Contracts are the backbone of every organisation. Yet the process of reviewing them—clause by clause, line by line—can be time-consuming and repetitive, especially when handled at scale. In 2025, artificial intelligence is helping to shift that dynamic.

AI contract review software is transforming how lawyers manage contracts: accelerating review cycles, flagging risk with greater accuracy, and freeing legal professionals to focus on high-value strategic work. These tools are not designed to replace legal reasoning, but to reinforce it by acting as co-pilots in the increasingly fast-paced, high-volume world of in-house legal work.

In this article, we explore the best AI contract review tools legal teams are using in 2025. Each platform brings its own strengths to the table, from redlining and clause benchmarking to full-scale contract lifecycle management. But first, let’s look at how AI is reshaping legal workflows and why it’s a resource modern legal teams are learning to trust.

From Manual to Smart: Why Legal Teams Are Embracing AI for Contract Review

Legal professionals are trained to read between the lines. But with rising volumes of contracts and ever-evolving regulatory requirements, traditional review methods can slow progress and introduce risk.

AI contract review software offers an intelligent assistive layer that:

• Automates first-pass review of routine agreements

• Flags deviations from standard terms or policy playbooks

• Highlights ambiguous or high-risk clauses

• Extracts key terms and obligations for faster analysis

Unlike manual review, AI systems can analyse hundreds of contracts at once and identify patterns faster. As a result, lawyers can spend less time searching for issues and more time solving them.

Importantly, many modern contract review AI tools have built-in guardrails to ensure security and reliability. Leading platforms comply with major data privacy regulations (like GDPR) and offer features like audit trails, user permissions, and data residency options—making them not just powerful, but trustworthy.

The role of the lawyer remains central. But with AI handling the repetitive tasks, legal teams are better equipped to focus on higher-value work and provide strategic oversight, negotiate favourable terms, or advise the business with confidence.

Can AI Really Understand Legal Documents?

The short answer: yes. If trained and deployed correctly.

AI tools built for legal contract review use two core technologies: natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML). NLP enables software to parse and understand human language in legal documents. It can distinguish between an indemnity clause and a governing law clause, or identify when a non-compete term deviates from your preferred language.

Machine learning allows the system to improve over time. By training on thousands of real contracts—and receiving feedback from legal teams—AI can begin to predict which clauses might be risky, which fall outside policy, and which require escalation.

That said, AI isn’t perfect. It’s not meant to be. Legal AI co-pilots like Wordsmith are built to assist, not replace, professional judgment or human expertise. They serve as intelligent filters that help lawyers prioritise what matters most.

With proper implementation, AI can drastically reduce time spent on repetitive reviews, enhance risk detection, and deliver consistency across high volumes of contracts and thousands of documents.

The Top AI Contract Review Software & Tools

The tools below represent the top AI-powered contract review solutions legal teams are turning to in 2025. Built to handle lengthy contracts and nuanced legal concepts, these platforms combine machine learning with industry expertise to support high-quality review at speed. Whether you're working across jurisdictions or reviewing a wide range of agreement types, they help reduce the hours per contract typically required—without compromising on ethical standards or introducing overly complex technology.

1. Wordsmith.ai

Wordsmith stands out as one of the best AI tools to streamline any contract review process, purpose-built for in-house legal teams who need both speed and trust.

Wordsmith’s "First Pass" contract review AI software automates the initial layer of legal review. It highlights risks, extracts key terms, and summarises contracts within seconds with the appropriate legal language. What sets Wordsmith apart is its deliberate balance of speed and legal precision. Its features include:

• Clause-by-clause review tailored to your playbook for improved accuracy and speed

• Instant red flag detection for NDAs, MSAs, employment contracts and more

• Clear explanations for why certain terms are risky—not just what they are

• Full data privacy and UK/EU data residency compliance

Wordsmith is also designed to support international teams. With multi-jurisdiction support and ongoing training from expert legal professionals, it provides contract review AI tools that align with both global regulations and in-house standards.

Legal teams using Wordsmith report significant time savings on contract review. Trustpilot, for example, saved six minutes per page when reviewing vendor contracts using Wordsmith. Preply saw a 50% reduction in time spent on agreement processing workflows, and reduced internal B2B query response time by up to 80%. That’s why Wordsmith is emerging as a trusted co-pilot for legal departments navigating complex contractual landscapes.

Best for: In-house teams seeking a secure, legally trained AI co-pilot for scalable contract review.

Explore Wordsmith First Pass

2. Luminance

Luminance is a contract review AI software solution widely used for its machine learning-based approach to document analysis. Its strength lies in being able to analyse large volumes of contracts and surface anomalies and potential risks based on learned patterns rather than relying solely on predefined rules.

Often favoured in high-stakes environments like M&A due diligence, the platform helps legal teams categorise contracts, identify clause-level inconsistencies, and assess legal risk exposure through its visual dashboards. These tools allow lawyers to spot unusual provisions and focus their attention where it matters most.

However, Luminance is best utilised by teams willing to invest in training the system. It becomes more effective over time, learning from internal data and evolving to reflect an organisation’s specific risk tolerances. That adaptability makes it valuable, though new users may face a learning curve.

While it lacks detailed clause-level redlining out of the box, it compensates with strong document clustering capabilities and customisable risk management and profiling.

Best for: Legal teams handling complex due diligence, compliance analysis, and large-scale contract portfolios.

3. Ironclad AI

Ironclad integrates AI contract review capabilities into its broader Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) ecosystem, offering legal teams a unified environment to manage contracts from drafting to execution to archiving.

