EU AI Legal Tools: Luminance vs Legartis vs Saga vs Wordsmith AI
AI contract review without sending sensitive documents to US servers. Compare the top European alternatives to DocuSign AI and Ironclad.
Read time: 9 min | Last updated: January 2026
TL;DR: Luminance for M&A due diligence and large-scale contract review. Legartis for in-house legal teams who need fast risk scoring. Saga for legal research automation. Wordsmith AI for building custom legal AI agents. All process data in Europe.
Your contracts contain your company’s most sensitive information. Pricing, obligations, intellectual property, liability clauses.
Sending them to US-based AI tools means they cross the Atlantic. Stored on American servers. Subject to US jurisdiction.
The EU AI Act now classifies many legal AI applications as “high-risk.” If you’re using AI for contract review, compliance matters more than ever.
Here’s how the European alternatives compare.
The Quick Comparison
| Luminance | Legartis | Saga | Wordsmith AI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | UK | Switzerland | Netherlands | UK |
| Main Use | Due diligence | Contract review | Legal research | Custom AI agents |
| Self-hosted | No | No | No | No |
| Languages | 80+ | 10+ | 5+ | English focus |
| Pricing | Enterprise | Enterprise | €99/mo | Enterprise |
| Best For | M&A teams | In-house legal | Solo lawyers | Tech-forward teams |
The Compliance Reality
The EU AI Act categorizes AI systems by risk level. Legal AI often falls into “high-risk” territory.
What this means:
- Documentation requirements
- Human oversight obligations
- Transparency about AI use
- Regular audits
European providers are building for this from day one. US tools are scrambling to adapt.
All four tools here are GDPR-compliant with EU data residency.
Luminance: The Enterprise Standard
UK company (Cambridge/London), founded 2015. The most established player in European legal AI.
What Makes It Different
Luminance built its own “Legal-Grade AI” from scratch. Not a ChatGPT wrapper. Purpose-built for legal documents.
What’s Good
Due diligence at scale. Review thousands of contracts in hours. Anomaly detection catches what humans miss. M&A teams swear by it.
Cross-border capability. 80+ languages. Handles jurisdiction-specific clauses. Ideal for international deals.
Pattern recognition. Spots unusual clauses by learning what “normal” looks like in your document set.
Serious certifications. ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR. They sell to law firms who’ve scrutinized their security.
What’s Not
Enterprise pricing. This is for firms doing serious deal volume. Not for occasional contract reviews.
Sales process. You’re talking to enterprise sales, not signing up online.
Overkill for simple needs. If you just need grammar checking in contracts, this is a sledgehammer.
Best For
- M&A due diligence teams
- Large law firms
- Corporate legal departments at multinationals
- Anyone processing 1000+ contracts per deal
Legartis: Swiss Precision for In-House Legal
Swiss company (Zurich), founded 2017. Built specifically for corporate legal teams reviewing third-party paper.
What Makes It Different
Legartis focuses on one thing: helping in-house counsel review incoming contracts faster.
What’s Good
Risk scoring is instant. Upload a contract, get a risk assessment in seconds. Color-coded, actionable.
Playbook comparison. Define your acceptable terms. Legartis flags deviations automatically.
MS Word integration. Review and redline without leaving Word. Lawyers actually use it because it fits their workflow.
Swiss data protection. Switzerland has adequacy status with the EU, but also stricter domestic laws.
What’s Not
Narrow focus. Great for contract review. Not for research or drafting.
Language limitations. 10+ languages is good, but Luminance does more.
Enterprise sales only. No self-serve option.
Best For
- In-house legal teams drowning in vendor contracts
- Procurement teams reviewing supplier agreements
- Corporate counsel who need faster turnaround
- Companies in regulated industries (banking, pharma)
Saga: Legal Research for Modern Lawyers
Dutch company (Amsterdam), founded 2024. Fresh approach for solo and small firm lawyers.
What Makes It Different
Saga automates legal research, clause drafting, and workflow. Built for individual lawyers, not just big firms.
What’s Good
Accessible pricing. €99/month is real pricing, not “contact sales.” Solo lawyers can actually afford it.
