CallNote vs VXT at a glance
| Feature | CallNote | VXT |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A file note tool. Works from a transcript that already exists | A cloud phone system for law firms (VXT Phone), plus an AI meeting notetaker (VXT Meet) |
| Do you change phone systems? | No. Keep your current phones and meeting tools | For VXT Phone, yes. You port your numbers to VXT or take new ones. VXT Meet works alongside your current phones for meetings |
| Records calls | No, never. No audio is stored | Yes. VXT records, transcribes and summarises calls |
| Where notes go | Clio (to the linked contact), HubSpot or Microsoft Dynamics 365, plus PDF, copy, Slack, Notion and Zapier | Legal software it integrates with, including LEAP, Smokeball, Actionstep and Clio, saved to the matter |
| LEAP, Smokeball, Actionstep | No native connection. Copy the note or save the PDF to the matter | Yes, per VXT's integration pages |
| Time entries | No. CallNote has no time recording feature | Yes. Time entries logged to the matter (listed on its LEAP, Actionstep and Clio pages) |
| Follow-up emails | No. CallNote does not draft emails | Yes. VXT drafts a follow-up email after each conversation |
| Note format | Your own template, built from one of your past notes, or the general or chronological call note | AI summaries with prompts you can customise |
| Locked record | Publishing seals the note with a SHA-256 checksum. Amendments are append-only, with an audit log | Call recordings and transcripts kept with a zero-auto-deletion policy while the account is active |
| Where data is stored | Stored in Sydney (AWS ap-southeast-2). Some processing, such as writing the note with an AI provider, happens overseas | Google Cloud, AWS and Microsoft Azure. VXT's privacy policy (last updated August 2023) says it cannot guarantee the storage location. VXT is based in New Zealand |
| Price | AUD $149 a month Solo, AUD $99 per seat a month Team. 14-day free trial, no card | AUD $90 per user a month, or $67.50 billed annually, excluding GST. Numbers, international calls and SMS extra |
Which one to choose
When VXT is the better choice
- You want a new phone system anyway. VXT replaces your phones, with call flows, queues, transfers, SMS and mobile and desktop apps, and the notes come with it.
- You want time entries created for you. VXT logs time from calls to the matter. CallNote has no time recording at all.
- You run LEAP, Smokeball or Actionstep and want notes filed to the matter with no copy step. VXT lists integrations with all three. CallNote has none.
- You want follow-up emails drafted after each call. VXT does this. CallNote does not draft emails.
- You want calls recorded as well as noted. VXT keeps the recording and transcript. CallNote never records.
- You want an AI notetaker for in-person and video meetings that saves the summary and a time entry to the matter. VXT Meet does this without changing your phones.
- You want one vendor for the phone, the meeting notes and the practice management link.
When CallNote is the better choice
- You are happy with your phone system and do not want to port numbers. CallNote works with the transcript Aircall, Dialpad or Microsoft Teams already makes, or one you paste or upload.
- You do not want client calls recorded by a note tool. CallNote never records and never stores audio, which keeps the recording consent question with your existing phone setup.
- You want the note in your firm's own format. Paste one of your past attendance notes and CallNote builds a template with your headings and order.
- You need the note locked once it is on the file. Publishing seals it with a SHA-256 checksum, and later changes are append-only amendments with an audit log.
- You want client records stored in Australia. CallNote stores notes and transcripts in Sydney and does not use your data to train AI. Some processing, such as writing the note, is done by providers overseas, and our security page lists each one.
- You use Clio and only need the note on the client's contact, not a time entry.
VXT pricing in Australia is $90 per user per month billed monthly, or $67.50 per user per month billed annually, excluding GST, on VXT's pricing page with AUD selected in October 2026. VXT is a phone system for law firms, so that price buys your firm's phones as well as the AI notes. CallNote is not a phone system. It takes the transcript your current setup already makes and turns it into an attendance note.
VXT pricing in Australia
VXT's pricing page lists prices in USD, GBP, NZD and AUD and picks one based on where you are. With AUD selected, it shows:
| VXT product | What it is | Billed monthly | Billed annually |
|---|---|---|---|
| VXT Phone | Phone system and SMS. AI notes from calls, call recording, email drafts, time recording | $90 per user per month | $67.50 per user per month |
| VXT Meet | AI notetaker for in-person and virtual meetings. Meeting recording, email drafts, time recording | $90 per user per month | $67.50 per user per month |
A few details from the same page are worth knowing before you budget:
- GST is extra. VXT says prices are exclusive of GST or sales tax unless stated.
