Disclosure: Brun is our product. Clio is a full practice-management suite, which Brun is not. This page is about the client portal only.
What Clio’s client portal is built for
Clio’s portal (Clio for Clients) is part of Clio’s practice-management software. Its strength is integration: the client sees messages, shared documents, invoices, events, tasks and matter stages that come straight from the matter in Clio, and e-signature runs through Clio’s Dropbox Sign integration. If your firm lives in Clio, the portal is already there and already connected.
Its security model is the conventional one. Clio says it encrypts data in transit and at rest, with Clio holding the keys. It also offers AI features that work across your matter data, which means its systems process that data.
What Brun is built for
Brun is a stand-alone client portal designed so that the vendor can’t read it. Every document, file, message, update, client name and signature is encrypted in the browser before upload, and the keys stay with your firm and the client’s link. That rules out AI, search across client content, and integrations. In return, a breach, an insider or a subpoena at Brun yields only ciphertext.
Brun also covers the step before a matter exists: the first inquiry from your website’s contact form, encrypted in the sender’s browser.
Side by side
| Clio client portal | Brun | |
|---|---|---|
| Comes with | Clio practice management | Stand-alone; sits beside your practice-management tool |
| Encryption | In transit and at rest (vendor-held keys) | End-to-end: encrypted in the browser, Brun has no key |
| Who holds the keys | Clio | Your firm and the client's link |
| Client account | Client portal login | None. Opens from a link plus access code |
| Messages and shared documents | Yes | Yes, with Delivered / Opened receipts |
| E-signature | Via the Dropbox Sign integration | Built in, with countersignature |
| Large client uploads (video) | Check Clio's current limits | Up to 2 GB per file |
| Invoices and payments | Yes | No |
| Matters, billing, calendar of record | Yes | No |
| Encrypted website intake | No | Yes |
Which one to use
Clio’s portal is the better pick when
- You already run Clio and want the portal tied to matters, invoices and tasks.
- Clients need to pay invoices in the portal.
- You rely on automation or AI across your matter data.
Brun is the better pick when
- What clients send must be unreadable to any vendor, including us.
- Clients send big phone videos or batches of photos.
- You want clients in with a link and no login, and to see their files were opened.
What Brun doesn’t do
No matter management, time tracking, billing, payments, trust accounting or calendar of record. No integrations or API, so nothing syncs to Clio automatically. No AI. Brun is for the client exchange and the first inquiry, nothing more.
Can you use both?
That is what Brun is designed for. Keep Clio as the system of record, and use Brun for the intake and the client exchanges you’d rather nobody else could read. Save the finished documents into the matter in Clio.
Related: a client portal compared with email and secure file sharing for law firms.
Sources (as indexed November 2, 2026): clio.com/features/legal-client-portal-software, clio.com/blog/law-firm-data-encryption, help.clio.com (e-signature; AI features). Clio is a trademark of Themis Solutions Inc.; Brun is not affiliated with Clio.