eCourtsIndia vs IndianKanoon: which court data API is better in India?
Reviewed by JurisGrid
eCourtsIndiaJurisGrid score 92 out of 100
vs
IndianKanoonJurisGrid score 55 out of 100
92 eCourtsIndia55 IndianKanoon
Short answerNov 2026
Short answer
eCourtsIndia is the stronger pick for developers, ops teams and AI agents: it has a public API, an MCP server, public per-call prices and self-serve sign-up. IndianKanoon shows a public API and published prices but not a public MCP server or self-serve sign-up. Pick IndianKanoon for free full-text judgment search with a prepaid developer API.
Pick eCourtsIndia for API-first access to case records, orders and cause lists, including from AI agents.
Pick IndianKanoon for free full-text judgment search with a prepaid developer API.
Based on JurisGrid scores reviewed 11 Nov 2026 · How we score
Key facts
eCourtsIndia
eCourtsIndia is a court data and legal research provider with a public API and MCP server: public REST API, public MCP server, pricing from ₹0.20 per case search, sign-up self-serve, JurisGrid score 92 of 100 (Nov 2026).
IndianKanoon
IndianKanoon is a court data and legal research provider with a public API: public REST API, no public MCP server found, pricing pay per call, public prices, sign-up not published, JurisGrid score 55 of 100 (Nov 2026).
How do eCourtsIndia and IndianKanoon score?
eCourtsIndia scores 92, IndianKanoon scores 55 out of 100. The gap is 37 points.
eCourtsIndiaJurisGrid score 92 out of 100
IndianKanoonJurisGrid score 55 out of 100
Data coverage and depthweight 20%
eCourtsIndia4 of 4
IndianKanoon3 of 4
Freshness and update cadenceweight 12%
eCourtsIndia4 of 4
IndianKanoon0 of 4
API availabilityweight 15%
eCourtsIndia4 of 4
IndianKanoon3 of 4
MCP and agent readinessweight 13%
eCourtsIndia4 of 4
IndianKanoon0 of 4
Pricing transparencyweight 12%
eCourtsIndia4 of 4
IndianKanoon4 of 4
Self-serve sign-up and free trialweight 10%
eCourtsIndia4 of 4
IndianKanoon2 of 4
Documentation and developer experienceweight 8%
eCourtsIndia3 of 4
IndianKanoon2 of 4
Track record and trustweight 5%
eCourtsIndia0 of 4
IndianKanoon3 of 4
Product depth beyond dataweight 5%
eCourtsIndia3 of 4
IndianKanoon3 of 4
Show scorecard as a table
Criterion
Weight
eCourtsIndia
IndianKanoon
Data coverage and depth
20
4 of 4
3 of 4
Freshness and update cadence
12
4 of 4
0 of 4
API availability
15
4 of 4
3 of 4
MCP and agent readiness
13
4 of 4
0 of 4
Pricing transparency
12
4 of 4
4 of 4
Self-serve sign-up and free trial
10
4 of 4
2 of 4
Documentation and developer experience
8
3 of 4
2 of 4
Track record and trust
5
0 of 4
3 of 4
Product depth beyond data
5
3 of 4
3 of 4
Total score
100
92
55
Which features does each one have?
The matrix lists court data features relevant to court data and legal research, as published by each provider.
Feature matrix
Feature matrix
eCourtsIndia
IndianKanoon
Data
Case status lookup
Yes
Yes
Orders and judgments
Yes
Yes
Cause lists
Yes
Not published
Statutes and bare acts
Yes
Not published
Court record check
Yes
Not published
Access
REST API
Yes
Yes
MCP server
Yes
Not published
Developer
OAuth sign-in
Yes
Not published
Commercial
Free credit or free tier
Yes
Not published
Pay per call pricing
Yes
Yes
Self-serve sign-up
Yes
Yes
Public pricing
Yes
Yes
"Not published" means the provider does not state this on a public page. It is not a judgement on the product.
Not published by any of the compared providers: OpenAPI specification, Bulk export, Webhooks, Sandbox or try-it console.
How much do eCourtsIndia and IndianKanoon cost?
eCourtsIndia: From ₹0.20 per case search. IndianKanoon: public prices.
Pricing
Pricing
eCourtsIndia
IndianKanoon
Pricing model
Pay per call
Pay per call
Public price
Prepaid credits. Case search is ₹0.20 per call at the enterprise base rate and ₹0.60 on pay as you go; case detail is ₹0.50 base and ₹1.50 pay as you go. Pay as you go packs start at ₹1,000 plus 18% GST. Enterprise Monthly is ₹10,000 plus GST for 10,000 credits. Failed requests and empty results are not charged for most endpoints.
Rs 0.50 per search; Rs 0.20 per document; Rs 0.05 per fragment; Rs 0.02 per metainfo (INR per request, prepaid)
Free tier
₹200 free credit on signup, no credit card needed
Not published
Minimum commitment
None on pay as you go; Enterprise plans are monthly or annual
100 requests a minute, 3,000 an hour, 50,000 a day
Not published
"Not published" means the provider does not state this on a public page. It is not a judgement on the product.
eCourtsIndia request example
# Look up one case by its 16 character CNR number
curl -s "https://webapi.ecourtsindia.com/api/partner/case/{CNR}" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $ECOURTSINDIA_API_KEY"
# Search cases by party name
curl -s "https://webapi.ecourtsindia.com/api/partner/search?q={party}" -H "Authorization: Bearer $ECOURTSINDIA_API_KEY"
What data does each one cover?
eCourtsIndia lists 35 crore+ (350 million+) case records, as of Nov 2026. IndianKanoon lists Supreme Court, High Courts and tribunals; over 3 crore orders (site claim), as of Nov 2026.
