Short answer. CoCounsel has net sentiment +2 on 411 public lawyer voices and Spellbook has +40 on 99, as of . Spellbook is ahead on this record: the two 90% bands do not overlap. Net is like minus dislike as a share of voices.
Spellbook ahead on this record: the two 90% bands do not overlap.
411 voices on CoCounsel and 99 on Spellbook, all public posts by lawyers and people who work with them, since 2023. This is how they describe using each tool, not a test of the tools. CoCounsel is a legal AI assistant by Thomson Reuters; Spellbook is a contract drafting tool.
This pair no longer clears the rule we use for comparison pages: too few searches that actually compare the two tools (searches for how to use them together do not count). The page stays so links keep working, but search engines are asked not to index it, and every figure on it is still recomputed from the current record.
Per 100 voices: like · dislike · name hallucinations
37 · 35 · 7
59 · 18 · 5
Latest voice
Spellbook has the higher net (+40 against +2) and the two 90% bands do not overlap. That describes who posts and how they feel, not which product is better. Difference in net: −38 points (CoCounsel minus Spellbook).
Net here is plain like minus dislike as a share of that task’s voices, with no band: a task needs 5+ voices on a side to show one. Tasks with fewer on both sides are left out. A voice has one task, set by our classifier.
What they complain about and value
CoCounsel · complaints
Accuracy 148
Price 56
Hallucination 28
CoCounsel · what they value
Time saved 55
Accuracy 44
Data coverage 36
Spellbook · complaints
Accuracy 18
Price 12
Hallucination 5
Spellbook · what they value
Time saved 18
Drafting quality 14
Ease of use 14
Counts are voices that name that complaint or value (top three per tool). A voice can name one of each. Not a comparison of raw totals: the bigger side has more posts of every kind.
In their own words
Each quote is a verbatim span of a counted voice, with its date and a link to the original.
On CoCounsel · verbatim
r/Lawyertalk
“I use CoCounsel extensively as a corporate associate. It is very good.”
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 19, 2026CoCounselMixedThe Westlaw-backed knowledge base is the real selling point, but drafting and Q&A features are not much better than a well-prompted Claude, so value depends on how research-heavy the practice is. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 19, 2026CoCounselMixed“I ran a 40 lawyer pilot recently and came away impressed. Expected to hate it based on what I read, but the updated platform they rolled out in August is much better.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 19, 2026CoCounselValues“The legal knowledge and database of citations and flags with Claude’s reasoning models can't be beat.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselValues“I attended a demo of Westlaw's CoCounsel a few weeks ago and was thoroughly impressed.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselCriticizes“The last time I ran a prompt through cocounsel, its output was that I should consult an attorney.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselMixed“It can find cases that answer your question very well. But it can’t understand the significance of anything it finds, making it useless for drafting.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselCriticizes“In my opinion, it’s not enough better than a top tier ChatGPT subscription to be worth paying the price Thompson Reuters is asking.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselMixed“It's good - based off Claude - with LN resources (if you've paid and have access to them, of course). It's as perfectly mediocre as you'd expect.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselCriticizes“The partner I’m working with LOVES Cocounsel and I consistently struggle to make it do what I need it to do. Almost always faster to do it myself.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselNeutral“No way to save instructions that I know of.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselMixed“From my experience, CoCounsel can reliably analyze facts/input I provide it with general legal concepts, but lacks the capacity to narrowly analyze or apply specific case law.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselMixed“I think it’s overpriced for what it does. But that’s based on my free trial a couple of months ago.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselMixed“It's pretty good for broadly picking stuff out of there but connected Claude can't see it which is a bummer.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026ClaudeValues“I've reduced understating/overstating significantly through those.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselMixed“Just act like it’s a law clerk and know you’re going to have to wade thru some crap to get things professional.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselMixed“It's got access to resources but the actual AI of it doesn't seem any better than the other products out there.”open
r/Lawyertalk
“I attended a demo of Westlaw's CoCounsel a few weeks ago and was thoroughly impressed.”
