# Best Authority alternatives for Mac and small firms (2026)

> Best Authority alternatives compared: Word add-ins, upload tools, services and from-PDF options, with published pricing, upload model and Mac support.

*Updated: 2026-09-24*

**The short answer:** Litera Best Authority is still the default Table of Authorities tool for Windows firms that already license it. If you work on a Mac, draft in Google Docs or Pages, or need a TOA only a few times a year, the realistic alternatives fall into five groups: subscription Word add-ins (Benchly ezBriefs, Clearbrief, Lexis Create+, Thomson Reuters Drafting Assistant), an upload-based builder (Jurisage), a human formatting service (TypeLaw), Word for Windows' built-in Mark Citation feature, and tools that work from the final PDF, such as BriefAuthority (pre-launch). This page compares them on what each vendor publishes: how the tool works, its pricing model, whether the brief leaves your computer, and whether it runs on a Mac. Where a vendor does not publish a price or a Mac statement, we say so rather than guess. (BriefAuthority, the tool behind this site, is a separate product — not Best Authority, and not affiliated with Litera.)

**Fast facts**

- Litera acquired Best Authority in March 2020 and described it as in use by over 90% of the Am Law 100. It is a Microsoft Word add-in that finds and marks citations and generates the TOA.
- LawNext reported in 2019 that Best Authority's pay-per-document pricing started at $65 per document, with pre-purchased credits discounted up to 45%. Litera does not publish current pricing on its site.
- Microsoft's support page states: “Tables of Authorities aren't supported in Word for Mac or Word for the web.” The built-in feature is a Word for Windows desktop tool.
- Benchly publishes $600/year for solos (ezBriefs included). Clearbrief publishes $300/month per user for its Solo plan. TypeLaw publishes $1,895 per brief for its formatting service.
- Lexis for Microsoft Office now redirects to Lexis Create+, which LexisNexis calls “the next generation of Lexis for Microsoft Office” and which includes Table of Authorities creation.
- Jurisage's TOA builder is upload-based; its TOA page does not publish pricing and offers a free trial.
- BriefAuthority is in development: planned $39 one-time or $9 per brief, built to run in the browser from the final PDF without uploading it. Early access only; no checkout yet.

## What to check before you pick a Best Authority alternative

- **Your platform.** Most TOA tools are Word add-ins. If you are on Word for Mac, Pages or Google Docs, check the vendor's own compatibility statement before you pay, not a reseller's summary.
- **Where the brief goes.** An add-in works inside your Word document; a cloud product may process text on the vendor's servers; an upload builder receives the file; a service receives the whole brief. If your firm or client forbids third-party uploads, that decides it.
- **Where page numbers come from.** Word-based tools compute pages from the Word layout. If the filed version is a PDF that someone else exported, merged or re-paginated, page references can drift. A from-PDF tool reads the pages you will actually file.
- **Pricing model versus volume.** A subscription makes sense if you file every week. If you file a few briefs a year, per-document or one-time pricing is usually cheaper.
- **What it checks.** Some tools also cite-check, verify quotations or show citator signals (Lexis Create+ advertises Shepard's). A pure TOA builder only indexes. Decide whether you need research features or just the table.
- **Your court's rules.** Categories, ordering and whether *passim* is allowed vary. The U.S. Supreme Court's Rule 34.2 says the table “should not use the ‘passim’ notation.” Any tool you choose must let you control that.

| Platform | How it works | Pricing model (as published) | Uploads the brief? | Works on Mac? |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Litera Best Authority | Word add-in (Windows) | Not published by Litera; $65/document reported by LawNext in 2019 | No upload step; runs inside Word | Not advertised; positioned as a Word for Windows add-in |
| Benchly ezBriefs | Word add-in, account required | $600/year for solos; firm pricing by quote | Works in Word; research and linking features connect to Benchly's service | Not stated on its public pages; confirm with vendor |
| Clearbrief | Word add-in (Microsoft Store), cloud platform | $300/month per user (Solo); enterprise by quote | Cloud-based; SOC 2 Type 2, optional “bring your own storage” | Not stated on its public pages; confirm with vendor |
| Lexis Create+ (formerly Lexis for Microsoft Office) | Add-in inside Microsoft 365 Word and Outlook | Pricing not published; sold through LexisNexis | Works in Word, connected to LexisNexis services | Not stated on its product page; confirm with vendor |
| Thomson Reuters Drafting Assistant | Drafting tool tied to Westlaw and Practical Law | Pricing not published; contact sales | Connected to Thomson Reuters services | Not stated on its product page; confirm with vendor |
| BriefMark | Browser tool; reads your Word .docx and writes Word's TA field codes back, so Word builds the table | Free up to 8 authorities; Pro $99 one-time (as published) | No; runs in the browser tab | Yes, with Word for Mac |
| Jurisage TOA builder | Browser app; you upload the document | Pricing not published on its TOA page; free trial | Yes, by design | Browser-based, so any OS in principle |
| TypeLaw | Human formatting service | $1,895 per brief; $2,890 same-day rush; subscriptions for volume | Yes, you send the brief to their team | Yes; the work is done by the service |
| Word for Windows (built-in) | Manual Mark Citation (Alt+Shift+I), then Insert Table of Authorities | Included with Word | No | No; Microsoft says TOAs aren't supported in Word for Mac or the web |
| BriefAuthority (pre-launch) | Browser tool that reads the final PDF, with a review screen, then exports .docx | Planned $39 one-time or $9 per brief; early access only | No; built to process the PDF on your computer | Yes, by design; any modern browser |

