diff --git a/web/components/answers/create-answer-panel.tsx b/web/components/answers/create-answer-panel.tsx
index 2a089f50..6eeadf97 100644
--- a/web/components/answers/create-answer-panel.tsx
+++ b/web/components/answers/create-answer-panel.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import clsx from 'clsx'
 import { useState } from 'react'
 import Textarea from 'react-expanding-textarea'
+import { findBestMatch } from 'string-similarity'
 
 import { FreeResponseContract } from 'common/contract'
 import { BuyAmountInput } from '../amount-input'
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@ import { firebaseLogin } from 'web/lib/firebase/users'
 import { Bet } from 'common/bet'
 import { MAX_ANSWER_LENGTH } from 'common/answer'
 import { withTracking } from 'web/lib/service/analytics'
+import { lowerCase } from 'lodash'
 
 export function CreateAnswerPanel(props: { contract: FreeResponseContract }) {
   const { contract } = props
@@ -30,9 +32,15 @@ export function CreateAnswerPanel(props: { contract: FreeResponseContract }) {
   const [text, setText] = useState('')
   const [betAmount, setBetAmount] = useState<number | undefined>(10)
   const [amountError, setAmountError] = useState<string | undefined>()
+  const [answerError, setAnswerError] = useState<string | undefined>()
+  const [possibleDuplicateAnswer, setPossibleDuplicateAnswer] = useState<
+    string | undefined
+  >()
   const [isSubmitting, setIsSubmitting] = useState(false)
+  const { answers } = contract
 
-  const canSubmit = text && betAmount && !amountError && !isSubmitting
+  const canSubmit =
+    text && betAmount && !amountError && !isSubmitting && !answerError
 
   const submitAnswer = async () => {
     if (canSubmit) {
@@ -54,6 +62,36 @@ export function CreateAnswerPanel(props: { contract: FreeResponseContract }) {
     }
   }
 
+  const changeAnswer = (text: string) => {
+    setText(text)
+    const existingAnswer = answers.find(
+      (a) => lowerCase(a.text) === lowerCase(text)
+    )
+
+    if (existingAnswer) {
+      setAnswerError(
+        existingAnswer
+          ? `"${existingAnswer.text}" already exists as an answer`
+          : ''
+      )
+      return
+    } else {
+      setAnswerError('')
+    }
+
+    if (answers.length && text) {
+      const matches = findBestMatch(
+        lowerCase(text),
+        answers.map((a) => lowerCase(a.text))
+      )
+      setPossibleDuplicateAnswer(
+        matches.bestMatch.rating > 0.8
+          ? answers[matches.bestMatchIndex].text
+          : ''
+      )
+    }
+  }
+
   const resultProb = getDpmOutcomeProbabilityAfterBet(
     contract.totalShares,
     'new',
@@ -79,12 +117,21 @@ export function CreateAnswerPanel(props: { contract: FreeResponseContract }) {
         <div className="mb-1">Add your answer</div>
         <Textarea
           value={text}
-          onChange={(e) => setText(e.target.value)}
+          onChange={(e) => changeAnswer(e.target.value)}
           className="textarea textarea-bordered w-full resize-none"
           placeholder="Type your answer..."
           rows={1}
           maxLength={MAX_ANSWER_LENGTH}
         />
+        {answerError ? (
+          <AnswerError key={1} level="error" text={answerError} />
+        ) : possibleDuplicateAnswer ? (
+          <AnswerError
+            key={2}
+            level="warning"
+            text={`Did you mean to bet on "${possibleDuplicateAnswer}"?`}
+          />
+        ) : undefined}
         <div />
         <Col
           className={clsx(
@@ -163,3 +210,21 @@ export function CreateAnswerPanel(props: { contract: FreeResponseContract }) {
     </Col>
   )
 }
+
+type answerErrorLevel = 'warning' | 'error'
+
+const AnswerError = (props: { text: string; level: answerErrorLevel }) => {
+  const { text, level } = props
+  const colorClass =
+    {
+      error: 'text-red-500',
+      warning: 'text-orange-500',
+    }[level] ?? ''
+  return (
+    <div
+      className={`${colorClass} mb-2 mr-auto self-center whitespace-nowrap text-xs font-medium tracking-wide`}
+    >
+      {text}
+    </div>
+  )
+}
diff --git a/web/package.json b/web/package.json
index 5b05a292..cde76121 100644
--- a/web/package.json
+++ b/web/package.json
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@
     "react-expanding-textarea": "2.3.5",
     "react-hot-toast": "2.2.0",
     "react-instantsearch-hooks-web": "6.24.1",
-    "react-query": "3.39.0"
+    "react-query": "3.39.0",
+    "string-similarity": "^4.0.4"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@tailwindcss/forms": "0.4.0",
@@ -50,6 +51,7 @@
     "@types/lodash": "4.14.178",
     "@types/node": "16.11.11",
     "@types/react": "17.0.43",
+    "@types/string-similarity": "^4.0.0",
     "autoprefixer": "10.2.6",
     "concurrently": "6.5.1",
     "critters": "0.0.16",
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 83742947..15cd3c51 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -3148,6 +3148,11 @@
   dependencies:
     "@types/node" "*"
 
