LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer provide similar online legal services. Where they differ is pricing, ease of use, intellectual property services, and customer service. LegalZoom has more affordable ongoing single services like access to their legal document library. Rocket Lawyer provides comprehensive services in an affordable monthly membership, which includes legal advice and unlimited legal documents.
When to Use LegalZoom
LegalZoom provides a superior customer experience with its easy-to-use website and high-quality educational materials. It also provides more affordable ongoing single products like attorney advice and access to legal documents. If you’re creating a business on the side, you will enjoy LegalZoom’s expanded customer service hours.
When to Use Rocket Lawyer
Rocket Lawyer is best for business owners who need long term-legal assistance. Its $39.99 per month subscription service provides features that LegalZoom does not like free business registration and a discounted Registered Agent (RA), which is a document recipient on behalf of a limited liability company (LLC). Additionally, Rocket Lawyer provides more affordable single products like a one-time legal advice consultation and a single legal document download.
LegalZoom vs Rocket Lawyer at a Glance
Features | LegalZoom | Rocket Lawyer |
|---|---|---|
Business Formation Services | $69 to $349 plus state fee | $99 to $159 plus state fee (first registration free with $39.99/month membership) |
Business Legal Forms | $59/document, $39.99/month, $95.50/year | $39.99/document (unlimited docs with $39.99/month membership) |
Ongoing Legal Advice | $31.25/month | Included with $39.99/month membership |
Attorney Consultations | Single consultations not available | $59.99/consultation or $49.99/question (free with membership) |
Intellectual Property Services | ✔ | ✕ |
Quality of Forms | Good | Good |
Customer Support | Monday-Friday: 5 a.m.-7 p.m. Pacific time Saturday: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Pacific time | 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday Pacific time |
Customer Reviews | Poor | Good |
Ease of Use | Good | Fair |
More Information |
How We Evaluated LegalZoom & Rocket Lawyer
When evaluating LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer, we researched their websites, logged into their software, and looked at online customer reviews. Overall, both companies provide similar legal services at different price points. For example, Rocket Lawyer provides a monthly membership that includes legal forms and legal advice. LegalZoom provides memberships as well, but not as comprehensive.
The criteria we used to evaluate LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer include:
- Pricing: We reviewed the one-time and subscription pricing for products such as legal forms, business formation services, intellectual property services, and legal advice.
- Ease of use: We tested the process and user experience of business formation services, legal advice services, and intellectual property registration.
- Business formation products: Each company provides business formation products. We reviewed the quality and features of the services.
- Intellectual property (IP) products: LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer help businesses register copyright, trademark, and patents. We reviewed the IP services available.
- Legal form products: Both companies provide software to create your own legal forms. We reviewed the quality and features of the contracts.
- Legal advice services: You can ask a short legal question or schedule a 30-minute consultation with an attorney.
- Form customization: You can customize more than 100 common business forms on both LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer. We reviewed that process.
- Customer support: Each company provides customer support during the business formation process and during legal form creation.
- Customer reviews: We reviewed customer reviews on third-party websites.
After taking into account the above criteria, we recommend you choose LegalZoom to assist with your legal service needs. Legal Zoom has a more affordable subscription for legal forms, more budget-friendly attorney services, and better overall ease of use. Additionally, LegalZoom provides customer service on Saturdays. Rocket Lawyer is the more affordable choice if you need comprehensive ongoing legal services.
Legal Zoom vs Rocket Lawyer: Pricing & Features
Overall, the features offered by LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer are similar. However, pricing between the companies varies greatly. Costs for single services and packaged services are all different. Additionally, LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer differ on website ease of use, intellectual property services, and online customer reviews.
LegalZoom Pricing & Features
Overall, LegalZoom pricing is slightly more expensive than Rocket Lawyer. If you are only creating ongoing legal forms and won’t need legal advice, you may want to consider LegalZoom’s $95.40 yearly fee for unlimited document downloads. Additionally, if you’re only going to have ongoing legal questions, you may want to consider LegalZoom’s legal advice subscription at $31.25 per month. This price includes unlimited legal document downloads.
