# Best Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software - Page 9 *By [Julie Jung](https://research.g2.com/insights/author/julie-jung)* Contract lifecycle management (CLM) software is used to streamline the entire contract lifecycle process, from pre-signature to post-signature. CLM software can simplify the process of managing contracts across key lifecycle stages such as contract creation, negotiation, execution, approval, and renewal. CLM software tracks milestones, deadlines, and obligations outlined in the contract, sending automated reminders and notifications to relevant parties. While traditionally utilized by legal teams, CLM software is widely used by other teams within an organization, such as sales, procurement, and finance. By automating contract workflows, these tools help manage high volumes of routine agreements more efficiently. Unlike [contract management software](https://www.g2.com/categories/contract-management), CLM software helps users manage actions post-signature (or post-execution), including obligation tracking, performance and compliance management, and dispute resolutions. These tools provide a centralized platform for storing all obligation terms and communications. This assists businesses in mitigating risks, ensuring all internal and external parties understand and deliver on their contractual obligations. Having a centralized repository and access for collaboration, shared automated workflows, and visibility to contract performance analytics helps improve compliance and overall efficiency for managing contracts. CLM software commonly integrates with [customer relationship management (CRM) software](https://www.g2.com/categories/crm), [proposal software](https://www.g2.com/categories/proposal), [accounting software](https://www.g2.com/categories/accounting), and [e-signature software](https://www.g2.com/categories/e-signature). To qualify for inclusion in the Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) category, a product must: - Provide all the features of a contract management solution - Manage the entire contract lifecycle from start to finish - Track and monitor the contract creation and delivery process - Allow users to estimate the efficiency of the contract lifecycle and find ways to improve it - Provide regular reporting to internal and relevant external parties about the contracts and performance with respect to obligations - Comply with industry requirements, government regulations, audits, and response to lawsuits ## How Many Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software Products Does G2 Track? **Total Products under this Category:** 146 ### Category Stats (Jun 2026) - **Average Rating**: 4.53/5 The average rating of products in this category, based on all submitted ratings - **New Reviews This Quarter**: 96 - **Buyer Segments**: Mid-Market 38% │ Enterprise 35% │ Small-Business 26% Represents the distribution of reviewers across all products in this category. - **Top Trending Product**: Basware (+0.012) - Among all products in this category, Basware recorded the largest rating increase compared to last month *Last updated: June 01, 2026* ## How Does G2 Rank Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software Products? **Why You Can Trust G2's Software Rankings:** - 30 Analysts and Data Experts - 9,200+ Authentic Reviews - 146+ Products - Unbiased Rankings G2's software rankings are built on verified user reviews, rigorous moderation, and a consistent research methodology maintained by a team of analysts and data experts. Each product is measured using the same transparent criteria, with no paid placement or vendor influence. While reviews reflect real user experiences, which can be subjective, they offer valuable insight into how software performs in the hands of professionals. Together, these inputs power the G2 Score, a standardized way to compare tools within every category. ## Top Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software at a Glance | # | Product | Rating | Best For | What Users Say | |---|---------|--------|----------|----------------| | 1 | [Docusign CLM](https://www.g2.com/products/docusign-clm/reviews) | 4.3/5.0 (483 reviews) | Automated contract workflows tied to e-signature | "[Centralized Contracts, Inbuilt approval Workflow](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/docusign-clm-review-12230849)" | | 2 | [Conga CLM](https://www.g2.com/products/conga-conga-clm/reviews) | 4.3/5.0 (594 reviews) | Salesforce-connected contract operations | "[Streamlines Contract Management, But Setup Can Be Challenging](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/conga-clm-review-11888895)" | | 3 | [Ironclad](https://www.g2.com/products/ironclad/reviews) | 4.4/5.0 (298 reviews) | Contract workflow automation with legal oversight | "[Jurist Makes High-Risk Clause Review Faster and More Effective](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/ironclad-review-12696687)" | | 4 | [LinkSquares](https://www.g2.com/products/linksquares/reviews) | 4.7/5.0 (425 reviews) | Searchable contract repository and