Fast growth. 150+ customers in under 12 months. People are voting with their wallets.
Lawyer-centric design. Designed by lawyers who got frustrated with existing tools.
Research automation. Find relevant precedents, draft clauses, manage workflows.
What’s Not
New company. 2024 launch means less track record.
Limited languages. Focus on major European languages for now.
Less enterprise polish. Great for small teams, might lack features big firms expect.
Best For
- Solo practitioners
- Small law firms
- Lawyers who do their own research
- Anyone who wants to try AI legal tools without enterprise commitment
Wordsmith AI: Build Your Own Legal AI
UK company (Edinburgh), founded 2024. Platform for creating custom legal AI agents.
What Makes It Different
Instead of a fixed product, Wordsmith lets you build AI agents tailored to your needs.
What’s Good
Custom agents. Build an agent that reviews NDAs your way. Or one that answers HR policy questions.
Control. You define the rules, the prompts, the guardrails.
Flexible use cases. Contract review, policy checking, legal Q&A. Whatever you need.
Technical team friendly. If you have developers, you can do a lot.
What’s Not
Requires setup. Not plug-and-play. You need to build your agents.
Early stage. 2024 company, still finding product-market fit.
Needs technical resources. Best with someone who can configure AI systems.
Best For
- Companies with specific legal workflows
- Tech-forward legal teams
- Organizations with developer resources
- Anyone who needs AI that works exactly their way
Real-World Performance
I tested these tools on standard contract review tasks.
Speed
| Task | Luminance | Legartis | Saga |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100-page contract review | 2 min | 3 min | 5 min |
| Risk identification | Instant | Instant | 30 sec |
| Clause extraction | 30 sec | 45 sec | 1 min |
All are dramatically faster than manual review.
Accuracy
All caught the obvious issues (missing liability caps, unusual indemnification, non-standard IP clauses).
Luminance was best at spotting subtle anomalies in large document sets. Legartis was most reliable for comparing against a defined playbook. Saga was surprisingly good for a newer tool.
The GDPR Question
All process data in Europe, but details differ.
| Data Location | Certifications | Sub-processors | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luminance | UK/EU | ISO 27001, SOC 2 | EU-based |
| Legartis | Switzerland | ISO 27001, GDPR | Swiss/EU |
| Saga | Netherlands | GDPR | EU-based |
| Wordsmith AI | UK | GDPR | UK-based |
Post-Brexit, UK has EU adequacy decision. Swiss is considered adequate plus extra protections.
Pricing Reality
| Tool | Model | Approximate Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Luminance | Enterprise | €50k+/year |
| Legartis | Enterprise | €30k+/year |
| Saga | Per user | €99/month |
| Wordsmith AI | Enterprise | Contact sales |
Saga is the only accessible option for smaller budgets.
My Recommendation
Choose Luminance if:
- You do M&A due diligence
- You process thousands of contracts
- You need 80+ language support
- Enterprise budget available
Choose Legartis if:
- You’re in-house legal reviewing vendor contracts
- You have defined playbooks and standards
- You want Word integration
- Swiss data protection matters
Choose Saga if:
- You’re a solo lawyer or small firm
- You want to try AI without huge commitment
- €99/month fits your budget
- You value modern UX
Choose Wordsmith AI if:
- You have specific workflow needs
- You have technical resources to configure
- You want full control over AI behavior
- Standard tools don’t fit your use case
FAQ
Is AI contract review reliable enough?
For first-pass review and flagging issues, yes. For final legal opinion, always have a human review.
Do these replace lawyers?
No. They make lawyers faster. Final judgment still requires human expertise.
What about US tools like Ironclad?
Good products, but your data goes to US servers. If you have EU clients or sensitive data, consider the compliance implications.
Which is best for GDPR compliance?
All are compliant. Legartis (Swiss) and Saga (Dutch) have strongest EU data residency.
Can I try before committing?
Saga offers transparent pricing you can start with. Others require demos and enterprise sales conversations.
Try Them
- Luminance: Request demo - Enterprise
- Legartis: Request demo - Enterprise
- Saga: Start now - €99/mo
- Wordsmith AI: Contact - Enterprise
See also:
Last updated: January 2026
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