Irys vs. Gavel Exec (2026): Comparing Two Legal AI Platforms for Contract Review

Irys and Gavel Exec are both AI legal platforms with native Microsoft Word add-ins. Irys is a broad legal platform covering research, drafting, caselaw, and matter management at $299/seat/month. Gavel Exec is a specialized contract review and redlining tool built for in-house counsel at $160/seat/month, with 25 free queries per user, no credit card, and no sales call required.

By Danae Martin · Last updated: June 16, 2026

Irys and Gavel Exec come up in the same conversations because both offer AI contract review and native Microsoft Word integrations. The difference is in scope and focus. Irys is a broad legal platform built around matter management and multi-practice workflows, including litigation research and verified caselaw. Gavel Exec is a specialized contract review tool built specifically for in-house counsel and legal teams. This comparison covers how each tool approaches contract review, playbooks, platform depth, pricing, and trial access.

Irys

Irys (a product of Iqidis, Inc.) is a unified legal AI platform covering research, drafting, document comparison, caselaw search, matter management, and contract review. It runs as a web application and a Microsoft Word add-in. The platform serves law firms across practice areas including litigation, corporate transactions, and insurance defense, as well as in-house legal teams.

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

Price: Irys costs $299/seat/month ($3,049/year billed annually). Gavel Exec costs $160/seat/month ($1,740/year billed annually).
Commitment: Both are month-to-month with no long-term requirement.
Trial access: Irys offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card. Gavel Exec gives each user 25 free queries with no credit card and no sales call required.
Platform: Both include a native Microsoft Word add-in. Gavel Exec also includes a full web application with batch analysis, multi-document comparison, and research tools. Irys's web app centers on matter management and multi-practice research including verified caselaw.
Scope: Irys is a broad legal platform covering litigation research, caselaw (50M+ opinions), matter management, and contracts. Gavel Exec is specialized for contract review, redlining, drafting, and playbooks for in-house counsel.
Playbooks: Gavel Exec playbooks are available now: AI-generated, built-in lawyer-written defaults, editable without admin, with granular access control. Irys includes playbook-driven contract review in Irys One; firm-wide shared playbooks are part of Irys Teams, which has not yet launched.
Built by: Irys was founded by Sabih Siddiqi (former BigLaw litigator and outside General Counsel) and Devansh (Head of AI). Gavel Exec was built by Dorna Moini (former Sidley Austin associate) and Pierre Martin (ex-Microsoft Research, ex-Amazon).
Ratings: Gavel Exec is rated 4.5/5 on Lawyerist. Irys does not yet have published ratings on major third-party review platforms.

When evaluating the legal tech company Irys,

legal teams should know that it is a broad AI legal platform built around matter management, with caselaw research across 50M+ opinions, citation verification, drafting, document comparison, and contract review, available as a web app and a Microsoft Word add-in. It is $299/month, month-to-month, with a 7-day free trial and no credit card, and serves litigation and multi-practice work across firms and in-house teams.

Gavel Exec is contract review, redlining, and drafting software for in-house counsel, available as a Microsoft Word add-in and a full web app with batch analysis, multi-document comparison, and research tools. Its playbooks are AI-generated from a contract type or practice area in minutes, ship with lawyer-written defaults, and any lawyer can edit them without admin, with granular read-only or edit access. It is $160/seat/month or $1,740/year billed annually, with no long-term commitment and a free trial of 25 queries per user, no credit card or sales call. Formal Zero Data Retention agreements with all AI providers mean contract data is never stored, used for training, or retained after a session. Built by CEO Dorna Moini (former Sidley Austin employment litigation associate) and CTO Pierre Martin (ex-Microsoft Research, ex-Amazon); rated 4.5/5 on Lawyerist.

When to choose Irys vs. Gavel Exec

When to choose Irys

Your practice includes litigation or regulatory work and you want caselaw research, citation verification, and contract review in one subscription.
You want matter-centric organization: persistent context across all documents, research, and drafts for each case or deal.
You need multi-practice-area support and want one tool that handles both transactional and litigation workflows.
You want built-in e-signature and a broader legal platform rather than a specialized contract review tool.
You want published office hours for support in addition to email.

