William S. Hein & Co

Name

William S. Hein & Co

Legal name

William S. Hein & Co., Inc.

Website

https://wshein.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1920

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Research Database Software

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130), Periodical Publishers (513120), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Academic & Scholarly Journals Publishing (Peer-Reviewed) (MPAJABAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Government, Public Policy & Regulatory Reference (Public Administration, Regulatory Guidance) (EDAGAGAK), Research Monographs & University Press Publishing (MPAJABAJ)

Keywords

• Legal research database
• Multidisciplinary research platform
• Scholarly journal database
• Government documents archive
• Academic library subscriptions

Headquarters

HQ city

Buffalo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Institutional Annual Subscriptions: Annual subscription database packages priced by institution. Tailored database packages for seamless research, with pricing based on institution type and size. This is the primary revenue stream for HeinOnline, serving libraries at colleges, universities, law schools, public libraries, courts, law firms, and government agencies.
2. Digital Ownership Collections: Institutions can own collections on a hard drive for lasting access, providing perpetual digital access beyond subscription periods.
3. Print Publications: Sale of essential print publications for scholars and professionals, including catalog offerings, review copy requests, and electronic greenslips for curated law title updates.
4. Alumni Access Subscriptions: Separate paid subscription for alumni access to the Law Journal Library, extending institutional access beyond the student population.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

HeinOnline is a premier online multidisciplinary research platform delivering more than 249 million pages of fully searchable image-based PDFs, spanning scholarly journals, U.S. federal and state government documents, case law, international resources, and special collections. Access is sold primarily as annual institutional subscriptions tailored to colleges, universities, law schools, courts, law firms, government agencies, and public libraries, with supplemental one-time digital ownership purchases, print publications, and digitization services for rare materials.

Product overview

HeinOnline, a product of William S. Hein & Co., Inc., is a premier multidisciplinary research platform offered primarily via annual institutional subscriptions. The core HeinOnline platform provides access to more than 249 million pages of content through multiple integrated database modules including: Journals and Periodicals, U.S. Federal Content (featuring the complete U.S. Congressional Serial Set), U.S. State Content (with historical statutes for all 50 states), International Resources (including the World Treaty Library), Case Law (U.S. and international), and Special Collections (Indigenous law, criminal justice, water rights). The subscription model includes a core package, a-la-carte database options, the free Social Justice Suite for research and global impact, and Digital Ownership for permanent hard-drive access. HeinOnline supplements its database platform with AI-powered features including Article Summaries (generative AI creating text summaries from internal datasets) and Scholarly Impact Rankings (citation-based analytics). Additional research tools include MyHein (personal bookmarking and citation management with EndNote/RefWorks export and Google SSO), Author Profile Pages, and pathfinder tools. William S. Hein & Co. also offers print publications including rare book reprints and the Electronic Greenslips service for librarians, alongside digital preservation services for archiving rare materials.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HeinOnline Research Platform Premier online multidisciplinary research platform providing more than 249 million pages of fully searchable image-based PDFs, including scholarly journals, government documents, case law, and international resources, delivered via annual institutional subscription to libraries, universities, law schools, courts, and government agencies.
• Journals and Periodicals Database Database module providing access to thousands of scholarly, international, and commercial journals, available as part of HeinOnline's subscription packages and a-la-carte.
• U.S. Federal Content Database Federal documents, statutes, congressional records, and the complete U.S. Congressional Serial Set, available as a HeinOnline database module.
• U.S. State Content Database State laws, history, government documents, and historical state statutes for all fifty states, available as a HeinOnline database module.
• International Resources Database International treaties, constitutions, agreements, and resources including the World Treaty Library, available as a HeinOnline database module.
• Case Law Database Dedicated databases for U.S. and international case law including the U.S. Supreme Court Library, available as a HeinOnline database module.
• Special Collections Database Specialized databases covering Indigenous law, criminal justice, water rights, and other focused research areas, available as a HeinOnline database module.
• Annual Institutional Subscriptions Tailored database packages priced by institution type and size, including a core subscription package and a-la-carte database options, sold to libraries, universities, law schools, courts, law firms, and government agencies.
• Social Justice Suite Free database collection providing research resources focused on social justice topics and global impact.
• Digital Ownership Collections One-time purchase of collections on a hard drive providing permanent digital ownership and lasting access beyond subscription periods.
• Print Publications Essential print publications for scholars and professionals, including reprinted rare books and acid-free volumes, sold directly and through catalog offerings.
• Electronic Greenslips Curated law title updates tailored for librarians, delivered electronically to keep institutional collections current.
• Digital Preservation and Digitization Services Custom digitization services using proprietary software and specialized imaging equipment to digitize rare and fragile materials for inclusion in HeinOnline, conversion to microform, or reprinting as acid-free volumes.
• Print Publications Catalog Searchable catalog of print publications searchable by title, author/editor, ISBN, or ISSN for direct purchase of physical volumes.

