Scrivly vs. CoCounsel
CoCounsel is Thomson Reuters\u2019 AI assistant, deeply integrated with Westlaw and Practical Law. Scrivly is an independent, AI-native platform designed for firms that want deployment flexibility and zero vendor lock-in.
Side-by-side comparison
Based on publicly available information. Updated as products evolve.
| Feature | Scrivly | CoCounsel |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Independent (Scrivly, Inc.) | Thomson Reuters subsidiary |
| Deployment | On-premise, cloud, or air-gapped | Cloud-only (via Westlaw) |
| Content source | Your own documents + verified case law | Westlaw / Practical Law databases |
| Architecture | AI-native, built from the ground up | AI layer on top of legacy platform |
| Pricing | Published ($199/mo Local, per-seat Pro) | Bundled with Westlaw subscription |
| Seat minimums | None | Tied to firm-level agreements |
| Hardware option | Dedicated on-premise appliance | Not available |
| Independence | No third-party dependency | Requires Thomson Reuters ecosystem |
| Data residency | Your office, your cloud, or your data center | Thomson Reuters cloud infrastructure |
Deep dive: AI-native vs. legacy add-on
Built for AI from day one
Scrivly was designed as an AI platform from the ground up. There is no legacy infrastructure to work around. The document ingestion pipeline, retrieval engine, inference system, and output formatting are all built as a single integrated system. This allows architectural decisions like matter isolation and citation traceability to be enforced at every layer.
AI layer on a proven platform
CoCounsel adds AI capabilities on top of Thomson Reuters\u2019 decades-old legal research infrastructure. This approach benefits from the breadth and depth of Westlaw\u2019s content library. The trade-off is that AI functionality is constrained by the architecture of the underlying platform, which was not originally designed for AI-first workflows.
Deep dive: Content dependency
Your documents are the source
Scrivly generates responses from documents you upload: contracts, briefs, memos, discovery materials, internal research. The system does not depend on a third-party content library. This means you control what the AI can access, and you know exactly what sources informed every response.
Westlaw is the source
CoCounsel\u2019s primary content source is Westlaw\u2019s database of published case law, statutes, secondary sources, and Practical Law resources. This is extremely valuable for legal research. However, it means that working with your own internal documents is not the primary use case, and access requires an active Thomson Reuters subscription.
Deep dive: Accessibility
Any firm, any size, any day
Scrivly has no seat minimums and no dependency on another product. A solo practitioner can purchase Scrivly Local for $199/month plus hardware and have the full platform running in their office. There is no procurement process, no bundled subscription, and no multi-year commitment required.
Access through the Thomson Reuters ecosystem
CoCounsel access is typically tied to existing Westlaw subscriptions or available as a premium add-on. For firms already invested in the Thomson Reuters ecosystem, this integration is seamless. For firms not on Westlaw or seeking independence from a single vendor, the bundled model may add unwanted cost and complexity.
Who should choose CoCounsel
- Firms already invested in the Westlaw ecosystem that want AI-assisted legal research.
- Teams that primarily need AI for searching published case law and secondary sources.
- Organizations comfortable with cloud deployment and vendor-managed infrastructure.
- Firms that value the depth and breadth of Thomson Reuters\u2019 content library.
Who should choose Scrivly
- Firms that need AI for working with their own internal documents, not just published databases.
- Organizations that want independence from any single legal data vendor.
- Firms that need on-premise or air-gapped deployment options.
- Solo practitioners and small firms that want transparent pricing with no bundled subscriptions.
Frequently asked questions
CoCounsel is a product of Thomson Reuters and is integrated into the Westlaw ecosystem. Access to CoCounsel is typically tied to existing Westlaw or Practical Law subscriptions, or available as an add-on. Scrivly is fully independent and does not require any third-party subscription.
CoCounsel draws from Thomson Reuters’ extensive published legal databases, which gives it access to a broad corpus of case law and secondary sources. Scrivly generates citations from your own uploaded documents using a proprietary dual-model system that traces every claim to a specific source passage. The approaches serve different needs: CoCounsel excels at research across published materials, while Scrivly excels at extracting and citing information from your own files.
Yes. Many firms use multiple tools. CoCounsel is strong for legal research across Thomson Reuters’ published databases. Scrivly is designed for working with your own internal documents, including contracts, discovery materials, internal memos, and case files. The two platforms address different parts of a legal workflow.
CoCounsel pricing is typically bundled with Westlaw subscriptions and varies by firm size and existing agreements. Scrivly Local is $199/month plus a $3,500 one-time hardware purchase with no seat minimums. Scrivly Pro offers per-seat cloud pricing. Neither Scrivly product requires an existing subscription to another service.
No. CoCounsel is a cloud-based product delivered through Thomson Reuters’ infrastructure. On-premise deployment is not a standard option. Scrivly Local is a dedicated hardware appliance that runs entirely inside your office with zero cloud dependency. Scrivly Secure provides air-gapped deployment for classified environments.
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