Checked on each vendor's own site on 2026-09-24; plans change, so confirm before you buy. We do not state any competitor's accuracy.

## The alternatives, one by one

### Subscription Word add-ins: Benchly ezBriefs, Clearbrief, Lexis Create+, Drafting Assistant

These are the closest functional replacements for Best Authority, and most bundle more than a TOA. Benchly says ezBriefs works “entirely within Microsoft Word” and pairs TOA generation with cite checking and hyperlinking, at $600 a year for a solo. Clearbrief positions itself around fact-checking and hyperlinked filings, lists “magically generated Tables of Authorities” among its features, and publishes $300 per user per month for its Solo plan. Lexis Create+ and Thomson Reuters Drafting Assistant sit inside larger research ecosystems; if your firm already pays for Lexis or Westlaw, ask your account manager whether TOA features are already in your package before buying anything else. The trade-off for all four: an account, a recurring cost, and a Word workflow. None of them publicly advertises Word for Mac support on the pages we checked, which does not mean they lack it, only that you should ask.

### Upload-based builder: Jurisage

Jurisage's TOA builder runs in the browser: you “upload a document to get started” and it identifies, categorizes and formats citations. Because it is browser-based it is not tied to Windows. The trade-off is the upload itself. If your engagement letter, firm policy or a protective order restricts sending work product to third parties, check before you use any upload tool. Jurisage's TOA page does not publish pricing and offers a free trial, and the company recently announced it is joining Clio.

### Human service: TypeLaw

TypeLaw is not software you run. You send the brief, and their team formats it to local rules, builds the TOC and TOA, and runs a quality check with next-business-day turnaround. At a published $1,895 per brief, it is priced for high-stakes appellate filings where you want the whole brief handled, not for a quick table on a routine motion.

### Word for Windows, built in

If you have Word for Windows, you already own a TOA tool. Select a citation, press Alt+Shift+I, set the long and short forms and the category, then Mark or Mark All; afterward, References › Insert Table of Authorities compiles it. It costs nothing extra and nothing leaves your machine. The cost is time: every authority, short form and *Id.* has to be marked correctly, and edits after marking can break entries. On a Mac, Microsoft says the feature isn't supported, although some Mac builds still show a legacy dialog.

## When Best Authority is the right choice

Be honest about fit. If your firm is on Windows, already licenses Best Authority, and your paralegals know it, switching rarely saves money or time. It is embedded in large-firm workflows, it works inside the Word document you are editing, and Litera sells it as part of a wider drafting suite. A Mac-first or from-PDF tool is not a reason to leave that setup.

**Stay with Best Authority if**

- Your team drafts in Word for Windows and your firm already pays for it.
- You regenerate the TOA many times during drafting and want it to live in the document.
- Your IT and knowledge-management teams standardize on Litera's drafting suite.

**Which alternative fits your situation**

| Your situation | Usually the better fit |
| --- | --- |
| Windows firm, heavy appellate volume, existing license | Keep Best Authority |
| Already on Lexis or Westlaw and want research tools in Word | Ask about Lexis Create+ or Drafting Assistant in your plan |
| Solo who wants cite checking plus TOA in Word | Benchly ezBriefs or Clearbrief (subscription) |
| High-stakes brief, want it fully formatted by people | TypeLaw (service) |
| Windows, occasional brief, no budget | Word's built-in Mark Citation |
| Mac, Google Docs or Pages; final brief is a PDF; cannot upload | A from-PDF, local tool such as BriefAuthority (pre-launch) |

> **Common claim:** “You can't make a Table of Authorities on a Mac.” **More precise:** Microsoft's support page says Tables of Authorities aren't supported in Word for Mac or Word for the web, and Pages and Google Docs have no TOA feature. Some Mac Word builds still expose a legacy Table of Authorities dialog, but it is officially unsupported. Mac users usually build the table by hand, borrow a Windows machine, pay a service, or use a browser-based tool.

