Primary law is free almost everywhere: Cornell’s LII, Google Scholar’s case law, CourtListener’s RECAP archive, govinfo and the Supreme Court’s own site for the US; EUR-Lex for the EU; BAILII, CanLII and AustLII for the UK, Canada and Australia. What costs money is the layer lawyers pay for — citators, headnotes and practice notes — and the one free route to it, vLex Fastcase, comes through bar membership. Casetext, once the best free search, closed in April 2025 after Thomson Reuters bought it; Westlaw, Lexis and HeinOnline sell trials or subscriptions. Prices are USD and were checked on 23 October 2026. How we score · All Kurums Free lists
TL;DR — the free legal database that fits
- US statutes, regulations and Supreme Court cases, explained: Cornell LII — free law for all, donation-funded.
- Fast full-text US case search with ‘cited by’ and alerts: Google Scholar case law — federal since 1923, state appellate since 1950, no account for alerts.
- Federal dockets and PACER documents without PACER fees: CourtListener’s RECAP archive — tens of millions of documents, 5 free docket alerts, bulk data under CC BY-ND.
- EU law: EUR-Lex — treaties, the Official Journal, case law and transposition, free to re-use.
- A US lawyer: vLex Fastcase through your bar association — every state bar provides free access to Fastcase or Decisis.
Which legal research databases tools have a free plan in 2026?
Every database below gives free access to primary law with no end date and no card; most need no account. Coverage is the first difference: LII, Justia, FindLaw and govinfo cover US statutes and regulations; Google Scholar and CourtListener cover cases with the deepest free US case search; EUR-Lex, BAILII, CanLII and AustLII cover their jurisdictions comprehensively. Tooling is the second: Google Scholar offers ‘cited by’ and email alerts; CourtListener offers docket alerts and an API; none offers a citator that tells you whether a case is still good law.
That citator layer is what the paid services sell. vLex Fastcase is listed because bar membership makes it free for most US lawyers. Casetext is excluded: Thomson Reuters bought it in 2023 and closed the research platform on 1 April 2025 with no free successor. Westlaw, Lexis+ and HeinOnline are paid, and the Caselaw Access Project, WorldLII and Law.gov were not reviewed. BAILII, CanLII, AustLII and Oyez rows draw on encyclopaedic sources and are marked partially unverified.
The table shows jurisdiction, tooling and the Free Score. Open a row for terms, alerts, the paid layer and the page we checked.
| Company | Free as | Key limit | Card | Free Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G |
Free forever | US federal since 1923 · state since 1950 · alerts | No | 88 | Scorecard ↓ |
| C |
Free forever | US Code · CFR · SCOTUS · free for all | No | 86 | Scorecard ↓ |
| C |
Free forever | PACER archive · 5 docket alerts · API · CC BY-ND | No | 84 | Scorecard ↓ |
| E |
Free forever | EU law · free re-use · RSS | No | 84 | Scorecard ↓ |
| G |
Free forever | Official US publications · API · reprintable | No | 78 | Scorecard ↓ |
| J |
Free forever | US cases, codes, regulations · ad-supported | No | 74 | Scorecard ↓ |
| F |
Free forever | Federal & all state opinions · US Code | No | 70 | Scorecard ↓ |
| V |
Startup program | Free via bar membership · every US state bar | No | 70 | Scorecard ↓ |
| S |
Free forever | Slip opinions on release · bound volumes | No | 68 | Scorecard ↓ |
| C |
Free forever | 2.4M+ documents · 300+ databases · unverified | No | 66 | Scorecard ↓ |
| B |
Free forever | UK & Ireland judgments · HTML reproduction prohibited · unverified | No | 64 | Scorecard ↓ |
| A |
Free forever | Australian law · High Court complete · unverified | No | 62 | Scorecard ↓ |
| O |
Free forever | SCOTUS oral argument audio since 1955 · unverified | No | 56 | Scorecard ↓ |
Free tiers verified 23 October 2026 on each vendor’s pricing page (third-party sources named in the Scorecard where the vendor page was silent). Order is by Free Score only; sponsorship never changes it.
What do the free legal database plans actually include?
Open any row for the eight-field Scorecard. The “Why it ranks here” note under each row explains the score in plain terms.
