Most comparison pages skip the price because the price is not published. That is precisely the thing worth writing about.
Manupatra publishes short-duration access and pre-paid search cards, while annual plans are quoted on request, with the figure depending on seats, institution type and coverage. Firm and institutional research subscriptions in India are typically quoted in the ₹1.5–3 lakh a year range for research alone — verify with the vendor. Lawgger publishes one price: ₹1,999 a month or ₹19,999 a year, GST invoice included.
Read from public material in July 2026. Where we could not verify a rupee figure, this table says so rather than repeating a number from a forum post.
| Option | What it gives you | Figure | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short-duration pass | Access for a single stretch of research | Published on the vendor's own purchase page | Publicly visible, July 2026 — check current rate |
| Pre-paid search card | A fixed allowance of searches, drawn down as used | Published on the vendor's own purchase page | Publicly visible, July 2026 — check current rate |
| Per-search billing | Pay for what you look at | Rate varies with the plan | Publicly visible, July 2026 |
| Annual plan, individual practitioner | A year of access | Not published — quoted on request | July 2026. Figures circulating online are unverified; we do not repeat them. |
| Firm and institutional tiers | Multiple seats, wider coverage | Not published — quoted on request | July 2026 — varies by seats and institution type |
| Lawgger | Research, courts, drafting and practice — everything | ₹1,999 a month · ₹19,999 a year | Published list price, GST invoice, cancel anytime |
Verify every figure directly with Manupatra before you budget. If you have a current written quote and are willing to share the shape of it, write to anubhav@lawgger.com and we will improve this table. Full cross-vendor working on our India legal research cost guide.
Quote-only pricing is normal in Indian legal publishing and there is nothing improper about it. It exists because a law school, a twenty-partner firm and a sole practitioner genuinely are different customers. But it has a cost that falls on the smallest buyers hardest.
A chamber planning next year's overheads can price its rent, its clerk, its stationery and its court fees. It cannot price its research subscription without starting a conversation, and the number that comes back depends on who asks, how they ask, and what was agreed last year. Two advocates of similar standing, in similar practices, can pay materially different amounts for the same product and neither will ever know. At renewal, the figure moves again — and by then the practice is built around the platform, which is not a strong position from which to negotiate.
Our position is simply the other one. One price, on the pricing page, the same for everybody: ₹1,999 a month or ₹19,999 a year, about ₹66 a day. No seat negotiation, no institution-type banding, no revised quote at renewal. You can put it in a budget before you speak to anyone.
Central and state legislation, subordinate rules, notifications and circulars, with amendment histories. For regulatory, tax and corporate advisory work, the statutory material is the matter and this is where Manupatra is strongest.
A long shelf of journals and commentary sits alongside the primary material. When you need to know how a provision has been read and argued rather than only how it has been decided, that secondary layer does real work.
Manupatra has been part of Indian practice for a long time, and depth of that kind is not built quickly. Tribunal and specialised-forum material in particular is an area where long-standing publishers hold ground.
Manupatra sells a research library and sells it well. Lawgger is scoped differently, and that is the honest way to describe the difference.
| Capability | Manupatra | Lawgger |
|---|---|---|
| Full-text judgments | Yes | Yes — 2.07 crore+, SC and all 25 High Courts |
| Live tribunal and forum records (CAT, NGT, NCLAT, ITAT, consumer commissions) | Not part of the research plan | Live via direct integrations, alongside 700+ district courts |
| Statutes, rules and notifications | Yes — a core strength | 1,607 central and state acts, 37 jurisdictions |
| Journals and commentary | Yes — a core strength | Not offered |
| Good-law verdict on every authority | Partial — citation analysis on part of the collection1 | Yes, on every authority cited |
| Answer pin-cited to the paragraph | Partial | Yes, every answer |
| Table of Authorities from a pasted brief | Not offered | Authority Check, with verdicts |
| Cause lists | Not part of the research plan | Any court, any date |
| Live display boards | Not part of the research plan | 527 courts, 426 benches |
| Case tracking by CNR | Not part of the research plan | Yes, with plain-words digests |
| Limitation clocks | Not part of the research plan | 21 statutory clocks |
| Drafting formats | Not in the research plan | 3,500+ across 61 categories |
| Billing timer and GST invoices | Not part of the research plan | Built in |
| Published price | Quote on request | ₹1,999 / month · ₹19,999 / year |
1. Citation-analysis coverage varies by judgment across every Indian platform we have looked at, ours included in the sense that we tell you when we cannot reach a verdict. The point of difference is that Lawgger attaches a verdict to every authority it puts in front of you rather than to some of them. More on how good-law checking works. 2. Rows marked "not part of the research plan" describe the research subscription an individual advocate would normally buy, read from public material in July 2026. Manupatra is an established publisher with a wider catalogue and may bundle or add a module at any time, so confirm the current position with the vendor rather than relying on this table. Corrections to anubhav@lawgger.com and we will amend the row.