- Numbers are extra. The page lists a price per phone number of $5 a month. Domestic calling is unlimited. International calls and SMS are charged at rates you get from sales.
- Billing currency. A footnote on the page, under its note on GBP prices, says your card is charged in New Zealand dollars (NZD). Ask VXT whether that applies to an Australian account.
- AI is included. VXT says unlimited AI transcripts and summaries are part of every Phone or Meet subscription.
- No minimum seats. The page lists no minimum user count.
- Cancelling. VXT says you can cancel in the app, and your workspace is kept for 90 days so you can view and export records.
For comparison, CallNote is AUD $149 a month for one person (Solo) or AUD $99 per seat a month for a team, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card. The two prices do not buy the same thing. VXT's includes your phone service. CallNote's sits on top of the phone service you already pay for.
What VXT is: a phone system for lawyers
VXT describes VXT Phone as a cloud-based phone system that integrates with your firm's legal software. Calls run through the VXT app on mobile and desktop. Its feature list includes call flows, call queuing, warm and cold transfers, conference calling, SMS, voicemail transcription, analytics and number porting. VXT also says it may help fund break fees if you are tied to another provider.
On top of the phone system sits the AI. VXT says it can record, transcribe and summarise calls, that you can customise the prompts for your AI notes, that it drafts a follow-up email after every conversation, and that it records time from calls to your legal software. VXT Meet does the same for meetings: it runs in the background for in-person and video meetings and saves summaries, transcripts and a time entry to the matter. VXT says it is trusted by 13,000 lawyers.
VXT for law firms: LEAP, Smokeball, Actionstep and Clio
This is VXT's strongest point for an Australian firm. It lists integrations with the practice management systems most small firms here use. What each integration page lists:
| System | What VXT's integration page lists |
|---|---|
| LEAP | Automated time entries and matter notes for every call, call recording, transcription and AI summaries, SMS saved to LEAP, contact syncing with caller ID, default matters |
| Smokeball | Automated matter tasks for every call, call recording, transcription and AI summaries, SMS and voicemail saved to Smokeball, contact syncing, suggested matters |
| Actionstep | Automated time entries and matter notes for every call, recording, transcription and AI summaries, SMS and voicemail, contact syncing, click-to-call, suggested matters |
| Clio | Automated time entries and matter communication records for every call, recording, transcription and AI summaries, SMS, contact syncing, click-to-call, suggested matters |
VXT also lists 8am MyCase, Filevine, Lawmatics, PracticePanther, NetDocuments, iManage, triConvey, HubSpot, Salesforce and others. If your firm lives in LEAP, Smokeball or Actionstep and wants the call note and the time entry to land in the matter by themselves, VXT does something CallNote does not. CallNote has no LEAP, Smokeball or Actionstep connection. We set out the honest manual route in attendance notes with LEAP, Smokeball and Actionstep.
See what a finished file note looks like.
Pick your line of work and we'll send a sample note written from a mocked call. No account, no card, and nothing from your own client files.
One sample note, plus the occasional CallNote update. Unsubscribe any time by replying. We never ask for your call recordings or client files.
How CallNote is different
CallNote starts from the other end. You keep your phones. If your firm uses Aircall or Dialpad, call transcripts arrive in CallNote automatically once connected (Aircall needs its AI Assist turned on for transcripts; Dialpad needs a Pro or Enterprise plan). Microsoft Teams works too: each person connects their own Microsoft account, and your Teams admin turns on transcript access once. For anything else, paste the transcript, upload a .vtt or .txt file from Zoom, Google Meet or Teams, or forward it to your Email-in address. After an in-person meeting, dictate a short voice memo of what was discussed.
From that transcript, CallNote drafts the attendance note in your own format. Paste one of your firm's past notes and it builds a template with your headings, order and shorthand in about 20 seconds, without keeping anything about the client. There is no built-in legal attendance note template, so most firms do it this way or use the general or chronological call note. You review the draft, then publish it. Publishing seals the note with a SHA-256 checksum, and any later change is an append-only amendment in the audit log. You can see real examples of the output, or try the format on a sample with the free attendance note generator.
What CallNote does not do matters just as much here. It has no time entries, does not draft emails, does not record and is not a phone system. The note goes to Clio (on the linked Clio contact, with no matter chosen automatically), HubSpot or Microsoft Dynamics 365, or you copy it or save the PDF into LEAP, Smokeball or Actionstep.
