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CourtListener
Oakland, California, United States
What it is
CourtListener is a free web-based legal research service for searching opinions from U.S. federal and state courts. Its 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 set alerts for topics, people, companies, citations, and other searches. Free Law Project also provides REST APIs, bulk data files, webhooks, database replication, and an MCP server through which AI assistants can access CourtListener data and APIs. The project is built on open source technology and serves lawyers, journalists, academics, the public, researchers, and organizations. CourtListener is available on the web. Non-members have limits on docket and RECAP alerts and API requests; paid membership tiers list higher limits. Complimentary EDU memberships are available to qualifying faculty, students, and researchers with valid .edu email addresses, while qualifying U.S.-based nonprofit legal services organizations may receive free LSO memberships.
For and against
For
- Searches federal and state court opinions.
- RECAP includes extensive docket and document collections.
- Alerts cover topics, people, companies, and citations.
- Developer access includes APIs and bulk data.
Against
- Non-members have daily alert limits.
- Non-member API requests are limited.
- DNSSEC is not currently planned.
The verdict
CourtListener brings court opinions, filings, oral arguments, and research alerts together with developer access. Non-member use has alert and API limits, with higher limits listed for paid tiers.
Who it suits
It suits legal professionals, journalists, academics, researchers, organizations, and members of the public looking for U.S. court materials or developer data access.
Plans and prices
Free Tier Non-Members
5 docket alerts · unlimited daily opinion search alerts · 5 daily RECAP search alerts · 5 Pray & Pay requests
Read 1 Oct 2026 · free.law
Tier 1
unlimited docket alerts · unlimited real-time opinion search alerts · 10 daily RECAP search alerts · 5 real-time RECAP search alerts
Read 1 Oct 2026 · free.law
Tier 2
unlimited docket alerts · unlimited real-time opinion search alerts · 25 daily RECAP search alerts · 10 real-time RECAP search alerts
Read 1 Oct 2026 · free.law
Tier 3
unlimited docket alerts · unlimited real-time opinion search alerts · 50 daily RECAP search alerts · 25 real-time RECAP search alerts
Read 1 Oct 2026 · free.law
Tier 4
unlimited docket alerts · unlimited real-time opinion search alerts · 100 daily RECAP search alerts · 50 real-time RECAP search alerts
Read 1 Oct 2026 · free.law
On the record
- AI integration
- The CourtListener MCP server lets Claude, ChatGPT, and other AI assistants access CourtListener data and APIs directly.wiki.free.law · read 1 Oct 2026
- Alerts
- CourtListener provides alerts for topics, people, companies, citations, and other monitored searches.free.law · read 1 Oct 2026
- Archive
- The service is a searchable archive of opinions, oral arguments, judges, judicial financial records, and federal filings.free.law · read 1 Oct 2026
- Audience
- The project describes CourtListener as serving lawyers, journalists, academics, the public, researchers, and organizations.courtlistener.com · read 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 · read 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 · read 1 Oct 2026
- Open source
- CourtListener is built on open source technology.free.law · read 1 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- CourtListener is a free legal research website containing millions of legal opinions from federal and state courts.courtlistener.com · read 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 · read 1 Oct 2026
- Security limitation
- The vulnerability disclosure policy states that DNSSEC is not currently planned.wiki.free.law · read 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 · read 1 Oct 2026
- Support
- CourtListener help documentation covers donations and memberships, data coverage, developer documentation, content removal, and direct contact support.courtlistener.com · read 1 Oct 2026
