Clio is a full practice-management platform that many small firms run their whole practice on. AetherTime is a focused, local-first tool for the part you use every day: time, tasks, billing, and invoices. Here is when each one makes sense.
Clio is broad. It handles case management, client intake, documents, calendaring, payments, and — as one piece of all that — time tracking and billing. That breadth is why firms choose it, and why it costs what it costs and runs in the cloud.
AetherTime does one job: track time accurately, turn it into a correct invoice, and keep the record on your own machine. It is a desktop app that runs from a USB drive with no installation, no account, and no monthly fee. If you already run your practice in Clio and are happy with it, this is not a replacement. If you are a solo or small firm that mainly needs trustworthy billable hours and clean invoices without another subscription, it is built for exactly that.
| AetherTime | Clio | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $99 one-time | $49+/user/mo |
| Billing model | Buy once, keep it | Monthly subscription |
| Works offline | ✓ | ✗ (cloud-based) |
| Runs from a USB drive, no install | ✓ | ✗ |
| Data stays on your machine | ✓ | ✗ (vendor cloud) |
| No account needed | ✓ | ✗ |
| 6-minute legal increments | ✓ included | Available |
| PDF invoices | ✓ included | ✓ |
| Case management / intake / documents | ✗ focused tool | ✓ broad platform |
| Works on a locked-down work PC | ✓ | Browser-based, needs access |
Clio pricing and features as of August 2026, from public vendor pages; check their site for the current numbers. AetherTime details from our own pricing, which includes every feature in every license.
Choose Clio if you want one platform for intake, cases, documents, calendaring, payments, and billing, and your firm is comfortable with a cloud subscription priced per user.
Choose AetherTime if your problem is narrower — billable hours that are accurate, invoices that are correct, and a tool that works on a machine where IT will not let you install anything. You pay once, your data stays local, and it runs from a USB drive.
Some people use both: Clio for the practice, AetherTime for the timer. That is fine, and it is exactly why we keep our comparison honest rather than trying to be something we are not.
Not as a full practice-management platform. Clio covers intake, cases, documents, calendaring and payments; AetherTime focuses on time tracking, tasks, billing, invoices and reports. It replaces the time-and-billing part, not the whole suite.
Clio starts around $49 per user per month, so a three-person firm pays roughly $1,800 a year before add-ons. AetherTime Pro is $199 once, with a year of updates included.
No. AetherTime is a local-first desktop app with no cloud integration. If you need your timer to write into Clio automatically, Clio's own timer or an integration is the better fit.
Private beta is open. Email us for a free copy before launch — no account, no credit card, no data sent anywhere.
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