Westlaw alternatives and what Westlaw costs a small firm

Westlaw alternatives and Westlaw's own starting prices

Westlaw Advantage starts at $256.75 a month for single-circuit coverage and $399.75 a month for all states and federal coverage, according to Thomson Reuters's store, as read on November 4, 2026. Westlaw Edge with AI-Assisted Research starts at $155.35 and $266.50 a month on a 3-year term. Both are online prices for new customers at firms of up to 10 attorneys, and the Advantage line names no term.

The store prints no separate solo price. It prints starting prices by coverage, one circuit or all states and federal, and a form decides the rest. Thomson Reuters says 2-year plans save 12% and 3-year plans save 18% off the base monthly price.

Lexis+ with Protégé: the other citator platform

Lexis+ with Protégé (formerly Lexis+ AI) is the rival to Westlaw for firms that want a citator. LexisNexis sells it by quote, with pricing that varies with firm size and content, and lists a 2-day free trial through a form. Shepard's Verify checks citations in AI responses, documents and drafts. The CoCounsel alternatives page covers the Thomson Reuters side of the same choice.

CaseRead: public law with a citation screen, by the month

CaseRead searches public statutes and Free Law Project case law, and it says aloud when it lacks a jurisdiction, recommending Westlaw or Lexis for confirmation. Lite is $15 a month and Pro is $149 a month, or $119 a month billed yearly. CaseRead offers a 7-day trial on Pro and Team, and the Westlaw store pages read showed no trial line.

In CaseRead's words that screen is not a citator, and its terms leave verifying every citation to the attorney; for status and treatment, KeyCite and Shepard's sit in Westlaw and Lexis. See the CaseRead review for what each plan includes.

Paxton: a research workspace billed monthly or yearly

Paxton Individual is $499 per user a month or $2,999 per user a year; you pick monthly or annual billing at sign-up and keep it after the 7-day free trial. Its Word and Outlook plugins are Enterprise features. No separate citation screen appears on its pricing page. NexLaw, which bills annually only, is on the CaseRead alternatives page.

Is there a free Westlaw alternative?

No plan on this list does Westlaw's job for free. CaseRead's free parts are its demo and a limited citation check, two a day with full detail for the first 3 citations, and its pricing page lists no free plan. Its case law comes from the Free Law Project, a nonprofit source.

Claude Free is $0 and is a general chatbot, per Anthropic's US-dollar price data. CaseRead's terms say AI output can include invented citations, so a chatbot answer needs every cite looked up. The cheapest legal research software page lists the paid options by lowest printed price.