Best contract lifecycle management (CLM) software

Contracts are crucial in today's business landscape, with 80% of B2B revenue being governed by agreements, according to World Commerce & Contracting research.

Managing contracts across various departments can be challenging due to manual, time-consuming processes, leading to delays, errors and increased risk. Contract Lifecycle Management software (CLM) simplifies digital contract processes, making them faster, more consistent and accessible to the wider business – all while minimising financial and operational risk.

But as CLM software continues to grow on the market, it can be difficult to know which solution to adopt and which features and functionality will be most vital to your business.

To help you evaluate the landscape, we have analysed seven CLM solutions and their offerings to help you choose the best contract lifecycle management software on the market.

But first, hear from Summize's Olly Atkin below and let's get back to basics to understand what CLM is all about.
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“When searching for the best CLM software, it's important to evaluate different providers to find the one that best meets your contract management needs. Regardless of whether you’re a small business or a large corporation, your contract goals won't be too dissimilar. At Summize, we recommend basing your CLM criteria on the everyday business tools you currently use and identifying the workflows where CLM software can deliver the greatest improvements." Olly Atkin, Head of Enterprise Sales at Summize.‍

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What is CLM?

Contract lifecycle management (CLM) is the management of a business’ contracts covering all parts of the contract journey, from creation, to review, to analysis, to renewal.
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What is CLM Software?

Contract lifecycle management (CLM) software is typically a cloud-based solution that efficiently manages a business’ contract portfolio throughout each stage of the contract lifecycle.

CLM software digitalises a business' contract processes, enabling legal teams and business users to automate and streamline contract tasks. The best CLM software reduces contract friction and frustration and improves efficiency across the entire business.
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What to look out for when choosing the best CLM software

The once underserved market of CLM is now overflowing with vendors, all with a different take on the process of managing contracts. Seeing a huge range of features can make you want them all, even if they are not the most useful or necessary for your team.

So, we’ve narrowed it down to the three most important, game-changing features that will help you achieve smarter digital contracting.

• Integrations: Almost every department deals with contracts, so a CLM solution must integrate with existing productivity tools and workflows to benefit the wider business.
• Dynamic repository: Regulations are constantly changing, making contracts more complex and costly to manage. A CLM solution should have advanced repository search capabilities, allowing legal and business users to access contractual information easily.
• Artificial intelligence (AI): AI is taking the CLM market by storm, working alongside lawyers to redefine existing processes. As most CLM software now use AI, it’s therefore important to analyse how their AI use makes your contract processes easier, more efficient and smarter. AI should aid your tasks and not create more work.
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What is the best contract lifecycle management software?

1. Summize

Summize is the best Contract Lifecycle Management software, offering a unique decentralised approach to transforming the entire process of creating, reviewing, executing and managing legal contracts for businesses.

For non-legal colleagues, the user experience exists within familiar software including Salesforce, Teams, Slack, Outlook and Jira, without requiring users to log in to another platform. 

For legal, Summize offers the innovative CLM features you would expect and more, including instant metadata extraction, automated tasks, audit trails and analytics, smart repository and AI-enhanced review capabilities.  

This unique approach removes friction and frustration for the business, with huge time and efficiency gains for legal.

Pros:

• ‍Self-service contracting for the entire business: With Outlook, Salesforce, HubSpot and Teams as Summize’s primary user interface, business users can create contracts using a Q&A-style chatbot in under 2 minutes. Requests are tracked, triaged and managed centrally with guardrails set by legal.
• ‍AI powered contract reviews make life easier for legal: Directly in Microsoft Word, legal teams can review contracts and redline contracts in a matter of minutes using Summize’s AI functionality.
• ‍Mitigated risk: Enhanced AI and natural language capabilities ensure contract summaries are actionable, accurate and immediate, with their key dates and tasks extracted and added to your calendar. Areas of concern are red-flagged, allowing legal teams to mitigate financial and operational risk in minutes.
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2. Kira Systems

Kira is an advanced machine-learning software designed to identify, extract, and analyse content within contracts and documents. Initially founded in 2011, Kira was acquired in 2021 and is now a part of the Litera family.

