Three terms describe software that fills templates with data: document generation, document automation and document assembly. They overlap, and vendors pick whichever fits their market. This page defines each one and says how this site uses them.
Document generation
Document generation is software that takes data and a template and produces a finished document. The data is structured: a record in Airtable or Salesforce, a row in a sheet, a JSON payload from your own code. The template holds placeholders, and often loops and conditions. The output is a file or a native document: PDF, DOCX, Google Docs, PPTX, Google Slides and others.
This site uses document generation as its category word. All 128 tools in our records are listed under it, whatever they call themselves, and every listing is sorted by data source, output, use case and buyer.
Document automation
Document automation is the broader synonym. Vendors use it for generation plus the steps around it: collecting the data, approvals, e-signature, storage and sending. A product that calls itself document automation usually generates documents and also moves them through a process.
The term shows up in product names across the records. Experlogix Document Automation works with Dynamics 365, SugarCRM and the Power Platform. MyCase Document Automation is the Word-based automation inside a legal practice management product. Zoho Writer sells a Document Automation add-on that merges from Zoho CRM, Books and Recruit. Airtable Document Automator is an automation action that creates Google Docs from records. Each of these is a document generation tool on this site.
Document assembly
Document assembly is the legal term. An assembly tool builds a document from a template by asking a person questions, often called an interview. Each answer fills a field or switches a clause on or off, so one template can produce many versions of a contract, a will or a court form. The data comes from the person answering, which is why these tools sit under the native forms source in our records.
The main names are legal products:
- HotDocs is owned by Mitratech and runs on the desktop and in the cloud. It publishes no price.
- Gavel, formerly Documate, starts from $83 a month with unlimited generations.
- Knackly starts from $209 a month billed yearly for four users, with a Clio integration.
- Legito covers document and contract automation, with a 30-day trial and a free plan.
- docassemble is free and open source under the MIT license. Its interviews are written in YAML, and it is used in legal aid.
Our records describe Avvoka as legal drafting and document automation for law firms, and BRYTER as no-code legal workflows with document automation. The terms mix freely. Prices were checked on 20 Oct 2026.
How the three relate
| Term | Who uses it | Where the data comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Document generation | Software vendors, developers, this site | Records, rows, JSON |
| Document automation | Vendors selling generation with workflow | Records, forms, CRM objects |
| Document assembly | Law firms and legal tech | A person answering an interview |
The three describe one job from different angles. Generation names the output, automation names the process, and assembly names the legal method of building a document clause by clause. A contract tool can fit all three.
Where to look on this site
For interview-driven legal tools, start with document generation for legal teams, which lists 18 tools. For contracts from any source, including CRM and e-sign products, see document generation for contracts, with 74 tools. For engines your own code calls, see document generation APIs.