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Written by: Carolyn Young
Carolyn Young is a business writer who focuses on entrepreneurial concepts and the business formation. She has over 25 years of experience in business roles, and has authored several entrepreneurship textbooks.
Edited by: David Lepeska
David has been writing and learning about business, finance and globalization for a quarter-century, starting with a small New York consulting firm in the 1990s.
Updated on August 30, 2023
In an increasingly digital age, the demand for online business formation services has seen a dramatic surge. Amidst an array of platforms available, one name stands out — Rocket Lawyer. In this comprehensive review, we will delve into the inner workings of this renowned legal tech platform.
By offering a closer look at Rocket Lawyer’s services, pricing structure, user experience, and customer service, we aim to provide a clear and concise evaluation for those who may be considering this platform for their legal needs.
If you are an entrepreneur seeking a way to handle business documentation, this review is sure to shed some light on what you can expect from the service.
Overall, Rocket Lawyer provides valuable services for aspiring business owners. They can ensure that your new business gets off on the right foot. Their service is easy to use and offers a good customer experience, which we learned from testing their support services and reading customer reviews.
Rocket Lawyer can take the time and hassle out of starting your business. There are some services, however, that other formation services provide, but Rocket Lawyer does not.
We feel that the best value that they offer is their membership, as you’ll be able to get assistance for any ongoing legal concerns.
Pricing
Turnaround Time
Help and Support
Customer Satisfaction
Ease of Use
Overall Score: 4/5
Rocket Lawyer will assist you with the formation of various entities such as LLCs, S Corps, C Corps, or nonprofits.
Before forming your business, it’s essential to confirm that your preferred business name is not already taken. Rocket Lawyer will do a business name search for you. If you decide to safeguard your business name with a trademark, Rocket Lawyer can facilitate this process for a service fee of $349.99 + USPTO fees (only for premium members, for non-members, it’s $699.99 + USPTO fees).
Your LLC must be formed with your state by filing articles of organization, sometimes called a certificate of organization or a certificate of formation. This can be done online or by mail. Rocket Lawyer handles the filing for you online, and the LLC approval time varies by state.
This procedure can be quite tedious and complex for a business owner, and obtaining assistance from your state’s government office can frequently be problematic. However, Rocket Lawyer offers customer support during standard business hours, easing this process.
Once your LLC is granted official status, your formation documents are always available to you on the Rocket Lawyer website for your reference.
DBA is a name registered for a company to do business under that is not its legal business name. Rocket Lawyer can help you register your DBA and protect your business name and brand. The price for this service starts at $99 + state fees.
In most states, when you form an LLC, you need a registered agent. A registered agent is a person or business authorized to accept and respond to legal, tax, and financial documents on behalf of your business.
For $149.99 per year or $111.99 with a membership, Rocket Lawyer can act as your registered agent and handle official correspondence and documents for your business.
Registered agents ensure that all official correspondence is handled on time and properly filed. They also keep track of deadlines and send reminders of things you need to file, such as tax forms and annual reports. Rocket Lawyer’s registered agent will help keep you in compliance with the law and save you time by keeping track of key documents and filing deadlines. The agency will also provide support if any issues arise.
Rocket Lawyer offers an operating agreement template with a membership that is customized for your state. An operating agreement for an LLC is an important legal document that details who owns the business and also provides essential information pertaining to member duties.
An LLC operating agreement establishes the financial relationship between business owners (“members”) and the basics of the working relationships between those owners and the managers who oversee daily operations.
By using the Rocket Lawyer template, you can just fill in the blanks rather than having an attorney draw up the agreement for you from scratch. Getting this for only the membership fee is a great value compared to the fee you would pay an attorney to draw it up for you.
It’s only offered with a membership. Only a handful of states require an operating agreement, but having one is highly recommended.
An employer identification number (EIN) is a tax-identifying number for your business. It’s required if your LLC has more than one member or has employees. It’s obtained by applying through the IRS.
