LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer are just two of the many LLC formation services we’ve reviewed. These two companies are similar in that they’re both mainly online legal service platforms offering LLC formation as one of their services.
We’ve put together this more detailed walkthrough to help you decide which one is right for you.
LegalZoom is one of the most well-known LLC formation services today. Their service covers a wide range across the United States. They’ve formed over 2 million businesses making their experience in the industry second to none.
This company is quite popular with their customers.
On the other hand:
Rocket Lawyer is a legal service platform that offers various services. While Rocket Lawyer’s staff members aren’t attorneys, the company does offer clients access to legal advice and services from their exclusive attorneys as one of their offered services.
They’ve been around since 2008 and have enjoyed much popularity ever since.
Points for Comparison
Since LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer offer other legal services apart from LLC formation, we compared them based on the following categories:
- Services offered
- Ease of Use
- Customer services
- Pricing
- Customer reviews
- Overall value
About LegalZoom
This company has been around since 1999 and is dedicated to making legal help accessible to average Americans.
LegalZoom takes its customer satisfaction seriously which is why it offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee. The company’s independent attorneys are knowledgeable in both personal and business aspects of the law. LegalZoom also does away with the legal mumbo-jumbo and uses plain language to help you truly understand your options.
LegalZoom Services
Business Formation
- Forming your business (LLC, Corporation, Nonprofit, etc.)
- Naming your business
Business Operations
- Business compliance
- Business changes and filings
- Taxes, licenses & permits
Intellectual Property
- Trademarks
- Patents
- Copyrights
Wills and Trusts
- Last will and testament
- Living Trust
- Power of attorney
- Living will
Family
- Divorce
- Name change
Real Estate
- Residential lease
- Property deed transfer
About Rocket Lawyer
This company has been around since 2008. It aims to help more people get legal help by making legal services affordable, simple, and available. Rocket Lawyer combines free legal documents with free legal information which is then coupled with access to affordable representation by licensed attorneys.
By giving you everything you need to handle your personal or business-related legal question then giving you easier access to local attorneys, Rocket Lawyer takes away the guesswork when it comes to the law and lets you focus on the more important things — taking care of your family and business.
Rocket Lawyer Services
Make Legal Documents
- Business and contracts
- Real estate
- Family and personal
Sign Legal Documents
- Digital signature with RocketSign
Start a Business
- Starting a business
- Business operations
- Business property
Ask a Lawyer
- Business and contracts
- Finance and real estate
- Family and personal
Side-by-Side Comparison
Now that we’ve introduced both companies, it’s time to compare them side-by-side. We looked into the services and features that both companies offered and started our comparison from there. We also included the services/features that are unique to each company.
Additionally:
We compare each company’s aspects like how easy their website is to use, how good their customer services are, how much value you get, and how their customers feel about them.
LegalZoom vs Rocket Lawyer: Business Formation
If you’re an entrepreneur looking to form your business, odds are you’ve heard of LegalZoom or Rocket Lawyer.
Both companies let you form a corporation (S corp or C corp), an LLC, or a nonprofit.
LegalZoom does offer standalone business-related services such as DBAs, entity name reservations, Federal tax ID (EIN), State tax ID, and more. You can also get these as add-ons while you fill up LegalZoom’s online form.
On the other hand:
Rocket Lawyer doesn’t tell you what legal documents your business will need so you’ll have to make do some research of your own. That said, if you already know what you need before you sign up, then everything should go along smoothly. You can also get help from one of the company’s Rocket Lawyers if you’re in a bind.
Both companies offer a standalone registered agent service. However, only Rocket Lawyer includes it as part of its premium formation package at 25% off.
LegalZoom vs Rocket Lawyer: Legal Forms
If you’re just looking to draft legal documents, both companies offer hundreds of forms to choose from. Their legal document creation process works pretty much the same:
- Select a legal form
- Answer a few questions
- Check out
- Download and print
That said:
Rocket Lawyer does provide you with more information about the legal document you’re drafting, so you’re sure it’s the right one you’re looking for. This company also offers an online digital signature service to let you make your document legal quickly and from anywhere. Lastly, Rocket Lawyer also offers a feature called “Document Defense” where a Rocket Lawyer reviews your situation and helps enforce your contract in the event of a breach.
LegalZoom vs Rocket Lawyer: Wills and Trusts
No matter how many fortune tellers we see, no one can tell the future. This is why it’s always a good idea to think about how we can make things easier for those we leave behind.
LegalZoom lets you easily choose the legal document you need by providing a short description of each document. If you’re still unsure which one you need, you can answer a few questions to narrow down your choice.
On the other hand:
Rocket Lawyer does something similar by giving you free information about the legal document you plan to draft. This information goes deep into the details of each document to make sure you fully understand what you’re making. You can also ask a Rocket Lawyer for more advice.
LegalZoom vs Rocket Lawyer: Ease of Use
The thing with online service platforms is that not all of them are easy to use. While this is more a problem with design rather than services and content, you may find yourself giving up and looking for a different service provider if you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for when you sign up.
Thankfully:
Both LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer are easy to use in their own unique ways.
LegalZoom asks you questions that narrow down your choices. If you can’t finish the whole process in one sitting, they’ll email you a link to your saved answers so you can finish the forms when you have more time. That said, you may find it tedious to click through 20 or more pages to make one legal document.
Meanwhile:
Rocket Lawyer has a simple, user-friendly layout and interface that walks you through the details and process of the legal solution you’re looking for. This can feel like you’re learning about legal stuff and you may find it more complicated than LegalZoom’s “checklist” style process.
LegalZoom vs Rocket Lawyer: Customer Support
Sometimes you come across a question or problem that you just can’t solve on your own. This is where customer support comes in handy. You’d certainly want customer support that’s helpful, knowledgeable, and is available when you need them.