legal workflow visibility | "[Great for all contracting needs!](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/linksquares-review-7385697)" | | 5 | [SAP Ariba](https://www.g2.com/products/sap-ariba/reviews) | 4.1/5.0 (739 reviews) | Procurement-led contract and supplier management | "[SAP Ariba is user friendly and Recommended](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/sap-ariba-review-4773604)" | | 6 | [Legistify](https://www.g2.com/products/legistify-legistify/reviews) | 5.0/5.0 (296 reviews) | Legal document and contract tracking in one workspace | "[Streamlined Legal Management with Room to Improve](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/legistify-review-12239723)" | | 7 | [Sirion CLM](https://www.g2.com/products/sirion-clm/reviews) | 4.5/5.0 (60 reviews) | AI-assisted CLM for complex contract portfolios | "[Sirion CLM: Powerful Obligation Management and Practical AI for Enterprise Governance](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/sirion-clm-review-12536700)" | | 8 | [Agentforce Revenue Management (formerly Salesforce Revenue Cloud)](https://www.g2.com/products/agentforce-revenue-management-formerly-salesforce-revenue-cloud/reviews) | 4.2/5.0 (1,408 reviews) | Quote-to-revenue process control | "[Efficient and Reliable Tool for Complex Pricing and Billing](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/agentforce-revenue-management-formerly-salesforce-revenue-cloud-review-12520270)" | | 9 | [DealHub](https://www.g2.com/products/dealhub/reviews) | 4.7/5.0 (834 reviews) | Sales proposal and contract execution workflows | "[Exceptional DealHub Onboarding and a Game-Changing CPQ for Scaling Deals](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/dealhub-review-12780504)" | | 10 | [Summize](https://www.g2.com/products/summize/reviews) | 4.7/5.0 (104 reviews) | Legal intake and contract request automation | "[Effortless Setup and Intuitive Usability](https://www.g2.com/survey_responses/summize-review-12671188)" | ## Which Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software Is Best for Your Use Case? - **Leader:** [Docusign CLM](https://www.g2.com/products/docusign-clm/reviews) - **Highest Performer:** [Legistify](https://www.g2.com/products/legistify-legistify/reviews) - **Easiest to Use:** [LinkSquares](https://www.g2.com/products/linksquares/reviews) - **Top Trending:** [Ironclad](https://www.g2.com/products/ironclad/reviews) - **Best Free Software:** [SpotDraft](https://www.g2.com/products/spotdraft/reviews) ## Which Type of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software Tools Are You Looking For? - [Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/contract-lifecycle-management-clm) *(current)* - [Contract Management Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/contract-management) - [E-Signature Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/e-signature) - [Contract Analytics Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/contract-analytics) --- **Sponsored** ### LawVu LawVu LegalOS is the operating system for in-house legal teams – a connected, intelligent system that brings together intake, matters, contracts, documents, spend, and AI agents in one place. Built on a foundation of connected data, embedded workflows, and AI agents that don’t just answer, but take action – moving work forward based on your risk profile. The result: legal teams move from managing work to running their legal function – with intelligence that compounds across every workflow. Private, enterprise-grade AI is embedded throughout the system to accelerate work, surface insights, and reduce manual effort — without compromising control or security. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ LawVu Draft is our AI-powered contract drafting and review solution, available as part of the LegalOS or as a standalone product. Embedded in Microsoft Word, LawVu Draft combines AI with your legal team’s institutional knowledge to create, review, and refine contracts using your own clauses, precedents, and playbooks – with instant proofreading, redlining, and risk checks built in. [Visit website](https://www.g2.com/external_clickthroughs/record?secure%5Bad_program%5D=ppc&secure%5Bad_slot%5D=category_product_list&secure%5Bcategory_id%5D=2389&secure%5Bdisplayable_resource_id%5D=2389&secure%5Bdisplayable_resource_type%5D=Category&secure%5Bmedium%5D=sponsored&secure%5Bplacement_reason%5D=page_category&secure%5Bplacement_resource_ids%5D%5B%5D=2389&secure%5Bprioritized%5D=false&secure%5Bproduct_id%5D=57562&secure%5Bresource_id%5D=2389&secure%5Bresource_type%5D=Category&secure%5Bsource_type%5D=category_page&secure%5Bsource_url%5D=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.g2.com%2Fcategories%2Fcontract-lifecycle-management-clm%3Fpage%3D6&secure%5Btoken%5D=bed3f06ce4eb21924289861b6dede211625a47ccd3274ed15d75e8bd97a08f65&secure%5Burl%5D=https%3A%2F%2Flawvu.com%2F&secure%5Burl_type%5D=custom_url) --- ## Buyer Guide: Key Questions for Choosing Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software Software ### What does contract lifecycle