MatterFirst vs FilePro

Moving off FilePro?
Here are your options.

Long-established Australian platform, strong in conveyancing. Acquired by Actionstep in 2023 and now being retired.

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Encrypted at rest and in transit Australian data residency Hosted on AWS No lock-in contracts Guided setup available Your data exportable on request

Last reviewed

What should a FilePro firm migrate to?

FilePro is being retired by Actionstep on 31 December 2026, so every FilePro firm in Australia has to migrate. Actionstep is the incumbent's own destination; LEAP, Clio, Smokeball and MatterFirst are genuine alternatives. MatterFirst is Australian-built, prices per workspace rather than per user, and holds data in the region you choose.

FilePro is being retired

Actionstep acquired FilePro in 2023 and is retiring it on 31 December 2026. Every FilePro firm in Australia must be on another system before that date, after which compliance updates cease and the Electronic File Purchase portal closes permanently. Actionstep's own migration slots for late 2026 are reported to be filling, which compresses the margin if anything goes wrong.

Whatever you choose, start early. Migration capacity is finite across every vendor, and it is being used up by every other firm in the same position. We would rather you moved somewhere good than somewhere fast, and that is true even if it is not to us.

Source: https://www.lawsupport.com.au/blog/filepro-sunset-2026-before-you-sign-anything.html

MatterFirst and FilePro, side by side
MatterFirst FilePro
Origin Australia (NorthCape Technology, Melbourne) Australia
Status Active Retiring 31 December 2026
Pricing Per workspace from $149/month, users included Not applicable: the platform is being retired.
Data residency Your chosen AWS region, including AI inference Not published. Ask the vendor where inference runs, not only where files are stored.
Client portal Included on every plan, no per-client charge Not published
AI document extraction Included, with a monthly credit pool on every paid plan Not published
Contract term No lock-in Not published

FilePro details are drawn from the source linked at the foot of this page and were checked on 28 July 2026. Where we have not verified something, this page says so rather than estimating.

What FilePro is good at

  • Well understood by the Australian conveyancing firms that use it
  • Long history in the local market

Things to weigh

  • Sunsets 31 December 2026. Every FilePro firm in Australia has to migrate before then
  • Compliance updates cease and the Electronic File Purchase portal closes permanently at sunset
  • Actionstep migration slots for late 2026 are reportedly filling, which compresses the margin for anything going wrong

MatterFirst is a legal practice management platform for Australian law firms, built by NorthCape Technology, covering matters, documents, trust accounting, billing and a client portal, with data hosted in the AWS region the firm chooses.

If you are migrating, MatterFirst suits Australian firms up to about twenty seats that want document extraction and automation at the centre of the file. It is the weaker choice if you need the largest integration ecosystem, which is Clio, or a decades-deep precedent library, which is LEAP, or if the least disruptive path genuinely matters more than the destination, in which case Actionstep is where your data is already headed.

FAQ

Questions firms ask

Do I have to move off FilePro?
Actionstep acquired FilePro in 2023 and is retiring it on 31 December 2026. Every FilePro firm in Australia must be on another system before that date, after which compliance updates cease and the Electronic File Purchase portal closes permanently. Actionstep's own migration slots for late 2026 are reported to be filling, which compresses the margin if anything goes wrong.
Can MatterFirst migrate my FilePro data?
We offer a Migration Package covering matters, contacts, documents and templates, scoped per firm against your actual data volume. Talk to us early: the closer you get to a sunset date, the less room there is for anything to go wrong, and that is true whichever platform you pick.
Is Actionstep the safest choice, since it owns FilePro?
It is the path of least resistance, which is a real advantage: your data is already going there and the migration is their project. Whether it is the best fit is a separate question, and worth asking now, because migrating is the one moment when switching costs are already sunk. Actionstep's strength is deep workflow configurability; its cost is that setup is a project and stays one.
Where is my data stored?
In the AWS region your firm chooses. Sydney (ap-southeast-2) is the default for Australian firms. Matter data, documents and Document AI processing all stay in that region: documents are not moved to another region to be OCRed or analysed.
How much does MatterFirst cost?
Pricing is per workspace rather than per seat, starting at $149 per month for Solo. Each plan includes a set number of users, a monthly pool of Document AI credits, the client portal and automations. Extra users are billed only past the included seats. Full plan inclusions are on the pricing page.
Can I get my data out if I leave?
Yes. Your matters, contacts, documents and time records are exportable on request, and there is no lock-in contract. We would rather you were able to leave and chose not to.
Is there a free trial?
Yes, a seven-day guided trial on Solo, Practice or Firm. It is guided rather than self-serve because a practice management system tells you very little until it has your real matters in it, and we would rather help you load them than leave you looking at an empty workspace.
Who builds MatterFirst?
NorthCape Technology, a Melbourne-based software company. MatterFirst is built in Australia for Australian legal practice, which is why trust accounting and Xero are first-class rather than regional add-ons, and why PEXA and InfoTrack are on the roadmap rather than absent from it.
Is MatterFirst suitable for a firm of my size?
It is designed for solo practitioners up to firms of roughly twenty seats. Below that, Solo carries the full platform for one user. Above it, the platform works but you should expect to talk to us about migration and rollout rather than signing up online.

Leaving FilePro?

Seven-day guided trial with your own matters, and a migration conversation if you need one.

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