A solo attorney in 2026 pays $132 to $551 a month for Westlaw on a one-year plan, $152 to $432 a month for Lexis+ on a one-year plan, and $149 a month for CaseRead month to month. Those are each company's own published prices for one attorney, read on October 26, 2026. The spread inside each incumbent is as wide as the spread between them, because what you pay for is coverage, the citator and the AI tier, and the term you agree to.
Here are the numbers, plan by plan, then what each one buys and how to choose.
Westlaw: what one attorney pays
Thomson Reuters prices Westlaw online for firms of 1 to 10 attorneys, by coverage and by term, for new customers. The figures below are for one attorney; single-state prices are for California and single-circuit prices are for the Ninth Circuit, and other states and circuits can differ.
| Westlaw plan (1 attorney) | Coverage | 1-year term | 3-year term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westlaw Edge | One state's primary law (California) | $132.00/month | $107.25/month |
| Westlaw Edge | All states, primary law | $208.00/month | $169.00/month |
| Westlaw Edge | All states and federal, primary law | $255.20/month | $207.35/month |
| Westlaw Edge with AI-Assisted Research | One circuit (Ninth) | $210.40/month | $170.95/month |
| Westlaw Edge with AI-Assisted Research | All states and federal | $360.00/month | $292.50/month |
| Westlaw Advantage | One circuit (Ninth) | $355.20/month | $288.60/month |
| Westlaw Advantage | All states and federal | $551.20/month | $447.85/month |
Every Westlaw Edge plan includes KeyCite, Litigation Analytics and Quick Check, Thomson Reuters' brief-analysis tool, according to its configurator. The longer terms save 12% for two years and 18% for three. One caution: the Westlaw Advantage page's own FAQ quotes lower starting prices than its configurator returns. We print the configurator's figures, which match Thomson Reuters' plan-comparison page.
Lexis+: what one attorney pays
LexisNexis publishes online prices for firms of 1 to 3 attorneys, new customers only, with 10% off a two-year term and 25% off a three-year term.
| Lexis+ plan (1–3 attorneys) | What the store says it covers | 1-year term | 3-year term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential | State case law and court documents | $152/month | $114/month |
| Enhanced | Essential plus federal case law, guidance, verdicts and forms | $342/month | $257/month |
| Professional | Enhanced plus 50-state case law, Law360 and CourtLink | $432/month | $324/month |
| Deluxe Transactional | The transactional plan (no Shepard's or Brief Analysis, per the store's table) | $289/month | $217/month |
| Lexis+ with Protégé (the AI tier) | Lexis+ with the Protégé assistant | Pricing on request | Pricing on request |
Shepard's and Brief Analysis are included in Essential, Enhanced and Professional, per the store's feature table. The AI tier, Protégé, has no published price as of this writing: you will be quoting it with a sales rep.
CaseRead: what one attorney pays
| CaseRead plan | Coverage | Month to month | Billed yearly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro (1 seat) | All 53 US jurisdictions: case law, statutes and regulations, plus your own files | $149/month | $119/month |
| Team | The same, with shared projects and client upload portals | $199 per seat/month | $159 per seat/month |
There is no multi-year term. Pro includes cited research, AI drafting, the Word editor and the Hallucination Shield, which checks each citation for whether the source exists and whether it supports the claim. It does not include a citator, headnotes or treatises. Current details are on our pricing page.
The same budget, three ways
Put the lowest-cost reasonable configuration for a solo litigator side by side:
| Westlaw Edge, one state | Lexis+ Essential | CaseRead Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly, 1-year price | $132.00 | $152 | $149 (month to month) |
| Cheapest monthly price | $107.25 on a 3-year term | $114 on a 3-year term | $119 billed yearly |
| Coverage | One state's primary law | One state's case law and court documents | All 53 US jurisdictions |
| Citator | KeyCite | Shepard's | None; it checks existence and support |
| AI research | Not in Edge; Edge with AI-Assisted Research starts at $210.40 (one circuit, 1 year) | Protégé, price on request | Included |
| Your own files | No | No | Yes, alongside the public law |
| Commitment | 1 to 3 years | 1 to 3 years | None |
The cheapest incumbent number is always the three-year number. If you are tempted by it, read our guide to cancelling a Westlaw subscription first: the renewal window, not the monthly price, is what most solos end up paying for.