management software do? When I describe contract lifecycle management software, I frame it as a system that organizes every stage of a contract, from drafting and negotiation to approvals, storage, renewals, and compliance checks. These platforms give a consistent way to create templates, track versions, manage review cycles, and ensure that key terms don’t get lost along the way. ### Why do businesses use contract lifecycle management software? I’ve heard from legal, procurement, and revenue teams that contract management is often one of the most fragmented processes. Drafts move slowly, approvals stall, and visibility drops once agreements are signed. CLM platforms help solve those problems by standardizing processes and reducing manual friction. From the G2 data I examined, these benefits were mentioned most often: - **Shorter turnaround times** once workflows and templates are in place. - **Fewer versioning issues** because the system maintains a structured revision history. - **Automated reminders** for renewals and expirations. - **Improved compliance** due to controlled clause libraries and approval rules. ### Who uses contract lifecycle management software primarily? I studied different reviewer profiles on G2 and found that this category supports a broad mix of teams: - **Legal teams** use CLM to control language, review cycles, and obligations. - **Procurement teams** ensure vendors follow consistent terms and renewal timelines. - **Sales teams** accelerate deal cycles with fast access to standard contract templates. - **Finance teams** validate pricing, terms, and risk before deals are finalized. Each function depends on contract accuracy, making centralized workflows essential. ### What types of contract lifecycle management software should I consider? When I compared how users describe CLM tools on G2, the category typically divides into: - **Template-based CLMs** focus on structured drafting with standardized clauses. - **Workflow-driven CLMs** emphasize approvals, sequencing, and cross-team coordination. - **AI-enhanced CLMs** offer extraction, clause comparison, and risk detection. - **Enterprise CLM suites** support complex global processes and integrations. The right type depends on how your organization handles risk, velocity, and negotiation complexity. ### What are the core features to look for in contract lifecycle management software? From the G2 review data I looked at, a handful of features consistently appear in top-rated platforms: - **Clause libraries** with version control to maintain consistency across agreements. - **Automated workflows** for drafting, negotiation, redlining, and approval. - **Searchable contract** repositories with metadata tagging. - **AI-assisted extraction** helps identify unusual terms or risks. - **Renewal and obligation tracking** that prevents missed deadlines. - **Integrations** with CRM, procurement, and e-signature tools. ### What trends are shaping contract lifecycle management right now? As I followed recent product updates and user discussions, several trends emerged: - **More advanced AI** for clause detection, risk scoring, and automated summarization. - **Deeper CRM integration** , strengthening handoffs across sales and legal. - **Stronger vendor and obligation tracking** , giving teams greater post-signature visibility. - **Analytics dashboards** showing cycle times, contract performance, and approval bottlenecks. These shifts reflect a move toward proactive contract intelligence rather than simple document storage. ### How should I choose contract lifecycle management software? For me, the right CLM tool is the one that matches your contract volume, integrates cleanly with your existing systems, and supports the level of control your legal and operations teams expect. When those pieces come together, CLM software becomes a central source of truth, improving both deal velocity and compliance. ### What does Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software do? When I explain contract management software, I frame it as a system that helps businesses manage agreements from creation to completion. These platforms bring templates, contract libraries, approvals, e-signatures, reminders, document status, and customer records into one workflow. Instead of tracking contracts through inboxes, shared folders, and manual follow-ups, teams can see where each contract stands, who needs to act, and where signed documents live. ### Why do businesses use Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software? From the G2 reviewer patterns I evaluated, businesses use CLM software because contract work becomes difficult when documents, approvals, signatures, and renewal dates sit across separate tools or inboxes. Users often say CLM helps reduce manual follow-up and gives teams clearer ownership. Common benefits reviewers highlight include: - Faster drafting, approval, and signature cycles. - A central place to store and find agreements. - Better tracking of expirations, renewals, obligations, and status. - Less repetitive data entry through templates, field capture, and