Canopy is a modular practice management suite for tax firms — document management, workflow, time & billing, and tax resolution sold as separate add-ons on top of a base plan. ClientBrief does one job: get documents from clients without the chase.
By the ClientBrief Team · Last updated August 2026
Canopy's paid plans run $74/user/month (Standard), $109 (Plus), and $149 (Premium) on annual billing, with monthly billing roughly 20% higher — plus consumption-based add-ons like Smart Client Intake at about $34 per client/year and Close Automation at about $10 per connected client/month. Canopy does offer a genuinely free Client Management tier for up to 500 contacts, but document management and workflow sit behind the paid plans. If document collection is the only piece you actually need, that's a lot of platform and add-on pricing for what ClientBrief does for a flat $7.99/month.
Canopy's modular pricing means you may be paying separately for Document Management on top of a base plan. Since that module is billed per user, dropping it and moving intake to ClientBrief's flat $7.99/month is usually the easiest cost cut — export your client list, build your checklist, and keep whichever other Canopy modules (workflow, time & billing) you actually still need.
Does ClientBrief replace Canopy's workflow and time & billing modules?
No. ClientBrief only covers document collection. Canopy's other modules — workflow, time & billing, tax resolution — aren't something ClientBrief touches, so you'd keep those in Canopy or elsewhere if you use them.
How much does ClientBrief save compared to Canopy?
Canopy's paid plans run $74/user/month (Standard), $109 (Plus), and $149 (Premium) on annual billing — roughly $888 to $1,788 per user per year — before add-ons that scale per client. ClientBrief covers the document-collection job for $7.99/month flat, unlimited clients. Canopy's free Client Management tier (up to 500 contacts) is worth knowing about if you want a no-cost client directory and portal alongside it.
Can I migrate just the document collection piece off Canopy?
Yes — that's the most common path. Keep whichever Canopy modules you still use (workflow, time & billing), drop or downgrade the Document Management module, and move client document intake to ClientBrief.
When does Canopy's modular approach make more sense?
If you're already using multiple Canopy modules together — workflow, billing, and document management as one connected system — unbundling just the document piece may cost you more in coordination than it saves. Canopy fits firms that want everything under one modular roof.