Comparison
Draftiro vs Westlaw
The deep legal-research incumbent.
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TL;DR
Westlaw is the historical incumbent of paid legal research. It has the deepest database and KeyCite, but it is not an AI workspace — you still draft, manage matters, and bill elsewhere.
- Westlaw best for
- Litigation firms that need the deepest historical case-law lookup.
- Draftiro best for
- Solos who don't need Westlaw's full corpus to do good work.
Draftiro vs Westlaw — overview
Westlaw is the historical incumbent of paid legal research and the deepest case-law database in existence, with KeyCite for citation history. But it is a research service, not a workspace — you still draft, manage matters, calendar deadlines, and bill somewhere else. The comparison most solos are actually making is not "Westlaw vs Draftiro" but "do I need the full Westlaw corpus for what I do, or will a workspace with public-corpus validation cover it?"
Pricing, plainly
Westlaw is sold on custom enterprise pricing, typically $100–$200+ per attorney per month, through a sales process. Draftiro starts free (no card) with paid tiers from $29/mo and no sales call. For the price of one Westlaw seat you can run a Draftiro workspace and still read the underlying opinions free on CourtListener.
Who should switch — and who shouldn't
Keep Westlaw if you file appeals where opposing counsel will shepardize every cite, or you do regulatory work outside the public case-law corpus. For everyday solo and small-firm practice, the honest recommendation is a workspace like Draftiro for drafting, citation validation, conflicts, and deadlines, with free CourtListener lookups for reading opinions — and a Westlaw or KeyCite check reserved for the filings that truly need it.
Where Westlaw wins
- Deepest case-law database
- KeyCite citation history
- Brand recognition
Where Draftiro wins
- AI drafting + research + matter management together
- Self-serve pricing without sales calls
- Citation validation against CourtListener at no incremental cost
Side by side
| Feature | Draftiro | Westlaw |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing transparency | Public, self-serve | Contact sales |
| AI citation validation (CourtListener / equivalent) | Included | Included |
| Conflict checking with audit trail | Included | Not included |
| Court-day math (federal + state holidays) | Included | Not included |
| ABA Op. 512 auto time tracking | Included | Not included |
| Outlook calendar sync | Included | Not included |
| Client portal share links | Included | Not included |
| Self-serve signup (no sales call) | Included | Not included |
| Free plan | Included | Not included |
Common questions
Can Draftiro replace Westlaw entirely?
For most solo and small-firm work, an AI workspace plus free CourtListener lookups covers it. Westlaw is still the deepest corpus and has KeyCite, so for appellate work where every cite gets shepardized, or regulatory work outside the public corpus, keep a Westlaw or KeyCite check for those filings.
Does Draftiro have a citator like KeyCite or Shepard’s?
No. Draftiro validates that a cited case exists in the public CourtListener corpus and flags unverified cites; it does not provide full citator treatment history. Read the opinion and check subsequent history before relying on a case.
How much cheaper is Draftiro than Westlaw?
Westlaw is typically $100–$200+ per attorney per month on a custom contract. Draftiro starts free with paid tiers from $29/mo and no sales call.
Will my data train AI models?
No. Draftiro runs on Google Gemini's enterprise API tier, which is contractually prohibited from training on inputs. See our security page for the full posture.
Try Draftiro free
No credit card. Migration help included on Solo and Practice plans.
Start freeWestlaw information sourced from https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/westlaw and public reviews. We update this page as their offering changes.