Astra for Law: OpenAI's Legal AI Compared With Gavel Exec

Compare Astra and Gavel for the contracts on your desk—and the document work your team does every day.

By Richard Poelderl · Last updated: September 21, 2026

The right legal AI should help you move that work forward. With their latest launch from 17 September, OpenAI's Astra for Law is an attempt from the AI lab to launch a model that helps law studios & in-house counsel to be more productive. You'll find out in this comparison, how Astra for Law compares against established tools like Gavel Exec.

At the beginning of 2026, our founder, Dorna Moini, predicted a shift toward AI built for specific legal disciplines. Astra’s arrival makes that question more relevant: as underlying models improve, how much value comes from the tools, context and processes built around them?

For your firm, the practical test is the work itself—reviewing an agreement against your playbook or turning client information into a complete document package.

Our verdict: Choose Gavel Exec when you want to review, redline and draft contracts in Word or online, with your firm’s standards at hand. For work that starts with intake and ends with a document package, Gavel’s separate document automation product handles that process.

However, Astra for Law comes packaged inside ChatGPT. If your organization uses ChatGPT and you have access to the latest Astra for Law model, you can compare how a Gavel's personalized solutions around the day-to-day work of lawyers compares to OpenAI's general purpose model for anything law.

Astra for Law

Astra for Law is OpenAI’s legal offering built on GPT-6 Astra, with a U.S. Legal Search Index and instructions for legal analysis and writing. Its scope includes contract work: OpenAI describes a custom firm application that uses playbooks and precedents to propose redlines and client advice.

The comparison with Gavel comes down to how you put those capabilities to work.

Gavel Exec

Gavel Exec is AI contract review, redlining, and drafting software for legal teams. It works in Microsoft Word and online, so attorneys can review contracts inside Word or use browser-based workflows for broader contract analysis.

Gavel Exec supports playbook-based review, redlining, drafting, benchmarking, batch analysis, and multi-document comparison. Playbooks can be generated with AI, built from uploaded files, created manually, or started from built-in playbooks created by practicing attorneys. Gavel Exec publishes pricing at $160 per user per month or $1,740 per user annually, and offers 25 free queries per user with no credit card required.

Three differences that matter to your working day

1. A contract product you can put straight to work

Gavel Exec brings review, redlining and drafting into Word or your browser. Start with the contract in front of you, apply your standards and work through the proposed changes.

2. Your negotiating standards, built into the review

Both offerings can support firm-specific standards. Exec’s built-in and custom playbooks turn preferred positions and fallback language into suggested redlines and comments. Astra also supports playbook-based work; the specific experience depends on your firm’s application.

3. A separate answer to repeatable document work

When the job is producing documents from client information, Gavel document automation connects intake, conditional rules and your Word or PDF templates. This is a separate product from Exec, with its own plans.

When evaluating the legal tech company Astra for Law,

For everyday contract review, choose Gavel Exec. Apply playbooks and review proposed redlines in Word or online. For repeatable document production, explore Gavel document automation. Astra is worth considering for U.S. legal research and custom legal applications.

Choose around the work you need to finish

When to choose Astra for Law

Your priority is U.S. legal research, analysis and writing with access to legal sources.
Your firm wants to develop a custom legal application around its expertise and documents.

When to choose Gavel Exec

Choose Exec to review, redline and draft agreements in Word or online.
Choose Exec to apply contract playbooks and review proposed changes in your daily work.
Choose Gavel document automation to collect client information and generate tailored documents from your templates.

Astra for Law and Gavel Exec, side by side

This table compares Astra for Law with Gavel Exec. Gavel document automation is a separate product, described below. Product and access details checked September 21, 2026, against OpenAI guidance and Gavel Exec plans.

Feature	Astra for Law	Gavel Exec
Price	Contact OpenAI; Astra-specific public pricing not announced	$160/user/month or $1,740/user billed annually; 1,000 monthly completions
Billing	Confirm terms with OpenAI	Monthly or annual billing
Free Trial	Selected-firm access by request	25 free queries per user; no credit card required
AI Features	U.S. legal research, analysis and writing; custom contract applications	Contract review, redlining, drafting and market-term benchmarking
Playbooks	Shown in a custom firm agreement analyzer	Built-in and custom playbooks; suggested redlines and comments
Word Integration	Native Word integration not specified for Astra for Law	Microsoft Word and online
Support	Contact OpenAI’s account team or Sales for access and terms	Product documentation and demos; team onboarding by discussion

The contract is the starting point. Your client’s position is the point.

