Bankruptcy software comes in two layers. Petition software (Best Case, NextChapter, Jubilee) prepares the official forms, runs the means test and files through CM/ECF. Intake tools sit in front of it and get the client's information into the case without a paralegal retyping a 30-page packet. Most comparisons mix the two, which is why the answer to "what should we buy?" is often "both".
We compared the petition platforms and the intake tools consumer bankruptcy firms actually shortlist, using each vendor's own pages. Prices checked in October 2026. Our pick for firms already on Best Case is Casewell, because it removes the retyping step without asking you to change the software you file in.
Here's the TLDR (prices checked in October 2026):
- Casewell (our pick): Best for Best Case firms whose clients still fill out paper or talk through intake. Turns the packet or interview into a Best Case file. Free during its beta.
- Best Case: Best for most consumer firms that want the standard petition software. Cloud $99/user/month; Desktop from $1,750/year.
- NextChapter: Best for firms that want cloud-only software with a client portal built in. $89 to $179/user/month on a 12-month contract.
- Jubilee: Best for low-volume or price-sensitive filers. $95 per case, or $995/year for up to 36 filings.
- Glade: Best for firms ready to replace their whole stack with one AI case platform. Pricing not published.
- BK Questionnaire: Best for firms that want clients to fill in an online questionnaire and upload documents. Plans from $39.99 plus per-debtor fees.
Quick comparison
| Software | What it does | Files with the court | Works with Best Case | Starting price (Oct 2026) | Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casewell | Intake to Best Case file | No | Yes, exports a .BCB file | Free during beta | Free beta, no card |
| Best Case | Petition prep and filing | Yes, OneTouch CM/ECF | It is Best Case | $99/user/mo (Cloud) | 30 days (Cloud) |
| NextChapter | Petition prep, filing, client portal | Yes, CM/ECF | Replaces it | $89/user/mo, 12-month contract | 7 days |
| Jubilee | Petition prep, filing, client portal | Yes, click-to-file | Replaces it | $95 per case | 30 days |
| Glade | Intake through filing, AI case platform | Yes | Replaces it | Not published | Demo only |
| BK Questionnaire | Client questionnaire and documents | No | CSV export; Best Case not named | $39.99 + $15.99/debtor | Not stated |
1. Casewell
Casewell is not petition software, and it's first on this list for a specific reason. Stretto says Best Case is "used to prepare more than 80% of the bankruptcy cases filed nationwide," so for most firms the question isn't which petition software to switch to. It's how to stop typing intake into the one they have. Casewell works with Best Case: it reads the client's intake and exports a native .BCB file, Best Case's own case file, which you open in Best Case with File, then Restore Client from Disk. You keep preparing, reviewing and filing in Best Case exactly as before.
The input can be a handwritten scan, a typed PDF, phone photos, pasted interview notes, live dictation or a recorded consultation in English or Spanish. Each uploaded page is read five times and compared field by field. Fields where the reads disagree go to staff beside the cropped handwriting, values map onto Best Case fields by fixed rules, and every file is read back against the confirmed values before it's released. Per its Best Case import page, the export fills Schedules A/B, D, E/F, G, I and J, with every creditor's address and account detail.
Pricing: free during the beta, with no card and no contract, and up to 10 intake packets per firm per day, per Casewell's pricing page. Paid pricing isn't published.
Limits: it only exports to Best Case. Schedule C exemptions, Schedule H and joint filings, means test inputs and the full Statement of Financial Affairs are listed as coming soon, not in today's export, and it doesn't build the creditor matrix or file anything. It's still in beta with no third-party reviews we could find, and its security page says there's no SOC 2 report or completed third-party penetration test yet. Our full Casewell review covers each of these.
Pick it if: you file in Best Case, your intake still arrives on paper or in a consultation, and a paralegal spends hours keying it in.
2. Best Case
Best Case by Stretto is the default petition software in consumer bankruptcy. It comes as Best Case Desktop (Windows 10 or 11) and Best Case Cloud, which runs in a browser on Windows, macOS or Linux. OneTouch electronic filing "instantly navigates the court's website and uploads the proper documents" through CM/ECF, and also handles post-petition Form 423 and Chapter 13 plan filing. It includes federal and local forms, exemptions, means test data, court notices with PACER free looks, and a calendar. Credit report data imports into Schedules D, E, F and G.
Pricing: Best Case Cloud is $99 per user per month with 10GB of storage and unlimited cases, with a free 30-day trial, per the Best Case pricing page. Desktop is an annual license: $1,750 for Chapter 7, $2,250 for Chapters 7 and 13, and $2,500 for all chapters, for one user, plus renewal maintenance. The same page shows a lower set of Desktop figures on phone-width screens, so confirm with sales before you budget.
Limits: Desktop is Windows-only. Most add-ons (the MyCaseInfo client questionnaire on Desktop, credit and financial reports, courses, noticing, payments) cost extra with no published prices. Some features are Desktop-only today, including payments and the Chapter 13 Plan Tracker. Its client questionnaire only helps when clients finish it online.
Pick it if: you want the most widely used petition software, with filing through CM/ECF in every jurisdiction.
3. NextChapter
NextChapter, now "a Clio company," is 100% cloud-based bankruptcy software for Chapters 7, 11, 12 and 13, from a team in Columbus, Ohio. It prepares petitions and files with the court without leaving the app. Its MyChapter portal gives clients an online questionnaire they complete on a phone or tablet, also in Spanish, which imports into the case after attorney review. It integrates with Clio for intake, with Universal Credit Services for credit reports ($36 individual, $57 joint) and with DebtorCC.org for courses.