1G
Google Scholar case lawUS · full-text search of US Supreme Court cases since 1791, federal courts since 1923 and state appellate courts since 1950, with ‘cited by’ and email alerts that need no Google accountFree foreverUS federal since 1923 · state since 1950 · alertsNo card88⌄
- What’s free
- US state appellate and supreme court cases since 1950; US federal district, appellate, tax and bankruptcy courts since 1923; US Supreme Court cases since 1791; email alerts without a Google account
- Hard limits
- None stated · ‘cited by’ is not a citator — no treatment analysis
- Time limit
- None
- Card required
- No.
- Upgrade trigger
- None
- Cheapest paid step
- None
- Best free for
- The fastest free way to find and follow US cases
- Verified
- Oct 2026 · scholar.google.com help page
2C
Cornell LIIUS · the Legal Information Institute’s ‘free law for all’: the US Code, CFR, Supreme Court decisions and explanatory material, donation-fundedFree foreverUS Code · CFR · SCOTUS · free for allNo card86⌄
- What’s free
- Public access to law free of charge; donation-funded
- Hard limits
- None stated · coverage and terms not itemised on the page
- Time limit
- None
- Card required
- No.
- Upgrade trigger
- None
- Cheapest paid step
- None
- Best free for
- Reading a statute or regulation with the context a non-lawyer needs
- Verified
- Oct 2026 · about.law.cornell.edu
Why it ranks here. The reference site for US federal law for three decades and the one most businesses actually read; cases are better searched elsewhere.
3C
CourtListener / RECAPUS (Free Law Project) · tens of millions of PACER documents including every free opinion, a browser extension that liberates documents you buy, five free docket alerts and an API with bulk dataFree foreverPACER archive · 5 docket alerts · API · CC BY-NDNo card84⌄
- What’s free
- The RECAP Archive of tens of millions of PACER documents including every free opinion; the free RECAP extension; 5 docket alerts free (10 more with the extension); API and bulk data; content under CC BY-ND 4.0
- Hard limits
- 5 free docket alerts · real-time search alerts are for members
- Time limit
- None
- Card required
- No.
- Upgrade trigger
- Unlimited or real-time alerts
- Cheapest paid step
- Not stated
- Best free for
- Following federal litigation — a competitor’s, a supplier’s, your own — without PACER fees
- Verified
- Oct 2026 · free.law/recap and courtlistener.com/help/alerts
Why it ranks here. The only free source of federal docket documents and the only one with an API; opinions are better searched on Scholar, dockets only here.
4E
EUR-LexEU · treaties, the Official Journal, EU case law, preparatory documents, consolidated texts and national transposition, free to re-use subject to copyright conditions, with RSS feedsFree foreverEU law · free re-use · RSSNo card84⌄
- What’s free
- Treaties, OJ L and C series, EU case law, preparatory documents, consolidated texts, national transposition measures; re-use of data free of charge subject to copyright conditions; RSS feeds
- Hard limits
- None · web services need an EU Login · language coverage uneven for later-accession languages
- Time limit
- None
- Card required
- No.
- Upgrade trigger
- None
- Cheapest paid step
- None
- Best free for
- Any business subject to EU regulation — which, through GDPR and product rules, is most of them
- Verified
- Oct 2026 · eur-lex.europa.eu FAQ
Why it ranks here. Complete, official and explicitly re-usable; the interface is the friction.
5G
govinfo.govUS (GPO) · free official government information from all three branches — CFR, US Code, Federal Register — as authenticated PDFs, with RSS and an APIFree foreverOfficial US publications · API · reprintableNo card78⌄
- What’s free
- Free US government information for all: publications from all three branches, RSS feeds, an API at api.govinfo.gov; public documents can generally be reprinted without restriction
- Hard limits
- None
- Time limit
- None
- Card required
- No.
- Upgrade trigger
- None
- Cheapest paid step
- None
- Best free for
- Citing the authoritative text of a regulation or the Federal Register
- Verified
- Oct 2026 · govinfo.gov/about
Why it ranks here. Official and authenticated where LII is explanatory; less readable, more citable.
6J
JustiaUS · free case law, codes, regulations and legal information including every Supreme Court decision since the 1790s, supported by lawyer marketingFree foreverUS cases, codes, regulations · ad-supportedNo card74⌄
- What’s free
- Free case law, codes, regulations and legal information; all Supreme Court decisions since the 1790s; federal and state laws; a free Justia Connect Practice membership
- Hard limits
- None stated · terms not reviewed · ad- and marketing-supported
- Time limit
- None
- Card required
- No.
