The short version: checked against all three on 22 September 2026, none publishes a New Zealand dollar price. Actionstep shows "Request Pricing" even with NZ picked from its own region dropdown. LEAP's New Zealand site carries no pricing page at all, only a demo booking. Smokeball has no New Zealand site; its nearest number is Australian, AUD $59 to $249 a user a month. This is a category where you shop by phone call, not by tier, and trust accounting is the detail each vendor answers differently.
Three ways of hiding a price
Actionstep names its products, Practice Management and Legal Accounting, and states plainly it's "priced per user plus implementation fees", but the number itself only comes after a quote conversation with a certified partner. LEAP goes a step further: its New Zealand site doesn't name a tier structure at all, the only calls to action are Free Demonstration and System Audit. Smokeball doesn't sell into New Zealand as a market at all, smokeball.com/nz returns a page-not-found result, and the closest thing to a public number sits on its Australian site.
Legal practice management prices against matter volume, integrations and often a data migration off a legacy system, three variables a rate card can't hold, which is a defensible reason to quote rather than publish. It also means none of the three can be shopped on price in an afternoon.
What's actually public, side by side
| Vendor | NZ pricing page | What's public | Trust accounting for NZ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actionstep | Region selector includes NZ; every region shows "Request Pricing" | Per user, plus implementation fees, quote only | Legal Accounting module stated North America only |
| LEAP | NZ site exists; no pricing page found | No tier names or figures published anywhere | Platform description mentions accounting; no NZ-specific detail public |
| Smokeball | No NZ site (smokeball.com/nz 404s) | AUD $59 to $249 a user a month, Australian site only | Built to Australian trust rules; NZ fit unconfirmed |
Smokeball's Australian entry tier, Bill from AUD $59 a user a month, is the single clearest published number across all three vendors, and it still isn't a New Zealand dollar figure, source: smokeball.com.au/pricing, checked 22 September 2026.
Which one to shortlist
- Shortlist Actionstep if you're comfortable negotiating a per-user rate plus implementation fee, and you're prepared to keep trust accounting in a separate compliant product, since Actionstep's own trust module is stated as North America only.
- Shortlist LEAP if the New Zealand-specific integrations, LawY, InfoTrack, By Lawyers and LawConnect, matter more to your firm than seeing a number before you book a demo.
- Shortlist Smokeball if you want at least one real published price to anchor a conversation, and you're willing to confirm New Zealand billing, GST and trust compliance directly before assuming the Australian product applies unchanged.
Or build the register on what you already pay for
For a firm already on Microsoft 365, matter intake, document handling and fee tracking can be built directly on the licence already paid for: a matter and fee register on Dataverse, NZ$32.40 a user a month, with Power BI Pro at NZ$22.60 for the two or three people who read the report. A build like that runs $8,000 to $18,000, and you know the number before you start, which is more than any of these three will tell you unprompted. It does not replace trust accounting. A Power Platform build covers matters, time, documents and reporting; the trust ledger has to stay in a product that meets the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Trust Account) Regulations, whether that's one of these three where it applies, or a dedicated trust accounting system. The full market comparison is in what law practice management software costs a small NZ firm.
Common questions
Which of Actionstep, LEAP and Smokeball publishes a price for New Zealand?
None of them, as at the 22 September 2026 check. Actionstep and LEAP publish no dollar figure in any currency anywhere, even with New Zealand selected on Actionstep's own region dropdown. Smokeball's nearest number is Australian dollars, Bill from AUD $59 a user a month, not a New Zealand price.
Which one is cheapest for a small NZ firm?
There's no way to answer that from published numbers alone, because two of the three name no figure at all. Smokeball's Australian entry tier, AUD $59 a user a month, is the only public anchor in this group, and it isn't a New Zealand price. Get a written quote from each before assuming any one is cheaper.
Does trust accounting work the same across all three?
No, and it's worth checking before signing anything. Actionstep's own site states its Legal Accounting trust module is North America only. Smokeball's trust accounting is built to Australian trust account rules with no confirmed New Zealand equivalent. LEAP's New Zealand site describes accounting as part of its platform but publishes no detail on which regulations it meets. Confirm directly with each vendor that the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Trust Account) Regulations are covered.
Get a straight comparison for your firm
Book a free 30-minute call. Bring your fee-earner count and which vendor conversations you've already had; I'll tell you honestly whether a Power Platform build fits alongside what you land on, or not.