Pricing: Pro Basic $89, Pro Plus $129 and the Whoa plan (business Chapter 11 and Sub V) $179 per user per month, or $979 to $1,949 per user per year, per NextChapter's pricing page. "All plans require a 12-month annual contract, whether billed monthly or annually." There's a 7-day free trial.
Limits: cloud only, with no desktop version. Moving from Best Case uses a paid "shell case import" plus a concierge service, with no file format named. Its comparison page also says up to 6 users are free on an annual plan, which doesn't match its per-user pricing page, so get the quote in writing.
Pick it if: you're starting fresh or leaving Best Case, want everything in the browser, and use Clio.
4. Jubilee
Jubilee (JubileePro) is web-based petition preparation and practice management for Chapters 7, 11, 12 and 13. It offers click-to-file "in all CM/ECF courts across the Country," a means test calculator tied to case data, court noticing, a client portal for documents and messages, LawPay payments, SignNow e-signatures and its own credit report service.
Pricing: the most flexible here, per Jubilee's pricing page. Pay As You Go is $95 per case filed. Annual plans run from $995 for up to 36 filings (2 users) to $4,995 for up to 500 filings (5 users), with overage fees per extra case. There's a 30-day free trial.
Limits: credit report and course prices aren't published, and neither is any import from Best Case or data export. The site doesn't describe the company's history or ownership. Monthly pricing isn't published.
Pick it if: you file a handful of cases a year and want to pay per case, or you want a lower annual cost than Best Case.
5. Glade
Glade is an "AI case management platform for law firms" that covers bankruptcy from first contact to post-filing. Prospects book and complete intake on the firm's website, a branded portal collects documents, the AI reads and sorts uploads into one case record, and schedules and statements (including the means test and creditor matrix) assemble from that data for staff to approve. It files across districts and routes court notices afterwards, per Glade's bankruptcy page.
Pricing: not published; you book a demo.
Limits: it's a replacement, not an add-on. Its site describes no export to Best Case, NextChapter or Jubilee, and its own blog says it replaces a stack of Best Case, Clio and CourtDrive. That means migrating case data and retraining staff.
Pick it if: you're a high-volume firm willing to move everything to one platform.
6. BK Questionnaire
BK Questionnaire, from BK Assistant in Costa Mesa, California, is an online client questionnaire and document collection tool for Chapter 7 and 13 firms, "designed by a seasoned bankruptcy paralegal." Clients answer on the web or in the BK Assistant mobile app, with English and Spanish tutorials and a database of more than 6,000 creditors for address auto-complete. Higher plans add payroll and bank statement assistants.
Pricing: Standard $39.99, Premium $89.99 and Ultimate $129.99 ($159 for a joint case), per the BK Questionnaire pricing page, which doesn't state the billing period. Credit reports are $15.99 per debtor.
Limits: it doesn't prepare or file petitions. Export is CSV that "imports into most major petition preparation systems," without naming Best Case. The pricing grid's plan names don't match the plan cards, so ask what each tier includes.
Pick it if: your clients are comfortable filling in forms on their phones and you want document collection handled for you.
What about CINcompass?
CINcompass still shows up in older lists, but when we checked, cincompass.com redirected to an empty Stretto marketing page and Stretto's own site listed only Best Case for attorneys. We left it off the ranking. If you're on it, ask Stretto directly about its future.
How to choose
- Decide whether your problem is filing or typing. If filing, local forms and Chapter 13 plans are the pain, compare petition software. If staff spend their hours keying intake, an intake tool in front of your current software is usually the cheaper fix. Switching petition software moves the retyping; it doesn't remove it.
- Count your filings. At a handful of cases a year, Jubilee's $95 per case is the cheapest published option; above about 10 cases, its $995 annual plan (up to 36 filings) costs less than paying per case. At steady volume, compare Best Case Cloud's $99 per user with NextChapter's per-user plans and their 12-month contract.
- Look at how your clients behave. If they finish online questionnaires, use the portal in your petition software or BK Questionnaire. If they bring paper or talk it through in a consultation, that's what Casewell reads.
- Price the add-ons. Credit reports, courses, payments and noticing are extra on most platforms, often with no published price.
- Ask for a filing demo in your district, with your ECF credentials and your local forms.
If nothing on the shelf fits how your firm works, custom intake and case tools are another route; Digital Mundo, the studio that built Casewell, describes that work on its page on software for law firms. Our guide to AI for law firms covers the wider picture.
FAQ
What software do most bankruptcy attorneys use?
Best Case. Stretto says it's used to prepare more than 80% of bankruptcy cases filed nationwide. NextChapter and Jubilee are the main alternatives.
How much does bankruptcy software cost?
From published prices: Jubilee is $95 per case or from $995 a year, Best Case Cloud is $99 per user per month, Best Case Desktop starts at $1,750 a year for Chapter 7, and NextChapter runs $89 to $179 per user per month on a 12-month contract. Add-ons are usually extra.
Does Casewell replace Best Case?
No. Casewell prepares a Best Case file from your intake. You import it and keep preparing and filing in Best Case.
Can I move my cases from NextChapter or Jubilee to Best Case?
Not through any vendor's published import that we found. Casewell can read a printed individual Chapter 7 official-form package from another program and write a Best Case Desktop file, with exemptions, codebtors, the means test and most SOFA answers kept as notes for manual entry.
Is there free bankruptcy software for attorneys?
Not for petition preparation and filing. Best Case Cloud, NextChapter and Jubilee all offer free trials. Casewell's intake tool is free during its beta, but you still need petition software.
Run your next real intake packet through two of these before you sign anything, and time it from the client's paperwork to a case ready for review.
Disclosure: Casewell is made by Digital Mundo LLC, which has the same owner as Gold Penguin LLC.
