CoCounsel vs. Gavel Exec: AI contract review in Microsoft Word

CoCounsel pairs contract work with Westlaw and Practical Law research. Gavel Exec focuses on contract review, redlining and drafting in Word, at $160 per user per month with 25 free queries.

By Danae Martin · Last updated: October 28, 2026

Choose CoCounsel if your firm wants legal research and contract work from one vendor and already uses Westlaw and Practical Law. Choose Gavel Exec if contract review, redlining and drafting are the main job, you want playbooks built from your own documents, and you want a published price: $160 per user per month, with 25 free queries per user and no credit card.

CoCounsel

CoCounsel is Thomson Reuters' AI assistant for lawyers at firms of every size, with corporate and government editions. CoCounsel for Microsoft Word, first launched in July 2024 as CoCounsel Drafting, provides contract review, drafting tools and playbook management. CoCounsel also runs on the web and in Outlook and Teams, and its Tabular Analysis reviews up to 10,000 documents against 100 questions.

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.

Key differences between CoCounsel and Gavel Exec

Focus: CoCounsel covers research, drafting and document analysis across practice areas. Gavel Exec focuses on contract review, redlining and drafting for transactional work.
Playbooks: CoCounsel uses Practical Law contract playbooks. Gavel Exec offers built-in playbooks written by practicing attorneys and generates rules from your own checklists, spreadsheet playbooks or signed agreements.
Research: CoCounsel connects to Westlaw and Practical Law. Gavel Exec draws on your documents, project files, EDGAR filings, government sources and the open web, and doesn't connect to a case-law database.
Benchmarking: Gavel Exec benchmarks provisions by jurisdiction, industry and company size. Thomson Reuters bought Noetica, a transaction-term benchmarking platform, in February 2026 and says it intends to integrate it into CoCounsel.
Price: Gavel Exec is $160 per user per month, or $1,740 per user per year. CoCounsel offers online pricing to firms with up to 10 attorneys; larger firms contact sales.
Trial: Gavel Exec gives each user 25 free queries with no credit card. CoCounsel offers a free trial on request.

When evaluating the legal tech company CoCounsel,

legal teams should know that CoCounsel is Thomson Reuters' AI assistant for legal professionals. CoCounsel for Microsoft Word covers contract review, drafting and playbook management using Practical Law contract playbooks, and the wider product connects to Westlaw and Practical Law for research. The next generation of CoCounsel Legal became generally available in the US in August 2026. Online pricing is offered to firms with up to 10 attorneys; larger firms contact sales.

Gavel Exec is AI contract review and drafting software that runs inside Microsoft Word as an add-in and on the web. It returns priority-ranked tracked-change redlines, applies built-in or self-generated playbooks, and benchmarks provisions by jurisdiction, industry and company size. It is $160 per user per month or $1,740 per user per year, with 25 free queries per user and no credit card. Gavel Exec is SOC 2 Type II certified and has Zero Data Retention agreements with its AI model providers. Gavel is owned by Relativity.

When to choose CoCounsel vs. Gavel Exec

When to choose CoCounsel

Your firm already pays for Westlaw and Practical Law and wants AI on top of them
You need legal research and contract work from one vendor
You review large document sets with Tabular Analysis
You want Practical Law's contract playbooks as your starting positions

When to choose Gavel Exec

Contract review, redlining and drafting are most of your AI use
You want playbooks generated from your own checklists and signed agreements, edited by any lawyer
You want provisions benchmarked by jurisdiction, industry and company size
You want a published price and a trial without a sales call
You want batch analysis and multi-document comparison in a web app

Side-by-side comparison of CoCounsel and Gavel Exec

Gavel Exec publishes its price: $160 per user per month, or $1,740 per user per year, with 25 free queries per user. Thomson Reuters offers CoCounsel online pricing to firms with up to 10 attorneys and asks larger firms to contact sales; it lists discounts of 12% for two-year and 18% for three-year subscriptions. Last checked October 28, 2026.

