Toronto-based Credenza Software yesterday announced a new version of its Credenza practice-management software that comes at an unbeatable price — free. Now the company offers two versions of its software — Credenza Basic for free and Credenza Pro for $24.95 a month.

Both versions work within Microsoft Outlook to transform it into a practice-management tool. Credenza adds a “files” module to Outlook. You can use these files however you like to organize your work — by clients, matters, projects or whatever. The key is that, once you install Credenza, you can associate anything in Outlook with a file.

Credenza also adds features to Outlook that allow you to track time and expenses, phone calls and phone messages.

The free version includes all of Credenza’s basic functionality. What the free version lacks and what the paid version offers are:

  • Multi-user capabilities. With the paid version, users can share files and information from within Outlook (while keeping personal information private).
  • Integrated billing. While the free version lets you track your time, the paid version has a full billing module that lets you send out invoices, track payments, record expenses, etc.
Credenza’s website provides a comparison chart of free vs. paid features.
The bottom line here is that if you are a solo or a lawyer who doesn’t need the collaboration features, and if you love working within Outlook, you may want to check this out. You sure can’t beat the price.
Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.