Legalzoom is probably the most well-known and widely used online legal forms website out there—but is it the best? In our review of Legalzoom's LLC formation service, we’ll look at its pricing, best features and customer reviews & testimonials. See how Legalzoom's LLC service compares to its competitors.
Legalzoom offers flat-fee pricing for its LLC formation services starting at $79 (plus state filing fees). None of the Legalzoom LLC Packages below come with an Operating Agreement or EIN. See the chart below for details on their 3 price points and the cost of the various add-ons.
Economy LLC Package ($79)
Legalzoom's Economy LLC Package is $79 plus state filing fees. The Economy LLC Package is one of the slowest turnaround times in this industry. 30 days to create an LLC is an eternity and for this reason, the Economy LLC Package is rarely purchased.
The Economy LLC Package comes with a Name Availability Search, Peace of Mind Review, preparation and filing of the Articles of Organization (in 30 business days); Tax Saving Analysis; Online Progress Tracking; and a Next Steps Guide.
Standard LLC Package ($329)
Legalzoom's Standard LLC Package is $329 plus state filing fees. The Standard LLC Package has a 15 day turnaround time.
The Standard LLC Package comes with everything from the Economy Package PLUS a business newsletter; a company book with membership certificates and company seal.
Express Gold LLC Package ($349)
Legalzoom's Express Gold LLC Package is $349 plus state filing fees and shortens the turnaround time to 10 business day. Legalzoom's fastest service is still much slower than the competition.
The Express Gold LLC Package comes with everything from the Economy and Standard Packages PLUS priority filing; VIP Processing; Express Shipping; Financial Account Authorization Letter; 7 Day/Week Customer Support; and Discounts on other Legalzoom Services.
Compliance Calendar
Legalzoom's compliance calendar includes information and deadlines specific to the filing requirements for your type of business. The service is $69/year. The compliance calendar is not what Legalzoom used to call Total Compliance, where they would handle the annual maintained for you. This is merely a calendar to remind you of the annual deadlines.
Total Compliance (no longer offered)
For $280/year, Legalzoom offers an LLC compliance package now known as Total Compliance. With Total Compliance, Legalzoom will help you set-up and stay compliant, taking care of annual report filings and formalities. If they miss anything, they will pay the fine or penalty.
Price: Compare Apples to Apples
The four most commonly requested or "core" services are: (1) preparation and filing of LLC paperwork with the state; (2) within two business days; (3) with a custom/personalized operating agreement; and (4) an EIN. Legalzoom's price of the 4 core services comes to a grand total of $508.
Legalzoom's Express Gold ($349) will covers the first 2 core services (paperwork filed with the state within 2 business days). You'll have to pay an additional $159 for the other two core services (operating agreement and EIN).
You can purchase a prepaid legal plan, which includes all kinds of things including unlimited 30-minute consultations on new legal matters for a flat monthly fee. Plan prices vary based on your state and the plan you select (business, personal, annual or six months.) In Texas, a 12-month Business Advisory Plan Membership costs $31.25/month. See Legalzoom's Business Advisory Plan.
Legalzoom also offers features like LegalProtect, which offers set-up advice from a small business attorney, and the Compliance Calendar, which helps you stay compliant with regulations, for an additional annual fee.
How Fast is LegalZoom
The Legalzoom website advertises “fast filing,” but one must begin the LLC creation process in order to find out just how fast the process might be. For the purposes of determining speed, we began to walk through the application process, and just before checkout, we were presented with three service options for processing time: Economy (30 business days), Standard (15 business days) and Express Gold (10 business days). These times refer to Legal Zoom’s processing time, and not state times, which vary depending on your state.
How Much is Legalzoom's Registered Agent Service?
Registered Agent Services are not included with any of Legalzoom’s LLC packages, but they may be added for $249/year. The service begins when your business is registered with the state, and it is renewed automatically. If you wish to cancel the service, you must first appoint a new Registered Agent, and then call Legalzoom to cancel service or complete the request through the "My Account" portal. It looks as if the user may have to manually decline this service, based on our walk-through. This could potentially cause a billing issue, if the user was not aware they would be charged for this service.
Is Legalzoom Legit?
Legalzoom has a one-star rating on TrustPilot, at the time of this Legalzoom review writing, with 18 total reviews. Complaints included being billed for Registered Agent service without prior approval, poor customer service, lack of response to customer calls and emails, and incomplete LLC filing. The company also has a one-star rating from Consumer Affairs, based on 171 ratings. Legalzoom has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. However, it also has 331 customer complaints with the BBB, and an average one-star rating, over 104 Legalzoom reviews.
