta. Beta firms keep founding pricing when paid plans start. There is no paid price yet. Coil’s stated rule is one price for every tool, with no seats, tiers or add-ons.
• Available now. Trust accounting with client and matter ledgers, three-way reconciliation that lists every uncleared item, and locked periods once reconciled. Intake and leads with a conflict check built into conversion. E-signature. A client portal. Time and expenses with a six-minute timer and UTBMS codes. Text messages through your own Twilio account. Documents, calendar, deadline chains, tasks and reports. Exports in QuickBooks layouts and LEDES 1998B. Users, roles and an audit log. An API, webhooks and an MCP connection for your own AI assistant.
• Next phase, not available yet. Invoicing, online payments and payment plans, multi-currency matters, and Coil’s built-in AI assistant.
• Not built yet. Mobile apps, live QuickBooks sync, e-filing, and court rules for real jurisdictions. Today’s sets are generic starters.

PracticePanther and Coil side by side

PracticePanther facts as listed on its pricing page on October 28, 2026. Coil facts from the Coil features page.

Where PracticePanther may suit you better

If you need to invoice and take payments from your practice software today, PracticePanther does it from Solo up, and Coil’s invoicing and payments are still in testing. PracticePanther also lists native mobile apps on every plan, a live QuickBooks Online sync, court rules through LawToolBox, and full operating accounting on Business Pro. A firm that wants its general ledger in the same product as its matters will find that in PracticePanther and not in Coil.

Where Coil may suit you better

The features that arrive on PracticePanther’s Business plan, intake forms, e-signature, texting, LEDES and the API, are in Coil now without a plan to step up to. At Business, a three-person firm would pay $267 a month billed annually, or $297 billed monthly, at PracticePanther’s listed prices. Coil is free while it is in beta.

Coil’s intake also refuses to convert a lead to a client until the conflict check has run, and a waiver is recorded with a reason. The trust ledger will not let a client go negative on any route, including the API, and post-dated deposits are not counted as spendable until their date. Coil also includes personal injury and criminal defense modules, discovery tools and a CourtListener research tool.

Coil’s exit is plain: the full firm export is the database file, CSVs, your documents and every PDF Coil made, and it opens without Coil. Before any firm is charged, Coil’s source code goes into escrow with an independent agent.

Switching from PracticePanther

Coil’s importer was built around Clio and MyCase exports, and it includes a manual column mapper for any CSV. If you can export your contacts, matters, time and trust records from PracticePanther as CSV files, you can map each column by hand, preview the result and commit it. Trust rows that would overdraw a client are refused and listed, and failed rows download for a second pass.

Keep billing in PracticePanther until Coil’s invoicing is out of testing, and use the free beta to see whether the rest of Coil fits how your firm works.

Last checked October 28, 2026. Product names belong to their owners. PracticePanther is not affiliated with Coil. Details about it come from its public pages on the date above and may have changed since.