CoCounsel vs Harvey: Pricing, Seat Minimums and Which One Fits Your Firm
Neither CoCounsel nor Harvey publishes a price. CoCounsel has a self-serve quote for small firms and stated term discounts; Harvey reportedly needs 20 to 25 seats at about $1,200 each. Here is the cost by firm size and which one fits.
CoCounsel is the cheaper and more accessible of the two: Thomson Reuters sells it to firms of any size, runs a self-serve quote for smaller firms, and states 12 and 18 percent discounts for 2 and 3 year terms. Harvey publishes nothing and reportedly starts around $1,200 per seat per month with a minimum of 20 to 25 seats, which puts the entry contract near $288,000 a year. Pick CoCounsel if your work runs on case law and Westlaw. Pick Harvey if you are a large firm buying a platform for the whole practice.
A note on who is writing this. CaseClerk is also a legal AI product, a much narrower one: it answers questions across the documents in one matter and names the document each answer came from, at a published price. Most pages comparing CoCounsel and Harvey are written by vendors, and so is this one. We have kept every CoCounsel and Harvey figure to what the company says itself, and labeled the rest as reported.
CoCounsel vs Harvey pricing
Neither company prints a price list. Thomson Reuters at least tells you how its pricing works: new customers at smaller firms enter their role and firm details and get an online quote, larger firms go to a sales representative, and multi-year terms carry stated discounts. Harvey's site offers a demo request and nothing else. The only on-record Harvey comment on price is its leadership telling Fast Company that seats cost "a few hundred dollars", with a large minimum for big companies. Everything else below comes from buyer reports and review sites.
| CoCounsel (Thomson Reuters) | Harvey | |
|---|---|---|
| Published price | None. Online self-serve quote for new customers at smaller firms, sales quote above that | None. Demo request only |
| Reported seat price | Estimates run from about $104 to $639 per user per month, depending on tier and bundled Westlaw content | About $1,200 per seat per month for the core product, higher with LexisNexis content bundled; a reduced tier near $399 has also been reported |
| Reported seat minimum | None stated. The self-serve route is aimed at firms of roughly 10 attorneys or fewer | Roughly 20 to 25 seats |
| Contract terms the vendor states | 12 percent off a 2 year term, 18 percent off a 3 year term | None published |
| Research content | Westlaw and Practical Law, in the higher tiers | LexisNexis content through its alliance with LexisNexis, as an add on |
| Who it is sold to | Solo and small firms through large firms and corporate legal | Large firms and in-house teams, with some mid-size firms |
The spread on CoCounsel is wide because the product is a stack. CoCounsel Essentials is the assistant on its own. Add Westlaw or Practical Law and the research content, not the AI, becomes most of the bill. We break that down tier by tier on our CoCounsel pricing page, and the Harvey seat maths is on our Harvey AI pricing page.
How much does CoCounsel cost compared to Harvey for a small firm?
For a firm under 20 lawyers, the honest answer is that Harvey is usually not on the table at all. A reported 20 to 25 seat floor means a 10 lawyer firm pays for at least twice its headcount. CoCounsel has no stated minimum, so a small firm pays for the seats it uses. Here is what each would cost a year on the reported figures, next to a published flat price.
| Firm size | CoCounsel, reported range per year | Harvey, reported per year | CaseClerk, published (monthly billing) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 lawyers | $6,240 to $38,340 | Below the reported minimum. Paying for 20 seats at $1,200 is about $288,000 | $99 to $249 a month, $1,188 to $2,988 a year |
| 10 lawyers | $12,480 to $76,680 | About $288,000 (20 seat floor) | $249 a month, $2,988 a year |
| 25 lawyers | $31,200 to $191,700 | About $360,000 at $1,200, or about $119,700 at the reported $399 tier | $499 a month, $5,988 a year |
These are reported ranges, not quotes. Run the CoCounsel self-serve quote and ask Harvey for a written proposal before you trust any number, including ours. And ask both for the total contract value on a 1 year term, not the per seat monthly figure, because the monthly number hides the commitment.
