Why it exists
Most people sign a lease, a job offer, a loan or a service agreement without a lawyer, because a lawyer costs more than the problem seems worth — until it isn't. A 90-day auto-renewal, a non-refundable deposit, a non-compete, a "pay all attorney fees regardless of outcome" clause: these are easy to miss and expensive to discover later.
Modern language models are genuinely good at reading long documents and explaining them. ContractScanner puts that ability in front of ordinary people, in their own language, for the price of a coffee — and does it without keeping their documents.
Who it is for
- Tenants reading a lease, in their own country or abroad
- Employees and job seekers with an offer letter or contract
- Freelancers, creators and small businesses signing client agreements
- Anyone buying a car, joining a gym, taking a loan, or accepting a platform's terms
- Migrants and expats who are handed contracts in a second language
Principles
Privacy first, by design
Your file is read on your device, personal details are redacted before sending, and nothing is stored. We built it so that we cannot leak what we never hold. How that works.
Plain language
Every finding quotes the original wording, explains why it matters in everyday words, and says what to ask for instead. No Latin, no jargon without a translation.
Honest limits
ContractScanner is software, not a law firm. It does not give legal advice, it can make mistakes, and it does not know the specific law of every country. We say so on every report, and the report tells you when a lawyer should be involved. Disclaimer.
Fair pricing
A free preview so you can judge the quality first. Then one-time payments, no subscription, refunds on unused credits. Pricing.
How it is built
ContractScanner is a small, independent product. The website runs on Cloudflare's global network, on-device document reading uses open-source PDF, Word and OCR libraries, and analysis uses Google's Gemini models on the paid API tier. Payments are processed by PayPal. The content in our guides follows the editorial standards below.
Editorial standards
Our guides cover legal topics where a wrong detail can cost real money, so they are held to a stricter standard than typical web content. Every article on this site follows these rules:
- Written by the ContractScanner Editorial Team. Articles are researched and written by our team, then checked by a second reader before publication. We do not publish articles generated and posted without human review.
- Every legal claim cites a primary source. Where an article states a legal limit, deadline, right or obligation, it links to the statute, regulation or official agency page it comes from — for example the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a state attorney general or a state legislature's own text. We do not cite other blogs or AI summaries as sources.
- Each article shows its reviewed date. The date at the top of an article is the last time its facts were checked against the sources, not the last time a typo was fixed. Laws change; if an article's date is more than a year old, verify the detail with the linked source before relying on it.
- Plain language, no scare tactics. We explain what a clause means and what you can do about it. We do not exaggerate risks to sell scans.
- Independence. No article is sponsored, and we do not accept payment to recommend any product, lawyer or service. The guides exist to be useful whether or not you ever use the scanner.
- Not legal advice. Guides describe laws in general terms and cannot account for your situation, your state's latest changes or your contract's exact wording. For decisions with serious consequences, talk to a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction. See the full disclaimer.
Found an error?
If something in a guide is wrong, outdated or unclear, email support@contractscanner.app with the page link and, if you can, the source that contradicts it. We review every report, correct the article and update its reviewed date. Corrections that change the meaning of a guide are noted at the bottom of that guide.
Contact
Questions, feedback, press, or a problem with a report: contact us or email support@contractscanner.app. We read everything.