+"@types/string-similarity@^4.0.0":
+  version "4.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/string-similarity/-/string-similarity-4.0.0.tgz#8cc03d5d1baad2b74530fe6c7d849d5768d391ad"
+  integrity sha512-dMS4S07fbtY1AILG/RhuwmptmzK1Ql8scmAebOTJ/8iBtK/KI17NwGwKzu1uipjj8Kk+3mfPxum56kKZE93mzQ==
+
 "@types/unist@*", "@types/unist@^2.0.0", "@types/unist@^2.0.2", "@types/unist@^2.0.3":
   version "2.0.6"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/unist/-/unist-2.0.6.tgz#250a7b16c3b91f672a24552ec64678eeb1d3a08d"
@@ -8026,11 +8031,6 @@ nanoid@^3.1.23, nanoid@^3.1.30, nanoid@^3.3.4:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/nanoid/-/nanoid-3.3.4.tgz#730b67e3cd09e2deacf03c027c81c9d9dbc5e8ab"
   integrity sha512-MqBkQh/OHTS2egovRtLk45wEyNXwF+cokD+1YPf9u5VfJiRdAiRwB2froX5Co9Rh20xs4siNPm8naNotSD6RBw==
 
-nanoid@^3.3.4:
-  version "3.3.4"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/nanoid/-/nanoid-3.3.4.tgz#730b67e3cd09e2deacf03c027c81c9d9dbc5e8ab"
-  integrity sha512-MqBkQh/OHTS2egovRtLk45wEyNXwF+cokD+1YPf9u5VfJiRdAiRwB2froX5Co9Rh20xs4siNPm8naNotSD6RBw==
-
 natural-compare@^1.4.0:
   version "1.4.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/natural-compare/-/natural-compare-1.4.0.tgz#4abebfeed7541f2c27acfb29bdbbd15c8d5ba4f7"
@@ -10320,6 +10320,11 @@ streamsearch@^1.1.0:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/streamsearch/-/streamsearch-1.1.0.tgz#404dd1e2247ca94af554e841a8ef0eaa238da764"
   integrity sha512-Mcc5wHehp9aXz1ax6bZUyY5afg9u2rv5cqQI3mRrYkGC8rW2hM02jWuwjtL++LS5qinSyhj2QfLyNsuc+VsExg==
 
+string-similarity@^4.0.4:
+  version "4.0.4"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/string-similarity/-/string-similarity-4.0.4.tgz#42d01ab0b34660ea8a018da8f56a3309bb8b2a5b"
+  integrity sha512-/q/8Q4Bl4ZKAPjj8WerIBJWALKkaPRfrvhfF8k/B23i4nzrlRj2/go1m90In7nG/3XDSbOo0+pu6RvCTM9RGMQ==
+
 string-width@^4.0.0, string-width@^4.1.0, string-width@^4.2.0, string-width@^4.2.2:
   version "4.2.3"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/string-width/-/string-width-4.2.3.tgz#269c7117d27b05ad2e536830a8ec895ef9c6d010"