Contract lifecycle management and e-signature · November 2026 Edition
ContractWorks vs DocuSign CLM
Zero of fourteen models named ContractWorks first on the direct prompt; one named DocuSign CLM. ContractWorks was named by twelve of the fourteen models and DocuSign CLM by twelve and ContractWorks carries 19 labels and DocuSign CLM 36, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in one category this edition.
By Docusign, San Francisco, United States, founded 2003. Named in two categories this edition.
First-choice share4%4%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate21%36%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#7#8A position in a field of 15; printed, not drawn.
Labels1936A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, ContractWorks reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Ironclad was named alongside these two in ten of the fourteen direct answers. PandaDoc vs ContractWorks · PandaDoc vs DocuSign CLM · Ironclad vs ContractWorks
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the contract lifecycle management and e-signature page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
ContractWorksFirst choices, of fourteen modelsDocuSign CLM
Direct01
Paraphrase00
Comparative001 against DocuSign CLM
Budget-constrained203 against DocuSign CLM
Scale-constrained01
Negative004 against ContractWorks · 9 against DocuSign CLM
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where ContractWorks and DocuSign CLM stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | |||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | ||||
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | |||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | ||
| Mistral Small | | | ||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | |||
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | ||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | | |
| Kimi K2 | | | | | ||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-6 Luna | ||||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | |
ContractWorks DocuSign CLM first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, ContractWorks on the left and DocuSign CLM on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where ContractWorks and DocuSign CLM stood in it.
DocuSign CLM first, ContractWorks not the choice
1 of 14 modelsContractWorks was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Qwen 3.7 FlashDocuSign CLM alternatives: Cloudfusion, Ironclad, Pactum.io
Neither was the first choice, one was named
3 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Claude Haiku 4.5LinkSquares alternatives: Concord, ContractSafe, DocuSign CLM
GPT-5.4 miniIronclad alternatives: Conga CLM, DocuSign CLM, Juro, LinkSquares, Salesforce Revenue Cloud, SpotDraft
DeepSeek V4 FlashIronclad, LinkSquares alternatives: Agiloft Contract Management Suite, ContractWorks, DocuSign CLM
Neither was named
10 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Gemini 3.5 FlashIronclad alternatives: Conga CLM, Juro, Malbek, SpotDraft
Perplexity SonarJuro alternatives: ContractSafe, Ironclad, Oneflow, PandaDoc
Grok 4.20Ironclad alternatives: CobbleStone Software, Conga CLM, ContractSafe, DocuSign, LinkSquares
Mistral SmallIronclad alternatives: Agiloft Contract Management Suite, Juro, PandaDoc, SpotDraft
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
Kimi K2Ironclad alternatives: Agiloft Contract Management Suite, Concord, Conga CLM, LinkSquares
GLM 4.7 FlashXLinkSquares, PandaDoc alternatives: Agiloft Contract Management Suite, Juro
MiniMax M2.5Concord alternatives: Agiloft Contract Management Suite, LinkSquares
GPT-6 LunaSpotDraft alternatives: Ironclad, Juro
Muse Glimmer 30BIronclad, LinkSquares CLM alternatives: Agiloft Contract Management Suite, Bind, Concord, Gatekeeper, Juro, Oneflow, PandaDoc, SpotDraft
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Level: the same share of first choices.
ContractWorks0%#10 of 16DocuSign CLM0%#15 of 16Mid-marketThe figures above
Level: the same share of first choices.
ContractWorks4%#7 of 15DocuSign CLM4%#8 of 15Enterprise
DocuSign CLM leads by seven points.
DocuSign CLM9%#5 of 11ContractWorks2%#– of 11What the models said about ContractWorks
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Do not buy these expecting full lifecycle management.” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · hard negative
“its pricing is not transparent, and it may not be suitable for complex contract management needs” Llama 4 Maverick · negative prompt · soft negative
“some users report PDF usage issues, difficult workflow setup, and occasional formatting problems” MiniMax M2.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“The best contract lifecycle management platform for a company with a limited budget is ContractWorks, which is considered the best budget pick” Llama 4 Maverick · budget prompt · first choice
“or ContractWorks (starting around $425/month billed annually for up to 50,000 documents)” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · first choice
“if your priority is unlimited users at a predictable cost, ContractWorks would be the stronger choice” MiniMax M2.5 · paraphrase prompt · alternative
What the models said about DocuSign CLM
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Dated user interface described as "reminiscent of designs from 2005"... Integration errors between CLM and signature workflows” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · hard negative
“Avoid enterprise solutions – Platforms like DocuSign CLM, Ironclad, or Icertis start at much higher price points” Kimi K2 · budget prompt · hard negative
“Avoid enterprise-focused products such as Ironclad or DocuSign CLM” Perplexity Sonar · budget prompt · hard negative
“Shortlist Ironclad, DocuSign CLM, Malbek, and one more based on your stack.” Grok 4.20 · scale prompt · first choice
“### 1. The Best Overall: DocuSign CLM” Qwen 3.7 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
“Choose DocuSign CLM or Conga if your contract process revolves almost entirely around your existing Salesforce CRM ecosystem” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · alternative
Also compared
PandaDoc vs ContractWorksPandaDoc vs DocuSign CLMIronclad vs ContractWorksIronclad vs DocuSign CLMConcord vs ContractWorksConcord vs DocuSign CLMContractSafe vs ContractWorksContractSafe vs DocuSign CLMLinkSquares vs ContractWorksLinkSquares vs DocuSign CLMDocuSign vs ContractWorksDocuSign vs DocuSign CLMAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full CLM standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.