The Smokeball Alternative for UK Law Firms
- Details
- Written by: Legal Workspace
Legal Workspace is the Smokeball alternative for UK law firms. All-in-one case management for £50/user/month, with free setup and training. No add-ons. It gives small and medium firms the case management, legal accounts, document templates and unlimited e-signatures they use every day, at one clear price per user.
Smokeball is a well-rated system with a lot of features, including automatic time tracking, lead management and an AI assistant. Some firms need all of that. Many smaller firms don't, and would rather pay less for the essentials they use every day. If that sounds like your firm, here is how Legal Workspace compares.
Legal Workspace at a glance
- Price:£50 per user per month
- One plan:every feature included, with no AI or other add-ons to buy
- E-signatures:unlimited, at no extra cost
- Setup and training:free, delivered online (data migration available as a paid service)
- Practice areas:22 areas and 380+ matter types, each with its own case fields
Is Legal Workspace the right alternative for your firm?
oneplan, every feature, £50 per user per month. Book a free, no-obligation demo, and we’ll show you how Legal Workspace would handle your firm’s matters.
Why law firms look for a Smokeball alternative
Smokeball is popular for good reasons. But if your firm already uses Smokeball, some of these problems may sound familiar.
You pay for features you rarely use
Smokeball's Prosper+ plan includes lead management, enquiry intake, advanced dashboards and profitability reporting. They are useful for some firms, but plenty of small firms mainly open matters, record time, produce documents, bill clients and keep their accounts straight.
With Legal Workspace, the focus is on that everyday work, at £50 per user per month, so you are not paying for tools you don't use.
Add-ons push the price up
Smokeball's Archie AI assistant is sold as a £29 a month add-on on top of the plan.
With Legal Workspace, there are no add-ons. Everything in the product is included in the one price.
Your cost is hard to compare
Smokeball's UK pricing page lists Prosper+ "from £89 a month" and asks you to book a demo for a tailored price, so there is no simple figure to check your bill against.
With Legal Workspace, there is one published price: £50 per user per month. Send us your Smokeball invoice, and we'll show you a like-for-like comparison.
Switching feels like a big project
Moving systems takes planning, and nobody wants a large setup bill on top.
With Legal Workspace, account setup and online training are free. If you want us to move your data across, we quote for that up front.
You want unlimited e-signatures included
Engagement letters, client care letters and forms all need signing.
With Legal Workspace, e-signatures are unlimited and included, and each signed PDF is filed to the matter automatically.
Legal Workspace vs Smokeball at a glance
| Legal Workspace | Smokeball (UK) | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | £50 per user per month | Prosper+ from £89 a month |
| Add-ons | None | Archie AI assistant, £29 a month |
| Published per-user price | Yes, on our website | Tailored price after a demo |
| Setup and training | Free account setup and online training | Not stated on Smokeball's pricing page |
| E-signatures | Unlimited, included | Not listed on Smokeball's pricing page |
| Client accounting | Client ledgers and trust accounting included | Client accounting included |
| Document templates and automation | Included | Included |
| Workflows and tasks | Included | Included |
| Client portal | Included | Included |
| Time recording | Timer, plus time logged from emails, calls and documents | Automatic time tracking |
| Lead and enquiry management | Not included | Included |
Legal Workspace leads on price, no add-ons and free setup. Smokeball leads on automatic time tracking and lead management.
Smokeball information taken from Smokeball's UK pricing page and client accounting page, checked 11 October 2026. Details can change, so please check Smokeball's website or ask Smokeball for a written quote.
What it could cost a five-person firm
Smokeball's pricing page doesn't say whether "from £89 a month" is per user, so the best comparison is your own quote. As a guide, if your Smokeball price works out at £89 per user per month:
- Legal Workspace: 5 × £50 = £250 a month, or £3,000 a year, with setup and training included.
- Smokeball at £89 per user: 5 × £89 = £445 a month, or £5,340 a year, before the Archie AI add-on.
That would be a difference of £2,340 a year. Send us your Smokeball quote, and we'll show you a like-for-like comparison.
What you get with Legal Workspace
Everything below is part of the standard price. There is nothing to unlock later.
