Clio Payments Review

Clio Payments is the payment processing built into Clio Manage, the legal practice-management software from Clio (Themis Solutions Inc.), which was founded in Vancouver in 2008. Clio first sold a payments add-on powered by LawPay from 2015, then launched its own native Clio Payments in the US in October 2021 and in Canada in November 2022. Card processing is provided by Stripe: each firm accepts Stripe's Connected Account Agreement, and Clio handles enrolment, fees and support. There is no separate monthly fee, but you need a Clio Manage subscription, which starts at $49 per user per month. As of October 2026 Clio's own pages list a flat 2.95% for standard credit and debit cards with no per-transaction fee, and 1% for US eCheck and direct ACH payments. American Express is 3.75% on Clio's current comparison page, or 3.5% for firms switching from the LawPay integration. Clio does not publish Canadian rates on its Canadian site. The trust-account handling is the main reason to use it: trust payments are deposited in full, and processing fees, chargebacks and the $15 (US) or $20 CAD dispute fee always come out of the operating account. Card funds take one to two business days in the US and three in Canada, and eChecks five to seven. Clio itself is well rated on Capterra, but its BBB file is rated F for unanswered complaints, mostly about subscription billing. Clio ended its LawPay integration on 31 August 2026, which leaves Clio Payments as Clio's own way to take payments inside Clio Manage.

Estimated annual cost at three realistic processing volumes, using Clio Payments’s published online rate plus monthly fees. Real costs vary with average transaction size, chargeback rate, and any negotiated terms.

What Clio Payments is

Clio Payments is the payment processing built into Clio Manage, the practice-management software made by Clio, whose legal name is Themis Solutions Inc. Jack Newton and Rian Gauvreau co-founded Clio in 2008, and it is still headquartered in Vancouver. Its About page says it has more than 2,000 employees and is used by hundreds of thousands of legal professionals in more than 130 countries. In November 2025 Clio completed a US$1 billion acquisition of the legal-research company vLex, alongside a US$500 million Series G funding round that valued it at US$5 billion. Clio Payments is a feature of that larger software product, not a standalone processor: you cannot sign up for it without a Clio Manage subscription.

The name has had two lives. LawNext reports that from 2015 the Clio Payments name was used for a LawPay-powered add-on. On 26 October 2021 Clio launched its own native Clio Payments in the US, and it reached Canada in November 2022. By November 2022, LawNext reported, more than $1 billion had been processed through it. Clio ended its LawPay integration on 31 August 2026, describing it to LawNext as "a natural contract conclusion"; the Oklahoma Bar Association also reported the date. LawPay can still be used outside Clio, but Clio Payments is now Clio's own way to take payments inside Clio Manage.

Who processes the payments

Clio's Product Specific Terms (effective 4 August 2026) say the processing itself is provided by Stripe Payments Canada, Ltd. or its affiliates, under Stripe's Connected Account Agreement. Every firm accepts that agreement when it enrols. Clio handles the application, sets the fees, deducts them from settlements and supports disputes. In practice that is the facilitator model: a fast application and a published price, on an account that sits under the software vendor's platform. Clio says it usually reviews applications within one to two days and needs details for each owner holding 25% or more. Transaction data, including firm bank details and client payment data, is sent to the United States for processing.

What it costs

• Standard credit and debit cards: 2.95% per payment, with no per-transaction fee and no pass-through card-network fees, as listed on Clio's pages in October 2026.
• American Express: 3.75% on Clio's current comparison page. Clio's page for LawPay users says firms switching from the LawPay integration qualify for 3.5%, which is also the figure on older Clio pages and an August 2025 Clio blog post. Confirm it at enrolment.
• eCheck and direct ACH (US only): 1% per payment, as listed on Clio's LawPay comparison page and its older payments feature page. We found no cap on the fee on the pages we read.
• Chargebacks: $15 USD in the US and $20 CAD in Canada for each dispute, charged whatever the outcome.
• Pay Later with Affirm: 4.95% per transaction, paid by the firm.
• No separate monthly fee for payments; Clio Manage starts at $49 per user per month on the Starter plan, and other plans are priced on request.

