Yes, you need protection for your idea. “If you are interested in filing a provisional patent application the cost for attorney time alone is typically about $1,500, if you are looking to get a provisional patent application written as a precursor to a nonprovisional patent application, which is what you really ought to be aiming for. The filing fee is just over $100 and drawings typically cost $100 to $125 per page, so a high quality provisional can typically be prepared and filed for under $1,800. If, for example, you were to have my firm prepare the provisional patent application for you then you would save money later when you file nonprovisional patent application because we would start with the provisional patent application we created and expand from there. Because we will have already done $1,500 in legal work that would lower the amount you would be expected to pay for a nonprovisional patent application. Please do note that for computer related inventions and software the cost for us to prepare and file a provisional patent application is typically $2,500 plus the filing fee and drawing costs.” Source