Astrid Legal vs Circleback
Competitor details last checked
Circleback is a general AI meeting notes tool with automations into business apps. Astrid is built for law firms: phone and meeting capture, a note in the firm's format held for attorney approval, filing to the case management system, and a client recap. Circleback may suit a firm that wants flexible notes and automations for internal meetings. Astrid suits a firm whose client calls must become approved records on a matter.
At a glance
| Feature | Astrid | Circleback |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Law firms in any practice area, including plaintiff, family law, criminal defense, civil litigation, estate planning, real estate, corporate and business law, and IP. | Teams in general, with sales, product, HR and recruiting uses. No law firm page found. |
| Phone calls | Zoom Phone, plus a dial-in bridge for any carrier. | Its documented method is to record with the phone's own call recording and import the file. No phone system integration found. |
| Video meetings | A notetaker bot joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. | A bot joins Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex, or a bot-free desktop app for macOS and Windows. |
| In person and files | Record in person from your phone using the Astrid web app in the phone's browser, with no app to install, or from a computer browser. You can also upload a file. | iOS and Android apps, an Apple Watch app and file import. |
| Mobile apps | There is no iOS or Android app yet, and both are planned for release before December 2026. Until then Astrid works in the phone's browser, with recording and the call screens built for phones. Some other screens are not yet laid out for small screens. | iOS and Android apps, and an Apple Watch app. |
| Desktop app | A Windows desktop app records without a bot in the meeting. A Mac app is coming. | A bot-free desktop app for macOS and Windows. |
| Case management filing | Clio Manage, 8am MyCase, 8am CasePeer, Smokeball and Lawcus. | Not listed. No practice management system appears on its public pages. It lists Zapier, Make, an API and webhooks. |
| What is synced to the case management system | Matters are searched live by client name or phone, and the client's contact details are read in. After an attorney approves the note, the note and each follow-up task are filed to the matter, as a Clio phone log, a Smokeball memo, a CasePeer case note, a MyCase note or a Lawcus interaction. A recap the firm sends is filed to the matter too. Task filing to MyCase is not live yet, and filing time entries to Clio and Smokeball is rolling out to select firms. | None listed. It lists Zapier, Make, an API, MCP and webhooks. |
| Attorney approval before a note is final | Drafted in the firm's own note format. An attorney approves it before it becomes the record, and each approval is stored with who approved and when. | No approval step is described. Its help pages say it can email notes automatically and share them with calendar invitees. The default is not stated. |
| Client recap | A written recap is drafted for the client and sent by the firm. | Not stated. It can draft an email from a meeting for the user to edit and send. |
| AI chat on a matter's calls | Ask Astrid answers questions about one matter or client using only that file's transcripts, approved notes and recaps, and cites the call and timestamp behind each answer. Calls marked privileged are left out for anyone without access. It is available on laptop and tablet screens, not on a phone. | Its site describes Ask Circleback, an assistant that searches across meetings. Limiting it to one matter is not stated. |
| Recording consent | The firm sets a recording consent mode, and each call keeps a consent record. Bot-joined meetings play an audible disclosure. | Its blog says a visible bot is not legally sufficient consent, and its data processing terms put consent on the customer. How its own consent workflows work is not described. |
| Security and training | Your firm's content is not used to train models. No SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification and no independent penetration test yet. The security page says what is and is not in place. | SOC 2 Type II and EU-US Data Privacy Framework. Says it does not train models on customer data. Hosted in the United States. HIPAA and a business associate agreement are on its Enterprise plan. |
| Price | $40 per person per month billed monthly, or $400 per person per year billed annually, which is 2 months free. 14-day free trial. No per-call or per-minute charges. | Per user per month: Free $0, Pro $15, Business $25, Enterprise $35. Viewers are free. |
What Circleback is
Circleback describes AI meeting notes, action items, automations and cross-meeting search. Its pages show sales, product, HR and recruiting uses, and we did not find a law firm page, a legal template or a practice management integration on its public site.
A bot can join Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex meetings, or a bot-free desktop app for macOS and Windows can record instead. It has iOS and Android apps, an Apple Watch app and file import. Its integrations include Slack, Notion, HubSpot, Salesforce, Zapier, Make, an API, MCP and webhooks.
When Circleback is the better fit
- You want notes and automations that push into tools such as Notion, HubSpot, Slack or Salesforce.
- You want a free plan or a lower list price for internal meetings.
- You want a bot-free desktop or mobile recorder for conversations outside client matters.
When Astrid is the better fit
- You need the note filed to Clio, MyCase, CasePeer, Smokeball or Lawcus after an attorney approves it.
- Phone calls with clients are your main source of record.
- You want a client recap and a consent record built into the workflow, not assembled from automations.
Questions to ask any vendor
- Can I see it capture a real phone call from my own phone system, not a recorded demo?
- What happens to a note before it is filed to the matter or sent to anyone? Who has to approve it?
- Which case management systems are live today, and what exactly gets filed to each?
- How are recording notice and consent handled for a state that requires every party to agree?
- Is my firm's content used to train any model, under what terms, and can that be switched off?
- For a new workspace, are notes emailed or shared with calendar invitees automatically, and who can change that default?
Frequently asked questions
Does Circleback integrate with Clio?
We did not find Clio, MyCase, Smokeball, CasePeer or any practice management system on Circleback's public pages. It lists Zapier, Make, an API, MCP and webhooks, so a firm could build a connection, but Circleback does not describe one for legal systems.
Can Circleback record phone calls?
Its help center describes recording a call with the phone's built-in call recording and importing the file. We did not find a feature that captures calls from a firm's phone system.
Does Circleback train on my data?
Its homepage FAQ and help center say it does not train AI models on customer data. It names its hosting as the United States and lists SOC 2 Type II. Its security portal could not be read when we checked, so ask for the current subprocessor list.
Where this comes from
- Circleback pricing
- Circleback home
- Getting started with recording
- Recording a phone call
- Email preferences
- Sharing preferences
- Circleback security
- Recording consent for AI meeting notes
- Circleback data processing addendum
This page compares what each company says on its own public website on the date shown above. It is not a hands-on test of the other product, and products change. Where a page says a feature is not stated, that means we did not find it on the vendor's site, not that it does not exist. Confirm current capabilities and pricing with each vendor before you decide.