This Buyer’s Guide to the Contract Lifecycle Management market is an essential resource for buyers, CLM vendors, and institutional investors. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics shaping the CLM market, including realistic assessment of how companies are using AI today, and the likelihood of an industry consolidation.
Contracts are at the operational core of every organization. Behind every sale, partnership, procurement, and employee agreement lies a contract containing critical data. And yet, most companies still manage contracts using outdated tools, siloed processes, or ill-fitting CLM repositories that fail to deliver measurable value.
CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management) is becoming a critical enterprise system, one that governs obligations and entitlements and increasingly impacts revenue growth, regulatory compliance, and strategic agility. Today, the right CLM solution can reduce revenue leakage, accelerate deal cycles, lower compliance costs, and unlock contract data as a strategic asset.
But picking the wrong solution is expensive and puts a company at a competitive disadvantage.
Over 40% of organizations end up replacing their first CLM system within three years. Failed implementations drain budgets, delay business progress, and erode confidence. As Gen AI commoditizes advanced features like clause extraction and obligation tracking, many products look similar on the surface, making it harder to differentiate vendors and easier to make costly mistakes.
This Buyer’s Guide is your safeguard.
The most comprehensive guide in the market
The 2025 CLM Buyer’s Guide from MGI Research provides independent, structured, and deeply researched insights to help you:
- Understand current and future CLM market dynamics
- Match vendor capabilities to your specific use cases
- Avoid pitfalls in vendor selection and implementation
- Build a business case for investing in CLM
- Benchmark vendors and see where they rank
This guide is also a valuable resource for vendors and investors seeking to understand the competitive landscape, identify growth opportunities, and assess vendor viability in an increasingly competitive and AI-driven market.
CLM Vendors Under Coverage
This report covers the 35 most consequential vendors in the CLM market. Of these, 21 are MGI 360 Rated™ – the only quant-based rating methodology in the market.
Twenty-one vendors are MGI 360 Rated™ in this report: Agiloft, CobbleStone, Conga, ContractPodAi, DealHub, Docusign, GEP, Icertis, Ironclad, JAGGAER, Juro, LegalSifter (acquired Contract Logix), LinkSquares, Malbek, Onit, PandaDoc, Pramata, Provakil, Scrive (acquired Contractbook), Sirion, and Workday (acquired Evisort).
Fourteen additional suppliers are noteworthy but do not yet merit a 360 Rating and are included in the Honorable Mention section. These vendors span a wide range of sizes, strategies, and focus areas – from enterprise-grade platforms to nimble vertical solutions: Concord, Coupa, Contracts365, Gatekeeper, IntelAgree, Ivalua, Ontra, Oracle, RLDatix (acquired Ecteon), SAP, SpotDraft, Thomson Reuters, Wolters Kluwer, and Zycus.
Whether you need robust integrations, scalable workflows, or modern contract intelligence, this guide helps you identify the right fit for your use cases.
The Most Significant CLM Solutions
There are hundreds of CLM software providers globally. This guide focuses on the top 35 based on MGI’s field research, user client inquiries, and hundreds of industry interviews.
To be included in this guide, vendors must meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Market Visibility: Strong customer base, high shortlist frequency, growing demand
- Innovation: Demonstrated ability to differentiate with AI, automation, and workflow design
- Solution Strength: Breadth, depth, and scalability across buy-side, sell-side, and enterprise use cases
- Demonstrated Success: Field-proven references, strong partner ecosystems, and traction in live deployments
Vendors are not selected based solely on size, funding, or participation. Inclusion is based on relevance, impact, and alignment with what buyers need today.
Avoiding CLM Evaluation and Implementation Mistakes
Selecting a CLM platform based on generic demos, AI buzzwords, or checklist features is risky. Many buyers discover their platform isn’t built to support contract intelligence, mass negotiation workflows, or multi-jurisdictional compliance. Others realize too late the vendor lacks the financial or operational resources to evolve with the business.
This guide helps you avoid those traps by:
- Comparing real-world performance, not just vendor claims
- Highlighting vendor-specific use case fit
- Exposing the real impact of Gen AI commoditization on vendor differentiation
- Offering practical insights on CLM maturity stages, data integration, and implementation readiness
MarketLens™ Charts & 360 Ratings
The report includes four proprietary MGI MarketLens™ charts comparing top CLM vendors by:
- Go-to-Market Strength vs. Solution Strength
- Agility vs. Complexity
- Agility vs. Volume
- Complexity vs. Volume
MGI 360 Ratings™ offer structured evaluations across five core categories: Product, Management, Channels, Strategy, and Finance. Each vendor receives a numerical score (0-100) and a letter grade (A, B+, B, or B−) based on quartile rankings. Ratings are backed by interviews with customers, partners, and leadership.
All MGI 360 Ratings™ can be accessed through MGI’s new interactive interface here.
Who Should Read This Report?
- Enterprise buyers evaluating or replacing CLM systems
- IT and legal operations teams building business cases and evaluation frameworks
- Investors and analysts tracking the impact of AI and consolidation in legal tech
- Software vendors seeking to understand the competitive landscape and buyer needs
This report is a must-read for anyone with a stake in CLM, whether you’re deciding what to buy, marketing a CLM solution, or investing in what comes next.
SPEAK TO AN ANALYST: Organizations looking for additional support in crafting an evaluation strategy and conducting an independent assessment of potential suppliers should contact MGI Research here.
MGI Research clients can download the Buyer’s Guide below.