What each price actually buys
- Westlaw and Lexis sell editorial depth. KeyCite and Shepard's treatment analysis, headnotes, and the treatise and forms libraries are real, and nothing at the low end replicates them. If you file appellate briefs every month, that depth is worth a seat. Our Westlaw vs LexisNexis head-to-head compares the two citators directly.
- The low incumbent tiers are narrow. $132 buys one state's primary law on Westlaw Edge. Federal, all-states and the AI tier each cost more, and the AI tier is where Westlaw's prices climb past $350 a month.
- CaseRead sells coverage, AI and verification. One price covers every US jurisdiction and research over your own files, with a check on each citation. What it does not sell is a citator: you still confirm treatment on anything you file.
The cost that is not on any price page
The most expensive outcome for a solo is not a subscription. It is a sanctions order. Our running list of AI hallucination sanctions cases has courts fining lawyers, referring them to discipline and dismissing claims over citations no one checked. Whichever tool you buy, check the brief before it is filed. Our citation checker for briefs page explains what CaseRead's free check does with a draft, and what it leaves to your citator.
How to choose
- Price the coverage you actually use. If 90% of your work is in one state's courts, an all-states-and-federal plan is money spent on someone else's practice.
- Decide whether you need a citator every week or a few times a month. Every week argues for one incumbent seat. A few times a month argues for a cheaper research tool plus focused citator work before filing.
- Refuse the three-year term unless you are sure. The discount is real; so is the auto-renewal.
- Run a parallel month on live matters with whatever you are considering. The free legal research tools your bar may already give you belong in that test too.
For the full menu of options, see Westlaw alternatives for small firms, LexisNexis alternatives, CoCounsel vs CaseRead, and our broader legal research cost breakdown.
Sources
All read October 26, 2026. Prices are each vendor's online prices for new customers and change often; confirm them before you buy.
- Thomson Reuters, Westlaw Edge plans and pricing (law firm, 1 attorney): prices, and the features included in every Edge plan.
- Thomson Reuters, Westlaw Edge with AI-Assisted Research plans and pricing (1 attorney).
- Thomson Reuters, Westlaw Advantage plans and pricing (1 attorney): prices and multi-year discounts.
- Thomson Reuters, Westlaw plans and pricing comparison.
- LexisNexis, Lexis+ plans for law firms (1–3 attorneys): prices, terms, Protégé "pricing on request," and the feature table.
- CaseRead, pricing.
Product names are trademarks of their owners; naming them implies no affiliation or endorsement.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Westlaw cost for a solo attorney? Thomson Reuters' configurator, read on October 26, 2026, priced Westlaw Edge for one attorney from $132 a month on a one-year plan for one state's primary law (California) to $255.20 a month for all states and federal. Westlaw Edge with AI-Assisted Research ran $210.40 to $360 a month, and Westlaw Advantage $355.20 to $551.20 a month, on one-year plans. Three-year terms cost less per month.
How much does Lexis+ cost for a solo attorney? The LexisNexis store, read on October 26, 2026, listed Lexis+ for firms of 1 to 3 attorneys at $152 a month for Essential, $342 for Enhanced and $432 for Professional on a one-year term, or $114, $257 and $324 on a three-year term. Lexis+ with Protégé, the AI tier, was listed as pricing on request.
Is CaseRead cheaper than Westlaw and Lexis? At the low end the monthly prices are close: Westlaw Edge starts at $132 for one state on a one-year plan and Lexis+ Essential at $152, against CaseRead Pro at $149 month to month. The difference is what the price covers: CaseRead's covers all 53 US jurisdictions, AI research and your own files with no term commitment, while the incumbents' low tiers cover one state and include a citator.
Do I need Westlaw or Lexis if I use CaseRead? Not for most research, but CaseRead is not a citator. If your work depends on KeyCite or Shepard's treatment analysis every week, keep one incumbent seat. If you need it occasionally, confirm treatment on what you file by searching later citing decisions, or with a citator before filing.
What is the cheapest way to get legal research as a solo? Start with the free research many bar associations include with membership, add a paid tool only for what the free tier lacks, and avoid multi-year terms until you have tested the tool on live matters. Whatever you use, check every citation before you file.