Lawyer, AI, or read it yourself
What a contract review actually costs, and when each one is worth it
A flat-fee lawyer review of an employment agreement averages around $470. A general chatbot costs nothing and will not tell you what is missing. This page sets out what each option does, what it costs, and where the line between them falls — including the cases where you should stop reading and call a lawyer.
| A lawyer | ReviewMyContracts | A general chatbot | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it costs | $200-$500 flat for a straightforward contract, averaging about $470 for an employment agreement. $300-$600 an hour otherwise, and $500-$2,500 for a physician's contract. | $49 for one contract, whatever length it is. | Free, or a monthly subscription you already pay for. |
| How long it takes | Two days to two weeks, depending on the firm and the season. | One to three minutes. | As long as you spend pasting and prompting. |
| Reads the whole document | Yes. | Yes - every clause, with the text quoted back and a line number. | It summarizes long documents rather than reading them, and will not tell you it did. |
| Tells you what is missing | Yes, and that is most of the value. | Yes - absent liability caps, notice periods and carve-outs are findings. | Rarely. It answers about the text you gave it. |
| Compares against what is standard | From experience, for the contracts they see often. | Yes, per clause and per contract type. | It will generalise, and it will sound equally confident either way. |
| Gives you wording to send back | Yes, and will negotiate for you. | Yes - pasteable replacement wording. You do the sending. | If you ask, though not tailored to your document's defined terms. |
| Advice you can rely on | Yes. They are accountable for it and insured for it. | No. This is automated analysis, not legal advice, and we are not a law firm. | No. |
| Your document stays private | Privileged. | Never used to train a model. Deleted when you delete it. | Depends entirely on the tier and the settings you are on. |
Lawyer figures are published flat-fee and hourly rates for contract review in the United States, gathered in September 2026. Yours will differ by city, by firm and by how complicated your document is.
Call a lawyer when
- There is a dispute already, or you think you have a claim
- You are being asked to sign a release and something happened
- The money at stake is large relative to the fee
- You need someone to negotiate on your behalf, not just tell you what to ask for
- You need advice you can rely on, with someone accountable for it
This is enough when
- You have not signed yet and want to know what is in it
- The document looks standard and you want that confirmed, or not
- You need to know which terms are unusual before you decide anything
- You want wording to send back, and you will do the sending
- You are deciding whether the document is even worth a lawyer's hour
Read it yourself when
- The document is short and you know the field
- Nothing turns on it that you could not walk away from
- You have time, and a checklist to work through
Where a chatbot falls short
A general assistant will explain a clause you paste into it, and it will do that well. What it does not do reliably is tell you what is not in your contract — the missing liability cap, the absent notice period, the carve-out that should be there and is not. It has no view of what is standard for that document type, it will not quote your text back with a line number unless you insist, and on a long agreement it will summarize rather than read.
The difference is between a tool that answers your questions and one that tells you which questions to ask. Tested side by side →
Frequently asked
How much does it cost to have a lawyer review a contract?
For a straightforward agreement, published US flat fees run from about $200 to $500, with roughly $470 typical for an employment contract and around $1,000 at some firms. Hourly work is $300-$600. Specialised contracts cost more: physician employment agreements are commonly quoted between $500 and $2,500.
Can I review a contract without a lawyer?
For deciding whether to sign something standard, yes, and most people already do - they just do it by skimming. What changes the outcome is reading in the right order and knowing what should be there and is not. Where a dispute already exists, or the sums are large relative to a fee, a lawyer is the right call and this is not a substitute for one.
Is an AI contract review accurate?
It is accurate about what a document says, because every finding quotes the clause it came from with a line number, so you can check each one against your own text rather than trusting a summary. It cannot tell you how a particular court would decide your case, and it does not know facts that are not in the document.
Why not just use ChatGPT?
You can, and for explaining a single clause it works. On a whole contract it summarizes rather than reads, it is weak at naming what is absent, and it has no fixed view of what is standard for that document type. The gap is not intelligence, it is that a general assistant answers your questions and a review tells you which questions to ask.
When should I pay a lawyer instead?
When there is a live dispute, when you are being asked to sign a release and something happened, when you need someone to negotiate on your behalf, or when the money at stake makes the fee irrelevant. Arriving with the clauses already identified makes that hour shorter and cheaper, which is a reasonable way to use both.
See what is in yours
One price per contract, $49. You see the price before paying, and the report opens straight after.
Review a contractThis is automated analysis, not legal advice, and we are not a law firm. See the 18 types we cover →