# Relex vs CARET Legal: run the matter on your own Claude, own the client > Relex vs CARET Legal on where client data goes, whose AI runs the work, and who owns the client. CARET is practice management. Relex runs the whole matter on the Claude you already pay for. Relex & Claude vs CARET Legal # Own your clients, your data and your firm. CARET Legal (formerly Zola Suite) is a legal practice-management platform: intake, matters, contacts, calendaring, document management and built-in billing and accounting, arranged through sales. Relex makes a different bet about where the work happens. The unit of work is the matter, the reasoning belongs to the Claude you already pay for, and the client's identity never reaches a model. ## At a glance | Dimension | Relex | CARET Legal | | ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Where client data goes | Encrypted in your browser before anything leaves your device. The model only ever sees \[Party 1\]. | Reports a security and compliance program; states that firm data stays within the platform. Does not publicly describe client-side de-identification before a model sees content. | | Whose AI runs it | Bring your own Claude or Claude for Legal over MCP and OAuth. You own the reasoning. | CARET does not publicly describe bringing your own model or agent into the product. | | Try it today | Sign up and run a real case in minutes. Free to try, no card. | Subscription arranged through sales (request a demo / free trial); no public pricing figure. | | Who owns the client | Partner Network: own the client and keep 100%, at 0% commission. | A practice-management subscription; no client referral marketplace or take rate is publicly described. | | Case structure | A formal ontology of parties, issues, claims, statutes, and facts. | Matters, contacts, calendaring, documents, and built-in billing and accounting. | | Your know-how | A private per-tenant index the model searches. Never a copy it keeps or trains on. | Templates and firm data inside the suite. | | Getting started | In the browser in minutes, standalone or with your own Claude. | Signup and onboarding on a per-user subscription. | This comparison reflects each product’s own public positioning as of July 2026\. CARET Legal is a trademark of its respective owner, and this page is an independent comparison. ## The opposite bet CARET is the bet that a firm runs on one practice-management suite, with an AI assistant added inside it. Relex takes the opposite bet. The unit of work is the matter, modelled as a formal ontology. The reasoning belongs to the Claude you already pay for. The client's identity never reaches a model. And the professional, not the platform, owns the client and keeps 100% of what they are paid. ## Why the pairing wins A practice-management suite can hold your matters, contacts and invoices. It cannot reason over the matter the way a model can. Relex gives your Claude the whole matter, parties, issues, claims, statutes and facts as a formal ontology, plus a private index of your own know-how it can search but never keeps. Connect over MCP and OAuth, and Claude drafts and redlines inside that structure while the real names stay encrypted in your browser. ## Own the intake, own the client Matters arrive inside relationships. Clients reach your practice by email, by WhatsApp or SMS, or through a guest link you send them, and what they tell you becomes a structured case the agent picks up without asking them to repeat it. Intake, drafting, native cryptographic e-signature and invoicing run in one workspace. Through the Partner Network you stay the merchant of record through Stripe, at a flat $99 per month and 0% commission, and you can export that billing straight into your own ERP. Relex is a software platform. It is not a law firm, it does not replace lawyers, and it does not provide legal advice. ## What you actually pay Relex publishes its price. It is free to start, needs no credit card, and runs on the Claude subscription you already pay for, so there is no per-seat AI licence stacked on top. If you bill your own clients through the Partner Network, you stay the merchant of record and keep 100% of what they pay you, at a flat $99 per month with 0% commission. No per-matter platform cut, and no enterprise quote to negotiate. CARET's pricing is arranged through sales with no public figure. Relex publishes a flat $99/mo with 0% commission, keeps you merchant of record, and runs on the Claude you already pay for, with billing you can export into your own ERP. ## Questions people ask ### Is Relex a practice-management platform like CARET? Not quite. Relex runs the matter end to end, from the first client message through drafting, e-signature and invoicing, with the reasoning done by the Claude you already pay for and client identities sealed in your browser. If you want a full back-office suite, that is what practice management is for; if you want an AI that runs your matters without ever learning who your clients are, that is Relex. ### Can I keep my practice-management or accounting system? Yes. Relex is the merchant-of-record rail, not your accounting system. You keep 100% of what clients pay you and export the billing, client invoices, case-work earnings and payouts, as JSON or CSV into whatever ledger you already run. ### Does Relex handle drafting and signature? Yes. Drafting and redline run against the case ontology and your own playbooks, clause enforceability is flagged for a human to decide, and agreements are signed with native cryptographic signing and sealing, with a certificate of completion. Invoicing closes the loop in the same workspace. ### Which one can I try today? Relex. Signing up is free, takes one click, and needs no credit card. ### Am I locked into a contract with Relex? No. Relex is free to start, needs no credit card, and if you take the Partner Network's flat $99/month you can cancel any time — the cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period, with no minimum term and no approval needed. Your billing history exports to your own ERP whenever you want it. ### How much does Relex cost compared with the others? Relex is free to start, then a flat $99 per month with 0% commission if you bill your own clients through it, on top of the Claude plan you already have and with no separate per-seat AI fee. Most tools compared here quote enterprise pricing through sales or charge per user for their own AI. None of them publishes a referral or marketplace take rate; Relex publishes its own: 0%. ## More comparisons - [Relex vs Harvey](/compare/relex-vs-harvey) - [Relex vs Legora](/compare/relex-vs-legora) - [Relex vs Ironclad](/compare/relex-vs-ironclad) - [Relex vs Clio](/compare/relex-vs-clio) - [Relex vs CoCounsel](/compare/relex-vs-cocounsel) - [Relex vs Spellbook](/compare/relex-vs-spellbook) - [Relex vs general AI](/compare/relex-vs-generic-ai) - [Relex vs Box](/compare/relex-vs-box) - [Relex vs Westlaw](/compare/relex-vs-westlaw) ## Automate the work around the law. Stay the lawyer. Own your clients, your data, and your firm. Start in the browser, or bring your own Claude in one step. No key to paste. [Try Relex](/?try=1) [Using Claude for legal work](/claude-for-lawyers) [Relex vs everything else](/compare) --- _[View this page on relex.you](https://relex.you/compare/relex-vs-caret)_