How much does contract review cost in the UK?
Most UK firms answer this with "it depends" and a contact form. Here are the prices providers actually publish, what genuinely changes them, and where a fixed fee makes sense.
What contract review costs in the UK
UK contract review is usually sold one of two ways: an hourly rate, or a fixed fee for a defined scope. Fixed-fee review has become the norm for straightforward commercial agreements, and several firms now publish their rates openly. The figures below are taken from those published pages rather than from an industry survey.
| Provider | What you get | Published price | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalyst Law | Business contract review, fixed fee | from £200 +VAT | Not published |
| Typical UK fixed-fee range | Simple agreement through to complex or lengthy contract | £150–£450 | Not published |
| Broader published spread | From a short review to drafting and negotiating on your behalf | £100–£3,000 | Not published |
| Lawhive | Fixed-fee review via a marketplace of solicitors | Fixed fee, quoted per matter | 2–5 days |
Prices as published by each provider, checked 15 September 2026. Providers change their pricing — check the source before relying on a figure.
What actually moves the price
Two contracts of the same length can be priced very differently. These are the variables that actually account for the spread above.
Length and density
Most fixed-fee quotes assume a contract of roughly 10–15 pages in standard formatting. A longer agreement, or one with heavy schedules and annexures, is usually re-quoted rather than absorbed.
Whether you want advice or redlines
Reading a contract and telling you what is risky costs less than producing marked-up amendments you can send back to the other side. Negotiating on your behalf costs more again — that is where the upper end of the published spread comes from.
Contract type
A mutual NDA is largely standardised. A SaaS agreement, a shareholders’ agreement, or anything with bespoke IP, data-protection or liability provisions takes materially longer to review properly.
Governing law
England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are separate legal systems. A contract governed by Scots law reviewed by a firm that only practises English law will either be declined or sub-contracted, and that shows up in the price.
Urgency
Same-day or next-day turnaround is commonly charged at a premium, because it displaces other work rather than because the review itself changes.
VAT
UK legal fees are quoted both inclusive and exclusive of VAT, and the difference is 20%. A "£200" quote and a "£200 +VAT" quote are £40 apart. Always check which you have been given.
What ContractDesk charges
ContractDesk prices by document length, as a fixed fee, with the price shown before you pay. There is no hourly billing and no separate charge for the initial risk assessment.
- Standard (1–7 pages)$79
- Professional (8–20 pages)$139
- Enterprise (21+ pages)$229
Fixed fee per contract, priced by document length — never by the hour. International clients are billed in US dollars by invoice, emailed within 4 business hours of your request and paid by bank transfer; the review starts once payment is received. A GBP price is not yet available.
Not sure it needs a paid review yet?
Paste a clause into the free scanner and see what it flags. No signup, no document upload, and the text is not stored.
Common questions
How much does it cost to have a solicitor review a contract in the UK?
Published UK fixed fees for a commercial contract review generally sit between £150 and £450, with entry-level pricing from around £200 +VAT. The full published spread runs from about £100 for a short review up to roughly £3,000 where drafting and negotiation are included. Hourly billing is still common and is quoted separately.
Is fixed-fee contract review cheaper than hourly?
Usually it is more predictable rather than strictly cheaper. A fixed fee caps your exposure on a defined scope; hourly billing can be cheaper on a very short document and considerably more expensive once questions and revisions start.
Does the price include negotiating with the other side?
Generally not. Most published fixed fees cover reviewing the contract and telling you what to change. Drafting amendments is often an add-on, and negotiating directly with the counterparty is usually priced separately.
Does ContractDesk charge in pounds?
Not yet. UK clients are billed in US dollars by invoice — one-off reviews start at $79 for contracts of up to 7 pages, as a fixed fee shown before you commit. The invoice is emailed within 4 business hours of your request and paid by bank transfer; the review starts once payment is received. A GBP price is not yet available.
Is VAT included in the prices shown above?
Only where the provider states it. Catalyst Law publishes "from £200 +VAT", meaning VAT is added. Other figures are reproduced exactly as published, which is why some carry a VAT note and others do not.
Can I find out if my contract has problems before paying anything?
Yes. You can paste a clause into the free scanner and see what it flags, with no signup and no document upload. It is an assessment tool rather than a substitute for a full review, and it will not catch problems that only appear when clauses are read together.
Related
- Contract review in the UK — The service itself, and how UK-governed contracts are handled.
- Employment contract review (UK) — Where UK employment law changes what matters in a review.
- Free clause scanner — Paste a single clause and see what it flags. No signup.
- Who reviews your contracts — What the AI does, what a human does, and who you are contracting with.
- What contract review costs in the US — The same question answered for the US market.