> **Where BriefAuthority fits:** BriefAuthority is in development and not yet available. It is being built for the gap in the table above: a Table of Authorities from your **final PDF**, on a **Mac** or any modern browser, **without uploading the brief**, for a planned **$39 one-time** or $9 per brief. It reads the PDF page by page on your computer, detects cases, statutes, rules and constitutional provisions, and shows every authority on a review screen where you merge short forms and link *Id.* and *supra* before exporting a formatted .docx. In an internal pre-launch test on two U.S. Supreme Court merits briefs, it found 129 of the 131 cases listed in those briefs' own TOAs. It does not check whether a citation is good law, does not edit your brief, and a Windows firm already paying for Best Authority may not need it. Formatting and indexing only; verify every citation. Specification as designed; confirmed at launch. [Join early access](/early-access).

## Frequently asked

**What is the best alternative to Best Authority for a Mac?**

There is no Mac-native equivalent from the major vendors that publicly advertises Word for Mac support. Mac users typically use a browser-based tool (upload-based like Jurisage, or local from-PDF like BriefAuthority, which is pre-launch), send the brief to a service such as TypeLaw, or build the table by hand. If you choose a Word add-in, confirm Mac support with the vendor first.

**How much does Best Authority cost?**

Litera does not publish current pricing on its website. LawNext reported in 2019 that pay-per-document pricing started at $65 per document, with discounts of up to 45% for pre-purchased credits, and free use for pro bono and academic users. Contact Litera for a current quote.

**Is there a free Table of Authorities generator?**

Word for Windows includes a free, manual TOA feature (Mark Citation, then Insert Table of Authorities). Jurisage offers a free trial of its upload-based builder. Beyond that, most tools are paid. Microsoft says the built-in feature is not supported in Word for Mac or Word for the web.

**Can I make a Table of Authorities without uploading my brief?**

Yes. Add-ins that run inside Word, Word's built-in feature on Windows, and local browser tools that process the PDF on your computer (BriefAuthority is designed this way) avoid a separate upload step. Cloud-based add-ins may still process text on vendor servers, so read their security documentation if confidentiality matters.

**What replaced Lexis for Microsoft Office?**

LexisNexis now points Lexis for Microsoft Office to Lexis Create+, which it calls the next generation of LMO. The product page lists Table of Authorities creation, citation checking with Shepard's, quote verification and PDF-to-Word conversion. LexisNexis does not publish pricing there.

**Keep reading**

- [Compare Table of Authorities tools](/compare) — The full comparison, including ChatGPT and manual methods.
- [How to make a Table of Authorities on a Mac](/how-to-make-a-table-of-authorities-on-a-mac) — Every realistic route on macOS, step by step.
- [Word for Mac and the Table of Authorities](/word-for-mac-table-of-authorities) — What Microsoft supports, and the legacy dialog.
- [Table of Authorities without uploading](/table-of-authorities-without-uploading) — For briefs that cannot leave your computer.
- [How BriefAuthority works](/how-it-works) — From PDF to review screen to .docx.
- [Join early access](/early-access) — Launch price first; no charge now.
- [What is a table of authorities?](/what-is-a-table-of-authorities)

**Sources**

- [Microsoft Support — Create a table of authorities](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/create-a-table-of-authorities)
- [Litera — Litera Acquires Best Authority, Adding Market-Leading TOA to its Drafting Portfolio (2020)](https://www.litera.com/newslinks/litera-acquires-best-authority-adding-market-leading-toa-its-drafting-portfolio)
- [LawNext — Levit & James finalizes pay-per-document pricing for Best Authority (2019)](https://www.lawnext.com/2019/08/ahead-of-iltacon19-levit-james-finalizes-its-pay-per-document-pricing.html)
- [Benchly — Pricing, accessed 2026-09-24](https://benchly.com/pricing)
- [Clearbrief — Pricing, accessed 2026-09-24](https://clearbrief.com/pricing)
- [TypeLaw — Pricing, accessed 2026-09-24](https://www.typelaw.com/pricing)
- [Jurisage — Table of Authorities builder](https://jurisage.com/toa-page/)
- [LexisNexis — Lexis Create+](https://www.lexisnexis.com/en-us/products/lexis-create-plus.page)
- [Thomson Reuters — Drafting Assistant](https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/drafting-assistant)
- [Supreme Court of the United States — Rules and Guidance (Rule 34.2)](https://www.supremecourt.gov/filingandrules/rules_guidance.aspx)
- [BriefMark — product page, accessed 2026-09-24](https://briefmark.oddwell.tech/)