A supplier sends its agreement. You represent the customer. You need to assess the terms, decide where to push back and return a draft that advances your client’s position.

With Gavel Exec, you can review that agreement in Word or online, apply your playbook and work through proposed redlines and comments. You decide which changes belong in the negotiating draft.

For matters with supporting documents and recurring instructions, Projects keep those materials together. Bring the context behind the contract into your review.

Astra can also support contract review. OpenAI’s custom firm example shows playbooks and precedents informing proposed edits. Exec’s appeal is the working experience already available to your team: contract review, playbooks and markup brought together in a product you can try on your own agreement.

When the work repeats, build it into the process.

Some assignments begin with an incoming agreement. Others begin with the same questions your team asks every new client—and the documents those answers need to become.

Gavel document automation lets you build that process around your own templates. Collect the information once, use conditional rules to select the relevant language, and generate the documents for your team to review.

For example, an intake can gather the parties and deal details, ask follow-up questions where needed and produce a tailored document package. Your team maintains the templates and rules that determine the output.

Gavel offers an existing product for this intake-to-document process. If repeatable document production is the job, make that process part of your buying decision.

See what you can automate with Gavel →

How useful is Astra for professional legal work?

Astra brings meaningful capabilities to the market: U.S. legal search, analysis and writing, plus the ability to support firm-specific applications. It also improved on the general model in OpenAI’s research evaluation.

OpenAI reports 54.0% overall correctness for Astra for Law, compared with 38.7% for GPT-6 Astra with web search, on a 200-question private validation set for legal research, with both systems using their highest reasoning effort. That is evidence of progress on the tested research tasks. It does not tell you which product will produce the best contract markup or how much review a particular matter needs. Read the evaluation.

Lawyers still need to review the work and the sources behind it. That applies to using AI responsibly in contract work, too: proposed language needs your judgment about the client and the deal.

As models improve, the practical buying question remains: how does your team get the work done? With Gavel, you can assess the answer directly—through a contract review in Exec or a document process built around your firm’s templates.

Built around the way lawyers actually work

Martin Algie uses custom playbooks to bring his firm’s approach into contract review. Read the case study.

I've found Gavel Exec really good to work with and responsive to how I negotiate, how I redline.
Martin Algie, Principal, MIA Contract Lawyers — on Gavel Exec

Make your next contract the comparison that counts

Bring an agreement you need to review and the positions you want to protect. See how Gavel Exec applies your standards, proposes changes and fits the way you negotiate.

Put Gavel Exec to work on your next contract

Bring the agreement. Apply your standards. Review the changes. Start with 25 free queries per user—no credit card required.

Start free trial Get a demo

Frequently asked questions

Can Astra for Law replace Gavel Exec?

There is overlap in contract capabilities. The decision depends on how well each fits your practice: the standards you apply, the proposed edits you review and the tools your team uses. Exec brings those elements together for everyday contract work. For more on Astra’s capabilities, see OpenAI’s Astra for Law announcement.

Is Gavel document automation included in Exec?

No. Exec handles AI-assisted contract review, redlining and drafting. Gavel document automation is a separate product for intake, conditional logic and document generation from your templates, with its own plans.

What can I try today?

Gavel Exec offers 25 free queries per user without a credit card. OpenAI currently offers Astra for Law to selected U.S. firms through its access process. Check Astra’s current availability.

Will a lawyer still need to review the output?

Yes. In contract work, review the proposed language against the agreement, your client’s position and the deal. For legal research, check the analysis and cited authorities. Gavel Exec presents proposed edits for your review; it leaves the final negotiating decisions with you.

Methodology

This comparison uses publicly available product, pricing, and review information. Features, pricing, and access terms may change, so buyers should verify current details directly with each vendor.