- Case and matter management with fields designed for each practice area
- Workflows and task assignment: assign tasks to colleagues, track each matter's stage and set reminders so nothing sits untouched
- Document templates that fill in client and matter details for you
- Microsoft 365 integration: edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files online and save the updated version straight back to the matter, plus email and calendar integration
- Time recording in 6-minute units, from a timer or straight from emails, calls and documents
- Billing: draft bills you can adjust before they become invoices, WIP and aged debt reports
- Legal accounts: invoicing, client ledgers and trust accounting
- Unlimited e-signatures, with the signed PDF filed to the matter automatically
- Client portal for sharing documents and updates securely
- 50+ reports, free updates, and free online setup and training
Built around the way UK firms work
Legal Workspace is built by a UK company for UK law firms. It covers 22 practice areas and more than 380 matter types. An immigration matter records the details an immigration solicitor needs, and you can track it from instruction and evidence gathering through to submission, decision and appeal. A criminal matter records police station attendance, bail, charges, hearings and sentencing. Family, civil litigation, personal injury, employment, commercial property and probate each have their own case fields too.
When Smokeball might suit you better
Smokeball is highly rated by its users, and for some firms it will be the better choice. It may suit you better if:
- you want time captured automatically in the background as you work
- you need built-in lead and enquiry management
- you want an AI assistant inside your matters
- you rely on Outlook integration for filing emails
If those aren't priorities, it's worth comparing what you would pay.
Switching from Smokeball to Legal Workspace
- Book a free demo -We spend up to 60 minutes walking through Legal Workspace using the kind of matters you handle.
- Plan your data -Decide what to bring across: usually contacts, matters and documents.
- We set up your account -We configure your practice areas, users and templates at no cost. If you'd like us to import your Smokeball data, we'll give you a fixed quote for the migration first.
- Train your team -Free online training sessions over Microsoft Teams, at times that suit you.
- Go live -Check the notice terms in your Smokeball agreement so you are not paying for both systems longer than you need to.
Other Smokeball alternatives in the UK
If you are comparing several options, these are the other systems UK firms often consider:
- Clio, a cloud-based system with a large marketplace of third-party apps
- LEAP, with a large library of forms and precedents
- Actionstep, known for highly configurable workflows
Is Legal Workspace the right alternative for your firm?
oneplan, every feature, £50 per user per month. Book a free, no-obligation demo, and we’ll show you how Legal Workspace would handle your firm’s matters.
Frequently asked questions
It depends on what your firm needs. For small and medium-sized UK firms that want everyday case management, legal accounts and unlimited e-signatures at one clear per-user price, Legal Workspace is a strong choice at £50 per user per month. Firms that rely on automatic time capture or built-in lead management may prefer to stay with Smokeball.
Legal Workspace costs £50 per user per month, with setup and training included. Smokeball's UK pricing page lists its Prosper+ plan from £89 a month, with its Archie AI assistant as a £29 a month add-on. Ask Smokeball for a full quote to compare the total cost for your team.
Yes. We can import your contacts, matters and documents from Smokeball into Legal Workspace for you. Data migration is a paid service, quoted up front based on how much data you have, so you know the cost before you commit. Account setup and online training are free.
Legal Workspace records time in 6-minute units from a universal timer, and you can log time straight from emails, phone calls, attendances and documents as you work. It does not capture every action automatically in the background, so firms that depend on fully automatic time capture should weigh that up.
Yes. Invoicing, client ledgers and trust accounting are included, along with time recording, draft bills, WIP and aged debt reports. Unlimited e-signatures are also included, and signed documents are filed to the matter automatically.
Our standard plan is a 12-month subscription at £50 per user per month, with every feature included and no setup fees. If you would rather not commit for 12 months, you can choose a rolling monthly subscription at £60 per user per month instead. Both plans include every feature, and you can end either with 30 days' notice.
Yes. You can open Word, Excel and PowerPoint files from any matter, edit them online in Microsoft 365, and save the updated version straight back to the matter. Word documents can also be saved as a PDF copy. Email and calendar integration are included in the standard price.
Yes. Book a free demo of up to 60 minutes and we'll walk through the system using the kind of matters your firm handles. Setup and online training are free if you decide to go ahead.
Last updated: 11 October 2026. Written by Asim Tauqeer, Director, Legal Workspace Ltd. Smokeball is a trademark of its respective owner. Legal Workspace is not affiliated with or endorsed by Smokeball.