Harvey vs CoCounsel features: what each one is actually good at
The feature lists overlap on paper. Both draft, both summarize, both review documents, both now sell agents. The difference is where each one's answers come from and who each one was built for.
| CoCounsel | Harvey | |
|---|---|---|
| Case law research | Its strongest point. Answers run against Westlaw, with KeyCite | Research through LexisNexis content if licensed, plus general model knowledge |
| Drafting | Yes, with Practical Law templates in the higher tiers | Yes, and broad: memos, contracts, client alerts in firm style |
| Document review across a file | Yes, bulk review and summaries | Yes, Vault projects hold large document sets |
| Agents and workflows | Guided agentic workflows in CoCounsel Legal | Firm built workflows and agents are a core selling point |
| Security claims on the vendor site | Thomson Reuters says it does not train on customer data and runs zero retention API calls | Harvey lists SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001, 27701 and 42001 |
| Best fit | Research heavy litigators already living in Westlaw | Large firms rebuilding practice wide workflows, with procurement to match |
CoCounsel's real advantage is content. When a litigator asks a research question, the answer is grounded in Westlaw and checked against KeyCite, and that is years of editorial work no general model has. Harvey's advantage is breadth and customization: large firms build their own workflows on it and roll them out across practice groups. If you compared Harvey with its closest rival instead, our Harvey vs Legora breakdown covers that decision.
Is CoCounsel better than Harvey?
CoCounsel is better for research heavy litigation and for any firm that already pays for Westlaw, because the AI sits on content you are licensing anyway. Harvey is better for large firms that want one platform for drafting, diligence and firm built agents, and can meet a 20 plus seat minimum. For firms of 2 to 20 lawyers, CoCounsel is usually the only one of the two you can buy without paying for empty seats.
Which one should your firm buy?
Start with the job, not the brand. Most small and mid-size firms that take both demos are trying to solve one of three problems:
- Finding and citing authority. CoCounsel, or the AI tier of the research platform you already license. Our Lexis AI pricing page covers the Lexis side if that is your research home.
- Drafting faster. Neither may be necessary. A business plan of a general assistant costs $20 to $25 a seat, and our ChatGPT for lawyers page shows which plan is safe for client files.
- Reading the matter file. Discovery productions, medical records, correspondence, a data room. This is where firms lose the most hours, and it does not need a research subscription attached.
If the third problem is yours, try CaseClerk on one real matter: upload the documents, ask what you would ask an associate, and each answer names the document it came from. 25 pages, up to 5 documents, no card. Paid plans are $99, $249 and $499 a month, printed on our pricing page, and a year costs six months.
What to ask in both demos
- What is the total 1 year contract value for our exact headcount? Per seat monthly figures hide minimums and bundled content.
- Is there a seat minimum, and does it apply at renewal? Ask for it in writing.
- Which research content is included and which is an add on? Westlaw or LexisNexis content can cost more than the AI itself.
- Is our data used for training, and what is the retention setting? Get the answer in the contract, not the slide deck.
- How will our lawyers be trained on the firm's AI use policy? ABA Formal Opinion 512 makes supervision part of the duty. Some firms run the rollout through a training platform that tracks who has completed the policy course, so the record exists if a client or court asks.
- What happens to our work if we leave? Ask how prompts, outputs and uploaded files are exported and deleted at the end of the term.
CoCounsel vs Harvey: frequently asked questions
Is Harvey more expensive than CoCounsel?
On every reported figure, yes. Harvey reportedly starts near $1,200 per seat per month with a 20 to 25 seat minimum, so about $288,000 a year before any content add on. CoCounsel reportedly ranges from about $104 to $639 per user per month with no stated minimum. Neither vendor confirms these numbers, so get written quotes.
Does Harvey use Westlaw or LexisNexis?
Harvey works with LexisNexis, not Westlaw. The two companies announced an alliance that brings LexisNexis content into Harvey for customers who license it. Westlaw content is Thomson Reuters' own and sits behind CoCounsel, which is the main reason research heavy firms lean toward CoCounsel.
Can a small law firm buy Harvey?
Rarely on standard terms. Harvey sells through sales conversations, and the reported 20 to 25 seat minimum prices most firms under 20 lawyers out. Small firms that want a similar tool usually compare CoCounsel, Legora or published price products instead. Our Harvey AI alternatives for small firms lists the ones with posted prices.
Is CoCounsel worth it for a solo attorney?
It can be if you research case law daily and already pay for Westlaw, because the AI builds on content you license anyway. If most of your time goes into reading client documents rather than researching authority, a document reading tool at a flat monthly price usually costs a fraction and does that job directly.