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Compare · FirmForte vs LawLytics
FirmForte vs LawLytics: rent the platform, or keep the site.
LawLytics gets more right than most of the companies on these comparison pages. It was built by an attorney for small firms, it puts content at the center where it belongs, and it says plainly that your content and domain are yours. The difference between us isn't ethics or quality. It's architecture: a subscription to a platform they run, versus a one-time build on WordPress that you keep. Both are legitimate. One will suit your firm better.
Start with the agreement
We agree about content. We disagree about where it lives.
LawLytics has argued for years that a law firm website succeeds on writing rather than on design flourishes, and that a small firm publishing real answers beats a bigger firm publishing nothing. We think that's correct, and it's most of what we do too. The split is downstream of it.
Common ground — both of us
- Content is the engine; design serves it rather than replacing it
- Small firms can outrank bigger ones by answering real questions
- Your domain stays yours, and your words are yours
- Solo and small firms are the client, not an afterthought
Where the two of us split
- They run a proprietary platform; we build on WordPress
- Theirs is a subscription that continues; ours is a one-time build
- Their price is calculated per firm; ours is four flat tiers, posted
- AEO is our default spine, not a service you add later
LawLytics prices per firm through a calculator rather than a single posted sheet, so figures here reflect its published starting point rather than a quote for your practice. None of these four differences makes either of us right. They're choices, and one set fits your firm better than the other.
The short version
Which way you should lean.
Lean LawLytics if you intend to write a lot yourself and want a system built to make that easy, if you'd rather pay a modest amount monthly than a lump sum up front, and if you want hosting, updates and unlimited strategy support handled so you never touch the technical side.
Lean FirmForte if you want the finished site to be a portable asset you own outright, if you'd rather pay once and be done rather than subscribe indefinitely, if you want a posted price you can act on without a call, and if being cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews is something you want built in rather than hoped for.
That's the whole decision. Everything below is detail underneath it.
Line by line
What each one actually is.
LawLytics' column reflects its published approach and starting price rather than a quote, because pricing there is calculated per firm.
| Feature | FirmForte | LawLytics |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | WordPress, your choice of editor | Its own proprietary platform, not WordPress |
| Shape of the cost | One-time build; retainer optional and cancellable after month three | Ongoing subscription for as long as the site is live |
| Pricing | Four flat tiers posted on the site, from $1,500 and $3,500 | Calculated per firm by size and location; published plans start around $150/month billed annually |
| Who the client is | Solo and small firms | Solo and small firms (same) |
| Content philosophy | Content earns the citation; we write it with you | Content-first, with a system built for lawyers who write their own |
| Hosting & updates | You host on a vendor you choose; updates yours or on a retainer | Handled for you as part of the platform |
| AEO (cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews) | Default spine: FAQ + LegalService schema, answer-first content on every page | Strong content foundation; AEO isn't a separately named, built-in service |
| If you leave | You export the whole WordPress site and host it anywhere | Your content and domain are yours; ask them exactly what transfers and in what format |
| Best fit | Firms wanting a portable owned asset, a posted price, and AEO by default | Firms wanting a low monthly, heavy support, and a system for writing a lot themselves |
The one question worth asking
"What exactly do I take with me, and in what format?"
LawLytics states that your content and your domain are yours, and we have no reason to doubt it. What a proprietary platform can't do by definition is hand you the built site the way an open platform can, because the site is assembled by software you were subscribing to rather than software you were running.
How much that matters in practice is a factual question we can't answer for you, and we're not going to guess at it here. Plenty of comparison pages on the internet will tell you confidently what happens when you leave LawLytics; almost all of them are written by agencies that want your business, ours included. So the useful move isn't to trust our characterization. It's to ask them directly, before you sign, and get the answer in writing:
- If I cancel, what files do I receive, and in what format?
- Do the page URLs and structure come with me, or do they have to be rebuilt and redirected?
- Is there a fee for an export, and how long does it take?
- Who holds the hosting account, the domain registrar login, and the Google Business Profile?
Those are fair questions to ask any vendor, and a good one answers them without friction. Ask us the same four. Our answers are on the post about who actually owns your law firm website, and the reason we're comfortable publishing them is that with standard WordPress there's nothing to negotiate: you export the site and take it anywhere.
The difference that isn't about ownership
Content-first was right. It's now table stakes.
LawLytics has been arguing for content over decoration since long before it was fashionable, and that argument won. Which means it no longer separates anyone. Every serious competitor a firm faces is publishing now, and the question has moved on: not whether you write, but whether what you write is structured so an answer engine can lift it and attribute it to a firm it can identify.
That's the work FirmForte builds in by default. FAQ and LegalService schema on every page, answers written to be extracted rather than skimmed, and the entity signals that let ChatGPT or Perplexity connect a page to a specific firm in a specific place. It is not a magic trick, and we say so on every page that touches it: schema is hygiene and rich-result eligibility, not a citation cheat code. The content earns the mention. The structure decides whether the engine can use it.
