The 6 best Harvey AI alternatives we tested for legal and knowledge work in 2025

It seems like every conversation in the legal world touches on AI these days. Tools that can draft documents, analyze contracts, and do legal research in minutes are very much here, and Harvey AI has been leading the charge, getting picked up by some of the world’s biggest law firms.

But here’s the catch: Harvey is built for a very specific crowd. Its focus on massive enterprise firms, its rumored high cost, and the fact you can’t even find a price on its website just doesn’t work for most teams. If you’ve been curious about getting an AI edge but feel like the top-shelf options are out of reach, you’re in the right place. We got our hands dirty and tested the top contenders to find the best Harvey AI alternatives out there today.

What is Harvey AI?

So, what is Harvey AI anyway? It’s a generative AI platform designed to be an assistant for legal pros, mainly at huge law firms and corporate legal departments. You can think of it as a super-smart paralegal that can analyze documents, run legal research, help with due diligence, and whip up first drafts of contracts or memos.

It’s built using OpenAI’s models but has been specially trained for legal work. That focus helped it land big names like A&O Shearman and PwC. But while it’s definitely powerful, it has a reputation for being an exclusive and very pricey tool, built for the scale and budget of "Big Law."

Why you might need Harvey AI alternatives

It’s easy to get excited about a tool like Harvey, but a lot of teams hit a few common walls that send them looking for other options.

• The price is a mystery (but it’s big). Harvey doesn’t list its pricing publicly, but word on the street is that it costs over $1,000 per user per month. On top of that, you’re usually looking at a long-term enterprise contract. For smaller firms or in-house teams with real budgets, that’s just not going to fly. You have to book a sales call just to find out if you can even afford it.

• It’s made for "Big Law." The whole platform is tailored to the way the world’s largest law firms operate. Its features and complexity might be total overkill or just a clunky fit for smaller practices, solo lawyers, or corporate legal teams that work in a completely different way.

• Onboarding is slow and complicated. Getting started with Harvey isn’t like signing up for a new app. It usually involves a long sales process, multiple demos, and a drawn-out implementation. When you can get other powerful software up and running in minutes, this feels like a relic from another era.

• It’s an all-or-nothing tool. Sometimes you don’t need a tool that does absolutely everything. You might just need something that’s amazing at one specific task, like redlining contracts in Word or organizing your team’s internal knowledge. Harvey’s one-size-fits-all approach can feel restrictive if your needs are more focused.

Our criteria for the best Harvey AI alternatives

To find the truly useful tools, we used a pretty simple checklist.

• Ease of use & setup: How fast can you get going? We gave extra points to tools with free trials and self-serve onboarding that don’t make you talk to a salesperson just to try the product.

• Pricing transparency: Is the price clear and predictable? We looked for companies that are upfront about what their tools cost.

• Core functionality: Does it actually work well? We checked how each tool handled key tasks like research, drafting, and document analysis.

• Specific use case: Who is this really for? We pinpointed the ideal user for each platform, whether that’s a solo lawyer, an in-house team, or a transactional attorney.

• Integrations: Does it play nice with the software you already use? Tools that connect to everyday apps like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or Slack were clear winners.

Comparison of top Harvey AI alternatives in 2025

Tool	Best For	Pricing Model	Key Feature	Free Trial
eesel AI	Internal knowledge management & Q&A	Subscription (from $299/mo)	Unifies knowledge from any source (Slack, Docs, etc.)	Yes
Spellbook	AI drafting inside Microsoft Word	Subscription (~$179/user/mo)	Real-time clause suggestions & redlining	Yes
CoCounsel	In-depth legal research	Custom Subscription	AI assistant powered by Thomson Reuters’ database	No
Callidus AI	Small & mid-sized firms	Subscription ($149/user/mo)	Affordable, all-in-one legal AI toolkit	Yes
Lex Machina	Litigation analytics	Custom Enterprise Pricing	Data-driven insights on judges & case outcomes	No
Wordsmith	In-house team operational efficiency	Custom Enterprise Pricing	Clause-by-clause risk assessment & CLM integration	No (Demo)

The 6 best Harvey AI alternatives for legal and knowledge work in 2025

Here’s our breakdown of the tools that actually deliver, what they do best, and who should use them.

