Compass by Rulng and PracticePanther, side by side
What each includes, how each is priced and who each fits, from both companies' own pages, read on 31 October 2026.
The short answer
PracticePanther publishes its prices, offers a 7-day trial, and includes a client portal and a trust ledger on every tier, with full trust accounting and reconciliation on its top tier. Compass by Rulng includes what PracticePanther's pages do not show: the firm's own website, Google profile tracking, reports on search and AI answers, court notices filed on the matter, and a law library with cited answers.
At a glance
| Compared | Compass by Rulng | PracticePanther |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | Small and mid-size law firms; built first for criminal defense | Firms of all sizes |
| The firm's website | Included in every build: built and hosted by WattReach on your own domain, edited from Compass or the live page | Not sold; help embedding its forms in your own site |
| Lead management and CRM | Included: website forms, phone taps and, where set up, answering-service messages in one inbox, with sources, spam held for review and conflict checks | Intake forms on the Business tier and up |
| Google profile and local rank | Included: rating and review count read nightly, your place in the map results, 14 directories and social profiles tracked | Not found |
| Reports on search and AI answers | Included: a Monday report, plus your Google rankings against your rivals and the answers of ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Google's AI | Not found |
| Court notices | One state's e-filing notices today: forwarded by your attorneys, filed on the matter by case number, and a hearing notice raises a step to enter the date | Not found |
| Court-rules deadlines | No | Through LawToolBox, on the Business tier with a separate subscription |
| Legal research | One state's law today: the statutes your clients are charged under, with elements from the jury instructions, 25 estate and civil topics, and the appellate decisions citing those sections; every point cited | Not found |
| Client portal | Built, not yet live at any firm: each case, its dates and fines; no documents, messages or invoices; English only | Every tier |
| Billing and payments | Payments recorded on each matter and marked trust or operating; LawPay links where set up; invoices and autopay through the firm's own Stripe account where invoicing is switched on | Billing and PantherPayments |
| Trust accounting | No; payments are marked trust or operating, with no trust ledgers | A trust ledger on every tier; full trust accounting with three-way reconciliation on Business Pro |
| Time tracking | Hours and expenses entered by hand; no timer | Yes |
| E-signature | No | Business tier and up |
| Spanish | Every staff screen; confirmations for Spanish-page inquiries; invoices | Not found |
| Security | Encrypted nightly backups, deny-by-default roles, a record of who opened each file, passkeys and two-factor sign-in; no certifications | 256-bit encryption, two-factor sign-in, backups on Azure |
| Price | Built to order; quoted after a walkthrough | $49, $69, $89 or $114 a user a month billed annually; $59 to $124 monthly |
| Trying it | A walkthrough with a sample firm; no free trial | 7-day free trial, no card |
Where PracticePanther is stronger
- Published prices, a 7-day trial and a client portal on every tier.
- A trust ledger on every tier and full trust accounting with three-way reconciliation on its top tier, plus time tracking and e-signature.
- Email and calendar sync, two-way texting, LEDES billing and an open API on its higher tiers.
Where Compass is different
- The website is part of every Compass build.
- Google profile tracking and reports on your place in search and AI answers are included.
- The court's e-filing notices are filed on the matter as they arrive, for the courts whose formats Compass reads today.
- The law library holds statutes, jury instructions and decisions for the state it covers today, and its answers cite every point.
- Every staff screen is in English and Spanish.
Which to choose
Choose PracticePanther if you want a published per-user price, a trial, and trust accounting with reconciliation in the same product. Choose Compass if you want the website, intake and matters in one system, set up for you, with the court's notices and cited research in the file.
Sources and corrections
Read on 31 October 2026 from PracticePanther's own pages:
- https://www.practicepanther.com/pricing/
- https://www.practicepanther.com/legal-calendaring/
- https://www.practicepanther.com/legal-billing/billing-pantherpayments/
- https://www.practicepanther.com/security/
- https://www.practicepanther.com/practice/criminal-defense/
Products change. If something here about PracticePanther is out of date, email hello@wattreach.com. When the change is confirmed, we correct the page and change the date.
Questions
Is Compass a good PracticePanther alternative?
Compass by Rulng is a PracticePanther alternative for firms that want their website, intake and case management in one system, set up for them. Firms that need trust accounting with reconciliation or a published per-user price are better served by PracticePanther today.
What does PracticePanther have that Compass does not?
PracticePanther has trust accounting, a timer, e-signature, two-way texting, a client portal in use today, published prices and a free trial, and Compass by Rulng has none of these today.
What does Compass include that PracticePanther does not?
Compass by Rulng includes the firm's own website, Google profile tracking, reports on search and AI answers, court notices filed on the matter and a law library with cited answers, none of which appear on PracticePanther's pages read on 31 October 2026.
Can we move from PracticePanther to Compass?
Yes for your client records, which WattReach loads during setup; the walkthrough settles which matters, documents and notes come across, and there is no import button to run yourself.
Book a walkthrough and bring your questions about PracticePanther.
We will tell you where it is the better fit, too.