Rocket Lawyer vs LegalZoom Comparison

Business entity formation is a crucial element of launching a business, and because it’s often complex and tedious many entrepreneurs hire a professional to do the job right. 

Two of the leading online services to consider are Rocket Lawyer and LegalZoom. And to help you determine which is best, and which might be best for you and your business, we have thoroughly reviewed their services by putting ourselves in the shoes of an entrepreneur. Read on to make the choice that will put your business on the highway to success. 

Features and Services Overview

LegalZoom is an industry leader when it comes to LLC formation services. They offer three business plans, with one-time fees ranging from $0 to $299, plus state fees. Their Basic Plan is great value for what’s included and they have great customer service.

Unlike most other LLC formation services, Rocket Lawyer does not offer packages of services, just a la carte service options. They also offer a $39.99 per month subscription service on their site, with which you can get legal services, documents, and advice. The subscription has a seven-day free trial.

Plans Pricing

With a $39.99 per month Rocket Lawyer subscription, the business formation service only charges state filing fees, and you can get a 25% discount on registered agent services. The subscription gives you access to a host of business document templates, including an operating agreement. 

Without a subscription, the business formation service costs $99 plus state fees. You can also purchase other services, including expedited business filing for $100 and an EIN for $59.

The LegalZoom “base” Basic Plan costs state fees only and provides a business name availability search through the state database, your business’s formation, and full customer support. It also offers a few extras, including a digital welcome packet and a customizable business website. You’ll also have access to your formation documents online at any time.

LegalZoom’s Pro  Plan costs $249 and includes all the services in the Basic Plan plus an operating agreement, an EIN, a business license guide, and a tax and insurance consultation.

The LegalZoom Premium Plan, at $299 offers all of the services listed above plus expedited filing.

Rocket Lawyer’s Plan vs LegalZoom’s Plans

Here, we summarize the offerings from both Rocket Lawyer and LegalZoom side by side.

	Rocket Lawyer	Legal Zoom
Price	$39.99 monthly subscription or $99 one time fee for formation services, plus state fees.	Basic Plan $0 Pro Plan $249 Premium Plan $299 (all + state fees)
Turnaround time	Standard: 5-10 business days Expedited: 2 business days *state processing times vary	20 days for Basic 10 days for Pro 2-5 days for Premium *state processing times vary
Registered agent	$149.99 annually, or $111.99 annually with membership	$299 annually
Operating agreement	Template included in membership	Included in Pro and Premium
Worry Free compliance	Not included	$280 annually
EIN	$59	Included in Pro and Premium
Website	Not included	Included
Legal Advice	Included in membership	Legal Protection Plan - $49 per month
Customer Support	Included	Included
Business license guide	Not included	Included

Customer Service

We tested the customer service experience of both services from every angle. Here’s what we found. 

Rocket Lawyer

In order to find the pricing and products related to business formation on the Rocket Lawyer website, 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. 

How Is the formation process?

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. 

Customer Support

We tested all three forms of Rocket Lawyer customer support. 

Chat support

Rocket Lawyer does not have a live chat support feature.

Phone support

Email support

LegalZoom

When you first go to the LegalZoom site, you’ll be able to explore products and pricing from the menu at the top, or you can just click “start my business” and select the business entity type you want to form.

How Is the formation process?

When you start the formation process by selecting LLC as your entity type, you’re asked a series of questions about your business. Then the site automatically offers you products, such as registered agent services and the operating agreement. You can accept or decline any of the services.

One of the products offered is a total compliance service, which does not appear in their products menu. This service helps you meet all your LLC’s requirements, such as annual report filings. 

You’re also offered tax services, including “tax prep essentials” for $99 a month and a “full-service tax and accounting plan” for $159 per month. Then you’re offered a legal protection plan, which includes legal guidance and documents, for $49 per month.

Then you’re finally presented with their packages, so you can choose the Basic, Pro, or Premium. Once you make your selection, you get offers for special deals from Bank of America and Earth Class Mail. 

Lastly, you get to your total cost. Note that anything that has an annual fee, such as registered agent services, is not included in this initial total, so you’ll need to be prepared to incur those charges later. 

You can pay your initial total all at once, or you can choose to make three monthly payments. Note that if you do choose to make payments, you’ll pay a bit more due to the $2 monthly installment fee. 

Customer Support

We tested all three forms of LegalZoom’s customer support, as detailed below. 

Chat support

Phone support

Email support

Customer Reviews

We wanted to know how real customers feel about both services, so we thoroughly explored customer reviews at the Better Business Bureau and Trust Pilot. Below we’ve summarized our findings. 