Pros:

• Easy-to-use interface
• Good search capabilities
• Strong project management functionality

Cons:

• Expensive price packages
• Immature AI capabilities
• Inability to rename files and folders
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3. Concord

Concord was founded in 2014 and offered a straightforward design driven by simplicity. Concord is designed to help legal teams be proactive regarding changes in regulations and compliance, making it easy to manage the entire contract lifecycle in one place.

Pros:

• Bulk upload features
• Strict version requirements for a consistent audit trail
• Quick set-up

Cons:

• Immature product with reports of a poor user experience and interface
• Difficult to integrate contracts that have been signed outside of the platform
• Poor document management capabilities
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Hear from accomplished legal professional and General Counsel Brandon Tatum, on what he believes businesses should consider when making their CLM software decision.

"Selecting a CLM is no easy task! Companies often jump straight to a demo with a vendor even before they have identified the need for a solution." Take a look at Brandon's article for his expert advice.

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4. Donna AI

Founded in Sweden in 2017, Donna is an AI-powered Microsoft Office Add-In for lawyers that helps users to draft and review contracts and agreements.

Pros:

• Is a Microsoft Office Add-In
• Competitive pricing packages

Cons:

• Limited end-to-end capabilities
• Tailored towards small businesses
• Lack of product features
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5. SimpliContract

Built by technologists, lawyers, and contract management experts, SimpliContract is a Cloud-based AI-powered CLM platform supporting organisations across the contract lifecycle.

Pros:

• Simple-to-use interface
• Strong search capabilities
• Responsive support team

Cons:

• Requires a change in working habits
• Limited features available
• Immature AI ability
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6. PandaDoc

PandaDoc aims to be a feature-rich, affordable, all-in-one solution with enhanced contract and document management platforms. Founded in 2011, it is an intuitive platform that allows teams to oversee the entire contract lifecycle. It enables businesses to build, track and sign all their agreements in one place.

Pros:

• Built-in e-signature option
• Comes with 200+ free templates
• Shareable links between internal and external teams

Cons:

• Limited integrations
• Requires vast training
• Lack of ability to create documents
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7. Tomorro

Tomorro is a tool for legal teams to draft, negotiate, sign and track contracts in one place. The start-up aims to reduce the time spent on contract management and give greater control and visibility over legal and financial risks.

Pros:

• Simple onboarding process
• Access rights feature

Cons:

• Lack of integrations into existing systems
• Requires a change in working habits
• Immature product with a lack of features
• Poor user experience
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Are there too many CLM providers on the market and you're not sure where to start? Download our Buyer's Guide to CLM for clear step-by-step assessments, plus with a newly created buyer's guide checklist.

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Tips for choosing the best CLM software

Implementing the right CLM software can significantly impact your legal team and wider business. So, to ensure your chosen solution can reduce costs and return ROI, as well as addressing contractual challenges, it’s crucial that you first identify your needs and contract objectives.

Start by asking yourself the following questions:

• Which features and functionality are vital to your workflows and contracting success?
• Is an integrated approach key to full business adoption? If so, which tools must your CLM integrate with?
• What are other businesses saying about each CLM solution?
• Would you benefit from self-serve contract capabilities across the whole business?
• What is the CLM provider’s implementation process?
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Forget the rest. Choose the best CLM software!

Choosing the right contract lifecycle management software is crucial to meeting your goals.

Summize offers an AI-powered end-to-end contracting solution that streamlines your business' entire contracting process. Its integrations with tools such as Outlook, Teams, HubSpot, Salesforce and Word make contracts accessible and usable to the entire company.

No need for complicated user training! Just a clear implementation plan and seamless full business adoption.

To get started with the best CLM software on the market, book your personal Summize demo today.