What makes Ironclad appealing is its ability to streamline legal workflows through automation. Teams can establish key clause libraries, automate fallback suggestions, and route approvals based on predefined conditions. This helps ensure contracts adhere to internal standards while also speeding up review and negotiation cycles. Deviation detection is a key feature, flagging language that diverges from approved templates—an especially helpful tool in high-volume environments.

The platform also offers integrations with tools like Salesforce and Google Drive, which support seamless collaboration across departments. While its breadth of functionality is an advantage for legal operations teams, it can be more complex than necessary for teams focused exclusively on pre-signature contract review.

Ironclad requires some upfront configuration and may suit more mature legal teams with established workflows, but it delivers significant value where end-to-end visibility and automation are priorities.

Best for: Legal ops teams at mid-to-large companies seeking process automation across the contract lifecycle.

4. Robin AI

Robin AI combines generative AI with human legal expertise to accelerate contract review, redlining, and negotiation. Developed with input from legal professionals, it uses a large language model fine-tuned specifically for legal tasks—ensuring that its output is both sophisticated and reliable.

The platform allows users to create and automate custom contract workflows. Robin AI can flag non-standard clauses, suggest redlines, and propose alternate wording directly in the document. It’s especially strong at integrating with in-house playbooks and reviewing third-party contracts, making it ideal for organisations looking to scale legal operations without sacrificing quality.

Robin AI’s hybrid approach, which combines AI review with optional lawyer oversight, ensures that sensitive documents receive the scrutiny they need while still benefiting from automation. With integrations into Word and CLM platforms, it also fits smoothly into existing tech stacks. It's a reliable and helpful tool for legal teams to optimise their contract management processes while maintaining a high level of accuracy and control.

Best for: Legal teams that want high-quality AI review with human-in-the-loop oversight for sensitive or complex contracts.

5. LEGALFLY

LEGALFLY is an intuitive, AI-powered platform designed to save you valuable time on contract drafting, review, and discovery. It can review a large volume of contracts in seconds and automatically redraft them with compliant clauses.

A standout feature is its focus on confidentiality and compliance. The platform always redacts sensitive information before analysing documents, ensuring that privacy and data protection standards are met without exception.

Another unique advantage is LEGALFLY’s custom agent functionality. Legal teams can train the AI using their own legal and financial documents, effectively building tailored AI models that reflect internal risk policies and preferred language. This makes the platform particularly adaptable for firms with niche requirements or highly specific workflows.

LEGALFLY integrates directly into Microsoft Word, allowing users to review and refine contracts within a familiar interface. It also supports multiple languages and jurisdictions, which is a critical benefit for legal teams operating across different legal systems.

With built-in templates and multi-jurisdictional awareness, LEGALFLY is a contract review solution that combines accessibility with advanced automation, making it a compelling option for legal departments seeking customisable, scalable AI review.

Best for: Legal teams that need a multilingual, jurisdiction-aware AI platform with strong customisation and privacy safeguards.

6. GetGC.ai

GetGC.ai is a growing player in the AI contract review software landscape, designed with a specific focus on helping general counsel teams reduce legal spend and increase speed to contract. Its platform integrates pre-trained AI agents that assist in first-pass reviews, clause flagging, and risk analysis.

One of its standout features is its ability to plug directly into document workflows and CLM systems, allowing in-house teams to receive near-instant feedback on key legal risks within NDAs, MSAs, and other frequently used contract types. GetGC.ai learns from internal contract history, providing smarter redlines and recommendations over time, making it an incredibly useful tool to review contracts and complex legal content.

Its interface is user-friendly and doesn’t require deep legal tech experience to navigate, making it a helpful tool for legal and non-legal teams alike. While GetGC.ai is newer on the scene, its rapid adoption by fast-growth startups and mid-market enterprises speaks to its effectiveness and accessibility.

Best for: GCs and lean legal teams looking to reduce legal review time and cost without compromising quality.

7. ContractPodAi

ContractPodAi is a comprehensive AI-powered contract lifecycle management platform that includes advanced contract review capabilities. While it's known for its end-to-end CLM functionality, its review features are robust enough to stand on their own.

Using proprietary AI and IBM Watson integration, ContractPodAi can analyse contracts for clause compliance, suggest edits, and flag deviations from standard language. It supports multilingual contracts and cross-border workflows, making it a reliable option for multinational legal teams.

Its key differentiator is the ability to manage the entire contract process—from request to renewal—on a single platform. But for legal teams focused on review, it offers templates, clause libraries, and a smart dashboard that prioritises risk. With both AI-led and human-in-the-loop review options, ContractPodAi provides the flexibility required for both rapid and high-risk reviews.

Best for: In-house legal teams seeking integrated review and CLM capabilities with multilingual, AI-enhanced support.

AI as Your Legal Co-Pilot: Empowering, Not Replacing, Legal Teams

AI contract review tools are not here to replace legal professionals. They are here to support them—helping teams move faster, reduce risk, and increase visibility without sacrificing control.

The best AI contract review software platforms understand this dynamic. They don’t seek to make judgment calls for lawyers, but to equip them with the insights and tools they need to make better decisions faster.

Among this landscape, Wordsmith stands out for its careful balance of legal rigour and usability. With explainable outputs, secure infrastructure, and jurisdiction-aware review features, it is a co-pilot lawyers can trust—not just in theory, but in practice.

As contract volumes grow and regulatory expectations evolve, AI contract review that meets industry standards will only become more critical. Legal teams that adopt the right tools now will not only save time, they’ll build a smarter, more resilient legal function.