LegalZoom Products
Product | Description | Cost |
|---|---|---|
LLC Packages | LLC registration (10-30 day process) | $79-$349 plus state fee |
Operating Agreement, EIN & Licenses | Documents for business, assistance with local permits and licenses | $199 |
Smart Employer package | Legal and HR docs, unlimited 30-minute attorney consultations, attorney document review | $39.99/month |
Total Compliance Package | Takes care of yearly filings and corporate minutes submission | $280/year |
Business Advisory Plan | Legal advice on business formation, contracts, intellectual property | $375/year or $216/month |
Legal Advantage Plus | Legal advice on HR, tax advice, legal documents | $119.99/year or $71.94/six months |
LegalZoom Business Legal Forms
LegalZoom provides more than 150 business legal forms that can be customized online and downloaded. The type of legal forms ranges from human resources (HR) and IP documents to those you need when selling your business. Legal documents are typically $59 per document. To have access to unlimited document downloads, you can opt for a $39.95 per month or $95.40 per year subscription service.
If you’re only creating ongoing legal documents and don’t need legal advice services, LegalZoom provides a better option than Rocket Lawyer. Unlimited legal documents at $95.40 per year for is an affordable option, especially if you’re creating new legal documents your first year in business. Rocket Lawyer’s only ongoing legal document option is its $39.99 per month membership.
It’s easy to get started customizing a form with LegalZoom because you don’t have to enter personal information to preview the form. You can see if it’s right for you quickly and easily. As you customize the document to your needs, the website will show a real-time updated preview.
LegalZoom does not display prices for forms in advance of starting the form customization process. And before you can download the form, you must sign up for a legal form service. LegalZoom indicates the form is no-cost. However, that is only for seven days. After the trial period, you are charged a recurring fee, which is a substantially better deal when you pay in full for the year. If you don’t sign up for the form membership, you pay a flat fee.
Before downloading your customized legal document, you either purchase it outright or pay a monthly fee for unlimited document downloads from LegalZoom’s library
LegalZoom Business Formation Services
Business formation services assist you in registering your business in your state. Registering as an LLC is one of the most popular business formation services. When LegalZoom’s business formation services are compared to Rocket Lawyer’s, LegalZoom provides more value with its additional packages and services.
The Smart Employer packages give you HR-related tools like legal forms, access to an attorney for HR questions, and legal document review by an attorney. LegalZoom’s Total Compliance provides a service that reregisters your business with the state every year and manages yearly business entity tasks like submitting corporate minutes.
LegalZoom provides tiered business formation services by how fast you need your business registered.
LegalZoom Legal Advice Services
If you need to discuss a legal matter with an attorney, LegalZoom provides an affordable option. To receive legal advice from one of their vetted business attorneys, you need to sign up for a monthly subscription. Unlike Rocket Lawyer, Legal Zoom doesn’t provide a service for one-time legal questions or 30-minute consultations.
Most business owners sign up for their Business Advisory Plan at $375 per year. With this plan, you can discuss business formation, contracts, intellectual property, and receive tax advice. As a member of the Business Advisory Plan, you receive unlimited 30-minute consultations with an attorney of your choosing. The caveat of the unlimited consultations is that you have to bring a new legal question to every consultation. If you bring a similar question to the consultation, you have to pay an additional fee for the attorney’s time.
Additionally, with the Business Advisory Plan, you receive unlimited access to LegalZoom’s library of business forms. You can have an attorney review any documents to ensure they are enforceable. For example, if you created a nondisclosure agreement (NDA), a LegalZoom attorney can review your document to ensure it meets your needs. Another service you can sign up for under the Business Advisory Plan is tax advice for your particular business structure like an LLC vs an S corporation vs a partnership.
LegalZoom Intellectual Property Services
IP services include copyright registration, trademark registration, and patent registrations. If you’re unsure what type of IP assistance you need, LegalZoom has a fantastic landing page on their IP webpage that helps you decide what services you need. For example, a slogan may need a trademark, or a book may need copyright.
LegalZoom provides a variety of patent services, including a provisional patent application, utility patent assistance, and design patent assistance. Regarding a trademark for your business, their Comprehensive Search ensures that you can register a trademark before you spend the funds to apply. The Comprehensive Search only takes about 15 minutes to fill out the form. LegalZoom will get back to you if the trademark is available.
LegalZoom offers several affordable intellectual property solutions for your business
Prices vary for LegalZoom’s IP services. A federal trademark search costs $199. However, an in-depth international search costs $499 and includes Canada, Europe, and the World Intellectual Property Organization. If your trademark isn’t already claimed, you can register it for $199 plus federal filing fees.
Rocket Lawyer Pricing & Features
Rocket Lawyer’s pricing is very competitive within the online legal services industry. Compared to LegalZoom, its services are slightly less expensive. Overall, Rocket Lawyer provides legal services similar to that of LegalZoom, including online legal forms, business formation services, and attorney advice. What separates Rocket Lawyer from LegalZoom is its membership plan.