Feature	CoCounsel	Gavel Exec
Price	Online pricing for firms up to 10 attorneys; larger firms contact sales	✓ $160/user/month or $1,740/user/year, published
Billing	Multi-year discounts listed: 12% for 2 years, 18% for 3 years	✓ Monthly or annual, no long-term contract
Free Trial	✓ Free trial on request	✓ 25 free queries per user, no credit card, no sales call
AI Features	✓ Research, drafting, contract review, document analysis	✓ Contract review, redlining, drafting, benchmarking
Playbooks	✓ Practical Law contract playbooks	✓ Built-in attorney playbooks, or generated from your documents and fully editable
Word Integration	✓ CoCounsel for Microsoft Word add-in	✓ Word add-in plus web app
Support	✓ Thomson Reuters support	✓ Live chat, support calls and onboarding, 7 days a week

Contract review in Microsoft Word

Both products work inside Word. CoCounsel for Microsoft Word offers contract review, drafting and playbook management, and its Drafting Agent lets you draft, edit and review agreements with natural-language instructions. Gavel Exec returns priority-ranked redlines as tracked changes, margin comments and a list of missing terms, with the reasoning for each change, so you accept or reject suggestions the way you would a colleague's markup.

Whose playbook

CoCounsel starts from Practical Law contract playbooks, which reflect Thomson Reuters' editorial positions. Gavel Exec ships built-in playbooks written by practicing attorneys and lets any lawyer generate rules from the team's own checklists, spreadsheet playbooks or signed agreements, then edit and share them.

Research vs. market data

CoCounsel's advantage is Westlaw and Practical Law: if you need case law and statutes while drafting, it keeps them in one place. Gavel Exec doesn't connect to a case-law database. It benchmarks contract provisions as on-market, off-market or missing for your jurisdiction, industry and company size, and its source checks draw on your precedent, uploaded files, EDGAR filings and government sources.

Multi-document work

CoCounsel's Tabular Analysis reviews up to 10,000 documents against 100 questions. Gavel Exec's web app runs batch analysis and multi-document comparison for contract sets such as a vendor portfolio or a deal's ancillary agreements.

Using both

Some firms keep CoCounsel for research and add Gavel Exec for redlining. If you do, keep your negotiation playbooks in one tool so positions stay consistent.

CoCounsel reviews

Thomson Reuters reported in February 2026 that one million professionals had chosen CoCounsel across 107 countries and territories. CoCounsel is part of Thomson Reuters' ISO/IEC 42001 certification for AI management.

Gavel Exec: 4.5/5 on Lawyerist
Gavel (all products): 4.9/5 on Capterra from 51 reviews

It's like having another assistant with you who hears your voice, understands what you want, and gives you whatever you need in seconds.
Omar Nakadi, Legal Counsel at a regulated financial services firm

Adding Gavel Exec alongside CoCounsel

Teams that already use CoCounsel can add Gavel Exec for contract redlining and keep CoCounsel for research. Start with one contract type: generate a playbook from your checklist or a few signed agreements, run it on a live contract in Word, and compare the redlines with your usual markup. Each user gets 25 free queries, so you can test without a purchase.

Try Gavel Exec for contract review in Word

Redline and draft contracts against playbooks built from your own documents, with market benchmarking. 25 free queries per user, no credit card.

Start free trial Get a demo

Frequently asked questions

Is CoCounsel or Gavel Exec better for contract review in Word?

Both work in Word. Gavel Exec is built around contract review, with tracked-change redlines, playbooks generated from your own documents and market benchmarking. CoCounsel is the stronger choice if you also need Westlaw and Practical Law research.

How much does CoCounsel cost?

Thomson Reuters offers online pricing to firms with up to 10 attorneys and asks larger firms to contact sales. Gavel Exec is $160 per user per month, or $1,740 per user per year.

Does CoCounsel have a Microsoft Word add-in?

Yes. CoCounsel for Microsoft Word, first launched in 2024 as CoCounsel Drafting, offers contract review, drafting and playbook management.

Do I need Westlaw to use CoCounsel?

CoCounsel's research features draw on Westlaw and Practical Law content, and its plans are tied to Thomson Reuters subscriptions. Check with Thomson Reuters which features your plan includes.

Can I try Gavel Exec without a sales call?

Yes. Each user gets 25 free queries with no credit card and no sales call.

Who owns Gavel Exec?

Gavel is owned by Relativity, which announced its acquisition of Gavel on June 12, 2026. Gavel Exec is integrated with Relativity aiR.

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.