Docketwise vs Clio pricing and CRM for immigration firms

For an immigration firm that wants a CRM, Docketwise is usually the better buy and Clio is the better CRM. Docketwise puts its lead management, e-filing, e-signatures and texting on its Pro plan at a printed $100 per user a month billed yearly ($120 monthly), inside the same system that fills your USCIS forms. Clio's intake and CRM product, Clio Grow, comes bundled only in its Elite plans or as an add-on to Core and Signature, and Clio publishes no price for either; the only figure on its pricing page is a $49 per user entry price for plans that cannot run Grow at all.

Docketwise was read from its pricing page on 13 October 2026. Clio blocks automated reading of its pricing page, so the Clio facts here come from our last full read on 16 August 2026, the same read behind our Clio pricing breakdown. We sell an intake tool that runs in front of either system, so weigh our view with that in mind and confirm every figure with the vendor before you sign.

Docketwise vs Clio at a glance

Neither vendor lists a public booking page where a brand new prospect picks a consultation slot from your website. Both expect someone on your staff to hold the first conversation.

Which is better for CRM, Docketwise or Clio?

Clio Grow is the deeper CRM. It is a separate product built for client acquisition across every practice area, with a pipeline, intake forms, follow up and marketing tools, and it connects to Clio Manage once the client signs. Docketwise's CRM is narrower, built into the case system, and designed so an immigration lead turns into a case with forms already attached.

For most immigration firms the narrower tool wins, for two reasons. The first is price: you know Docketwise Pro costs $100 per user a month on annual billing before you call anyone, while the Clio plan that carries Grow has no number on the page. The second is that the case work lives in Docketwise anyway. A lead that converts inside the same system that prepares the I-130 packet saves a re-keying step every time.

Clio Grow is the right answer when immigration is one practice area among several, when the firm already runs Clio Manage, or when marketing automation matters as much as case conversion.

Docketwise CRM pros and cons

• Pro: printed price, $100 per user a month yearly, with CRM, e-filing, e-signatures and texting on the same tier
• Pro: lead turns into an immigration case with forms in one system
• Pro: unlimited cases on every plan
• Con: no CRM at all on Basic, so the $80 entry price is not the price of the feature you came for
• Con: narrower marketing tools than a dedicated legal CRM
• Con: every paralegal and assistant who logs in is a paid user

Clio CRM pros and cons

• Pro: Clio Grow is a full client acquisition product used across practice areas
• Pro: accounting and trust reconciliation are included on every Clio plan
• Pro: AI is included from Core upward rather than sold by the meter
• Con: Grow is absent from Starter, the only plan with a public figure
• Con: neither the Elite plans nor the Grow add-on show a price
• Con: immigration form filling is not part of the plan list, so a forms tool may be a second purchase

Docketwise vs Clio pricing for a five person immigration firm

Docketwise is the easy half. Five users on Basic pay $400 a month on annual billing, $4,800 a year. On Pro, where the CRM starts, five users pay $500 a month, $6,000 a year. Advanced, which adds branches, permission groups, priority support and free data migration with an annual plan, costs $600 a month, $7,200 a year.

Clio is the hard half. The only number Clio prints is $49 per user a month, which points to Starter, and Starter cannot run Grow. Five users at that floor pay $245 a month, $2,940 a year, for a plan without the CRM. Any plan that includes Grow costs more by an amount Clio does not publish, so the honest comparison is your written Clio quote for Elite, or for Core plus the Grow add-on, set against $6,000 a year for Docketwise Pro.

Count seats before you compare. A three attorney immigration practice with two paralegals and a front desk person is a six seat subscription on either system, and the per user model charges for each of them.

When Docketwise is the right choice

Pick Docketwise if immigration is all or nearly all of your practice and you want the forms, the case and the lead in one place at a price you can put in a budget today. Pro at $100 per user yearly is the tier most firms end up on, because that is where lead management, e-filing and texting start. If your books are kept in QuickBooks, the Pro integration covers the billing side, and when an old trust account statement only exists as a PDF you can convert the bank statement to QuickBooks rather than retyping it during the move.

Our Docketwise pricing article breaks down each tier at one to ten users, and Docketwise vs MyCase pricing covers the other general suite most immigration firms consider.

When Clio is the right choice

Pick Clio if immigration sits next to family law, criminal defense or civil litigation, because a general suite handles every matter type in one system. It also makes sense if the firm already runs Clio Manage and wants Grow to feed it, or if built in trust accounting matters more than forms depth. The question to settle with Clio's sales team is which plan carries Grow for your seat count and what it costs in writing. Our Clio Grow vs Clio Manage guide explains which half of Clio does what.

The part neither system does

Both products start working once a lead is in the system. The CRM tracks the inquiry; it does not answer it. When a person with a hearing date in three weeks fills in your website form at 10pm, Docketwise and Clio both log the lead and wait for a person on your staff to call back in the morning, by which point that person has often reached another firm.

That gap is what Consultations covers. It runs the intake conversation on your website at any hour: it asks whether the matter is family, employment, humanitarian, naturalization or removal defense, screens it against the cases you take, flags hearing dates and filing deadlines, collects the notices the attorney wants first and books the consultation on your calendar. The completed intake exports, so your team opens the matter in Docketwise or Clio as usual. It never tells anyone whether they qualify for a visa; the attorney does that.

It costs $49 a month for one attorney, $129 for up to five professionals and $299 for up to twenty, flat per firm rather than per user, or $288, $768 and $1,788 a year. The screening questions it asks for immigration matters are on the immigration intake software page. You can try the conversation at the top of this article or compare plans on the pricing page.

If you are still choosing the case system, our INSZoom pricing and alternatives page covers the enterprise option, Docketwise vs LollyLaw covers the other specialist, and Docketwise alternatives lists every immigration system with a printed price.

Frequently asked questions

Is Docketwise cheaper than Clio?

At the entry level, no: Clio's floor is $49 per user a month against Docketwise Basic at $80. For the CRM, nobody can say from public information, because Clio publishes no price for Grow or for the Elite plans that include it. Docketwise Pro, which carries the CRM, is $100 per user a month on annual billing.

Does Clio work for immigration law?

Clio handles immigration matters as one practice area among many, with case management, billing, trust accounting and Clio Grow for intake on higher plans. Immigration form filling is not part of its plan list, so ask Clio which forms integration it recommends and what that costs before comparing it with a specialist like Docketwise.

Does Docketwise have a CRM?

Yes, from the Pro plan up. Read on 13 October 2026, Docketwise lists CRM and lead management, e-filing, e-signatures, texting, QuickBooks and legal AI on Pro at $100 per user a month billed yearly or $120 monthly. Basic at $80 does not include the CRM.

Can Docketwise and Clio be used together?

Some firms run Docketwise for immigration forms and Clio for billing and other practice areas, but that means paying per user on two systems and keeping client records in two places. Check what each vendor's integration list says about the other before you plan on syncing them.

What is the best CRM for an immigration law firm?

For a firm that only does immigration, a CRM inside the immigration case system, such as Docketwise Pro, avoids re-keying and has a printed price. For a mixed practice, Clio Grow is the stronger standalone CRM. Either way, add an intake layer that answers new inquiries immediately, because a CRM only records a lead someone has already handled.