- Upgrade trigger
- Connect Pro or lawyer marketing
- Cheapest paid step
- Not stated
- Best free for
- Browsing state codes and recent decisions with plain-language summaries
- Verified
- Oct 2026 · justia.com
Why it ranks here. Broad and readable; the funding model shows in the layout.
7F
FindLaw CaselawUS · a free collection of state and federal court opinions, state laws and the US Code: the Supreme Court, federal appeals and all states, DC and five territoriesFree foreverFederal & all state opinions · US CodeNo card70⌄
- What’s free
- Free state and federal court opinions, state laws and the United States Code; Supreme Court, federal appeals, all states, DC and five territories
- Hard limits
- Date range not stated
- Time limit
- None
- Card required
- No.
- Upgrade trigger
- None
- Cheapest paid step
- None
- Best free for
- Browsing opinions by court when you know where to look
- Verified
- Oct 2026 · caselaw.findlaw.com
Why it ranks here. Solid coverage, weaker search than Scholar, and a legal-marketing business behind it.
8V
vLex FastcaseUS · a commercial research platform with a citator, free to members of participating bar associations — every US state bar provides free access to Fastcase or DecisisStartup programFree via bar membership · every US state barNo card70⌄
- What’s free
- Access through a listed bar association at no additional cost; all US state bar associations provide members with free access to at least one of vLex Fastcase and Decisis
- Hard limits
- Bar membership required · citator not mentioned on the vendor page · direct subscription price not stated
- Time limit
- None
- Card required
- No.
- Upgrade trigger
- A direct subscription without a bar
- Cheapest paid step
- Not stated
- Best free for
- Any practising US lawyer who has not noticed the benefit
- Verified
- Oct 2026 · fastcase.com/bar-associations; Duke Law’s table, 9 May 2025
Why it ranks here. The nearest thing to free Westlaw, conditional on a licence to practise; scored as a programme.
9S
Supreme Court of the United StatesUS · slip opinions posted on release, preliminary prints and bound volumes as PDFs, from the Court itselfFree foreverSlip opinions on release · bound volumesNo card68⌄
- What’s free
- Slip opinions posted on the website upon release; PDF preliminary prints and bound volumes
- Hard limits
- Terms not stated
- Time limit
- None
- Card required
- No.
- Upgrade trigger
- None
- Cheapest paid step
- None
- Best free for
- The authoritative text of a Supreme Court decision on the day it comes out
- Verified
- Oct 2026 · supremecourt.gov/opinions
Why it ranks here. One court, perfectly covered.
10C
CanLIICanada · free public access to more than 2.4 million documents across 300-plus databases, funded by the Federation of Law SocietiesFree forever2.4M+ documents · 300+ databases · unverifiedNo card66⌄
- What’s free
- Free public access to over 2.4 million documents and 300-plus databases, funded by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada
- Hard limits
- Not stated · citator and alerts not confirmed
- Time limit
- None
- Card required
- No.
- Upgrade trigger
- None
- Cheapest paid step
- None
- Best free for
- Canadian case law and legislation
- Verified
- Oct 2026 · Wikipedia — partially unverified
Why it ranks here. The Canadian standard, scored from a secondary source.
11B
BAILIIUK · free access to judgments from England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland plus EU and ECHR materialFree foreverUK & Ireland judgments · HTML reproduction prohibited · unverifiedNo card64⌄
- What’s free
- Free access to publicly available legal information for England and Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the EU and the ECHR
- Hard limits
- Reproduction of its HTML is prohibited · not indexed by search engines · charity-funded
- Time limit
- None
- Card required
- No.
- Upgrade trigger
- None
- Cheapest paid step
- None
- Best free for
- UK and Irish judgments
- Verified
- Oct 2026 · Wikipedia — partially unverified
Why it ranks here. Essential for the UK and deliberately hard to search from outside; the reproduction restriction is unusual for a free-law site.
12A
AustLIIAustralia · publicly available legal information including every High Court decisionFree foreverAustralian law · High Court complete · unverifiedNo card62⌄
- What’s free
- Publicly available legal information; the complete text of all High Court decisions
- Hard limits
- Not stated · database count and LawCite not confirmed
- Time limit
- None
- Card required
- No.