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 19, 2026CoCounselMixedThe Westlaw-backed knowledge base is the real selling point, but drafting and Q&A features are not much better than a well-prompted Claude, so value depends on how research-heavy the practice is. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 19, 2026CoCounselMixed“I ran a 40 lawyer pilot recently and came away impressed. Expected to hate it based on what I read, but the updated platform they rolled out in August is much better.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 19, 2026CoCounselValues“The legal knowledge and database of citations and flags with Claude’s reasoning models can't be beat.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 19, 2026CoCounselValues“I use CoCounsel extensively as a corporate associate. It is very good.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselCriticizes“The last time I ran a prompt through cocounsel, its output was that I should consult an attorney.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselMixed“It can find cases that answer your question very well. But it can’t understand the significance of anything it finds, making it useless for drafting.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselCriticizes“In my opinion, it’s not enough better than a top tier ChatGPT subscription to be worth paying the price Thompson Reuters is asking.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselMixed“It's good - based off Claude - with LN resources (if you've paid and have access to them, of course). It's as perfectly mediocre as you'd expect.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselCriticizes“The partner I’m working with LOVES Cocounsel and I consistently struggle to make it do what I need it to do. Almost always faster to do it myself.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselNeutral“No way to save instructions that I know of.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselMixed“From my experience, CoCounsel can reliably analyze facts/input I provide it with general legal concepts, but lacks the capacity to narrowly analyze or apply specific case law.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselMixed“I think it’s overpriced for what it does. But that’s based on my free trial a couple of months ago.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselMixed“It's pretty good for broadly picking stuff out of there but connected Claude can't see it which is a bummer.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026ClaudeValues“I've reduced understating/overstating significantly through those.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselMixed“Just act like it’s a law clerk and know you’re going to have to wade thru some crap to get things professional.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 18, 2026CoCounselMixed“It's got access to resources but the actual AI of it doesn't seem any better than the other products out there.”open
Hacker News
“I work at a law firm and CoCounsel[1] is pretty good.”
in “Higher-paid employees looking for work are having a tough time”
r/legaltech · Sep 20, 2026Values“I've also been using Spellbook on cease & desist demands and other regulatory adversarial correspondence, and it's been helpful.”open
r/legaltech · Sep 17, 2026Criticizes“I was unimpressed by it and my firm wasn't interested”open
r/legaltech
“Hope it doesn‘t show a bad customer service over all because the product itself is good…”
“Out of say, 30 comments it had in analyzing an agreement, most seemed like noise (possibly technically valid, but not helpful) and one or two were interesting and useful but far from being worth the fee.”
in “Astra for Law: the good, bad, and ugly” · 4 voices
r/legaltech · Sep 20, 2026Values“No connection to the company - its just the best standalone AI product I've found in all that I've tested.”open
r/legaltech · Sep 19, 2026Values“Fantastic at transactional playbooks, compare to market, create new drafts, etc.”open
r/legaltech · Sep 19, 2026ChatGPTValues“Small open source models and chatgpt pro can do it (depending on your repository size.) I built a small tool that does it for my firm.”open
When both come up in one thread
Voices from threads where posters name CoCounsel and Spellbook. Open the thread for the whole exchange.
r/Lawyertalk · May 25, 2026HarveyValues“For drafting legislation and working with case law, probably Harvey AI.”open
r/Lawyertalk · May 23, 2026ValuesSmokeball with its Archie AI add-in is easier than Needles, includes court forms, and the AI is very good. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Mar 18, 2026MixedNo single tool covers everything, so stack a practice guide, a dedicated legal AI and case law, and keep ChatGPT away from client work. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Mar 17, 2026Values“For natural language editing you have NotebookLM, Spellbook, Harvey etc.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Feb 23, 2026ClioValues“Based on your specific use cases I would say the one solution that comes the closest is Clio.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Nov 20, 2025ClaudeValues“Now using Claude sonnet 4.5 the results are much better.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Nov 3, 2025MixedGenie AI has been much smoother than Robin AI for drafting and review in-house, while Westlaw is still unmatched for deep research. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 29, 2025ValuesWestlaw and Lexis remain the gold standard for research, while AI Lawyer is solid for contracts, motions and filings and rarely hallucinates. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 20, 2025ValuesAI Lawyer is the most consistent for drafting and templates, and vLex Vincent is more trustworthy than general LLMs for case law research. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 20, 2025vLex VincentValues“For case law, I still use vLex (Vincent AI) and Fastcase - they’re more trustworthy than general LLMs for research.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 20, 2025ValuesUses AI Lawyer for drafting and review and values that it flags missing terms and citation errors instead of hallucinating law. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Aug 20, 2025Westlaw AICriticizesCalls Westlaw's AI suite and CoCounsel worthless, saying the AI research pales next to a proper boolean search. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Jul 9, 2025MixedUses Gavel for work product including contract analysis and redlining, and uses ChatGPT only for business ops because they don't trust it with client data. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Apr 24, 2025ChatGPTCriticizesArgues lawyers should not put confidential client matters into general-purpose AI tools like ChatGPT and should use security-first legal tools instead. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Apr 9, 2025MixedUses Iqidis as a daily driver for drafting and research, calls much legal AI hype, and finds Spellbook's suggestions inconsistent. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Mar 8, 2025ValuesChose Alexi over CaseText and ChatGPT's legal premium offering and is very happy so far. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Feb 14, 2025Westlaw AIValues“For case search and practical guides -- Westlaw Practical Law. Nothing beats that yet, not even their CoCounsel app.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Feb 2, 2025Lexis+ AIValues“I agree, after 25 years with westlaw, I switched to Lexis within the past year and it's AI/ protege program has changed my life.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Dec 22, 2024ValuesReports a good pilot experience with SmartCounsel.AI for research, drafting and document analysis, rating it as good as CoCounsel at $100 per user per month. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Sep 30, 2024CoCounselValues“I use Casetext, like it. I used to use SmartRules, totally not worth it-dumped it.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Aug 22, 2024MixedSays SwiftLaw is great for document creation, contract review and editing at $100/month, but has no legal research capability. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Apr 18, 2024Lexis+ AIValues“Lexis has an AI that is decent at answering legal questions with citations.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Apr 18, 2024ChatGPTCriticizes“Even for case law, it will sometimes merge the most common cases, and spit out a case that doesn’t exist.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Apr 18, 2024CriticizesConsiders LLMs fundamentally unsuited to legal research beyond the broadest level and recommends Practical Law instead. (summary, not a quote)open
r/legaltech
“These tools are still better as a first pass than a final product.”
