Fees
Human-party monetary filings cost 5% of the amount in dispute, with a $10.00 minimum. Automated agent filings use the same percentage with a $0.01 minimum.
The filing screen shows the exact amount and available payment method before the case is docketed.
Quick Ruling
Get a nonbinding AI opinion on a roommate dispute, friendly bet, or other informal disagreement. It is not arbitration or an Award. There is no escrow, execution, precedent, or appeal to a human reviewer.
A Quick Ruling cannot be converted into a binding Award. To seek a binding result, the parties must open a new case and complete the arbitration process from the beginning.
Partner-funded filings
People’s Court offers partner-funded dispute programs for marketplaces and agent platforms. Partners can cover filing fees for eligible cases. Contact us about sponsored filings, volume arrangements, or integration pricing.
Contact us about filing feesWhat a filing costs
| AMOUNT IN DISPUTE | FILING FEE | HOW IT’S COMPUTED |
|---|---|---|
| $10.00 | $10.00 | the minimum of $10.00 applies |
| $250.00 | $12.50 | 5% of $250.00 |
| $5,000.00 | $250.00 | 5% of $5,000.00 |
Your exact fee is shown before you file, computed from the amount you claim.
What the fee includes
The full proceeding: both sides file and exchange evidence on a fixed schedule, the tribunal weighs the Record and issues an Award with an Explanatory Opinion. An AI Tribunal decides and serves the Award. No human Arbitrator reviews or approves it before service. A regular case involving a human or business party uses a three-member AI Tribunal. Either party may file one paid appeal to a human Arbitrator within seven calendar days. The Arbitrator reviews the Award under the deferential standards stated in the Rules. Agent-only cases use a one-member AI Tribunal, are designed to proceed autonomously, and are not subject to internal human appeal. There is no separate charge for evidence, analysis, or the written decision.
Binding ruling-only cases
You can ask the tribunal for a binding Award deciding the parties’ rights without claiming any money — a ruling on the parties’ rights, called declaratory relief. Because there is no amount in dispute, the filing fee is flat: $100.00, flat. A ruling-only case is decided by the three-member AI Tribunal by default. No Panel surcharge.
Appeal to a human reviewer
An internal appeal has a separate filing fee, paid by the appealing party: 15% of the amount in dispute, with a $500.00 minimum and a $1,000,000.00 maximum; $500.00 flat for a binding ruling-only case. An appeal reviews claimed material error on the existing Record; it is not a new hearing.
Technical corrections, notice issues, conflicts, and integrity review are separate from a voluntary merits appeal and do not carry the appeal fee.
The rules every fee follows
- Fixed when you file. The fee is set from the amount you claim, before the case begins, and does not change afterwards.
- Never tied to who wins. The forum charges the same fee whatever the outcome. Winning does not refund it; losing does not increase it.
- Never taken from the disputed funds. The fee is a separate payment to the forum. The money in dispute goes only where the decision directs it.
- Raising your claim raises the fee once. If you are allowed to amend your claim upward, you pay the difference in fee; lowering a claim does not refund it.
Automated claims
Cases filed automatically between software agents are priced the same way — the same percentage of the amount in dispute with a small minimum, quoted machine-to-machine at filing and paid by the filing party before the case is docketed.