- Upgrade trigger
- None
- Cheapest paid step
- None
- Best free for
- Australian law
- Verified
- Oct 2026 · Wikipedia — partially unverified
Why it ranks here. The Australian standard, scored from a secondary source.
13O
OyezUS · Supreme Court oral-argument audio since 1955 with no registration, sponsored by Cornell LII and JustiaFree foreverSCOTUS oral argument audio since 1955 · unverifiedNo card56⌄
- What’s free
- Oral argument audio since October 1955; no registration
- Hard limits
- Licence not stated
- Time limit
- None
- Card required
- No.
- Upgrade trigger
- None
- Cheapest paid step
- None
- Best free for
- Hearing how an argument actually went
- Verified
- Oct 2026 · Wikipedia — partially unverified
Why it ranks here. A research aid rather than a database; included for the many who use it.
Which free legal database has no credit-card requirement?
None of these takes a card or, except EUR-Lex’s web services, requires an account; Google Scholar’s alerts work without a Google account and CourtListener’s five docket alerts need only a free registration. vLex Fastcase needs a bar membership. Nothing converts to paid.
The conditions are on re-use, not access: BAILII prohibits reproducing its HTML, CourtListener’s content is CC BY-ND, EUR-Lex permits re-use subject to copyright conditions and govinfo says public documents can generally be reprinted. If you are building something on top of a database, read its terms first.
When does the free plan stop being enough?
Kurums Match: which free legal database fits your situation?
Business owner reading a US regulation
Cornell LII, then govinfo for the authenticated text.
Checking US case law on a contract point
Google Scholar.
Following litigation
CourtListener.
EU compliance
EUR-Lex.
UK, Canadian or Australian business
BAILII, CanLII or AustLII.
US lawyer
vLex Fastcase through the bar.
How we score free tiers
Duration (30): free forever scores 30, a 30-day-plus trial 15, a trial of 14 days or less 8, credit-based tiers 12. Capacity (30): whether the limits carry a team of three for twelve months. Core job (25): whether the free tier does the category’s main work — here, finding and reading primary law — statutes, regulations, cases — for the jurisdictions a business operates in, with enough tooling to follow citations. Friction (15): no card 15; card but no auto-charge 8; auto-charge 0; self-hosting deducts for setup and maintenance.
Each free tier was checked on the vendor’s pricing page on 23 October 2026; where the vendor page was silent, the Scorecard names the third-party source used. Free tiers change, so this list is re-verified every quarter and a discontinued free plan stays listed for one month with a notice. Order is by Free Score only. Kurums Free sells no placement; sponsorship, affiliate links and vendor requests never change a score, a rank or a label. Vendors can submit corrections to the Kurums editorial team.
How did we verify these free tiers?
We opened each database’s about, help or home page and recorded coverage, alerts, API and re-use terms. CanLII, BAILII, AustLII and Oyez rows use encyclopaedic sources and are marked partially unverified. For vLex Fastcase, its bar-association page plus a Duke Law table dated May 2025 were used. Casetext was excluded because its research platform closed on 1 April 2025 after acquisition by Thomson Reuters; HeinOnline, Westlaw and Lexis+ as paid; the Caselaw Access Project, WorldLII and Law.gov as unreachable.
Nothing here is legal advice. Primary law found free still needs reading in context and checking for later treatment.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free legal research database?
For US cases, Google Scholar (full text since 1923 federal and 1950 state, with alerts); for US statutes and regulations, Cornell LII and govinfo; for federal dockets, CourtListener’s RECAP archive; for EU law, EUR-Lex.
Is Casetext still free?
No. Thomson Reuters acquired Casetext in 2023 and closed the research platform on 1 April 2025; there is no free public successor.
Does any free database have a citator?
No. Google Scholar’s ‘cited by’ lists later citing cases without treatment analysis. vLex Fastcase is free to US bar members and Westlaw and Lexis sell trials.
Can I read PACER documents without paying?
CourtListener’s RECAP archive holds tens of millions of PACER documents free, and the RECAP browser extension adds any document you buy on PACER to the archive for others.
Is EUR-Lex free to re-use?
Yes — EUR-Lex states its data may be re-used free of charge subject to copyright conditions, with RSS feeds and web services behind an EU Login.
How do US lawyers get free research tools?
Through their bar association: every US state bar provides members with free access to vLex Fastcase or Decisis, per Fastcase’s page and a Duke Law survey.
Discover more from Kurums | Business Intelligence
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.