compareDocs End of Life: What Now?
Litera ended support for compareDocs and Workshare Compare on December 31, 2023. If you are still running either product, or planning your migration, this page covers what happened, what your options are, and how to move forward.
What happened
December 31, 2023
Litera officially ended support for both compareDocs and Workshare Compare. Neither product receives security patches, bug fixes, or technical support from Litera after this date.
January 12, 2024
Workshare Connect, the file sharing and syncing component, was also taken out of service. Customers had been notified as early as Q1 2021.
2024 onward
Litera's replacement product is called Litera Compare. It is part of a larger document lifecycle platform and follows an enterprise sales model with no published pricing.
Why this still matters in 2026
Even though the end of life date was over two years ago, many teams have not yet migrated. Legal IT environments move slowly, and the "pain moment" often arrives well after the official support cutoff.
Laptop and OS refreshes
When your firm rolls out new hardware or upgrades to a new version of Windows, unsupported software can break silently. compareDocs was not tested against recent Windows releases.
Security and compliance audits
Running unsupported software creates audit findings. Many compliance frameworks require that all production software receive active security patches. An EOL product fails that check.
Office version upgrades
Microsoft 365 updates can introduce compatibility issues with old comparison tools. Without active support from the vendor, there is no fix coming.
Firm mergers and acquisitions
When a smaller firm joins a larger one, IT standardization often forces a tool migration. Legacy compareDocs installations get flagged during integration.
Migration checklist
Whether you move to Litera Compare, clausul, or another tool, these steps will help you plan the transition.
- 1 Audit your current usage.
How many users run compareDocs or Workshare Compare? How often? Which teams depend on it daily versus occasionally? This shapes your budget and rollout priority.
- 2 Identify your must-have features.
Do you need DMS integration (iManage, NetDocuments)? PDF comparison? Change classification? Moved-text detection? Write down the features that are non-negotiable versus nice to have.
- 3 Evaluate security and data handling.
Where do your documents go? Is data encrypted in transit and at rest? What are the retention policies? Can you get a DPA? These questions matter for client confidentiality and compliance.
- 4 Test with real documents.
Run a side-by-side comparison using documents from your actual workflow. Pay attention to how the tool handles formatting, numbering, tables, and definitions. Use sample or redacted documents if needed.
- 5 Check the output in Word.
Open the redline in Microsoft Word and verify that tracked changes render correctly. Accept and reject a few changes to confirm they behave as expected. This is the step most evaluations skip.
- 6 Plan the rollout.
Start with one team or practice group. Collect feedback for two weeks. Then expand. A phased rollout catches workflow issues before they affect the whole firm.
Your options
The replacement landscape has several paths depending on your firm size, budget, and workflow needs.
Litera Compare
The official successor
/user/year (reported)
Litera's own replacement. Strong DMS integrations, built for large firms. Requires sales calls to get pricing. No self-serve signup. Read our overview.
Draftable
Traditional comparison
/user/year
Self-serve, transparent pricing. Solid basic comparison without change classification or semantic analysis. Learn more.
clausul
DOCX-native comparison with change classification
/user/year
Self-serve, transparent pricing. Produces Word tracked changes output that drops into your existing workflow. Separates material edits from formatting noise so you review what matters first.
Microsoft Word Compare
Built into Word
with Microsoft 365
Included with Word. Handles simple comparisons but struggles with complex formatting, moved text, and numbering changes. No change classification. How to use it.
Migration FAQ
Common questions from teams evaluating a new document comparison tool.
For detailed security information, see our security and privacy page.
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