With the $39.99 per month Rocket Lawyer membership, you receive:
- Access to more than 120 legal customizable documents
- Document defense on legal documents (enforcement-related advice)
- “Ask a Lawyer” legal questions
- 30-minute consultations on new legal matters
- Up to a 40% discount when you hire a Rocket Lawyer attorney
- Free first-time business filing
- 25% off an RA service
Rocket Lawyer does not require you to sign a contract for their membership. You can cancel during a seven-day free trial or on any month you choose.
Rocket Lawyer Products
Product | Description | Cost |
|---|---|---|
LLC Formation | 10-30 day registration | $99-$159 plus state fee (free-$60 with membership) |
Registered Agent (RA) | Rocket Lawyer services as RA | $149.99/year ($111.99/year with membership) |
EIN Registration | Federal tax ID number | $59.99 |
Personalized Corporate Seal & Kit | Stock certificates, custom embossed binder, personalized corporate seal | $99.99 |
Document Defense | Attorney advice if need to enforce a document | $9.99/document (free with membership) |
Ask a Lawyer Your Legal Question | Consult by phone or email | $49.99/question (free with membership) |
30-minute Consultation on a New Legal Matter | Consult by phone | $59.99/consultation (free with membership) |
Rocket Lawyer Business Forms
If you’re purchasing one legal document, Rocket Lawyer is more affordable than LegalZoom with documents starting at $39.99 per document. However, if you’re creating several documents during the course of a year and don’t want legal advice, LegalZoom has the more affordable long-term option at $95.40 per year.
Overall, the process of choosing and creating legal documents is similar to LegalZoom. Rocket Lawyer has a database of legal documents and contracts like a partnership agreement, general business contract, and an NDA. If you’re customizing a legal document and have a question, there is a pop-up window to message a lawyer your specific question. Rocket Lawyer’s website states that you will receive a response within one business day.
When you go through the process of creating a form, Rocket Lawyer indicates the form is free. However, it’s not free. The seven-day trial is free, and after the trial, you’ll be charged $39.99 per month.
Rocket Lawyer offers two trial options before you can download your customized legal document
Rocket Lawyer Business Formation Services
If you sign up for Rocket Lawyer’s monthly membership, your first business formation is free, which saves you the $99 fee. If you’re only registering one business, the $99 fee is more expensive than LegalZoom’s $69 fee. However, Rocket Lawyer’s rush fee, which cuts your business registration time in half, is substantially less at $60 compared to LegalZoom’s $329 fee.
Overall, the process to form and register a business is easy to use. Rocket Lawyer has fewer steps than LegalZoom because it offers fewer services throughout the process. Rocket Lawyer could do better at educating users on business formation topics in a visually pleasing manner. For example, the RA section doesn’t provide a lot of context and information on this topic. To learn more, you have to get on the phone with an attorney, customer support agent, or leave the webpage to do additional research.
One unique feature Rocket Lawyer provides is a personalized corporate kit and seal for $99. This is a professional collection of stock certificates, company binder with your name in gold on the spine, a personalized corporate seal, and sample business forms. You could benefit from this kit if you want to have a professional look in your office, and you would like to emboss your corporate seal on documents.
Rocket Lawyer Legal Advice Services
Rocket Lawyer provides more flexibility than LegalZoom with its legal advice services. LegalZoom only provides legal advice on a subscription basis. Rocket Lawyer provides legal advice based on a monthly subscription ($39.99/month), a single question ($49.99), or a 30-minute consultation of new legal matters ($59.99).
Another unique feature that Rocket Lawyer provides as a legal advice service is Document Defense, which is advice on enforcing a contract. The service is free if you’re a Rocket Lawyer member. However, if you’re not a member, it costs $10 per document. If there is ever a dispute on a legal document, you get a consultation with one of Rocket Lawyer’s attorneys. This is a great service if you anticipate an issue with a contract and want to know your legal if a problem were to arise.
Rocket Lawyer Intellectual Property Services
Compared to LegalZoom, the IP services provided by Rocket Lawyer are limited. Rocket Lawyer doesn’t provide IP services, like conducting a trademark search or applying for a patent. What Rocket Lawyer does provide is IP-related forms, like an NDA, photo release, or license agreement.
LegalZoom vs Rocket Lawyer: Ease of Use
When comparing Rocket Lawyer vs LegalZoom, we found LegalZoom easier to use. There were no issues with the business formation process or legal form customization. However, LegalZoom’s software and technology was a better overall experience. Its step-by-step business formation process was easy to understand, provided more education, and is more visually pleasing than Rocket Lawyer.