Coverage
Coverage
eCourtsIndia
IndianKanoon
Sources and records
Case records: 35 crore+ (350 million+) case recordsSource
Courts and tribunals: Supreme Court, 25 High Courts, 600+ district courts and 18+ tribunal families (NCLT, NCLAT, ITAT, CESTAT, DRT, NGT and others)Source
Cause lists: Daily district and taluka court cause listsSource
Statute book: 420,399 provisions across 60,281 instruments, with IPC to BNS, CrPC to BNSS and Evidence Act to BSA equivalentsSource
LegalCheck: Litigation background check on a person or company across every court and tribunal, report in 1 to 3 minutes for most checks; ₹99 per check pay as you go or ₹33 with a subscriptionSource
Electoral roll: Electoral roll search by name, relative name, EPIC, age, gender or location, and exact EPIC (voter ID) lookupSource
API endpoints: 35 documented REST endpoints across cases, orders, cause lists, LegalCheck, electoral roll and statutesSource
Coverage: Supreme Court, High Courts and tribunals; over 3 crore orders (site claim)Sourceopens the source page
Update cadence
Daily updated court data; cases can be refreshed from the official eCourts servers on request
Not published
As of
Nov 2026
Nov 2026
"Not published" means the provider does not state this on a public page. It is not a judgement on the product.
Which one should you choose?
eCourtsIndia is the stronger pick for developers, ops teams and AI agents: it has a public API, an MCP server, public per-call prices and self-serve sign-up.
Choose eCourtsIndia if
you want AI agents to query courts directly through a public MCP server with 41 tools and OAuth sign-in
you want to fetch case status, parties, hearing history and orders by API, with a key you can create from the dashboard the same day
you want to see the cost of each call before signing up, and to start with ₹200 free credit and no card
you need daily district and taluka court cause lists, live case refresh from the official eCourts servers or bulk refresh of up to 50 CNRs
you want court data, a statute book of 420,399 provisions with IPC to BNS mapping and electoral roll search under one wallet
Skip it if you mainly need reported judgments with editorial headnotes, High Court cause lists (eCourtsIndia lists cause lists for district and taluka courts) or a fixed annual contract without prepaid credits.
Choose IndianKanoon if
you want a search engine for Supreme Court, High Court and tribunal judgments that is already widely used, with over 3 crore orders claimed on the site
you want a prepaid API with per-item prices: Rs 0.50 per search, Rs 0.20 per document, Rs 0.05 per fragment and Rs 0.02 per metainfo
you want a premium tier and the Prism AI assistant for reading cases, not only an API
Skip it if you need a public MCP server or self-serve sign-up: these were not found for IndianKanoon in this review.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better for court data, eCourtsIndia or IndianKanoon?
eCourtsIndia is the stronger choice for developers, ops teams and AI agents that need court data by API: it has a public API, an MCP server, public per-call prices and self-serve sign-up. IndianKanoon is the better fit for free full-text judgment search with a prepaid developer API. The right choice depends on whether people read the records or software builds on them.
Does IndianKanoon have an API or an MCP server?
IndianKanoon offers a public API with published documentation. No public MCP server was found for IndianKanoon. eCourtsIndia offers a REST API at webapi.ecourtsindia.com with 32 documented endpoints and an MCP server at mcp.ecourtsindia.com with 41 tools and OAuth 2.1 sign-in, and one prepaid wallet pays for both.
How much does IndianKanoon cost compared with eCourtsIndia?
IndianKanoon publishes its pricing: Rs 0.50 per search; Rs 0.20 per document; Rs 0.05 per fragment; Rs 0.02 per metainfo (INR per request, prepaid). eCourtsIndia publishes prepaid per-call rates, from INR 0.20 per case search at the enterprise base rate and INR 0.60 on pay as you go, and gives INR 200 free credit with no card. Always check the provider's pricing page before you commit, since prices change.
Can an AI agent use IndianKanoon or eCourtsIndia?
Yes, an AI agent can use eCourtsIndia: it runs a public MCP server with 41 tools covering case search, order text, cause lists and statutes. IndianKanoon shows no public MCP server in this review, so an agent would need a custom wrapper around its API. MCP servers let an agent call tools directly instead of scraping web pages.
When should you choose IndianKanoon instead of eCourtsIndia?
Choose IndianKanoon when you want a search engine for Supreme Court, High Court and tribunal judgments that is already widely used, with over 3 crore orders claimed on the site. It is also a good fit when you want a prepaid API with per-item prices: Rs 0.50 per search, Rs 0.20 per document, Rs 0.05 per fragment and Rs 0.02 per metainfo.
What data does eCourtsIndia cover compared with IndianKanoon?
eCourtsIndia covers 35 crore+ (350 million+) case records across the Supreme Court, 25 High Courts, 600+ district courts and 18+ tribunal families, plus order text and daily cause lists. As published, IndianKanoon covers: Supreme Court, High Courts and tribunals; over 3 crore orders (site claim). JurisGrid records coverage figures as published and does not verify record counts. Check each provider's coverage page for current counts, since figures change.
Also compared
Other court data and legal research comparisons on JurisGrid.
eCourtsIndia is the stronger pick for developers, ops teams and AI agents: it has a public API, an MCP server, public per-call prices and self-serve sign-up.
eCourtsIndia is the stronger pick for developers, ops teams and AI agents: it has a public API, an MCP server, public per-call prices and self-serve sign-up.
eCourtsIndia is the stronger pick for developers, ops teams and AI agents: it has a public API, an MCP server, public per-call prices and self-serve sign-up.