Batayan vs Areglaw.ai: which Philippine legal AI fits you?

Both are Philippine-built AI tools that answer questions about Philippine law with citations, so they're easy to confuse. They're aimed at different people doing different work. This comparison uses Areglaw.ai's own public website as of September 27, 2026; where their site doesn't mention something, we say "not listed" rather than assume it's missing.

At a glance

Who each one is built for

Areglaw.ai describes itself as AI legal research for Philippine law, and its community is lawyers, law students, and legal professionals — it reports more than 9,000 users and partnerships with over 100 law schools. Its features follow from that: searching jurisprudence, generating case digests organized by branch of law, and asking questions about legal documents.

Batayan is built for the people on the other side of the desk: business owners, HR and admin teams, and individuals who need to get legal paperwork right without a lawyer on retainer. The questions are practical — "can I end a probationary contract early?", "what should this lease include?" — and the work continues past the answer into a signed document and a tracked deadline.

Legal research and citations

Both tools cite their sources, which is the single most important thing to look for in a legal AI. Areglaw.ai goes deep on jurisprudence: over 100,000 documents, structured case digests, and research-oriented modes. For moot court prep, recitations, or building an argument from Supreme Court decisions, that depth is the point.

Batayan answers in plain English or Taglish, with each claim linked to the law, regulation, or ruling it relies on as the answer streams in. It's tuned for business questions rather than academic research, and Pro adds deeper multi-source research for harder questions.

Drafting and documents

Areglaw.ai's Pro plan includes AI-powered legal document drafting and unlimited document Q&A, with file storage for your library.

Batayan starts from a library of templates built for Philippine business — employment contracts, NDAs, leases, HR notices, notarial forms — and enforces required clauses so drafts don't leave incomplete. Every draft carries a note for lawyer review and exports to Word or PDF. Uploaded files, including scans and phone photos on Pro, file themselves into the right matter.

Beyond research: deadlines and lawyer vetting

This is where the two products differ most. Batayan includes two things Areglaw.ai's site doesn't list:

• Deadline tracking. Renewal dates, payment terms, and notice periods are pulled out of your documents and conversations and turned into to-dos.
• Licensed lawyer vetting. Send a draft to a verified Philippine lawyer who checks it for completeness and legal issues before you sign, paying per request instead of a retainer.

If your work ends when you understand the law, you won't need these. If it ends with a signed document you can rely on and a deadline you can't miss, they're most of the value.

Pricing

Areglaw.ai is the more affordable option, and it's worth saying plainly.

Areglaw.ai

• Free — ₱0: Areg Lite, limited Areg Pro, AI digests, summaries, Q&A
• Education — ₱395/month: Requires a .edu email; document Q&A, 500 MB storage
• Pro — ₱795/month: Unlimited document Q&A, AI drafting, 1 GB storage

Batayan

• Standard — ₱999/month (₱9,990/year): cited answers, drafting, exports, PDF documents, web search
• Pro — ₱2,499/month (₱24,990/year): our most capable model, deeper research, scanned-document reading, integrations, 3× usage
• Firm — ₱79,990/year for 3 seats: shared matters, guided setup, team training, 24/7 support
• Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial, no card required. Lawyer vetting is paid per request.
• Founding members: the first 100 subscribers pay half on any plan — ₱499/month for Standard, ₱1,249/month for Pro — for as long as they stay subscribed.

For a student or a lawyer who mainly needs research, Areglaw.ai's free tier or ₱395–₱795 plans are hard to beat. For a business, compare Batayan's price against what a single lawyer consult costs you today — and while founding places last, Standard at ₱499/month costs less than Areglaw.ai's Pro plan.

Privacy

Batayan encrypts documents on upload and at rest, never uses your documents to train AI models, and limits access to you and the assistant acting on your request. For Areglaw.ai's data practices, read their privacy policy directly — its homepage and about page, which we reviewed, don't summarize them.

Which should you choose?

Frequently asked questions