Clio does not publish Canadian processing rates on its Canadian payments page, so a Canadian firm should get its rate in writing before switching. The list price is also not the only price: Clio's LawPay comparison page invites firms to book an assessment of their processing rates, and its Canadian surcharging article refers to firms on list pricing and to free-processing offers. The flat rate is predictable, and Clio's marketing leans on that: you know what each payment will cost whatever card the client uses. The trade-off is that there is no published volume tier, and the price has risen: LawNext reported in November 2022 that Clio charged a flat 2.8% for cards and $2 per eCheck, against 2.95% and 1% now. On large legal bills the percentage adds up. A $10,000 retainer paid by standard card costs $295 in fees, and a $10,000 eCheck costs $100. Firms that collect large retainers should steer clients to eCheck where they can.

Trust accounting

This is the feature that matters most to lawyers, and Clio's documentation is specific about it. Trust payments are always deposited in full. Processing fees are deducted from the operating account in line with IOLTA rules in the US and trust rules in Canada. When a client disputes a payment, both the disputed amount and the chargeback fee are taken from the operating account, even if the original payment went into trust. Clio's terms say they do not allow Clio to debit a firm's trust account for any reason. Firms can have fees deducted daily, which is the default, or move to a monthly schedule, where only chargebacks and refunds are deducted daily. Failed payments are not charged a fee. One unanswered BBB complaint from January 2024 says a firm's trust account was charged service fees after it switched to Clio Payments. We could not verify that complaint, and it contradicts Clio's published process.

How it works day to day

Clients can pay a bill or trust request by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or, in the US, eCheck. They can use a link in an email or text, the client portal, the firm's website, a QR code, or tap to pay in the Clio mobile app. US eChecks use instant bank verification, and each is limited to $25,000, with up to four per client per day. Firms with a record of successful payments and a low dispute rate can also take direct ACH transfers that the client starts from their own bank. Canadian firms cannot take eCheck or ACH payments. Stored payment methods, Autocharge rules with triggers set from fee agreements, payment plans and automatic reminders handle recurring and overdue billing. Payments post to the right bill automatically, so there is no separate reconciliation step between processor and practice-management system. Firms can ask Clio to switch on credit card surcharging. It is capped at 3% in the US, where it is unavailable for clients in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico, and at 2.4% in Canada, where Quebec is excluded. Switching it on turns off Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Payouts

Clio's help centre says US card payments process within one to two business days and Canadian card payments within three; its payment-methods article says card payments process within two business days, though rarely longer. US eChecks and bank payments can take five to seven business days to process fully and arrive. Payments made on weekends, holidays or after business hours start processing the next business day. Payouts are in the firm's local currency, based on its registered business address. Clio publishes no instant or same-day payout option.

Contract and cancellation

There is no separate contract term or early-termination fee for Clio Payments. Clio's Product Specific Terms say an administrator can cancel it at any time. The commitment is the Clio Manage subscription, which runs monthly or annually; Clio's pricing page says a cancelled subscription ends at the end of the current term. Under the terms, Clio can deduct anything you owe from your settlements, and if those are not enough it can debit the bank account or card registered on the account. Delinquent accounts can also be charged collection costs. Clio can add or remove payment methods and switch them on automatically, and accepting a payment through a method means accepting that method's terms.

Availability

Clio's help centre says Clio Payments is available to US and Canadian customers. Its marketing pages also list the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and Puerto Rico. We have not confirmed pricing or payment methods outside the US and Canada, and this review covers the US and Canadian service only.

Reputation and complaints

Most public reviews are about Clio as a whole rather than its payments product. As of 3 October 2026, Clio has 4.7 out of 5 from 1,748 reviews on Capterra. On Trustpilot it has a TrustScore of 3.6 from 297 reviews: 66% are five-star and 13% one-star, Clio invites reviews there, and it replies to about 10% of negative reviews. The BBB rates Clio F and it is not accredited. The BBB lists six complaints in three years, four of them unanswered and one unresolved. Most are about subscription billing that continued after cancellation. One review, from October 2025, says Clio was holding a firm's funds through Clio Payments, without giving details. Our searches found no lawsuit or regulatory action naming Clio or Themis Solutions over its payments business.

Who should use Clio Payments

Clio Payments is the obvious choice for a US or Canadian firm that already runs on Clio Manage and wants payments, trust handling and billing in one system without another vendor. The trust-account safeguards are clearly documented, and the flat rate makes costs easy to forecast. It is not worth adopting Clio just to get it, because you are buying practice-management software first. A firm with high card volume should compare negotiated rates elsewhere, and a Canadian firm should get its rates in writing and note that it cannot take eCheck or ACH payments. Before enrolling, confirm your American Express rate (3.75%, or 3.5% if you are switching from LawPay), and choose the fee schedule, daily or monthly, that suits how you reconcile your operating account.