CourtListener

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Score6.9

Rank#2 of 30

From$10,100/mo

Free planYes

Runs onWeb

Summary

CourtListener is a free web-based legal research service for finding opinions from U.S. federal and state courts. Its searchable archive also includes oral arguments, judges, judicial financial records, and federal filings. The RECAP Archive contains nearly every federal case, hundreds of millions of docket entries, and tens of millions of legal documents. Users can create alerts for topics, people, companies, citations, and other searches. Developer access includes REST APIs, bulk data files, webhooks, database replication, and an MCP server that allows AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT to access CourtListener data and APIs. The project is built on open source technology and serves lawyers, journalists, academics, researchers, organizations, and the public. The free non-member tier has limits on alerts and API requests; membership tiers list higher limits, with billing notes from $10 per month or $100 per year through $100 per month or $1,000 per year. Complimentary EDU memberships are available to qualifying faculty, students, and researchers with valid .edu email addresses, and qualifying U.S. nonprofit legal services organizations can receive free LSO memberships.

Who it is for

CourtListener may suit legal professionals, researchers, journalists, academics, and members of the public seeking U.S. court materials. Developers and organizations may also use its data access options and search alerts.

What is good

Free searchable opinions from federal and state courts.
Archive includes dockets, oral arguments, and federal filings.
Alerts cover topics, people, companies, and citations.
Developer access includes APIs, bulk data, and webhooks.
Complimentary memberships are available to qualifying groups.

What to know first

Available on the web only.
Free non-member alert and API use has limits.
DNSSEC is not currently planned under the security policy.

Verdict

CourtListener combines legal search, a large federal filings archive, alerts, and developer access. Review the free-tier limits or membership terms if you need higher alert or API allowances.

CourtListener plans and pricing

All plans

Free Tier Non-Members Free 5 docket alerts · unlimited daily opinion search alerts · 5 daily RECAP search alerts · 5 Pray & Pay requests · API 5/minute, 50/hour, 125/day free.law · 1 Oct 2026

Tier 1 $10,100/mo $10/mo or $100/yr unlimited docket alerts · unlimited real-time opinion search alerts · 10 daily RECAP search alerts · 5 real-time RECAP search alerts · 15 Pray & Pay requests · API 10/minute, 75/hour, 300/day free.law · 1 Oct 2026

Tier 2 $25,250/mo $25/mo or $250/yr unlimited docket alerts · unlimited real-time opinion search alerts · 25 daily RECAP search alerts · 10 real-time RECAP search alerts · 15 Pray & Pay requests · API 15/minute, 150/hour, 600/day · $38 shop credits free.law · 1 Oct 2026

Tier 3 $50,500/mo $50/mo or $500/yr unlimited docket alerts · unlimited real-time opinion search alerts · 50 daily RECAP search alerts · 25 real-time RECAP search alerts · 15 Pray & Pay requests · API 20/minute, 250/hour, 1,000/day · $75 shop credits free.law · 1 Oct 2026

Tier 4 $1,001,000/mo $100/mo or $1000/yr unlimited docket alerts · unlimited real-time opinion search alerts · 100 daily RECAP search alerts · 50 real-time RECAP search alerts · 15 Pray & Pay requests · API 25/minute, 300/hour, 1,400/day · $150 shop credits free.law · 1 Oct 2026

Compared on legal research software

Free plan: Yescourtlistener.com
Case law search: Yescourtlistener.com
Docket search: Yescourtlistener.com
Citation tools: Yescourtlistener.com
Jurisdiction coverage: U.S. federal and state courtscourtlistener.com
Research alerts: Yescourtlistener.com

Facts

Purpose: CourtListener is a free legal research website containing millions of legal opinions from federal and state courts.courtlistener.com · 1 Oct 2026
Archive: The service is a searchable archive of opinions, oral arguments, judges, judicial financial records, and federal filings.free.law · 1 Oct 2026
RECAP: Its RECAP Archive contains nearly every federal case, hundreds of millions of docket entries, and tens of millions of legal documents.free.law · 1 Oct 2026
Alerts: CourtListener provides alerts for topics, people, companies, citations, and other monitored searches.free.law · 1 Oct 2026
Developer access: Free Law Project provides REST APIs, bulk data files, webhooks, database replication, and an MCP server for CourtListener data.wiki.free.law · 1 Oct 2026
AI integration: The CourtListener MCP server lets Claude, ChatGPT, and other AI assistants access CourtListener data and APIs directly.wiki.free.law · 1 Oct 2026
Open source: CourtListener is built on open source technology.free.law · 1 Oct 2026
Support: CourtListener help documentation covers donations and memberships, data coverage, developer documentation, content removal, and direct contact support.courtlistener.com · 1 Oct 2026
Security policy: Free Law Project's vulnerability disclosure policy covers courtlistener.com, its API, alerts, and RECAP extensions, with coordinated disclosure requested for up to 90 days.wiki.free.law · 1 Oct 2026
Security limitation: The vulnerability disclosure policy states that DNSSEC is not currently planned.wiki.free.law · 1 Oct 2026
Audience: The project describes CourtListener as serving lawyers, journalists, academics, the public, researchers, and organizations.courtlistener.com · 1 Oct 2026
Free memberships: EDU memberships are complimentary for faculty, students, and researchers with a valid .edu email address, and LSO memberships are free for qualifying U.S.-based nonprofit legal services organizations.free.law · 1 Oct 2026