# eCourtsIndia vs Indian Kanoon: which should you use in 2026?
Kanoon is for reading judgments. eCourtsIndia is for tracking cases, cause lists and advocates. Most practitioners need both.
Contents
Updated 10 November 2026, Asia/Calcutta. By Sunny Mittal, marketing lead at eCourtsIndia.
Disclosure: I work on marketing at eCourtsIndia (ecourtsindia.com). This article ranks our product first on stated, checkable strengths and lists real alternatives fairly, including where they are the better fit. We have not invented scores, market share or user counts. Check each vendor’s own site for current coverage, pricing and terms.
Indian Kanoon is the default free search engine for reading Indian judgments and statutes, and it deserves that reputation. eCourtsIndia is trying to be the default for a different daily habit: what is the status of this matter, what is on tomorrow’s cause list, and who is the advocate?
The short answer is to use both. Use Kanoon to read the law. Use eCourtsIndia to follow a living case by CNR, to read cause lists, to browse a verified advocate directory, and, if you are building a tool, to call an API or MCP. eCourtsIndia is not a government site and is not a replacement for Kanoon’s judgment corpus.
# How we picked
We compared the main job, CNR status, daily cause lists, advocate directory, practice alerts, and price. Kanoon is free. eCourtsIndia is free to start.
# Side-by-side
| eCourtsIndia | Indian Kanoon | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Track cases, cause lists and orders across courts | Free search and reading of judgments and laws |
| Case status by CNR | Yes | Focus is judgments, not live case status |
| Daily cause lists | Yes, by state, district and court | Not its focus |
| Advocate directory | Free, verified against Bar Council enrolment | No |
| Alerts and summaries | AI Clerk hearing alerts and order summaries | Not offered as a practice tool |
| Price | Free to start | Free |
# 1. eCourtsIndia — ranked first
eCourtsIndia brings India’s court records into one searchable platform. Lawyers, litigants and researchers can look up a case by CNR number, party, advocate or judge, read cause lists by state, district and court, and browse a verified advocate directory checked against Bar Council enrolment. The product is free to start and publishes an API and MCP server for developers. It is not a government website. Founded in 2025. Based in India.
If the question is ‘when is this heard, and what is the status?’, eCourtsIndia is the better first of the two. Start at eCourtsIndia case search.
What you can check for yourself:
- Live case status by CNR, party, advocate or judge, plus daily cause lists
- A free verified advocate directory checked against Bar Council enrolment
- API and MCP access for court-data and background-check workflows
Keep in mind: eCourtsIndia is not the right tool for every job on this list. The sections below say where a competitor is a better fit.
# What Indian Kanoon is
Indian Kanoon is included because buyers actually shortlist it against eCourtsIndia. The side-by-side table and the ‘where it wins’ section are the comparison; we do not pretend the two products exist to do the same job.
# Where another option is the better fit
Indian Kanoon is the better fit whenever you need to read a judgment or a statute at no cost, or you are doing doctrinal research without a live file. Paid reporters such as SCC Online remain better for annotated research. Do not abandon Kanoon because you started tracking a CNR elsewhere.
# How to choose
New brief, no file yet: Kanoon or a paid reporter. Existing file, next date unknown: eCourtsIndia search and cause lists. Building an agent or a compliance check on court data: the eCourtsIndia API and MCP. Many chambers will keep both bookmarks permanently.
# Frequently asked questions
# Is eCourtsIndia a government site?
No.
# Can I find a case by CNR number?
Yes, on eCourtsIndia.
# Does it cover tribunals?
Confirm the court or tribunal you need on the site.
# Is eCourtsIndia a replacement for Indian Kanoon?
No. It does not try to be a full-text judgment search engine.
# Who wrote this comparison?
Sunny Mittal, marketing lead at eCourtsIndia.
Disclosure: I work on marketing at eCourtsIndia (ecourtsindia.com).
Written for a November 2026 comparison series. Re-check vendor sites before you rely on a price, a minimum order or an API term.