r/legaltech · Mar 18, 2026CriticizesGets better results from Claude directly than from Spellbook and finds Spellbook limited, including its inability to analyze memos or briefs. (summary, not a quote)open
r/legaltech · Mar 15, 2026Mixed“That's a tough sell when I can do most of the same stuff with a $20/month Claude subscription and some templates I've built up over time.”open
r/legaltech · Mar 10, 2026ValuesSwitched from Spellbook to Gavel Exec, which is less buggy, integrates well with Word and gave accurate market-standard results on a deal. (summary, not a quote)open
r/legaltech · Mar 10, 2026NeutralThe author's firm uses Gavel Exec, a product similar to Spellbook, with its DocuSign integration and feeds past documents back in as context for future negotiations. (summary, not a quote)open
r/legaltech · Mar 8, 2026Values“I tested Harvey during its early stages and wasn’t too impressed. I hear it’s much improved since then, but I’m satisfied with Spellbook.”open
r/legaltech · Mar 8, 2026HarveyNeutralThe author's firm uses Harvey for document review and bespoke drafting, and they ask how Spellbook compares. (summary, not a quote)open
r/legaltech · Mar 7, 2026Values“It’s the best legal drafting/redline/review tool I’ve ever used.”open
r/legaltech · Mar 6, 2026CoCounselCriticizes“Definitely not saying use a legacy company btw. Cocounsel is like one of the worst.”open
r/legaltech · Mar 6, 2026HarveyCriticizes“Harvey claimed they pouring magic on top of GPT. That magic turned out to be pretty much nothing.”open
r/legaltech · Mar 6, 2026Criticizes“It is unbelievably janky and the drafting quality/consistency is frankly poor.”open
r/legaltech · Mar 6, 2026Neutral“It uses Claude (and other LLMs) as the engine, but it’s got a suite of bells and whistles to optimize it for use.”open
r/legaltech · Mar 6, 2026Criticizes“I don’t mind useful wraps, but the price point in this one is so steep…”open
r/Lawyertalk
“For natural language editing you have NotebookLM, Spellbook, Harvey etc.”
in “What is the best (and most reliable) legal AI/software out there?” · 25 voices
r/Lawyertalk · May 25, 2026HarveyValues“For drafting legislation and working with case law, probably Harvey AI.”open
r/Lawyertalk · May 23, 2026ValuesSmokeball with its Archie AI add-in is easier than Needles, includes court forms, and the AI is very good. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Mar 30, 2026CoCounselValues“The AI search is actually useful and it's way cheaper than Westlaw.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Mar 18, 2026MixedNo single tool covers everything, so stack a practice guide, a dedicated legal AI and case law, and keep ChatGPT away from client work. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Feb 23, 2026ClioValues“Based on your specific use cases I would say the one solution that comes the closest is Clio.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Nov 20, 2025ClaudeValues“Now using Claude sonnet 4.5 the results are much better.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Nov 3, 2025MixedGenie AI has been much smoother than Robin AI for drafting and review in-house, while Westlaw is still unmatched for deep research. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 29, 2025ValuesWestlaw and Lexis remain the gold standard for research, while AI Lawyer is solid for contracts, motions and filings and rarely hallucinates. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 20, 2025ValuesAI Lawyer is the most consistent for drafting and templates, and vLex Vincent is more trustworthy than general LLMs for case law research. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 20, 2025vLex VincentValues“For case law, I still use vLex (Vincent AI) and Fastcase - they’re more trustworthy than general LLMs for research.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Oct 20, 2025ValuesUses AI Lawyer for drafting and review and values that it flags missing terms and citation errors instead of hallucinating law. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Aug 20, 2025Westlaw AICriticizesCalls Westlaw's AI suite and CoCounsel worthless, saying the AI research pales next to a proper boolean search. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Jul 9, 2025MixedUses Gavel for work product including contract analysis and redlining, and uses ChatGPT only for business ops because they don't trust it with client data. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Apr 24, 2025ChatGPTCriticizesArgues lawyers should not put confidential client matters into general-purpose AI tools like ChatGPT and should use security-first legal tools instead. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Apr 9, 2025MixedUses Iqidis as a daily driver for drafting and research, calls much legal AI hype, and finds Spellbook's suggestions inconsistent. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Mar 8, 2025ValuesChose Alexi over CaseText and ChatGPT's legal premium offering and is very happy so far. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Feb 14, 2025Westlaw AIValues“For case search and practical guides -- Westlaw Practical Law. Nothing beats that yet, not even their CoCounsel app.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Feb 2, 2025Lexis+ AIValues“I agree, after 25 years with westlaw, I switched to Lexis within the past year and it's AI/ protege program has changed my life.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Dec 22, 2024ValuesReports a good pilot experience with SmartCounsel.AI for research, drafting and document analysis, rating it as good as CoCounsel at $100 per user per month. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Sep 30, 2024CoCounselValues“I use Casetext, like it. I used to use SmartRules, totally not worth it-dumped it.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Aug 22, 2024MixedSays SwiftLaw is great for document creation, contract review and editing at $100/month, but has no legal research capability. (summary, not a quote)open
r/Lawyertalk · Apr 18, 2024Lexis+ AIValues“Lexis has an AI that is decent at answering legal questions with citations.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Apr 18, 2024ChatGPTCriticizes“Even for case law, it will sometimes merge the most common cases, and spit out a case that doesn’t exist.”open
r/Lawyertalk · Apr 18, 2024CriticizesConsiders LLMs fundamentally unsuited to legal research beyond the broadest level and recommends Practical Law instead. (summary, not a quote)open
r/legaltech · Mar 18, 2026CriticizesGets better results from Claude directly than from Spellbook and finds Spellbook limited, including its inability to analyze memos or briefs. (summary, not a quote)open
r/legaltech · Mar 18, 2026Mixed“These tools are still better as a first pass than a final product.”open
r/legaltech · Mar 15, 2026Mixed“That's a tough sell when I can do most of the same stuff with a $20/month Claude subscription and some templates I've built up over time.”open
r/legaltech · Mar 10, 2026ValuesSwitched from Spellbook to Gavel Exec, which is less buggy, integrates well with Word and gave accurate market-standard results on a deal. (summary, not a quote)open
r/legaltech · Mar 10, 2026NeutralThe author's firm uses Gavel Exec, a product similar to Spellbook, with its DocuSign integration and feeds past documents back in as context for future negotiations. (summary, not a quote)open
r/legaltech · Mar 8, 2026Values“I tested Harvey during its early stages and wasn’t too impressed. I hear it’s much improved since then, but I’m satisfied with Spellbook.”open
r/legaltech · Mar 8, 2026HarveyNeutralThe author's firm uses Harvey for document review and bespoke drafting, and they ask how Spellbook compares. (summary, not a quote)open
r/legaltech · Mar 7, 2026Values“It’s the best legal drafting/redline/review tool I’ve ever used.”open
r/legaltech · Mar 6, 2026HarveyCriticizes“Harvey claimed they pouring magic on top of GPT. That magic turned out to be pretty much nothing.”open
r/legaltech · Mar 6, 2026Criticizes“It is unbelievably janky and the drafting quality/consistency is frankly poor.”open
r/legaltech · Mar 6, 2026Neutral“It uses Claude (and other LLMs) as the engine, but it’s got a suite of bells and whistles to optimize it for use.”open
r/legaltech · Mar 6, 2026Criticizes“I don’t mind useful wraps, but the price point in this one is so steep…”open
Short answers
From the same record as the tables above.
CoCounsel vs Spellbook for lawyers: what do lawyers say?
CoCounsel has net sentiment +2 on 411 public lawyer voices and Spellbook has +40 on 99, as of . Spellbook is ahead on this record: the two 90% bands do not overlap. Net is like minus dislike as a share of voices.
How many lawyers have posted about CoCounsel and Spellbook?
We count 411 public voices on CoCounsel and 99 on Spellbook, posted since 2023 by lawyers and people who work with them, as of . Each voice is one post or comment that names the tool.
Do lawyers feel better about CoCounsel or Spellbook?
Net sentiment (like minus dislike, as a share of voices) is +2 for CoCounsel, 90% band −4 to +9, and +40 for Spellbook, 90% band +27 to +52. Spellbook has the higher net (+40 against +2) and the two 90% bands do not overlap. That describes who posts and how they feel, not which product is better.
What do lawyers use CoCounsel and Spellbook for?
The task named most often on CoCounsel is legal research (168 of 411 voices); on Spellbook it is contract review (51 of 99 voices). A voice has one task, set by our classifier.