Recording and consent
VXT records calls. That gives you an audio record of what was said, which some firms want for disputes. It also means your firm owns the consent question for every recorded call. Broadly, NSW, WA, SA, Tasmania and the ACT require all parties to consent to recording a private conversation. Victoria, Queensland and the NT allow a party to the conversation to record it, with limits on how the recording is used. The federal Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 applies separately. Most firms that record simply tell the client at the start of the call, and VXT itself recommends asking permission before recording or transcribing others.
CallNote never records. If your phone system makes a transcript, it has already captured the call, so the same rules apply to that system. CallNote only receives the text. See is it legal to record phone calls in Australia or check a specific call with can I record this call.
Data, retention and AI training
Client confidentiality under the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules (r 9) makes this worth reading before you sign anything. What each vendor says:
- VXT hosting. VXT's privacy policy (last updated 14 August 2023) says its system is hosted on Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, that it cannot guarantee the location where personal information is stored, and that VXT is based in New Zealand and may access information from there.
- VXT retention. VXT's pricing page says it keeps call recordings and transcripts forever under a zero-auto-deletion policy while your account is active, and deletes them if you close the account.
- VXT and AI. VXT's privacy policy lists training and improving its AI features, such as speech recognition and understanding, among the purposes it may use information for. Separately, the VXT Meet page says VXT does not allow third parties such as OpenAI, Anthropic or Google to use your data to train their AI models. Ask VXT how both apply to client call content.
- VXT security. VXT says data is encrypted at rest and in transit, with role-based access, single sign-on, and penetration testing by Carapace Security in 2025.
- CallNote. Notes, transcripts and the audit log are stored in Sydney (AWS ap-southeast-2), encrypted, and not used to train AI. Some jobs, such as writing the note with Anthropic's Claude, are done by providers outside Australia; our security page lists each one. No call audio is stored. Team members see only their own notes; owners and admins see all of them.
Neither approach is wrong. A firm that wants a full recording of every call kept indefinitely may prefer VXT's model. A firm that would rather hold a sealed note and no recording may prefer ours. Our piece on AI note takers and legal professional privilege covers the questions to ask any vendor.
VXT or CallNote: which suits your firm?
- Your phone contract is ending, or your phones frustrate you. Look hard at VXT. You get a legal phone system and the notes together.
- Time capture is your main problem. VXT logs time from calls to the matter. CallNote does not help with time at all.
- You run LEAP, Smokeball or Actionstep and want no copy step. VXT lists all three. With CallNote you paste the note or save the PDF.
- You are on Aircall, Dialpad or Teams and like it. CallNote adds the note without changing phones.
- The quality of the note itself is the problem. CallNote writes it in your firm's own format and seals it once published.
- You do not want calls recorded by a new vendor. CallNote never records.
If you are still weighing up the wider market, see AI note takers for law firms in Australia and software for law firms. The comparison hub lists every tool we have compared.
Common questions
How much does VXT cost in Australia?
On VXT's pricing page with AUD selected in October 2026, VXT Phone is $90 per user per month billed monthly, or $67.50 per user per month billed annually, excluding GST. VXT Meet, its meeting notetaker, is listed at the same price. Phone numbers are $5 a month each, and international calls and SMS are extra. VXT says your card is charged in New Zealand dollars.
Does VXT record calls?
Yes. VXT says it can record, transcribe and summarise your phone calls, and it keeps recordings and transcripts under a zero-auto-deletion policy while your account is active. In Australia, recording consent rules differ by state: NSW, WA, SA, Tasmania and the ACT require all parties to consent. This is general information, not legal advice.
Does VXT work with LEAP and Smokeball?
VXT lists integrations with LEAP, Smokeball, Actionstep and Clio. Its LEAP page lists automated time entries and matter notes for every call. Its Smokeball page lists AI notes saved to the matter, automated matter tasks, SMS and voicemail saved to Smokeball, and suggested matters; it does not list time entries. Check the details for your plan with VXT.
Are there independent VXT reviews?
We do not publish ratings of other products. VXT's own site shows customer testimonials and says it is trusted by 13,000 lawyers. For independent views, ask firms in your practice area or local law society networks, and book a demo with your own call types before you commit.
Does CallNote replace my phone system like VXT?
No. CallNote is not a phone system and never records calls. It receives a transcript that already exists, automatically from Aircall, Dialpad or Microsoft Teams, or by paste, upload, email or a dictated voice memo, and turns it into an attendance note in your own format.
Does CallNote connect to LEAP, Smokeball or Actionstep?
No. CallNote has no native connection to LEAP, Smokeball or Actionstep and creates no time entries. You copy the published note into the matter or save the PDF. CallNote can publish directly to Clio (on the linked contact), HubSpot or Microsoft Dynamics 365.