CourtListener is a free legal research website for finding opinions from U.S. federal and state courts. Its searchable archive also covers 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 monitored searches. Developer resources include REST APIs, bulk data files, webhooks, database replication, and an MCP server that lets AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT access CourtListener data and APIs. Built on open source technology, the project serves lawyers, journalists, academics, researchers, organizations, and the public. Free Law Project's help documentation covers data coverage, developer tools, content removal, memberships, and support. The non-member free tier limits alerts and API requests. Paid membership tiers list higher limits, with billing notes ranging from $10/mo or $100/yr to $100/mo or $1,000/yr. Qualifying faculty, students, and researchers with valid .edu email addresses can receive complimentary EDU memberships; eligible U.S.-based nonprofit legal services organizations can receive free LSO memberships.
Who it is for
It suits lawyers, journalists, academics, researchers, organizations, and members of the public looking for U.S. court materials. Developers can also use its APIs, bulk data, webhooks, database replication, or MCP server.
What is good
- Searches opinions from federal and state courts.
- RECAP includes extensive federal case and docket materials.
- Alerts cover topics, people, companies, and citations.
- Developer access includes APIs and bulk data.
What to know first
- Free non-members have limited docket alerts.
- Free non-members have limited API requests.
- The website is web-only.
Verdict
CourtListener combines legal search, alerts, and developer access around a substantial archive of court materials. The free non-member tier has usage limits, while membership tiers list higher limits.
CourtListener plans and pricing
All plansCompared on legal research software
- Free plan
- Yes
- Case law search
- Yes
- Docket search
- Yes
- Citation tools
- Yes
- Jurisdiction coverage
- U.S. federal and state courts
- Research alerts
- Yes