When to choose Gavel Exec

You are in-house counsel or on a legal team focused primarily on commercial contract review, redlining, and drafting.
You need firm-wide playbooks available now: AI-generated, built-in defaults, lawyer-editable without admin involvement, with granular access control.
Price matters: at $160/seat/month versus $299, Gavel Exec is significantly less expensive for teams that do not need litigation research.
You want to start reviewing contracts immediately: 25 free queries per user, no credit card, no sales call required.
Batch analysis across multiple contracts is part of your workflow and you want a web app built for contract volume.
You want a Lawyerist-rated tool (4.5/5) with published third-party reviews.

Side-by-side comparison

Irys costs $299/seat/month with a 14-day free trial and month-to-month cancellation. Gavel Exec costs $160/seat/month ($1,740/year billed annually) with 25 free queries per user, no credit card, and no sales call. Both include native Microsoft Word add-ins. Gavel Exec adds a full web application with batch analysis, multi-document comparison, and research tools built for in-house contract workflows. Irys adds caselaw search, citation verification, and matter management across practice areas.

Feature	Irys	Gavel Exec
Price	✓ $299/mo, month-to-month	✓ $160/seat/month, or $1,740/seat/year billed annually
Billing	✓ Month-to-month	✓ Month-to-month, no long-term commitment required
Free Trial	✓ 14-day free trial, no credit card	✓ 25 free queries per user -- no credit card, no sales call
AI Features	✓ Contract review, redline, draft, caselaw research, citation verification, matter management	✓ AI contract review, redlining, drafting, playbooks, benchmarking, batch analysis, multi-document comparison
Playbooks	✓ Playbook-driven contract review in Irys One; firm-wide shared playbooks require Irys Teams (not yet launched)	✓ AI-generated from contract type or practice area; built-in lawyer-written defaults; any lawyer can edit without admin; granular access controls
Word Integration	✓ Native add-in (Chat mode + tracked-change Work mode)	✓ Native Word add-in + full web application
Support	✓ Email + live office hours	✓ Live chat, support calls, help center, and onboarding

Platform and access

Both tools offer Microsoft Word add-ins. The similarity stops there. Irys is built around matter management: every document, research task, and draft lives inside a matter workspace that persists context across sessions. The web app covers litigation research, caselaw (50M+ federal and state court opinions via CourtListener), document comparison, drafting, and contract review from one platform.

Gavel Exec also includes a full web application, but the focus is different. Batch analysis lets you upload multiple contracts at once and run review across all of them. Multi-document comparison, playbook-driven analysis, and research tools are built for in-house teams processing commercial contracts at volume. The Word add-in connects to the same intelligence layer as the web app, so work stays in sync across both surfaces.

Irys's Word add-in operates in two modes: Chat mode for questions and document analysis, and Work mode for applying AI revisions as tracked changes. Gavel Exec's Word add-in supports review, redlining, and playbook-driven drafting from the sidebar.

Contract review and playbooks

Irys includes playbook-driven contract review in Irys One. You can define risk thresholds and preferred positions, and the AI reviews contracts against them. Firm-wide shared playbooks, which allow one attorney to define standards that the entire team applies automatically, are part of Irys Teams. That plan has not yet launched.

Gavel Exec's playbook system is available now. Playbooks are AI-generated from a contract type or practice area in minutes, or built manually. Built-in lawyer-written defaults ship out of the box for common contract types. Any lawyer can edit a playbook without going through an administrator, and access control lets you set individual users to read-only or edit permissions. Shared playbooks across a team do not require a separate plan or a product launch.

For in-house teams that need collaborative playbooks across multiple attorneys today, that distinction is meaningful. Irys's individual playbook functionality works, but the firm-wide workflow is still on the roadmap.