LegalZoom Ease of Use
When compared to Rocket Lawyer, LegalZoom shines in its ease of use. LegalZoom has created online software that makes it easy and simple for you to form a business and create online documents. Regarding customizing a legal form, the design feature that allows you to see the form updated in real-time on the right-hand side of the screen makes the experience more enjoyable. Rocket Lawyer forces you to scroll down to view the document.
LegalZoom also has an extensive library of resources to assist you with questions and legal terms. Its Knowledge Center allows you to type in questions or terms that you may not understand and receive recommended articles. This is useful when you’re trying to learn new terms like RA or utility patent.
Regarding the business formation process, LegalZoom walks you step-by-step through each decision you need to make. As you move along in the process, your progress is shown throughout. It’s also helpful to have LegalZoom describe the next step, which prepares you for the next decision you need to make. LegalZoom doesn’t require information upfront, like an email address, to start the business registration process.
LegalZoom walks customers through 16 steps when forming their business
Rocket Lawyer Ease of Use
Through our testing, we found that Rocket Lawyer is easy to use. When creating a document and filling in the information, the document updates in real-time. If you’re unsure about the details of the legal document you’re creating, Rocket Lawyer provides information within a blog-like description in your first step. If you’re confused at any point during document creation or business formation, you’ll have the opportunity to contact a Rocket Lawyer throughout the process.
The business formation process was quicker than with LegalZoom, even though it provided the same result. The back-end dashboard of Rocket Lawyer, which is on the admin side once you log in, was well organized with a dashboard. There, you have options to choose your desired service like document formation, business formation, and asking an attorney a question.
LegalZoom vs Rocket Lawyer: Customer Service
When comparing Rocket Lawyer vs LegalZoom, we noticed LegalZoom’s customer service team is available for more hours during the day. It’s also open on Saturday, whereas Rocket Lawyer’s customer service is not. Additionally, LegalZoom’s frequently asked questions (FAQs) section and help center were easier to use and more organized than Rocket Lawyer.
LegalZoom Customer Service
Throughout all processes on LegalZoom, there are visible phone numbers and an online chat option available. During the business formation process, every screen has a link at the bottom for you to “share your screen” with a LegalZoom customer support representative. Rocket Lawyer doesn’t provide this level of assistance. Its customer care representatives are available Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific time and on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pacific time. All agents are based in the United States.
Rocket Lawyer Customer Service
Rocket Lawyer provides several opportunities to get in contact with its customer service team. Under the help icon on the top right-hand side of the website, you can read through its FAQs, send an email, chat online, or call them directly.
Rocket Lawyer’s customer support availability is more limited than LegalZoom’s, and it’s not open on Saturdays. Customer support is available Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific time. Throughout the document creation and business formation processes, Rocket Lawyer makes it easy for you to call one of their representatives or send a legal question to one of its attorneys.
LegalZoom vs Rocket Lawyer: Customer Reviews
The online customer reviews are more positive for Rocket Lawyer than LegalZoom. Several of the complaints with LegalZoom were customer service- and product-related, like delayed business formation. Complaints about Rocket Lawyer were about customer service and technology freezing up. Additionally, when compared to LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer appears to be more responsive to online reviews, both positive and negative ones.
LegalZoom Customer Reviews
LegalZoom customer reviews are poor. Many of the reviews center around poor customer service, the amount of time it took for services to be rendered, billing practices, and paying for a service customers didn’t sign up for. Positive reviews centered around customers enjoying that LegalZoom took care of the entire business formation process, not having to sign paperwork, and the convenience of using their legal advice compared to that of a local attorney.
Rocket Lawyer Customer Reviews
Compared to LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer’s customer reviews are substantially higher and more positive. Customers enjoy the detailed information that the company gives to assist with business formation and how timely its service was. In other Rocket Lawyer reviews, customers had positive things to say about the support representatives. There were some complaints about technology that froze and difficulties that occurred during the business formation process when working with customer support.
Bottom Line
How to choose between LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer depends on your business needs. LegalZoom is the more affordable option if you need an ongoing single service like access to a library of legal documents. Rocket Lawyer is better if you need comprehensive legal service with access to an attorney, business formation, and legal forms. Rocket Lawyer also provides affordable single products like one legal document download.
LegalZoom is our overall pick for online legal services. Affordable pricing and the ability to create legal documents are important features to consider when forming your business, but so is the service’s ease of use, learning materials, and customer support. LegalZoom has a very easy-to-use website and comprehensive customer support options. You can use LegalZoom’s free trial to create your first legal document today.
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