automation. - Stronger visibility for legal, business, and administrative teams. ### Who uses Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software primarily? When I reviewed G2 user roles and job titles, I found that CLM use spans several functions: - **Legal and contract teams** use it for clause control, approvals, repositories, and governance. - **Administrators and operations teams** manage workflows, setup, permissions, and reporting. - **Sales and revenue teams** move commercial agreements through review and signature. - **Procurement and vendor teams** rely on it for supplier agreements and renewals. - **Finance, compliance, and executives** use it for visibility into commitments and risk. ### What types of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software should I consider? I found several buyer needs reflected across the G2 reviews: - **Repository-first CLM** for storage, search, access control, and renewal visibility. - **Workflow-heavy CLM** for approvals, task assignment, status tracking, and routing. - **Legal operations CLM** for templates, clauses, negotiation, redlines, and governance. - **Sales or revenue-connected CLM** for CRM-linked documents and signature flow. - **Procurement or vendor CLM** for supplier agreements, obligations, and tracking. - **AI-enabled CLM** for metadata extraction, intake, summaries, and document review. ### What are the core features to look for in Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software? When I break down G2 reviews for this category, I look closely at the themes users repeatedly mention: - A central repository with robust search that helps teams retrieve contracts quickly. - Templates and document generation tools that help standardize contract creation. - Approval workflows with task ownership and status visibility that help keep contracts moving through the right stakeholders. - E-signature and e-stamping support that help teams complete agreements within the same workflow. - Renewal, expiration, and obligation alerts that help reduce missed deadlines. - Metadata extraction and field capture that help turn contract details into structured, usable data. - Reporting, audit history, and enterprise integrations that help support governance and cross-functional visibility. - Flexible configuration and responsive implementation support that help larger or more complex teams adapt CLM software to their processes. ### What trends are shaping Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software right now? From the G2 reviewer sentiment I evaluated, several themes stand out: - **AI extraction and summarization** are reducing manual entry across intake, metadata capture, and review. - **Usability is becoming an adoption barrier** as complex workflow configuration slows rollout. - **Dashboard visibility is rising as a priority** , with teams expecting real-time status, ownership, and clarity on bottlenecks. - **Cross-functional integration is deepening** as CLM sits at the intersection of sales, procurement, finance, and legal. - **Reliability around signatures, notifications, and document status** is drawing closer scrutiny in critical reviews. ### How should I choose Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software? For me, the strongest CLM software is the kind that keeps contracts organized, speeds up approvals, and makes renewals easier to track. When visibility, automation, configurability, integrations, reporting, and support come together, CLM software becomes a dependable system for reducing manual contract work and managing agreements with more confidence. --- ## What Is Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software? [Sales Tools](https://www.g2.com/categories/sales-tools) ## What Software Categories Are Similar to Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software? - [Contract Management Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/contract-management) - [E-Signature Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/e-signature) - [Contract Analytics Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/contract-analytics) --- ## How Do You Choose the Right Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software? ### What You Should Know About Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software ### What is Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software? Contract lifecycle management (CLM) software assists businesses in every stage of the contract lifecycle by streamlining the process from creation to post-signature activities, including obligation tracking, contract resolution, and contract compliance management. These tools assist organizations in ensuring that internal and external stakeholders are knowledgeable and uphold their contractual obligations by storing all contract data in a centralized repository, providing a medium to collaborate and communicate. CLM tools differ from traditional [contract management software](https://www.g2.com/categories/contract-management). CLM solutions allow users to manage activities after contract execution, including performance and contract compliance, obligation tracking, and dispute resolutions. CLM products provide features to notify parties of upcoming contract milestones to help streamline the contract renewal process and inform appropriate parties of contract performance. Various departments in an organization are users of CLM solutions, as contracts are inherent to many business operations. CLM tools typically integrate with various software, including [CRM software](https://www.g2.com/categories/crm), [e-signature software](https://www.g2.com/categories/e-signature), [accounting software](https://www.g2.com/categories/accounting), [proposal software](https://www.g2.com/categories/proposal), and [CPQ software](https://www.g2.com/categories/cpq).  ### What are the Common Features of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software? The following are some core features of CLM software: **Contract creation and templates:** Contracts are naturally nuanced and require standardized language and specific clauses. CLM tools allow organizations to create contracts and templates to streamline the creation process and ensure uniformity throughout the documents. This feature enables non-legal professionals to create basic contracts with confidence, ensuring that the required language is provided and correct.   **Contract editing:** A key feature of CLM solutions is contract redlining, or the ability to edit contracts and compare multiple versions. Contract editing can be done internally and externally and is vital in contract management as it provides an audit trail that highlights the changes between contract iterations. **Contract database:** This feature helps store contracts in a central repository with native search capabilities. Organizations can increase efficiency by digitally searching through contracts rather than manually.  **Notifications and reminders:** CLM tools offer features to schedule reminders for users and notify them of upcoming contract milestones, such as contract renewal or expiry. This assists users in meeting contractual deadlines and ensures contracts are completed on time. Additionally, this feature ensures that businesses know and take the necessary action to renew contracts or communicate proposed changes or amendments to future contract iterations.  **Integrations or APIs:** Another core feature of CLM solutions is its ability to integrate with key business systems, such as [CRM software](https://www.g2.com/categories/crm) to associate contracts with customer accounts and [CPQ software](https://www.g2.com/categories/cpq) to pull calculated quote information into the contract.  **Advance contract analytics:** CLM tools leverage analytics to optimize contract management with this feature. This provides businesses insight into the contract creation and delivery process and assists in identifying bottlenecks and ways to improve the efficiency of the process.  **Report and dashboards:** CLM solutions leverage contract data to provide standard and ad hoc reports of contract statuses and timelines, with the ability to monitor live overviews of contract activities.  **Contract approvals:** Streamline processes for contract approvals to integrate workflows across departments logically with this software solution. This increases the efficiency of each stage of the CLM process, easily coordinating with appropriate stakeholders and ensuring standards are met. ### What are the Benefits of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software? CLM software offers various benefits to organizations, including: **Increased collaboration:** CLM solutions provide a digital medium for users to collaborate, revise, and review contracts with internal and external stakeholders. This expedites the entire contract process, particularly the internal review and contract negotiation stage.  **Enhanced automation:** A key benefit of CLM tools is the ability to streamline workflows for each stage of the contract management process to minimize manual tasks and ensure appropriate procedures are followed. Automation can be used to notify users and track key contract data, such as expiration or renewal dates and streamline contract workflows to minimize contract cycle time. **Audit trail:** Due to the sensitive nature of contracts and the financial and legal risk associated with contracts, organizations need to have an audit trail of all contract activities to ensure contract compliance. CLM tools provide an audit trail to easily track all edits or revisions made to a contract and keep accurate accounting compliance records.  **Performance tracking:** An essential benefit of CLM software solutions is easily assessing contract performance regarding obligations and compliance. These tools provide stakeholders with a centralized dashboard to efficiently track how a contract performs to ensure maximum value is received and avoid potential revenue leakage. **Increased self service:** The ability to provide contract templates is a significant benefit to non-legal professionals. It allows them to create agreements or contracts with confidence and avoid the bottleneck of legal professionals drafting the initial contract. This lets legal teams focus on higher priority items and allows other non-legal groups to perform the necessary work to begin the contract process.  ### Who Uses Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software? Contracts are an essential aspect of business operations, and as such, the stakeholders who utilize CLM tools are broad and can vary based on unique business needs and processes. Below are a few examples of business groups that likely regularly use CLM solutions.  **Legal teams:** CLM software enables legal professionals to streamline the contract management process by creating templates for non-legal colleagues, providing a contract repository, tracking obligations, and ensuring compliance. These tools also provide legal teams reminders and notifications of contract renewals and expirations, which is vital as most legal teams are responsible for managing a plethora of contracts simultaneously.  **Sales teams:** CLM tools enable sales teams to share contracts securely, collaborate with internal and external parties, and get contracts signed. CLM tools assist sales teams in streamlining the process of signing contracts and mitigating risks associated with inaccurate information as information is typically integrated from CRM, CPQ, or e-signature solutions. In addition to mitigating risk, this can expedite the contract signing process and help establish good relationships with customers.  **HR teams:** HR professionals can leverage CLM solutions to quickly replicate contracts or agreements using the pre-created contract templates, streamlining hiring processes. **Finance teams:** CLM software helps finance teams to track contract obligations and performance, identify lost revenue, and find cost-saving opportunities. CLM solutions also notify finance teams of upcoming contract expirations and renewals to ensure that teams do not miss renewals or potential revenue opportunities.  ### Which Contract Lifecycle Management Software is the Best for Tech Companies? - [Ironclad](https://www.g2.com/products/ironclad/reviews): A cloud-based CLM platform offering customizable workflows, AI-assisted contract analysis, and seamless integrations with tools like Salesforce and Google Drive. ​ - [LinkSquares](https://www.g2.com/products/linksquares/reviews): Provides AI-powered contract analysis and lifecycle management, enabling tech companies to gain insights into contract terms, obligations, and risks. ​ - [DocuSign CLM](https://www.g2.com/products/docusign-clm/reviews): Extends beyond e-signatures to offer end-to-end contract management, including automated workflows and compliance tracking, integrating with over 900 services. - [Juro](https://www.g2.com/products/juro/reviews): An all-in-one contract automation platform designed for in-house legal teams. Combines contract creation, negotiation, and e-signing in a browser-native, collaborative interface — perfect for startups and SaaS companies. - [Ironclad](https://www.g2.com/products/ironclad/reviews): Built for legal teams at fast-growing tech companies, Ironclad offers modern, customizable workflows, seamless integrations (like Salesforce and Slack), and strong AI contract analytics. ### What's the Leading CLM Solution for Remote Teams? - [ContractPodAi](https://www.g2.com/products/contractpodai/reviews): A cloud-native platform designed for legal and procurement teams, offering contract authoring, approval routing, and document automation—ideal for remote collaboration at scale. - [Gatekeeper](https://www.g2.com/products/gatekeeper/reviews): A vendor and contract lifecycle management platform that offers automation, AI data extraction, and a secure solution for managing contracts and vendors, making it suitable for remote collaboration.​ - [Evisort](https://www.g2.com/products/evisort/reviews): Provides AI-powered contract analytics, real-time collaboration, and cloud accessibility, enabling legal and procurement teams to manage contracts efficiently from anywhere. ### Software Related to Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software Related solutions that can be used together with CLM software include: [E-signature software](https://www.g2.com/categories/e-signature) **:** E-signature, also known as electronic signature software, allows users to securely collect signatures on digital documents, eliminating the need for physical copies and allowing users to sign in real time. E-signature solutions and CLM tools commonly integrate to expedite the signing process while ensuring security and compliance with industry standards and regulations.  [CRM software](https://www.g2.com/categories/crm) **:** CLM software typically integrates with CRM software to increase visibility across multiple business units in a company. This integration also allows sales teams to associate contracts with a particular account in a central database to understand the contractual aspect of a client relationship fully. [CPQ software](https://www.g2.com/categories/cpq) **:** CPQ, or configure, price, quote software, commonly integrates with CLM tools to pull in quote and pricing data. The integration between these software reduces the risk of manual error and ensures that pricing information is consistent with company policies. [Proposal software](https://www.g2.com/categories/proposal) **:** Proposal software assists in generating request for proposals (RFPs) for sales operations. These tools typically integrate with CRM and CPQ software to automate data retrieval. Proposal software often integrates with CLM products as the proposal is finalized and moves to the next stage of the contract process. [Contract analytics software](https://www.g2.com/categories/contract-analytics) **:** Contract analytics software often integrates with CLM solutions to retrieve and analyze contract data. Contract analytics tools use artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) to eliminate duplicates and extract key contract data such as keywords, payment terms, or obligations. ### Challenges with Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software CLM products can come with its own set of challenges. A few of them are listed below.  **Security:** Contracts are extremely sensitive as they may contain financial information, personally identifiable information (PII), or other contract data that are a key target during data breaches. Ensuring security is of utmost importance when leveraging a CLM tool, and businesses should be aware of industry standards in terms of security, implementation, and operations. As most CLM tools are cloud based, companies may not be able to control and secure the cloud environment independently. Additionally, as contracts are frequently collaborated on throughout multiple business units, ensuring that they are worked on in a secure environment is essential.  **Compliance requirements:** As CLM solutions manage each stage of the contract process, it is pivotal that businesses understand the various standards and regulations that they must adhere to, which may be dependent on industry and location. **Complex integrations:** CLM tools often integrate with various systems, leading to cumbersome integrations. Businesses selecting CLM tools should ensure that the chosen tool can integrate into their existing IT infrastructure and understand the detailed processes for ensuring its compatibility and workflows. Companies should also be aware of the required workflows for their CLM software as it may conflict with existing business processes and require internal adjustments.  **Accessibility and adoption:** A challenge that some organizations face when leveraging a CLM tool is adequate accessibility. CLMs manage the entire contract process, from presignature to post-contract execution. Thus, it is crucial to ensure that all relevant business units access the system and have appropriate controls. For CLM products to be most effective, they need to be widely adopted across the organization, as without user adoption, the system cannot perform to its full capabilities.  ### How to Buy Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software #### Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software Requirements gathering for CLM tools is critical to ensure that the business is leveraging a product that meets its needs. To do so, companies must evaluate the software based on their critical needs, as provided below.  #### Compare Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Products **Create a long list** Long lists are created by eliminating software solutions that do not provide critical functionality. To make a long list for a CLM product, a buyer should assess the essential functions and analyze which products provide the necessary functionality. CLM software provides functions throughout the entire contract lifecycle ranging from contract creation and templatization to reporting and analytics. A typical long list should not contain more than 10 products unless there are many similar options. In this case, buyers should consider a product’s ability to integrate with existing software, scalability, customization, mobile accessibility, and any relevant industry regulations or standards to eliminate products.  **Create a short list** From the long list of CLM vendors, it is helpful to narrow down the list and develop a shorter list of contenders, preferably no more than three to five. With this in hand, businesses can produce a matrix to compare the various offerings' features, compatibility, and pricing.  **Conduct demos** To ensure the comparison is thoroughgoing, the user should try a demo or free trial for each software solution on the shortlist with the same use cases and criteria. This will allow the business to evaluate like for like and see how each product stacks up against the competition.  #### Selection of Contract Lifecycle Management Software **Choose a selection team** CLM software impacts a variety of business units within an organization, highlighting the importance of selecting a critical selection team. It is vital to consider input and qualification criteria from each business unit member that will leverage the software, as needs and use cases can vary. The selection committee for a CLM tool may consist of a member from each department intended to leverage the software, such as a legal representative, HR employee, sales leader, and IT professional to ensure software compatibility. The selection committee will be responsible for assessing each use case of the software and ensuring compliance with organizational and industry standards.  **Negotiation** When negotiating a software contract, it is critical first to ensure that the software will meet industry regulations and standards and provide a secure medium to manage the entire contract lifecycle. This is imperative as the cost of CLM tools can vary tremendously. The price depends on the size of the business, the amount of storage needed, and the number of licenses, among other factors. Additionally, since CLM products extend across multiple business units, buyers should also determine if they need assistance implementing or integrating with other business support systems. Lastly, businesses should consider the contract duration that is most appropriate for their needs to negotiate longer-term contracts better.  **Final decision** Buyers should make the final decision based on all the information gathered previously. Businesses should rank their needs in order of importance and select the tool that meets their most critical needs first, then assess which software best fits their business needs. --- ## What Are the Most Common Questions About Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software? *AI-generated · Last updated: June 5, 2026* ### Which CLM software is most recommended for startups Based on G2 reviews, these CLM products are most often associated with ease of use, fast setup, and efficient contract workflows. - [Docusign CLM](https://www.g2.com/products/docusign-clm) — quick signing and centralized tracking. - [Conga CLM](https://www.g2.com/products/conga-conga-clm) — Salesforce-based automation and templates. - [Ironclad](https://www.g2.com/products/ironclad) — intuitive workflows and approval visibility. - [LinkSquares](https://www.g2.com/products/linksquares) — easy adoption and searchable repository. ### What's the best software for managing contracts in SaaS industry Based on G2 reviews, buyers most often point to tools that centralize contracts, automate reviews, and support faster approvals. - [Conga CLM](https://www.g2.com/products/conga-conga-clm) — Salesforce-driven contract generation and approvals. - [Ironclad](https://www.g2.com/products/ironclad) — collaboration-heavy reviews and workflow tracking. - [LinkSquares](https://www.g2.com/products/linksquares) — contract repository with AI-assisted review. - [Juro](https://www.g2.com/products/juro) — self-serve templates and negotiation workflows. ### Best contract management systems with integration capabilities Based on G2 reviews, these products stand out for connecting contract workflows with CRM, e-signature, and business systems. - [Conga CLM](https://www.g2.com/products/conga-conga-clm) — strong Salesforce and API-driven workflows. - [Ironclad](https://www.g2.com/products/ironclad) — Salesforce, DocuSign, and collaboration integrations. - [LinkSquares](https://www.g2.com/products/linksquares) — Salesforce and DocuSign workflow support. - [Sirion CLM](https://www.g2.com/products/sirion-clm) — enterprise integrations and obligation visibility. ### What features define modern contract lifecycle management software According to verified users, modern contract lifecycle management software is defined by a centralized repository, approval workflows, version control, searchable contract data, and e-signature support. Recent G2 reviews also point to template management, clause libraries, renewal alerts, and contract status visibility as core buying criteria. Buyers repeatedly value tools that reduce back-and-forth emails, keep stakeholders aligned, and make it easier to locate agreements, track obligations, and move contracts from drafting through execution. Integration with systems like Salesforce and document tools also comes up often, especially for teams trying to avoid duplicate data entry and keep contract work connected to sales, legal, procurement, or finance processes. ### How does contract lifecycle management integrate with Salesforce According to verified users, CLM and Salesforce integrations are most valued when they reduce duplicate work and keep contract data tied to accounts, opportunities, or deal records. Recent reviews describe teams creating contracts directly from Salesforce, syncing changes back to a central source of truth, and using CRM data to populate templates automatically. Buyers also mention approval routing, status tracking, and easier collaboration between sales and legal as key benefits. At the same time, reviewers note that integration quality can vary by product, with some teams describing setup as smooth and others calling out technical effort, admin support, or added complexity when connecting workflows across systems.