LegalZoom has four types of customer support:
- An FAQ section that answers the most common questions
- They let you check your order status by signing into your account
- You can submit a question to one of their agents via a ticket system
- Phone support that’s available 7 days a week.
On the other hand:
Rocket Lawyer offers five types of customer support:
- A knowledge base where you can find answers yourself
- Email support from a representative
- Phone support that’s available from 6 am to 6 pm on weekdays
- Chat support that’s available during the same time as phone support
- Mail support through their P.O box
If you want to talk to an attorney, both companies let you reach an attorney fast. The only difference being how much they charge for this service.
Speaking of which:
LegalZoom vs Rocket Lawyer: Pricing
A company can offer the best services, be extremely user-friendly, and offer the best support but all of these won’t be any good if you can’t afford to pay for them. While it’s true that online legal service providers do charge less than hiring a law firm, some service providers are simply more affordable than others.
When it comes to pricing, this is what you can expect to pay:
LegalZoom
Business Formation
- Forming your business (LLC, Corporation, Nonprofit, etc.) – $79 (+ state filing fees) to $349 (+ state filing fees)
Business Operations
- Business compliance (registered agent) – $299 a year
- Business changes and filings (corporate dissolution) – $129 to $239
- Taxes, licenses & permits (501(c)(3) status) – $595 to $795
Intellectual Property
- Trademark registration – $249 to $599
- Patents (Provisional patent application, Utility patent, Design patent) – $199 to $2400
- Copyright registration – $114
Wills and Trusts
- Last will and testament -$89 to $179
- Living Trust – $279 to $329
- Power of attorney – $35 to $179
- Living will – $39 to $179
Family
- Divorce
- Name change – $139 to 175
Real Estate
- Residential lease – $29 to $49
- Property deed transfer – $249 to $289
Rocket Lawyer
Make Legal Documents – $39.99 per document
- Business and contracts
- Real estate
- Family and personal
Attorney Services
- Document Defense on Rocket Lawyer documents – $9.99 per document
- Ask a Lawyer your legal questions – $49.99 per question
- 30-minute consultation on every new legal matter – $59.99 per consultation
For Business
- Affordable incorporation filing – $99.99 (Excluding state fees)
- Affordable Registered Agent service – $149.99 per year
Note that you pay these prices if you get these services on a standalone basis. Rocket Lawyer provides some of them for free or at a discount if you sign up for their $39.99 a month Premium Membership.
LegalZoom vs Rocket Lawyer: Customer Reviews
So:
At this point, you’ve learned the most important details about LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer. You may have already formed your decision. But, before you go and sign up with your chosen company, check out how their past clients feel about them.
It’s always a good idea to check out customer reviews to make sure that what you see is what you get (and not just marketing). For this purpose, we used Trustpilot.
When it comes to customer satisfaction, 790 clients give LegalZoom a “Great” rating with 4.1 out of 5 stars. These clients mostly liked LegalZoom for its ease of use, comprehensiveness, use of ordinary language, and great customer support. However, not all clients feel this way as those who rated the company poorly say the exact opposite.
Meanwhile:
3,517 clients give Rocket Lawyer an “Excellent” rating of 4.7 stars out of 5. Most of these clients praise Rocket Lawyer for its ease of use, excellent customer service, and affordable legal documents. The customers who did rate the company poorly complained about technical difficulties with the site and canceling their monthly membership.
LegalZoom vs Rocket Lawyer: Which is Better?
At this point:
We’ve discussed almost everything there is to know about LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer. From their services & features to their ease of use, customer support, pricing, and popularity with past clients.
So:
Which one is better? We’ll leave that for you to decide.
Both companies let you start your business in whatever form.
LegalZoom can help you out big time if you’re new to the whole business formation process. They walk you through the whole thing with guidance and tell you what you may need to form, run, and protect your business. However, you may find yourself paying a lot more at checkout at the end.
Rocket Lawyer has a simpler approach with less hand-holding so they may be a good choice if you already know what you’re looking for while forming your business. You’ll certainly pay less at checkout, especially if you sign up for their premium membership.
Drafting legal documents follows a similar route. Both companies ask you questions to complete your legal document. However, Rocket Lawyer does explain each legal document in finer detail.
Ease of use is a toss-up as both companies have their own unique style. However, some customers have complained about technical difficulties when using Rocket Lawyer’s website.
When it comes to pricing, LegalZoom is simply more expensive than Rocket Lawyer.
Lastly, Rocket Lawyer seems to be rated higher by more customers on Trustpilot.
Our recommendation?
Choose LegalZoom if you have zero legal knowledge and are simply looking for a one-time fix — whether that be business formation or assistance in the creation of a legal document.
Pick Rocket Lawyer if you know what you want and are looking for continuous legal assistance for your business or personal life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which one is better, LegalZoom or Rocket Lawyer?
It depends.
LegalZoom is better if you have zero legal knowledge and are simply looking for a one-time fix — whether that be business formation or assistance in the creation of a legal document.
Rocket Lawyer is better if you know what you want and are looking for continuous legal assistance for your business or personal life.
What makes LegalZoom so expensive?
LegalZoom was created and is staffed by many lawyers who aim to make valid legal documents and advice more available to the masses. Lawyers usually charge an hourly rate which explains the high prices. You can reduce these prices by choosing an affordable plan.
Is Rocket Lawyer any good?
Yes.
Rocket Lawyer offers several resources that help you with your legal problems at an affordable price. Over 3500+ clients on Trustpilot seem to think so.
Will LegalZoom hold up in court?
Yes. If you provide them with accurate information. The company complies with all local and federal laws.
Do LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer offer refunds?
Yes. Both companies offer refunds.