If you're already writing well and you want that layer on top, that's the clearest reason to pick FirmForte over a platform that does the writing part properly and leaves the rest implicit. If you're not writing at all, neither of us can save you, and we'd rather say so.
Being fair about it
Where LawLytics is the better pick.
If you write your own content and want a system for it. That's the thing LawLytics is genuinely built around, and a lawyer who will actually publish every month gets more out of a tool designed for that than out of a beautiful site nobody updates.
If a low monthly is easier than a lump sum. A few hundred dollars a month is a different budgeting problem from $3,500 at once, and for a firm in its first year that difference is real. We're not going to pretend otherwise.
If you want unlimited support and never want to think about the technical side. Hosting, updates and strategy conversations included in one subscription is a genuine convenience, and our model deliberately hands you more independence and therefore more responsibility.
If you want to talk to people who are lawyers. LawLytics was founded by an attorney and it shows in how it talks about the work. That's worth something, and it's not something we can claim.
The honest summary: LawLytics is a good product with a philosophy we mostly share. If the four points above describe you, take it, and ask them the four export questions anyway.
Common questions
FirmForte vs LawLytics, answered plainly.
If your question isn't here, drop it in the audit form below. We answer everything within a business day.
Neither is simply better; they're different shapes. LawLytics is a subscription to a proprietary platform built around helping lawyers publish content, with hosting, updates and support included. FirmForte is a one-time build on WordPress that you own outright, with an optional retainer you can cancel after month three. LawLytics suits a firm that writes a lot, prefers a low monthly, and wants the technical side handled. FirmForte suits a firm that wants a portable asset, a posted price, and AEO built in by default. If the site being yours to move matters to you, that's the deciding factor.
No. LawLytics runs its own proprietary platform rather than WordPress, and it publishes its reasoning for that choice. That isn't automatically bad, and a purpose-built system can be simpler to use than a general one. It does mean the site is assembled by software you subscribe to rather than software you run, which is the practical difference from an open platform. FirmForte builds on standard WordPress with your choice of editor, so the finished site can be exported and hosted anywhere.
LawLytics states that you own your content and your domain, and we take that at face value. The distinction worth understanding is between owning your content and being able to take the built site with you, which are different things on any proprietary platform. Rather than characterize their process for them, ask directly before you sign: what files do I get, in what format, do the URLs transfer, is there a fee, and who holds the hosting and registrar logins. Get it in writing. Ask us the same questions.
LawLytics prices per firm through a calculator based on firm size and location rather than posting one number for everyone, with published plans starting around $150 a month billed annually. FirmForte posts four flat tiers, from $1,500 for an audit and fix and $3,500 for a full build. The shapes differ more than the numbers: theirs continues for as long as the site is live, ours is one payment with an optional retainer. Over one year a subscription is usually cheaper; over five, do the arithmetic for your own situation rather than taking either of our words for it.
LawLytics has a strong content foundation, which is the larger half of the job and the half most vendors skip. AEO as a named, built-in service, getting cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews, isn't part of its core offering the way it is at FirmForte, where FAQ and LegalService schema and answer-first structure ship on every page by default. The caveat applies to us as much as anyone: the schema is hygiene, not a citation trick, and the content earns the mention. This is the clearest reason to choose FirmForte over a platform that already gets the content argument right.
Your content is yours to reuse, so a move is possible; the honest answer about how much work it is depends on facts only LawLytics can confirm for your account. What we can tell you is what a migration involves generally: rebuilding the pages on the new platform, preserving or redirecting every URL so you don't lose rankings, and moving the domain and analytics. We wrote up how to do that without losing rankings, and the same guide applies whoever you're leaving. Ask them for an export first and see what you get.
When you genuinely write your own content and want a system designed for that; when a modest monthly fee is easier for your firm than a one-time build cost; when you want hosting, updates and unlimited strategy support bundled so you never touch the technical side; or when you want to work with a company founded and run by an attorney. Those are real strengths. If two or more describe your firm, LawLytics is likely the better fit, and we'd rather say that than pretend otherwise.
Four things, and the answers should come without friction. If I leave, what do I take with me and in what format? Is the price posted or quoted after a call? How long am I committed, and what happens at renewal? And is the site built so an AI engine can actually quote it, or only so Google can rank it? Any vendor worth hiring answers all four in writing. We publish our answers, which is the only reason we're comfortable asking anyone else to.
Related services
What you'd actually be buying.
If you lean our way, this is the work. Every price is posted.
AEO
AEO for law firms
The layer on top of good content: schema, answer-first structure, and the entity signals engines need.
SEO
SEO for law firms
$1,750 a month on Launch + Grow, cancellable after month three. Below the industry median retainer.
GBP
Google Business Profile
Map-pack ranking and reviews, on a profile that stays in your own Google account.
Related reading: WordPress vs a proprietary CMS, who actually owns your law firm website, and how to migrate a site without losing rankings.
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