Rocket Lawyer will handle the application process for you and send you your EIN as soon as it’s approved — provided you pay the add-on cost of $59.99.
The majority of states require that businesses submit statements of information, also known as an annual report. Rocket Lawyer is available to assist in identifying the necessary documentation for your filing and can manage the filing process on your behalf.
If you choose the membership option with Rocket Lawyer, which is priced at $39.99 per month, their team of business experts will streamline the process of filing your Statement of Information as well as any other required business documents, making it a hassle-free experience for you.
With a Rocket Lawyer membership, you’ll have access to the following document templates:
For a $39.99 per month membership with Rocket Lawyer, which you can cancel at any time, you get these additional benefits:
Overall, their services are good value. However, they do not offer as many services as other business formation services unless you get a membership. With a membership, you can get documents such as an operating agreement, for which other services charge a flat fee.
| Service | Price | Price with membership |
|---|---|---|
| Business formation | $99 plus state fee | $0 plus state fee |
| Expedited filing | Varies by state | Varies by state |
| EIN | $59.99 | $59.99 |
| Personalized corporate kit and seal | $104.99 | $104.99 |
| Corporate seal only | $64.99 | $64.99 |
| Registered agent service | $149.99 annually | $111.99 annually |
Turnaround times for business formation are as follows:
To cancel your membership, please follow the steps outlined here.
To cancel your registered agent service, you may cancel at any time by contacting Rocket Lawyer at (877) 881-0947 during normal business hours. In addition to cancelling the registered agent service, to comply with your state’s regulations, you will also need to submit the appropriate change of agent paperwork with the applicable state agencies. Any fees associated with completing such a change of agent are your sole responsibility.
In order to find the pricing and products related to business formation, you have to go through the process of forming your LLC. The first information you have to enter is your contact information, including your phone number, which we found a bit intrusive.
Then you’ll enter all the required information about your business. Not unlike other business service formation sites, information about what you’re looking for is hard to come by until you give them information.
The questions for the business formation were simple and quick, but most people might find it preferable to be able to see the service options before going through the process. Once you enter your business information, you’re offered all of their other products, including the registered agent service.
When we went through this process the first time, we received an email within minutes saying that our information had been saved. After you make all your product selections, you’re offered the member price with the member discounts, with the option to choose the non-member price.
The site tells you that you can cancel the membership at any time for no fee, but you’ll begin to be charged the regular price for recurring fees for registered agent services if you don’t cancel within the seven-day trial period.
Overall, the site is easy to use if you’re ready to go and just want to complete the process. Otherwise, information can be difficult to find. The site aggressively tries to sell you the membership option, but that’s to be expected.
We tested all three forms of Rocket Lawyer customer support.
While Rocket Lawyer may not offer real-time chat support, they do have a comprehensive help center designed to address frequently asked questions.
This resource center is built to provide useful and clear responses to common queries, assisting users in finding the information they need without the necessity for live interaction.
The absence of a live chat function on Rocket Lawyer’s platform could be seen as a disadvantage when compared to competitors that provide real-time online assistance.
We called Rocket Lawyer with the following question:
“If I form my LLC with you as a non-member, will I have unlimited online access to my LLC documents?”
The rep answered immediately and was very polite. The answer was that yes, we would always have access to our documents online.
Phone Support Rating:
Response time:
Immediate
We asked the same question by email:
After three hours, we had not received a response. But we had received a sales email since we had entered all our information, so we emailed back with the question. The answer was that yes, we would always have access to our business documents on the site.
Email Support Rating:
Response time:
Reasonable
The best way to learn about Rocket Lawyer is to see what real customers thought of their experience. We visited Google reviews, the Better Business Bureau, and TrustPilot.
Rocket Lawyer has an A+ rating from the BBB with 4.65/5 stars in customer reviews. They have been an accredited BBB business since 2006. They have received 170 complaints in three years, all of which have a closed status.
Many positive reviews at BBB revolve around exceptional customer service when cancelling the seven-day free trial. People apparently use the service, get what they want, and seem to have no trouble cancelling their membership.
