Subscription & Total Cost of Ownership

Transparent pricing.
No surprises. Ever.

A single per-user subscription covers everything — the complete platform, all updates, and all support. Backed by a 5-year price guarantee on a 36-month contract and contracted uplift thereafter, because we believe law firms deserve to budget with confidence.

We price Yao the way we would want to be priced as lawyers. That is not a marketing line — it is how we actually set our licence fee. When we asked ourselves what would be a fair, sustainable price for a platform that genuinely transforms how a firm operates, we arrived at a number we would be comfortable paying ourselves. That is the number we charge.

We are part of this industry. We are not a tech vendor looking to extract the maximum from a captive market. Our vision is to be the most trusted legal technology platform — and transparent pricing is fundamental to earning that trust.

Our Vision
To be the trusted legal technology partner for mid-market law firms, built by those who've led them, enhancing the profession through thoughtful innovation.

The 5-Year Price Guarantee

The single biggest source of frustration for law firms with technology vendors is unpredictable cost escalation. We have experienced it ourselves. Our response is a contractual commitment that removes that uncertainty entirely.

Lock your price for 5 years. Break the contract after 36 months.

Yao guarantees your per-user subscription rate for 5 full years from your go-live date. Your 36-month contract gives you the flexibility to move on after three years if you choose — but your price is protected for five. After the 5-year period, any increase is contractually capped at the lower of CPI or 5% per annum, whichever is less.

This means you can budget your technology spend accurately for years ahead, with no risk of a disproportionate renewal increase. No small print, no "subject to change" caveats. It is written into your agreement.

Price fixed for 5 years 36-month initial term Break after 36 months Post year 5: max CPI or 5% p.a. All modules included No hidden fees
5
Year price
guarantee
36
Month initial
contract

Everything Included — One Price

Yao is a single, fully integrated platform. One subscription covers your entire firm's access to the complete system.

Full Platform Access

Matters, billing, trust accounting, CRM, document management, workflows, forms, and Xero integration — all included.

Security & Infrastructure

Cloud hosting on AWS, data encryption at rest and in transit, role-based access control, and mulitiple daily backups.

Continuous Updates

All product updates and new features released automatically — no upgrade projects, no additional charges.

Built-In Support

In-platform knowledge base, video tutorials, AI chatbot, ticket raising, and telephone helpdesk — all included.

Account Management

Dedicated account manager, quarterly reviews, and access to the Yao product roadmap throughout your subscription.

Reporting & Analytics

KPI dashboards, dynamic reporting, BI and analytics — no separate licence required.

Free Digital Signatures

Unlimited e-signatures built in, saving a significant recurring cost. *does not include e-witnessing

Client Portal

Browser-based client portal with secure SMS authentication, dynamic forms, and custom branding — included.

Total Cost of Ownership by Term

The table below illustrates the subscription cost structure across available contract terms. Your specific per-user rate and total figures are confirmed in your proposal.

Contract Term Monthly Cost Annual Cost Total Over Term Price Guarantee
12 months Rate × users Monthly × 12 Monthly × 12 2 years from go-live
24 months Rate × users Monthly × 12 Monthly × 24 3 years from go-live
48 months Rate × users Monthly × 12 Monthly × 48 6 years from go-live
60 months Rate × users Monthly × 12 Monthly × 60 7 years from go-live

All figures exclude GST (AU) / VAT (UK). Implementation costs are invoiced separately across the transition period and are not part of the recurring subscription. Your specific per-user rate is confirmed in your proposal.

The Broader Cost Picture

When evaluating Yao against a legacy on-premises system or a fragmented collection of point solutions, the true cost comparison extends well beyond the licence fee. The savings available to a modern law firm moving to Yao are substantial.

No On-Premises Infrastructure

Eliminate the capital cost of servers, the ongoing maintenance contracts, and the external IT support fees that come with running an on-premise PMS. Yao is fully cloud-hosted — there is nothing to maintain on-site.

Servers · Maintenance · IT support

Built-In e-Signatures

Yao includes unlimited digital signatures as part of the standard subscription. Firms currently paying for a separate e-signature platform can eliminate that cost entirely from day one.

Third-party signature platform costs

One Platform, Not Many

Yao replaces multiple disconnected tools — matter management, billing, trust accounting, CRM, document management, and client portal — with a single integrated system. Fewer subscriptions, fewer integrations to manage, fewer points of failure.

Multiple point-solution licences
30+
minutes saved
per user per day

Productivity gains add up to real money

Yao's native cloud architecture means pages load instantly and the system is accessible on any device, anywhere. Unlike legacy desktop PMS systems, there is no waiting for the software to open, no VPN latency, no slow document retrieval. For a firm of 20 users, 30 minutes saved per person per day equates to over 115 hours of recovered fee-earning capacity per year. At £200 / hour that can be £23,000 per fee earner

Add automated workflows, no-code document generation, and real-time matter visibility, and the productivity case becomes compelling. The time savings alone often cover a significant portion of the subscription cost.

Our Pricing Philosophy

“
We asked ourselves one question when we set our licence fee: what would we be comfortable paying for this, as lawyers running a practice? That is the number we charge. Not the maximum the market will bear. Not a figure optimised for our revenue targets. The price we would consider fair value for a product that genuinely changes how we operate — that is what we charge, and that is what we will continue to charge.
Yao Technology  ·  Built by lawyers, for lawyers

This ethos is why the 5-year price guarantee exists. It is why we cap post-guarantee increases to CPI or 5%, whichever is lower. And it is why our subscription includes everything rather than gating functionality behind upsells. We are committed to being a technology partner our industry can trust — and that starts with how we price.