Real Legalzoom Reviews
We thought it would be helpful to show you a few examples of actual positive and negative LegalZoom reviews from actual customers:
"Professional, fair and as well as cooperative. Provided excellent speedy service. Felt assured about next steps and variables to obtaining the very best services from LegalZoom." -M. Thersa.
"LegalZoom has very extensive offering of services on their website. It was very easy to navigate and things were easy to find when searching. Twenty five minutes and I was all set with everything I needed. Plenty of information on what I was looking for. The contact us page was the only difficult thing for me to find. I also would make live chat easier to find and utilize. Otherwise I can not complain about anything else with my experience. This was one if the best websites I have ever used, and I would recommend it to everybody." -Jay
"I signed up to get an LLC package and opted for a payment plan of $136 a month over a 3 month period of time. I was charged a separate charge of $249 that I did not authorize! I made several calls and sent several emails with not response or help. I did how ever talk too 2 different people and was explained that it was a regeistered agent fee. One that’s not included in the payment plan that I agreed to and authorized! Now I was also told that $100 of the was for a business license fee from their sister company. When I called them they told me it would cost $299 extra to get the license. All they told me wa go to the tax collectors office and get it there. I was charged $100 for some stupid advice that didn’t do a thing to help as everyone knows that’s where you have to go! I told them I don’t want that service and wanted to be refunded for the charge. I also explained the basic registered agent fee would be fine but not the other stuff and I was told I had to contact the state about it! I want my money refunded for the crap charges the fraudulently made to my account and did not authorize! I filed a complaint with the better business and I’m going to file a complaint with my bank and I’m going to contact the sheriffs department and report them for making fraudulent charges as well if they do not fix what they did! I clearly agreed to the 3 payments not the $249 2 days after the first payment was made! Ya and I never received my company seal as it was also included in my package that I am paying for!" -Michael
Customer Service
Legalzoom offers a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee that promises, “We get it right or you get your money back.” Requests may be made by calling Legalzoom’s 1-800 number, and they must be made within 60 days of your purchase. The company won’t refund money paid to government entities, such as filing or taxes, or money paid to third parties, such as attorneys affiliated with Legalzoom. The guarantee only covers satisfaction issues caused by Legalzoom, and not personal issues such as changing your mind.
Negative Factors
As mentioned above, Legalzoom has a one-star rating with three of the most popular review consolidation websites, and the main issues cited seem to be unexpected billing, difficulty in cancellation, and difficulty communicating with customer service. On the Consumer Affairs website, Legalzoom has responded to many of the complaints, apologizing for the customers’ dissatisfaction. However, it is unclear whether the issues have been resolved. Of the 331 BBB complaints closed in the last three years, 100 had been resolved, and the remaining 231 were answered, but not resolved, which means that “The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.”
How to Cancel Legalzoom?
Legalzoom offers some services on a subscription basis (registered agent, compliance calendar, etc). These services can be canceled by notifying LegalZoom of your intent to cancel by calling their Customer Care Center at (800) 773-0888 (we found another number you may call 888-310-0151) or by cancelling online through the “My Account” portal.
Experience/History
Legalzoom has been in business since 1999, and has helped launch over a million LLCs, according to their website.
Guarantee
Legalzoom offers a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee that promises, “We get it right or you get your money back.” Requests may be made by calling Legalzoom’s 1-800 number, and they must be made within 60 days of your purchase. The company won’t refund money paid to government entities, such as filing or taxes, or money paid to third parties, such as attorneys affiliated with Legalzoom. The guarantee only covers satisfaction issues caused by Legalzoom, and not personal issues such as changing your mind.
Conclusion
Overall Score:
Legalzoom has a long history in the online legal forms industry, and was one of the first companies to offer online legal forms. They also have a wide variety of legal forms available. However, due to the large number of negative Legalzoom reviews and unresolved complaints, particularly in the area of unauthorized billing, we cannot in good faith recommend Legalzoom.
Mr. Copp is a licensed attorney that specializes in forming LLCs. He has been licensed in Texas for 20 years and has personally formed over 3,000 LLCs since 2015. He was recognized as a Rising Star by SuperLawyers® for seven straight years. Mr. Copp's knowledge of the formation process and related documents gives him the unique ability to compare, contrast, analyze, and review the services and documents provided by the top national LLC formation services. See Zac's full bio.
