ZenBusiness reviews its own products and services and compares them to others in the industry.
Read the Rocket Lawyer vs. LegalZoom LLC review below or get started with ZenBusiness today
Starts at $0 + state fees and only takes 5-10 minutes
Rocket Lawyer and LegalZoom are both reputable companies offering LLC formation services. They’re both experienced and capable of forming a compliant LLC. Each has some advantages over the other.
LegalZoom has a free (+ state fee) LLC formation service package, while Rocket Lawyer charges $99.99. However, Rocket Lawyer is the most experienced company in this industry, even more so than LegalZoom. In general, Rocket Lawyer is a decent LegalZoom alternative.
1) Affordable: LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer both fill the gap between the do-it-yourself option and hiring a lawyer. You won’t be on your own, and you’ll still save hundreds of dollars over hiring a business attorney.
2) Customer Support: Speaking of not going it alone, one of the biggest benefits of hiring an LLC formation service is that they have customer service reps who are available to help solve your problems. If you have questions or concerns, they’re just a phone call or email away.
3) Experience: Both Rocket Lawyer and LegalZoom have customers that number in the millions. They both have a ton of experience and impressive customer volume.
4) Additional Services: After your formation is complete, these companies still have a lot to offer entrepreneurs. From registered agent service to tax ID numbers, from licensing to ongoing compliance, Rocket Lawyer and LegalZoom can provide many services your company might need.
5) Guaranteed Services: LegalZoom has a 100% satisfaction guarantee that you can leverage at any time within 60 days of your purchase, while Rocket Lawyer has a similar guarantee that covers you for 30 days. Some of their competitors offer you no such assurances.
6) Educational: If you require additional assistance or just want to learn more about the business world, both of their websites include information on all sorts of issues that might affect your company down the road.
Rocket Lawyer: Rocket Lawyer only offers one LLC formation service package. It costs $99 (+ state fee) and includes no features beyond the basics. However, it offers this package for free for new members to its $39.99/month legal services subscription.
LegalZoom: While LegalZoom does offer a $0 (+ state fee) package for LLCs, the number of upsells can get overwhelming — and expensive. They charge $249 per year for registered agent service.
Rocket Lawyer: Rocket Lawyer has been in business since 2008, and they’ve served 25+ million customers since then, although it’s unclear how many of those are business clients as opposed to individual customers.
LegalZoom: LegalZoom has served more than 2 million business customers since it started offering business services online in 2001.
Rocket Lawyer: Rocket Lawyer offers phone, chat, and email support, with operating hours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. We’re pleased with the responsiveness and helpfulness of their phone and email support. The chat feature is a bit convoluted in its presentation (it starts as more of a searchable FAQ before connecting you with a representative) but it does work once you figure it out.
LegalZoom: LegalZoom offers phone and email support. We reached out twice via the email form on their site, but it took them a full week to respond. The response we received was generic, thanking us for reaching out but not answering our question.
When we contacted them via phone, our question was answered thoroughly. The representative went into detail about our different options and then sent us an email with their direct extension so that we could reach out directly with questions. Overall, while their customer service via phone is good, their online support could be improved.
Rocket Lawyer: If you’d like to get an estimate for turnaround times for your state of formation, click through the order form to the page where you decide whether or not to expedite your order. On this page, you can access estimates of the number of days required for both expedited and standard processing times. It would be nice to have these turnaround times listed in a more convenient spot, as opposed to several pages into the order form.
LegalZoom: Their turnarounds are based on which package you order rather than which state you’re forming in. With their most expensive package, you could receive your finalized business formation documents in 7-10 business days, but their cheaper packages take as long as 30 business days (six weeks).
Rocket Lawyer: This company receives solid customer feedback. We found nearly 10,000 reviews on reputable third-party review sites, and the majority of them were positive.
LegalZoom: We found 6,000+ reviews for LegalZoom, and while they do have some negative reviews mixed in, a majority of this feedback is positive. Their satisfied customers often talk about how convenient and easy it is to use LegalZoom’s services.
Rocket Lawyer: Ordering business formation with Rocket Lawyer can be easier or harder than other services, based on your perspective. They don’t have tiered packages as many of their competitors do. Instead, you walk through a handful of add-ons before checking out. Still, it only took us about 10 minutes to walk through the form, make our selections, and reach the checkout screen.