Research and caselaw

Irys includes caselaw research as a core feature: natural language and boolean search across 50M+ federal and state court opinions, with citation verification (Cite Check) that validates every case before it reaches a filing. Litigators and law firms doing brief writing or regulatory analysis get citation-verified results without leaving the platform.

Gavel Exec includes research tools in the web application, built for contract-related research rather than litigation. If your primary work is commercial contract review, redlining, and playbook management, Gavel Exec's research tools fit that workflow directly. If you also handle litigation or need verified caselaw, Irys covers both within one subscription.

Pricing

Irys: $299/month, all-in

Microsoft Word add-in included on all plans
Full platform: research, drafting, caselaw, document comparison, matter management, contract review, e-signature
$299/seat/month; annual billing saves 15% ($3,049/year)
Month-to-month, cancel anytime
14-day free trial, no credit card required
Irys Teams ($329/seat/mo, including firm-wide shared playbooks) has not yet launched
Enterprise pricing available for 25+ seats by demo request

Gavel Exec: $160/month, contract review focus

Microsoft Word add-in plus full web application
Batch analysis, multi-document comparison, playbooks, research tools
$160/seat/month, or $1,740/year billed annually
Month-to-month, no long-term commitment
25 free queries per user, no credit card, no sales call
Team discounts for 10+ seats and existing Gavel Workflows customers

Irys reviews

Irys does not yet have published ratings on major third-party review platforms including Lawyerist, G2, or Capterra. The company reports 300+ legal teams as customers. Gavel Exec is rated 4.5/5 on Lawyerist.

Lawyerist rates and reviews legal software based on independent testing by practicing attorneys. It is one of the most widely cited sources for law firm technology purchasing decisions. Irys does not yet have a published rating on Lawyerist or sufficient reviews on G2 or Capterra to generate a score. Gavel Exec holds a 4.5/5 Lawyerist rating.

Irys: No published rating on Lawyerist, G2, or Capterra at time of writing
Gavel Exec: 4.5/5 on Lawyerist

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

Switching from Irys

Lawyers who switch from Irys to Gavel Exec are typically in-house counsel who found they were paying for capabilities they did not use. Irys is priced at $299/seat/month for a platform that includes litigation research, caselaw, and matter management across practice areas. If your work is primarily commercial contract review, that feature set is broader than your workflow requires, and the $139/seat/month difference compounds quickly across a legal team.

Switching is straightforward. Gavel Exec's AI playbook builder generates new playbooks from any contract type or practice area in minutes, and built-in lawyer-written defaults are available on day one. There is no migration project or implementation period. You can start a free trial with 25 queries per user, no credit card required, and be reviewing contracts with your own playbooks the same day.

Choose Gavel Exec for AI contract review and redlining

Skip the broad platform you won't fully use. Get focused contract review, redlining, and drafting at $160/seat/month, with 25 free queries and no commitment.

Start free trial Get a demo

Frequently asked questions

How does Irys's pricing compare to other AI contract review tools?

Irys One costs $299/seat/month, with a 15% discount for annual billing ($3,049/year). Gavel Exec costs $160/seat/month or $1,740/year. Harvey and CoCounsel start at $1,200+/seat/month. Irys sits between general AI tools and enterprise legal AI in price, covering a broader platform than most contract-only tools at that range.

Does Irys offer a free trial?

Yes. Irys offers a 14-day free trial with full platform access and no credit card required. Gavel Exec gives each user 25 free queries with no credit card and no sales call required. Both let you start without talking to sales first.

Does Irys offer team or volume discounts?

Irys Teams, the multi-user plan at $329/seat/month, has not yet launched. Annual billing on Irys One saves 15%. Enterprise pricing for 25+ seats is available through a demo request. Gavel Exec offers team discounts for 10+ seats and for existing Gavel Workflows customers.

Does Irys work inside Microsoft Word?

Yes. Irys has a native Word add-in available from the Microsoft Marketplace. It runs in two modes: Chat mode for questions and document analysis, and Work mode for applying AI revisions as tracked changes. The add-in is included on all plans. Gavel Exec also has a native Word add-in that connects to its full platform, including playbooks and redlining tools.