Quantifiable outcome

• Affordable alternative to multiple research databases - subscribers can replace existing resources for a fraction of the cost
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability3 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• PowerNotescoreTechnology or IntegrationPowerNotes integration allows seamless linking and research workflow between PowerNotes annotation tool and HeinOnline content for enhanced academic research.
• ORCIDcoreTechnology or IntegrationORCID integration enables author identification and attribution throughout HeinOnline, supporting verified author badges for users with matching email addresses.
• OCLCcoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with OCLC for library services integration and metadata accessibility across OCLC's global library network.
• Google ScholarcoreTechnology or IntegrationHeinOnline provides metadata for and allows Google Scholar to crawl content from the Law Journal Library, enabling discoverability through external search.
• ThirdIron (BrowZine and LibKey)coreTechnology or IntegrationHeinOnline integrates with ThirdIron products BrowZine and LibKey, library technology services used by more than 1,500 libraries across 35 countries.
• Cassidy CataloguingcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCassidy Cataloguing is the official cataloger for HeinOnline, offering high-quality MARC21 catalog records for HeinOnline's core subscription package and all a-la-carte libraries. Records are emailed for easy loading into institutional OPACs.
• CAUL ConsortiaminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorConsortium partnership for academic library group purchasing across CAUL (Council of Australian University Librarians) member institutions.
• ARKLinkminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorConsortium partnership for library services and group purchasing through ARKLink network.
• OhioNet ConsortiumminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorConsortium partnership for library group purchasing through OhioNet member institutions.
• EIFL (Electronic Information for Libraries)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorConsortium partnership through EIFL for extending access to academic institutions in developing and transition countries.
• LIRN (Library Information Resource Network)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorConsortium partnership through LIRN for library resource sharing and group purchasing.
• EndNotecoreTechnology or IntegrationReference management tool integration allowing export of citations from HeinOnline's Law Journal Library and MyHein to EndNote for citation management.
• RefWorkscoreTechnology or IntegrationResearch management program integration allowing export of citations from HeinOnline's Law Journal Library to RefWorks.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• JSTOR (ITHAKA): JSTOR is a leading digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources used by colleges and universities worldwide. It is a direct peer in the scholarly digital library category, often co-subscribed with HeinOnline at academic institutions.
• ProQuest (Clarivate): ProQuest provides aggregated scholarly databases, dissertations, news, and primary sources to academic and public libraries. It is a direct competitor for institutional research budgets and shares HeinOnline's focus on multidisciplinary academic content.
• EBSCO Information Services: EBSCO is a major provider of academic and library research databases and discovery services used by universities and schools globally. It competes with HeinOnline for institutional database subscriptions and library content spend.

Broad incumbents

• SSRN (Elsevier): SSRN is a preprint and early-stage research repository widely used by legal and social science scholars. It is comparable to HeinOnline's scholarly author-profile and discoverability features while operating a different (open) distribution model.
• Westlaw (Thomson Reuters): Westlaw is the premier legal research platform used by U.S. law firms and law schools, offering comprehensive case law, analytics, and AI-assisted tools. It competes with HeinOnline in law school and library subscriptions, with a stronger focus on practitioner workflows.
• Bloomberg Law: Bloomberg Law provides legal research, dockets, and practice tools to law firms and in-house counsel. It overlaps with HeinOnline in legal scholarly content while targeting a more practitioner-oriented customer base.
• LexisNexis (RELX): LexisNexis is the dominant legal and news research platform, offering case law, statutes, and secondary sources to law firms, courts, and law schools. It is a direct competitor in legal research, with significantly broader current-law content but higher pricing than HeinOnline.
• Cambridge Core (Cambridge University Press): Cambridge Core hosts peer-reviewed academic journals and books across disciplines and is both a publisher partner and indirect competitor to HeinOnline for institutional journal subscriptions at universities.
• Oxford Academic (Oxford University Press): Oxford Academic publishes peer-reviewed journals and books across law, humanities, and social sciences. It is comparable to HeinOnline as a multidisciplinary academic publisher serving university libraries globally.

Emerging players

• vLex (vLex Group): vLex is an AI-powered legal research platform aggregating case law and statutes across multiple jurisdictions. It is an emerging challenger to HeinOnline's legal content, with stronger AI and international coverage but less depth in U.S. law journals.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HeinOnline
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@THEREALHEINONLINE
• Facebookfacebook.com/HeinOnline
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/william-s--hein-&-co--inc--&-heinonline
• Instagraminstagram.com/heinonline

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about William S. Hein & Co