CourtListener
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 4 legal research databases
Free, donation-funded search of US court documents and bulk case law from the non-profit Free Law Project, seen as a cheaper alternative to PACER.
Free, donation-funded search of US court documents and bulk case law from the non-profit Free Law Project, seen as a cheaper alternative to PACER.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Free access to court documents
“courtlistener is providing a much better service at no cost to the public through donations”
Comment from 20 Jun 2026 in “Court Records Should Be Free” “who make millions of US court documents freely available to the public”
Comment from 27 Mar 2026 in “Order Granting Preliminary Injunction – Anthropic vs. U.S. Department of War [pdf]” Cheaper alternative to PACER
“As a user of both courtlistener and pacer, I mostly believe freelaw can deliver a better cheaper equivalent”
Comment from 20 Jun 2026 in “Court Records Should Be Free” “courtlistener is providing a much better service at no cost to the public through donations”
Comment from 20 Jun 2026 in “Court Records Should Be Free” Bulk case law data available
“CourtListener (from the non-profit Free Law Project) provides bulk access to its case law collection.”
Comment from 30 Mar 2026 in “I put all 8,642 Spanish laws in Git – every reform is a commit” “We have hosted bulk case law at Free Law Project for over a decade”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “Astra for Law” Non-profit, donation-funded service
“CourtListener (from the non-profit Free Law Project) provides bulk access to its case law collection.”
Comment from 30 Mar 2026 in “I put all 8,642 Spanish laws in Git – every reform is a commit” “courtlistener is providing a much better service at no cost to the public through donations”
Comment from 20 Jun 2026 in “Court Records Should Be Free”
Other legal research databases people recommend
The three most recommended other legal research databases, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CourtListenerThis page | 10 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| LexisNexis | 7 | 9 | 44% | 5 | — | — |
| PACER | 5 | 11 | 31% | 4 | — | — |
| Westlaw | 5 | 6 | 45% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
10 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“We have hosted bulk case law at Free Law Project for over a decade”
“Thanks be to CourtListener and other predecessors.”
“As a user of both courtlistener and pacer, I mostly believe freelaw can deliver a better cheaper equivalent”
“courtlistener is providing a much better service at no cost to the public through donations”
“fill a vital niche at the moment”
“It’s a wonderful resource.”
“CourtListener (from the non-profit Free Law Project) provides bulk access to its case law collection.”
“who make millions of US court documents freely available to the public”
“At least in the US you have initiatives like”
“has been a pretty good recent entry”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.