Sombra vs Paradino: AI for Australian advisers, compared
Details about other tools reflect their publicly available information as at the date this page was published and last reviewed, and may have changed since. Check each vendor's own site for the current position.
Quick answer
Paradino and Sombra are both Australian-hosted and both start from a meeting, so on data residency they are level. They diverge on what they are built to produce. Paradino is an advice-documentation platform: its AI agent “Athena” turns meetings into full Statements of Advice and Records of Advice, and it integrates deep into the advice-production stack (intelliflo, RetireMap, ProductRex, Microsoft 365). Sombra is built around the ongoing client relationship: the note carries into a living client record, a practice-wide attention queue and tracked follow-through, and we help optimise the wider client workflow around it. Choose Paradino if your bottleneck is producing SoAs and RoAs. Choose Sombra if your bottleneck is staying on top of every client relationship and the work after the meeting.
At a glance
| Sombra | Paradino | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Australian advice firms | Australian advice firms and licensees |
| Primary job | File note, then the client workflow after it | Advice documents: SoAs and RoAs |
| AI approach | Structured notes and workflow, adviser-reviewed | ”Athena” agent plans and drafts documents with you |
| Australian-hosted | App, database and transcription in Australia, no model training | Yes, end-to-end in Australia |
| After the meeting | Client record, attention queue, tracked follow-through | Full advice-document generation |
| Integrations | Workflow-native | intelliflo office, RetireMap, ProductRex, M365, Worksorted, Google Workspace |
| Implementation | Hands-on: we fit it to your workflow | Self-serve, free to start |
| Free trial | Yes, 3 file notes, no card | Advertises a free start |
Same country, same starting point, different destination. Paradino aims at the document. Sombra aims at the relationship.
Where Paradino is the stronger choice
Credit where it is due: for advice-document production, Paradino goes further than anything else in this comparison. Athena does not one-shot a document; it plans the SoA or RoA with you in reviewable steps, gathers the client information, develops the strategy and assembles the wording, pausing for your confirmation. It uses your own templates, and its two-way integrations with intelliflo office, RetireMap, ProductRex and Microsoft 365 pull it right into the advice-production workflow. If the slow, expensive part of your practice is turning advice into compliant SoAs and RoAs, Paradino is built precisely for that, and it is Australian-hosted end to end, so residency is not a trade-off.
Where Sombra pulls ahead
Different bottleneck, different tool. Paradino is a document factory. It is excellent at producing the deliverable and then it is done. Sombra is built for the part that has no single deliverable: keeping every client relationship moving. The note files into a Client Directory that keeps advice context linked, Follow Through tracks the agreed actions with owner, timing and client context, and Book of Business surfaces which relationships across the practice need attention, with the evidence attached. Paradino answers “how do I produce this SoA faster.” Sombra answers “how do I make sure nothing and no one slips between meetings.”
Note-first, not document-first. Paradino’s centre of gravity is the advice document, which is heavier machinery than many firms need for day-to-day file notes and follow-up. Sombra starts with the file note and lets you adopt the wider workflow progressively, so the day-one job is simple and the depth is there when you want it.
We optimise the whole machine, and we work with what you already run. Paradino is self-serve and free to start. Sombra treats the fit as the work, and it goes wider than setup. Your firm already uses AI tools and has its own way of working, and we start from that rather than trying to change it: we assess your entire client workflow, from top of funnel through sales, onboarding, advice, ongoing reviews, retention and expansion, across the teams, tools and systems you already run, and help you optimise the whole of it. Sombra slots into the part it serves best, the note and the work after it, and we refine the rest around it rather than leaving you to bolt tools together. For a practice that wants its machine tuned rather than another app adopted app-by-app, that is the difference between software that sticks and software that sits idle.
These two are not really rivals for the same hour of your day. Some firms will run a document platform and a relationship workflow side by side. If you are choosing one first, choose on which bottleneck hurts more right now.
When to choose which
Choose Paradino if producing SoAs and RoAs is your bottleneck and you want an AI agent built for advice-document production, deeply integrated into the advice-production stack. Choose Sombra if the bottleneck is the ongoing client relationship and the work after the meeting, and you want a partner who optimises your whole client workflow around it. Try it free on three real meetings first.
FAQ
Is Sombra a Paradino alternative? Partly. Both are Australian-hosted and both start from a meeting, but they target different jobs: Paradino produces advice documents (SoAs, RoAs), Sombra runs the ongoing client workflow after the note. Some firms use both.
Are both hosted in Australia? Yes. Paradino states end-to-end Australian hosting; Sombra runs its app, database and transcription in Australia with no model training. Both keep client data onshore.
Does Sombra generate SoAs and RoAs? No. Sombra is not trying to be a document factory. It writes the file note and carries it into the client record, attention queue and follow-through. If full SoA and RoA generation is your priority, Paradino is the more direct fit for that specific job.
Can I try Sombra first? Yes, three file notes free, no card. Run it on a real meeting and see whether the after-the-note workflow is the gap in your practice.
By Kevin Dykes, Cofounder and CEO of Sombra. Paradino facts are from paradino.ai, verified 24 August 2026; features change, so re-verify before relying on this.
Implementation We optimise the whole machine with you → We assess your client workflow, work with the tools you already run, and fit Sombra into the part it serves best.