1. eesel AI

While it’s not a classic legal research tool, eesel AI solves a headache every single legal team has: finding and using your own internal information. It connects to all the places your firm’s knowledge is scattered, like Confluence, Google Docs, and internal wikis, to create one single source of truth. It’s perfect for the "find the right document" use case that lawyers need, but without the "Big Law" price tag.

An infographic showing how eesel AI connects to different knowledge sources to provide a single source of truth, a great feature for those looking at Harvey AI alternatives.

So many of the questions your team has aren’t about external case law; they’re about your firm’s own templates, policies, and past work. eesel AI’s AI Internal Chat lets anyone ask questions in plain English, like, "What’s our standard indemnity clause for a SaaS agreement?" and get an immediate, accurate answer based on your own secure documents. The best part? You can be up and running in minutes, not months. The setup is completely self-serve, and the pricing is right there on the website.

Pros:

• It’s truly self-serve with a 1-click setup; you can get started without ever talking to a salesperson.

• It connects to over 100 sources, pulling all your scattered knowledge into one place.

• The pricing is transparent and predictable, with a free trial and monthly plans you can cancel anytime.

• A powerful simulation mode lets you safely test the AI on your data before anyone else on your team uses it.

Cons:

• It isn’t built for external legal research into case law databases.

• Its focus is on your internal knowledge, not litigation analytics or e-discovery.

Pricing:

eesel AI’s plans start at $299/month for the Team plan, which includes up to 1,000 AI interactions.

2. Spellbook

Spellbook is an AI assistant that lives right inside Microsoft Word, which is a dream come true for transactional lawyers who spend their days in contracts. It helps automate repetitive drafting tasks by suggesting clauses, spotting vague terms, and finding examples from your past work, all without making you switch windows.

It’s a great alternative because it focuses squarely on the drafting workflow. The deep integration with Word means there’s pretty much no learning curve. You’re just making the process you already have better instead of being forced into a new one. It’s practical, focused, and built for getting work done faster.

Pros:

• Seamless integration with Microsoft Word feels completely natural.

• It’s fast and accurate for day-to-day contract drafting and review.

• The price is reasonable for solo lawyers and smaller firms.

Cons:

• It’s a bit of a one-trick pony, so it’s not a fit for litigation research.

• It doesn’t have broader knowledge management or team collaboration features.

Pricing:

Spellbook’s pricing is around $179/user/month for its mid-tier plan.

3. CoCounsel

Backed by the data giant Thomson Reuters, CoCounsel is an AI legal assistant that really shines when you have to do heavy-duty research. It can search and summarize information from huge legal databases, review documents, help prepare for depositions, and draft memos with citations you can actually trust.

For firms where deep, rigorous research is the main event, CoCounsel has a level of depth most other tools just can’t match. It can generate case timelines, compare documents, and provide citations from trusted sources, making it a serious tool for case preparation. It’s probably the closest direct competitor to Harvey in terms of raw research power.

Pros:

• Deep integration with Thomson Reuters’ massive legal databases.

• A strong focus on accuracy with verifiable, inline citations.

• Excellent for complex litigation and getting a case ready for trial.

Cons:

• It’s an enterprise tool with custom pricing, so you can expect a hefty price tag.

• It might be too complex for simple drafting or review tasks.

Pricing:

CoCounsel doesn’t have public pricing. It’s sold through custom enterprise packages, often bundled with existing Thomson Reuters or Westlaw subscriptions.

4. Callidus AI

Callidus AI positions itself as a direct, more approachable alternative to Harvey, built specifically for small to mid-sized law firms. It offers a bunch of tools for both litigation and transactional work, including legal research, document drafting, AI discovery review, and contract analysis.

Its main selling point is its transparency. Unlike Harvey, Callidus AI offers a free trial, flexible month-to-month billing, and pricing you can actually see on their website. This lets smaller firms try out powerful AI without taking a huge financial risk or getting locked into a long-term contract. It’s a solid all-rounder for firms that need a little bit of everything.

