MikeA private alternative to Harvey, CoCounsel and Lexis+ AI
Harvey, CoCounsel and Lexis+ AI with Protégé are hosted services that each vendor runs for many customers. Mike is open-source software installed separately for each firm, on hardware or a cloud account the firm chooses, with the AI provider the firm picks or a model run locally. The choice comes down to who holds the infrastructure and how much the firm wants to inspect and control.
Updated
Competitor details come from each vendor's own public pages as of October 13, 2026, linked below. Products change; check the vendor's current pages before deciding.
At a glance
The table compares what each vendor states publicly. Where a vendor's pages say nothing on a point, the table says so rather than guessing.
| Mike (set up by Cuanto Labs) | Harvey | CoCounsel (Thomson Reuters) | Lexis+ AI with Protégé | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | A separate installation per firm, on firm hardware or a cloud account the firm chooses | Vendor-hosted in Microsoft Azure, with in-region options for the EU or Switzerland, US and Australia | Vendor-hosted service; hosting region not stated on the pages reviewed | Vendor-hosted on multi-cloud infrastructure; customer-managed encryption keys for enterprise and government customers |
| Source code | Open source under AGPL-3.0, readable by the firm | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| AI models | The firm's choice of Anthropic, Google Gemini or OpenAI on its own account, or local models through Ollama | Vendor-selected providers, with zero data retention required of them | Vendor-selected, named as OpenAI and Google | Vendor-selected, named as OpenAI, Google and Anthropic |
| Training on customer data | Mike does not train models on firm documents | States it does not train models on inputs, outputs or uploaded documents | States user content and prompts are not used to train CoCounsel | States it does not train or fine-tune models on customer data |
| Published certifications | None claimed; your installation runs under your firm's own controls | SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 | SOC 2 and ISO 42001 | SOC 2 Type 2 and SOC 3 |
| Case-law research | US case law through CourtListener; other research services connected per setup | Built into the product | Built on Westlaw and Practical Law content | Built on Lexis content |
| Pricing | Quoted per firm after a call | Not published; demo by request | Quote by form; self-serve plans for firms of 10 attorneys or fewer | Not published; varies by organization size |
When a hosted product is the better fit
If your firm needs a vendor that already holds third-party security certifications, or wants research built on a proprietary legal publisher's content such as Westlaw or Lexis, a hosted product from one of these vendors may suit you better. They also run the infrastructure for you, which suits firms with no appetite for owning any of it.
When Mike is the better fit
Mike suits firms that want client files in an installation they control, want to read the code that handles them, or need to choose their own model provider, including running a model on their own hardware. It also suits firms that want the workspace configured around their own templates, folders and practice areas, with a named team doing that setup.
A Mike setup can sit alongside a research subscription your firm already has. Many firms keep Westlaw or Lexis for research and use Mike for the work on their own documents.
Common questions
What is a private alternative to Harvey?
Mike is open-source legal AI that runs as a separate installation for each firm, on hardware or a cloud account the firm chooses, instead of a shared hosted service. The firm picks the AI provider or runs a model locally. Cuanto Labs installs it, connects the firm's documents and configures it for the firm's practice.
Is Mike a replacement for Westlaw or Lexis?
Not for research on proprietary publisher content. Mike searches and verifies US case law through CourtListener and can connect research services your firm subscribes to, where those services allow it. Its strength is work on your own documents: review, drafting, tracked-change edits and tables across many files.
Which is more secure, a hosted product or a self-hosted one?
Neither is automatically more secure. A hosted vendor brings its own audited controls; a private installation keeps documents under your firm's controls and lets you inspect the code. The better choice depends on your firm's policies, IT resources and what your clients require. Our security page sets out exactly how a Mike installation handles data.
Can a small firm use Mike instead of an enterprise AI product?
Yes. A Mike setup is sized to the firm, from a solo practice to several offices, and the firm uses its own AI provider account. Cuanto Labs quotes each setup after a call, based on the systems to connect and the practices to configure.
Sources
- Harvey security page
- Harvey trust center
- Thomson Reuters on AI and customer data
- CoCounsel Legal product page
- CoCounsel Legal plans
- Lexis+ AI with Protégé product page
- LexisNexis trust center
- LexisNexis on Protégé multi-cloud infrastructure (December 10, 2025)
- LexisNexis on customer-managed encryption keys (May 7, 2026)
Related
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