LegalZoom: First, you’ll pick your business entity type (LLC, corporation, nonprofit) and which of LegalZoom’s three packages you’d like to purchase. From there, you fill out your business information and payment details over a series of screens that also include upsells for registered agent service, an operating agreement, an EIN, a license research package, ongoing compliance assistance, a tax consultation, ongoing legal guidance, standard or complex tax returns, a legal protection plan, two options for business bank accounts, expedited processing, and an LLC kit and seal.
These companies offer many of the same business services, as they both provide registered agent services, foreign qualifications, LLC operating agreements, and more.
In addition, LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer both offer many personal services, like last will and testament, divorce papers, and power of attorney. They can also set up an attorney consultation. Rocket Lawyer and LegalZoom offer more services than most of their competitors, which is a nice bonus if you’re looking for a one-stop shop.
Rocket Lawyer and LegalZoom are two popular LLC formation services, and they have a bunch of features in common. Of course, there are also quite a few differences that may sway your opinion one way or the other. Along those lines, let’s finish by reviewing some scenarios that might lead you toward choosing Rocket Lawyer, LegalZoom, or us at ZenBusiness.
Looking for a free (+ state fee) LLC formation service package? Interested in their extended customer support hours? LegalZoom could be worth a look.
Are you impressed by Rocket Lawyer’s legal services subscription plan? If so, this company might be a good choice.
If you’d like to form your LLC with ZenBusiness, we’re here to help. We offer $0 (+ state fee) LLC formations, and we have 12,000+ positive customer reviews. Form your LLC quickly and get more tools to start your dream business.
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While they don’t have these services listed anywhere on their website, when we called Rocket Lawyer’s customer support team, we learned that they do offer to handle state-specific compliance requirements like publication. We’ll note that their publication service is pretty costly, though. At $299, this price point doesn’t include newspaper expenses or county fees. For what it’s worth, LegalZoom offers no assistance with publication requirements.
If you need help with NY publication requirements, check out our New York publication service for more information.
LegalZoom, one of the most well-known services online, has formed more than 2 million businesses since 2001. Check out the comparison reviews below if you’d like to see how this giant stacks up to other good LLC websites.
LegalZoom compared to:
In our opinion, Rocket Lawyer doesn’t attempt any upsells other than their frequent reminders that you should sign up for their subscription plan. Ultimately, it’s understandable because their subscription service is a huge part of their business model. With LegalZoom, you’ll need to navigate your way through more than $1,000 worth of upsells as you work your way through their order form.
Rocket Lawyer has a somewhat convoluted refund policy. On one hand, they say that they will provide refunds if they’re requested within 30 days of your initial purchase, but on the other hand, they specify that no refunds will be provided for “incorporation-related services.”
LegalZoom, however, has one of the most reasonable refund policies in the industry. It’s nearly identical to our guarantee at ZenBusiness. If you request a refund within 60 days, they will grant it within just five business days.
Because these two services use different methods of coming up with their turnaround times, the answer to this question varies considerably based on what state you’re forming your business in.
LegalZoom’s turnarounds are based on which level of service you purchase from them: Economy takes 30 business days, Standard takes 15 business days, and Express Gold takes 7-10. Rocket Lawyer’s processing times are based on the actual capabilities of each state to process LLC formations, so in some states, they’re much faster, and in other states, LegalZoom might have an edge.
You can, and many entrepreneurs do form their own LLCs every day. However, we appreciate the peace of mind we receive from using a reputable formation service. In addition, each state has its own rules and regulations for LLC formations, so there can often be more legwork than people might expect.
LegalZoom has a big advantage when it comes to pricing, as it offers a free (+ state fee) LLC formation service. As for Rocket Lawyer, its legal services subscription is a unique and valuable offering for the right entrepreneur.
LegalZoom offers registered agent service for $249 per year, and they also have annual report service available for $99. You can purchase Rocket Lawyer’s registered agent service for $149.99 per year, but they don’t offer annual report service, so their level of assistance with ongoing compliance requirements is less than impressive.
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Disclaimer: The content on this page is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or accounting advice. If you have specific questions about any of these topics, seek the counsel of a licensed professional.
Written by Team ZenBusiness
ZenBusiness has helped people start, run, and grow over 800,000 dream companies. The editorial team at ZenBusiness has over 20 years of collective small business publishing experience and is composed of business formation experts who are dedicated to empowering and educating entrepreneurs about owning a company.
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