Freedom251 › Legal Practice Management Software
Kosmos
What Kosmos is
Kosmos is free, web-based law practice management software for small law firms. It covers matters, contacts, calendars, tasks, time and expense tracking, invoicing, trust accounting, reports, client intakes and search. The case builder supports document OCR, full-text search, highlights, fact timelines, witnesses and notes, with optional AI chat using matter documents, notes, case law and prior conversations. Firms can handle hourly or flat-fee matters, email invoices with online payment links and collect payments through LawPay/AffiniPay or Stripe. Google Workspace integration can sync Calendar and Contacts, map Gmail labels to matters and map Drive folders to document categories. Kosmos is AGPL-licensed and can run on a firm’s own server. Installation documentation covers Ubuntu or Debian, sudo access and a local PostgreSQL database; the automated check runs on Ubuntu 24.04. Files can remain on local disk or use an S3-compatible object store. Optional Claude and Gemini support, JSON APIs and an MCP server are documented.
Who it suits
Kosmos suits small law firms seeking free, self-hosted practice management with case building, billing and trust accounting. It also fits teams wanting optional AI, Google Workspace connections or documented APIs.
What it does well
- Free AGPL software
- Supports self-hosting on a firm server
- Includes trust accounting and invoicing
- Offers OCR and full-text document search
- AI features are optional
What to know first
- Installation requires Ubuntu or Debian
- Local PostgreSQL and sudo access are required
- Uploads over 100 MB are rejected
- AI provider configuration is separate
Verdict
Kosmos provides a broad legal practice feature set with self-hosting and optional AI. Firms should account for its server requirements and 100 MB upload limit when planning deployment.
Facts from Kosmos's own pages
- AI features
- Optional AI features include per-matter chat that can use matter documents, notes, case law, and prior conversations; Claude and Gemini are supported. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- AI option
- AI is optional; the product can be used without configuring an AI provider key. · kosmos.law, 11 Oct 2026
- API and MCP
- The documentation lists a page for an MCP server and JSON APIs, and the project README says its MCP server exposes notes, matters, conversations, and financial data to Claude Desktop. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Audience
- The maker describes Kosmos as practice management software for small law firms. · kosmos.law, 11 Oct 2026
- Billing
- Kosmos supports hourly and flat-fee matters, email invoices with online payment links, and payment collection through LawPay/AffiniPay or Stripe. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Billing and payments
- Yes · kosmos.law, 21 Sept 2026
- Calendar integration
- The calendar can optionally synchronize with Google Calendar. · kosmos.law, 11 Oct 2026
- Case building
- Case tools include document OCR, highlights and citations, fact timelines, witness tracking, and case law saved from CourtListener. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Client intake
- Yes · kosmos.law, 21 Sept 2026
- Company information
- The pages reviewed do not state a maker name, headquarters, or founding year. · kosmos.law, 12 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- The documentation describes installing Kosmos on a server and connecting email, payments, Google, and AI providers. · kosmos.law, 11 Oct 2026
- Document access
- Matter documents are served through the application to signed-in users rather than published at a URL. · kosmos.law, 12 Oct 2026
- Document storage
- Files can be stored on local disk by default or in an S3-compatible object store, and matter documents are served through authenticated application requests. · kosmos.law, 11 Oct 2026
- File storage
- Files can be stored on local disk by default or in an S3-compatible object store. · kosmos.law, 12 Oct 2026
- File upload limit
- The supplied nginx configuration caps request bodies at 100 MB, so larger uploads are rejected before reaching Kosmos. · kosmos.law, 12 Oct 2026
- Free plan
- Yes · kosmos.law, 21 Sept 2026
- Google Workspace
- Google Workspace integration includes Calendar and Contacts sync, Gmail labels mapped to matters, and Drive folders mapped to document categories. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- License
- The project is released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Payments
- Kosmos can take online payments through Confido or LawPay. · kosmos.law, 11 Oct 2026
- Practice management
- It includes matters, contacts, tasks, deadlines, calendars, time and expense tracking, invoicing, trust accounting, and client intakes. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Product
- Kosmos is free, open-source law practice management software for small law firms. · kosmos.law, 12 Oct 2026
- Self-hosting
- Kosmos can be installed on a firm's own server, and its installer supports Ubuntu or Debian and a local PostgreSQL database. · kosmos.law, 12 Oct 2026
- Server requirements
- The installer script requires Ubuntu or Debian, sudo access, and a local PostgreSQL database; its automated install check runs on Ubuntu 24.04. · kosmos.law, 11 Oct 2026
- Support
- The product site lists [email protected] as a contact address. · kosmos.law, 12 Oct 2026
Where Kosmos stands on Freedom251
- Legal Practice Management Software#20 of 140