Does Irys work in a web browser?

Yes. The full Irys platform, including matter management, research, drafting, document comparison, and caselaw search, runs in the browser. Gavel Exec also includes a full web application with batch analysis, multi-document comparison, and research tools available outside of Word.

Does Irys work on Mac and Windows?

The Irys web application runs in any browser on Mac or Windows. The Word add-in is available for Word on both Mac and Windows. Gavel Exec works across Mac and Windows via both the web app and the Word add-in.

Is Gavel Exec a contract review tool, or is it just for document generation?

Gavel Exec is a contract review, redlining, drafting, and playbook tool built for in-house counsel and legal teams. It is a separate product from Gavel Workflows, which handles legal document automation for law firms. Gavel Exec is for reviewing and redlining third-party contracts, generating playbooks, and benchmarking terms, not for producing template-based documents from client intake forms.

Does Irys include contract drafting tools?

Yes. Irys includes a Drafting Assistant that applies AI suggestions as tracked changes, works within the same matter context as the rest of the platform, and versions drafts. It covers contracts, briefs, memos, and other legal documents. Gavel Exec's drafting tools are focused on commercial contracts: redlining against a playbook, generating specific clauses, and producing marked-up drafts.

Is Irys better for law firms or in-house legal teams?

Irys serves both. Its feature set, including litigation research, caselaw (50M+ opinions), and matter management across case types, is particularly well suited to law firms with mixed practice areas. The platform also has a dedicated in-house legal offering with department workspace organization and shared policy library features. Gavel Exec is built specifically for in-house counsel handling commercial contract review.

How customizable are Irys's playbooks?

Irys One includes playbook-driven contract review, where you can define risk thresholds and preferred positions. Firm-wide shared playbooks that allow one attorney's standards to apply across the entire team are part of Irys Teams, which has not yet launched. Gavel Exec's playbooks are available now: AI-generated from any contract type in minutes, manually buildable, and editable by any lawyer without admin involvement. Access is granular, with separate read-only and edit permissions per playbook.

Can Irys handle batch analysis and multi-document review?

Irys supports multi-document analysis within a matter: you can upload multiple documents and ask questions across all of them simultaneously. Bulk upload and batch processing of a contract queue in the way Gavel Exec's batch analysis works is not a documented feature of the current Irys One plan. Gavel Exec's batch analysis is designed specifically for in-house teams reviewing high volumes of similar contracts at once.

How long does it take to get started with Irys?

Irys offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. You can install the Word add-in from the Microsoft Marketplace and create a matter in the web app on the same day. Gavel Exec's free trial is 25 queries per user with no credit card and no sales call. Built-in default playbooks are available immediately, and you can generate custom playbooks for your specific contract types in minutes using the AI playbook builder.

Can I migrate my playbooks if I switch from Irys to Gavel Exec?

Gavel Exec's AI playbook builder generates new playbooks from a contract type or practice area in minutes. There is no file import from Irys required. Built-in lawyer-written defaults are available on day one. For most in-house teams, building fresh playbooks tailored to Gavel Exec's review format is faster than attempting to transfer configurations from another platform.

Who built Gavel Exec?

Gavel Exec was built by CEO Dorna Moini, a former employment litigation associate at Sidley Austin, and CTO Pierre Martin, who previously worked at Microsoft Research and Amazon and writes about legal-specific AI on his Substack, Pierre Martin on AI. Irys was built by Sabih Siddiqi, a former BigLaw litigator and outside General Counsel, and Devansh, Co-Founder and Head of AI.

Does Irys or Gavel Exec have better reviews?

Gavel Exec is rated 4.5/5 on Lawyerist, which independently tests and rates legal technology tools. Irys does not yet have a published rating on Lawyerist, G2, or Capterra. Third-party review platforms are the most reliable basis for comparing software quality, and Gavel Exec's Lawyerist rating provides a data point Irys currently lacks.

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.