The following aspects are emphasized as positive in BBB customer reviews:
The following aspects are emphasized as negative in BBB customer reviews:
The Trustpilot score for Rocket Lawyer is 4.6/5 stars from more than 6,200 reviews. 82% of customers rated the company as excellent.
The following aspects are emphasized as positive in Trustpilot customer reviews:
The following aspects are emphasized as negative in Trustpilot customer reviews:
Use our dropdown calculator to check how much LLC formation will cost using Rocket Lawyer. Simply choose your a la carte services and the state where you want to form an LLC to calculate the exact cost based on your needs and preferences.
Rocket Lawyer is different from competitors in that they don’t offer packages of business formation services. They do have a subscription service. However, that’s a good value considering the services provided.
| Rocket Lawyer | LegalZoom | ZenBusiness | Swyft Filings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plans and Pricing | No plans, $99 for business formation or free with subscription | 3 plans, $0 – $299 | 3 plans, $0 – $349 | 3 plans, $0 – $299 |
| Registered Agent Service | Not included, $149.99 annually or $111.99 with subscription | Not included, $249 annually | Not included, $199 annually | Not included, $199 annually |
| Processing Time | Standard state times, expedited filing | Around seven to 10 days | Standard, Rush, or Expedited | Same day, Standard, and Express |
| Money-Back Guarantee | 30 days | 60 days | 60 days | 100% satisfaction guarantee; refunds minus state fees |
| Our Rating | 4 | 4.2 | 4.7 | 4.4 |
| Our Review | Our Review | Full Review | Full Review | |
| Website | Learn More | Learn More | Learn More | Learn More |
LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer are both online platforms providing legal services, but they cater to different needs and have varying cost structures.
LegalZoom focuses on offering a range of legal services, including business formation, wills and trusts, and intellectual property services, typically priced per service or per document.
Rocket Lawyer, however, provides a more comprehensive suite of legal services that include business formation, legal document creation, and legal consultations, primarily through a subscription model, though they also offer per-service charges.
ZenBusiness and Rocket Lawyer are both platforms that provide online legal services, but they differ in their primary focus and pricing structure.
ZenBusiness specializes in providing affordable, simplified services for starting and managing an LLC, with annual pricing plans and a strong focus on small businesses.
Rocket Lawyer, on the other hand, offers a wider array of legal services, such as estate planning, legal document creation, and legal consultations, with a subscription-based model or on a per-service basis.
Swyft Filings and Rocket Lawyer are both online legal service providers, but they differ in their offerings and pricing models.
Swyft Filings specializes in business formation services, particularly LLCs, corporations, and non-profits, and offers personalized, one-time fee services with additional paid features.
On the other hand, Rocket Lawyer provides a broader range of legal services, including business formation, legal document creation, and legal advice, operating under a subscription-based model or charging for individual services as required.
Rocket Lawyer was founded in 2008 by an attorney, Charley Moore, who wanted to create an easy-to-use platform where legal documents could be created and shared by anyone. They have 250 employees and are a private company.
The Rocket Lawyer founder and CEO says, “We believe everyone deserves affordable and simple access to legal services.”
As an entrepreneurial advisory site, we take our responsibilities seriously. We understand that countless entrepreneurs, and potential entrepreneurs, rely on our judgments and insights, particularly when it comes to creating their business.
As a result, our writers do their utmost to gain a comprehensive understanding of the services offered and the actual customer experience. In this case, we:
Thanks to this full immersion in the actual customer experience, our reviewer and team are able to provide the most complete and insightful review of Rocket Lawyer’s LLC formation services.
A service like Rocket Lawyer can make the business formation process easy for you and ensure that it’s done correctly. They provide customer support and additional services to support your business.
The Rocket Lawyer business formation service costs $99. If you sign up for a $39.99 membership, which comes with a seven-day free trial, the business formation is free except for the state fee.
You can cancel your Rocket Lawyer membership by calling (877) 881-0947 during normal business hours.
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