Indian Kanoon is the honest free answer for case law. Full text, fast, no charge, and it has been the working library of Indian practice for years. It will not tell you whether an authority still stands, and it does not carry statutes with amendment histories in the way a paid library does. We have written the full picture on our Indian Kanoon alternative page.
Lawgger is not free, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What you get without paying is a 14-day trial of the full product, with no card asked for. After that it is ₹1,999 a month or ₹19,999 a year. See what the plan includes.
Where free stops is the same place in every case: cause lists, tracking a matter by CNR, a limitation date that rolls past a court vacation, a draft, an invoice. None of that exists at zero rupees anywhere, and it is most of what a practice actually runs on.
Real questions from real matters, not test questions. Open every pin-cite and read the paragraph. If the answer does not survive that, nothing else matters.
This is the honest risk in moving. If your work lives in notifications and circulars rather than judgments, test that first and be prepared to keep both.
A written submission you received recently. You get a Table of Authorities with a good-law verdict against each citation — see how it works.
Pull a cause list, track a matter by CNR, set a limitation date. Fourteen days, no card, cancel anytime.
Manupatra does not publish a comparable judgment count, so a like-for-like comparison is not possible from public material. Lawgger publishes its numbers: 2.07 crore full-text judgments in-app — more than 20.7 million — from the Supreme Court and all 25 High Courts, plus live case records from 700+ district courts, consumer commissions, the CAT, NGT, NCLAT and ITAT through direct integrations with official court systems. On live coverage — display boards, cause lists and CNR case tracking across 527 courts — Lawgger covers ground a research archive does not attempt.
We could not find a standard annual subscription price published by Manupatra. As of July 2026 the publicly visible options are short-duration access, a pre-paid search card and annual plans quoted on request. The annual figure depends on seats, institution type and contract length, so the only reliable answer is a written quote from the vendor for your own chamber.
Not as a standard annual list price. Short-duration and pre-paid options are visible publicly, but individual and firm subscriptions are quoted on request. That is a common arrangement in Indian legal publishing and it is not improper, but it does mean two chambers can pay materially different amounts for the same product.
It is short-duration access bought for a single stretch of research rather than a year, aimed at occasional users who need one matter covered. It is useful for a one-off brief. It is not a way to run a practice, because the cost recurs every time you need to look something up again.
Indian Kanoon gives free full-text search across a very large collection of Indian judgments and is the honest answer to this question. Lawgger is a paid product, though every plan starts with a 14-day free trial and no card is required to begin. Neither is a full substitute for a statutes-and-journals library, which is where Manupatra's real strength lies.
Manupatra offers citation analysis and editorial treatment indicators, and what is covered depends on the judgment and on the plan. Check the current position with the vendor for the material you actually work in. Lawgger returns a good-law verdict on every authority it cites, and on every citation in a brief you paste into Authority Check.
They are strong in different places. SCC Online leads on editorial headnotes, ratio tagging and the reporter citation many benches expect. Manupatra leads on statutes, subordinate rules, notifications, journals and commentary. Regulatory and advisory practices tend to prefer Manupatra; appellate practices tend to prefer SCC Online.
That depends entirely on the quote you are given, which is the difficulty. Ask specifically for the individual-practitioner rate, what courts and years it covers, whether GST is extra and whether the renewal price is fixed. If the answer is uncomfortable, a published price you can plan around may serve a small chamber better — see our page for solo advocates.
₹1,999 a month or ₹19,999 a year, which is about ₹66 a day. One price, published, no seat negotiation and no revised quote at renewal. A GST invoice is issued, you can cancel anytime, and there is a 14-day trial with no card.
Fourteen days free, no card. Then ₹1,999 a month or ₹19,999 a year with a GST invoice, cancel anytime.