The price gap tracks what the data actually is. The cheap end, roughly 40 to 100 a month, is usually a deceased owner flag built from death records matched to deed records. It tells you someone on title probably died. It doesn't confirm a case exists. The higher tier, often 200 to 400 a month depending on how many counties you want, is sourced from court filings and comes with a case number, the decedent's information, the attorney of record, and named heir relatives. That's the difference between working a verified case and guessing.
Free does exist. Many county courts post probate dockets online, some make you sit at a terminal in the clerk's office, and a few charge per page for copies. Practice varies by state and even by county, so call the clerk once and ask how they publish new filings.
Other line items: skip tracing runs a few cents to about a quarter per record, and mail through a letter shop lands somewhere around 55 cents to 1.20 a piece all in depending on whether you send postcards or stamped letters.
On licensing, buying property for your own account generally doesn't require a real estate license. Where states do get involved is advertising a property you only have under contract as though it were yours to sell, or being paid to market someone else's property. Some states now have specific wholesaler disclosure or registration rules, and this varies by state, so ask a local real estate attorney before you send anything with a property address in it.
If you plan to call rather than mail, do-not-call rules and state recording consent laws apply to you the same as anyone else.
