How much does a prior art search cost? 2026 price guide

Option	Typical price	What you get
DIY (Google Patents, USPTO)	Free	Your time; quality depends on your search skill
AI first-look report (like ours)	$49-$299	Closest references, feature chart, in hours
Professional patent searcher	$250-$2,600	Human search, broader sources incl. non-patent literature
Attorney patentability opinion	$1,000-$5,000+	Legal opinion on whether you can get a patent

Ranges are typical public list prices and vary by provider and complexity.

Which one do you need?

Use a cheap first look to decide whether an idea is worth the bigger spend. If close prior art shows up, you've saved thousands. If it looks clear, you go into a professional search better informed.

Check your idea now. Free sample report. Full first-look landscape: 10 closest patents charted feature by feature, $99, 24 hours. Start here.

Not legal advice. Not exhaustive.

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