Pros:

• Transparent and affordable pricing at $149/user/month.

• Offers a free trial and flexible monthly contracts.

• A good mix of features for both litigation and transactional law.

Cons:

• As a newer company, it doesn’t have the same brand recognition as the big players.

• It lacks the deep database integrations you’d get with a tool like CoCounsel.

Pricing:

Callidus AI costs $149/user/month, and a free trial is available.

5. Lex Machina

Lex Machina, owned by LexisNexis, is not your typical AI assistant. It’s a highly specialized legal analytics tool that gives you data-driven insights on judges, courts, and opposing counsel to help litigators build a winning strategy.

It’s a fantastic alternative because it answers a question Harvey doesn’t: "What’s likely to happen in this case?" For litigation-heavy firms, its predictive analytics can offer a huge strategic advantage that goes way beyond just drafting a document. It’s about knowing the battlefield.

Pros:

• Provides unmatched data analytics for crafting a litigation strategy.

• Offers valuable intel on opposing counsel and firms.

• Helps predict case timing and potential outcomes.

Cons:

• It’s built only for litigation and has no drafting or general research tools.

• Expensive enterprise pricing puts it out of reach for many smaller firms.

Pricing:

Lex Machina is sold with custom enterprise pricing. You’ll have to contact their sales team for a quote.

6. Wordsmith

Wordsmith is a legal platform designed for the specific world of in-house legal teams at fast-growing companies. It’s less about making one lawyer more productive and more about making the whole team more efficient, reusing knowledge, and scaling legal support across the business.

It’s a strong alternative because it focuses on the collaboration and operational headaches that in-house counsel know all too well. While Harvey is built for individual lawyers, Wordsmith is built for teams. It has features like clause-by-clause risk assessment, integrations with tools like Slack, and a secure chat for sharing knowledge. It helps legal departments stop reinventing the wheel.

Pros:

• Built specifically for how in-house legal teams work.

• Focuses on team collaboration and capturing institutional knowledge.

• Integrates well with business tools like Slack and shared drives.

Cons:

• Less focused on traditional legal research or litigation.

• Pricing isn’t public. Also, a big red flag: the company’s website appears to be for sale, which raises serious questions about its long-term stability.

Pricing:

Wordsmith offers custom pricing; you have to book a demo to get the details.

This video explores several AI tools that are changing the legal landscape, including some of the Harvey AI alternatives discussed.

How to choose the right Harvey AI alternatives for your firm

Seeing all the options can feel like a lot. Here’s a simple way to pick the right tool.

• Figure out what you actually need it for. Don’t pay for a massive platform if all you really need is a drafting assistant in Word. Are you mainly doing transactional work (Spellbook), deep research (CoCounsel), or trying to make your internal knowledge easier to find (eesel AI)?

• Look for transparent pricing and free trials. Try to avoid getting locked into an expensive, long-term contract for a tool that might not be the right fit. Platforms like Callidus AI and eesel AI let you test them out with almost no risk.

• Think about your current workflow. The best tool is one your team will actually use. A solution that plugs into Microsoft Word (Spellbook) or Slack (eesel AI) is much more likely to stick than one that forces everyone to learn a whole new system.

• Check up on security and data privacy. Make sure any tool you look at is crystal clear about how it handles your data and contractually guarantees it won’t train its public models on your confidential information.

The right Harvey AI alternatives depend on your needs

Harvey AI has set a high bar for what legal AI can do, but the good news is the market is now full of excellent, more accessible Harvey AI alternatives. Whether you’re a solo practitioner, a mid-sized firm, or an in-house team, there’s a tool out there that’s actually built for your workflow and budget.

The goal isn’t to find a direct Harvey clone. It’s about finding the tool that solves your biggest problem, fits into how you already work, and gives you a clear return on your investment.

If your team is buried in documents and constantly struggling to find answers, the solution might not be another complicated legal database. Give eesel AI a try to connect all your firm’s knowledge and get instant, accurate answers. You can set it up yourself in under five minutes.