Rocket Lawyer

Better Business Bureau

Rocket Lawyer has an A+ rating from the BBB with 4.58/5 stars in customer reviews. They have been an accredited BBB business since 2006. They have received 128 complaints in three years, all of which have a closed status.

Many positive reviews at BBB revolve around exceptional customer service when canceling the seven-day free trial. People apparently use the service, get what they want, and seem to have no trouble canceling their membership. 

Some customers did say that they use Rocket Lawyer for all their legal needs and that they’re very satisfied with their services. 

The majority of the negative reviews were from people who were not aware that they were being charged after the seven-day trial period. This seems to be more of an issue with the customers not understanding how it works – however, we found that the site makes it quite clear. Also, Rocket Lawyer responded to all these reviews and offered refunds.

You can read reviews on the BBB website. 

Trustpilot 

Rocket Lawyer has a high trust score rating on Trustpilot.

The Trustpilot score for Rocket Lawyer is 4.7/5 stars.

Rocket Lawyer reviews at Trustpilot break down as follows:

• Excellent 82%
• Great 11%
• Average 2%
• Poor ˃1%
• Bad 4%

Some reviews, like this one, were positive about the documents Rocket Lawyer provides.

“Rocket Lawyer provides great templates for use with my business. It is easy to use and a step-by-step process. They provide documents written in a legal way I can only dream of writing.”

Some of the less favorable reviews, again, revolve around charges after the free trial, which seems to be more of a misunderstanding. Some reviews, however, were about poor communication and not being able to get email responses from customer service. A few were about services, like a DBA filing, not being done in the time frame promised.

You can read reviews on the TrustPilot website. 

LegalZoom

Better Business Bureau

LegalZoom has no rating from the BBB, but they are an accredited business, with 4.55/5 stars in customer reviews. They have been an accredited BBB business since 2011. They have received 903 complaints in three years, all of which have a closed status.

Many of the positive reviews for LegalZoom revolved around their exceptional customer service, such as this one: “I had an issue and was able to call the company and have it resolved within a matter of minutes.”

“LegalZoom has been our trusted agent for several years now,” said another review. “The care and coordination we’ve received allows us to run a challenging business successfully and ensure compliance remains consistent each quarter.”

Some of the negative reviews were about not receiving services as expected:

“I ordered an expedited filing mid-May. It sat, and sat, and sat while nothing was filed with the state. I had to call every day to try to move the needle on this filing and this ‘expedited filing’ is still not completed. I still do not have an EIN number and it is almost July.”

Others complained about not being able to get through to customer service by phone. Many of the negative reviews were about difficulties with cancellation.

You can read reviews on the BBB website. 

Trustpilot 

The Trustpilot score for LegalZoom is 4.5/5 stars.

The LegalZoom reviews from Trustpilot have the following range:

• Excellent 77%
• Great 3%
• Average 2%
• Poor 1%
• Bad 17%

Many positive reviews were again about the great customer service and the ease of use. 

“Easy and affordable. Things got a bit chaotic on my end (auto-correct made changes I didn’t authorize & then there were licensing questions on my part) but all was handled with ease, patience and in a timely manner. I highly recommend, as this is the second time I’ve used LegalZoom and both times went very smoothly for usually stressful events (divorce, new business owner).”

“LegalZoom has helped me with several legal processes and they have always been highly professional and helpful.”

Some negative reviews were about not getting the services paid for and not being able to get a refund. One person said LegalZoom failed to form her business and she ended up going to the state herself to make the filing. 

Another complained: “I paid for the most expensive package (Express Gold) for my LLC. I am beyond disappointed with LegalZoom. Not only did they register the wrong name for my LLC – causing me more time and money – for months they have refused to send me the physical items that were included in that package. I literally have sent over 20 emails and have been on hold and called several times explaining my situation. They just send me a link to my digital documents. That is not what I’m missing and requesting. I have sent pictures and explained ad nauseam with no avail.”

You can read reviews on the TrustPilot website. 

Pros and Cons

Rocket Lawyer

LegalZoom

Verdict

After a thorough assessment, we recommend LegalZoom, which offers better value and broader service offerings. You’ll pay a bit more with some plans than you would with Rocket Lawyer, but you’ll receive higher quality service and equally fast turnaround times. A key advantage of LegalZoom is in its name — if you expect your business to need legal guidance, it’s the right way to go. 

Our approach

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:

• Examined every single page of both the Rocket Lawyer and LegalZoom websites
• Reviewed all of their offerings, from a la carte products to packages
• Put ourselves in the customer’s shoes, creating accounts
• Communicated with customer service via chat, email and phone
• Gained a full understanding of the customer experience and service value

Thanks to this full immersion in the actual customer experience, our reviewer and team are able to provide the most complete and insightful comparison of Rocket Lawyer and LegalZoom LLC formation services.