LegalZoom Review

Thursday, July 10th

2025 Business Startup Service Reviews

LegalZoom

• $0 to $299 plus state fees for business formation services
• Offers services for LLC, corporation, nonprofit, and DBA setup, plus trademarking and dissolution services
• Provides unlimited 30-minute consultations with attorneys for $15.99 per month
• Provides customer support through phone and chat on weekdays and weekends
• Has served over 6 million people since 1999
• Maintains a 4.4-star average rating on Trustpilot and an "A+” from the Better Business Bureau

LegalZoom, founded in 2001, is a tech company aiming to provide easy access to legal help for business owners like you. It started with 10 online services, and in 2010, it added a network of independent lawyers for personalized legal advice. In 2020, it broadened its services to include tax advice and accounting through LZ Tax. The company has offices in Los Angeles, Austin, and the Bay Area, and credits its success to its diverse workforce. LegalZoom has helped customers create over 3.5 million estate planning documents, assisted entrepreneurs in establishing over 4 million businesses, and provided affordable legal help for over 20 years.

Unlimited 30-minute consultations with attorneys for $15.99

You can get legal advice from an attorney with LegalZoom's services. With this, you'll get unlimited 30-minute calls about topics related to starting a small business like setting up your company, reviewing contracts, hiring staff, and staying compliant. This service costs much less than spending half an hour with a typical lawyer. It will depend on your state, but in Wisconsin as an example, we found the monthly fee to be just $15.99 for this service (make sure to check the fine print for any added fees that pertain to residents of particular states).

25% discount on additional legal services

As a member of LegalZoom's Legal Plan, you get access to various benefits including phone consultations with a participating law firm, document reviews, a yearly legal check-up, and discounted legal services not covered in the plan. However, discussions about tax-related matters or your business affairs (unless you're part of LegalZoom's Business Advantage Pro membership) are excluded. If you need legal services outside the plan's scope, the firm will offer you a 25% discount on their standard rates. Remember that LegalZoom itself doesn't provide legal services; the attorneys you'll be working with are independent contractors who will serve you directly, not via LegalZoom. LegalZoom won't choose an attorney for you and makes no guarantees regarding the quality of the attorney's advice.

Full suite of business startup services

LegalZoom has a suite of services to help you launch your business. They offer an affordable Limited Liability Company (LLC) formation service which is a straightforward way to shield your personal assets, starting at $0 plus state filing fees. If your aspirations include distributing shares, going public, or expanding internationally, they can help you set up a corporation, with prices starting at $149, plus state filing fees. If you aim to establish an organization for charitable purposes and to qualify for tax deductions, they provide a nonprofit setup service starting at $99 plus state filing fees. If you want to operate under a different business name without having to create a new company, they provide a "Doing Business As" service, also starting at $99 plus state filing fees. Other popular products from LegalZoom for business owners include trademark registration, annual reports, and dissolution.

Take a quiz to decide what kind of business to start

If you don't know yet what type of business is right for you, LegalZoom has a 10-question quiz to help you find out. Helpful definitions are provided along the way, and when you get your results, they'll show you articles relevant to your recommended business type, like "Why a DBA is important” and "What's the difference between an LLC vs. sole proprietorship?” (Strangely, though, some of these article links redirected us to other pages on the site, and when we clicked the "back” button, we were shown a different result to our assessment quiz.)

Premium packages available for business startup

You have a few different plan options available for each of LegalZoom's business startup packages, depending on how much you want to do yourself. Every business is unique, and costs can add up quickly, so do your research to decide what you really need help with. There may be steps you can complete easily on your own. Here's a quick overview of a few of LegalZoom's upgraded business formation tiers:

• LLC packages
• Basic package: This option costs $0 plus state filing fees and is geared towards entrepreneurs who need just the essentials to get their business off the ground. It includes Articles of Organization, a name check service, a digital welcome packet, and a customizable website powered by Wix.
• Pro package: Priced at $249 plus state filing fees, the Pro package builds on the Basic by adding an operating agreement, an Employer Identification Number (EIN), access to 150+ customizable legal documents, and initial phone consultations with experts on taxes and business insurance.
• Premium package: For $299 plus state filing fees, the Premium package offers all the features of the Pro package plus personalized help from an experienced business attorney and unlimited 30-minute consultations on new legal topics for the first 30 days.
• Nonprofit packages
• Economy package: Available for $99 plus state filing fees, this package includes preliminary name clearance, filing of Articles of Incorporation, and a Peace of Mind Review to check for any missing information or discrepancies.
• Standard package: At $239 plus state filing fees, this package includes everything in the Economy package plus a deluxe founder's kit with formation documents, a personalized binder, and corporate minutes forms.
• Express Gold package: Costing $359 plus state filing fees, this is the fastest service. It includes everything from the Standard package plus expedited filing and delivery, an expedited federal tax ID (EIN), and a 14-day trial of a legal plan.
• BA packages
• Standard package: This package costs $99 plus filing fees and includes a preliminary business name search to find out if the name you want is available, help filing your DBA application, publication of your DBA name, proof of publication filing, and a customizable WIX website.
• Premium package: Priced at $119 plus filing fees, the Premium includes everything in the Standard package plus unlimited 30-minute attorney consultations on new legal matters for the first 30 days.

Registered agent services are expensive through LegalZoom

You may have noticed none of these packages include registered agent services, which are legally required in some states. You can choose LegalZoom as your registered agent, but it's pricey: they charge $249 a year. For reference, some of LegalZoom's competitors in this review charge in the $125 to $175 range, and depending on your state, you may be able to employ a registered agent using other methods for as low as $30 annually.

Turnaround time is usually good...

If time is of the essence and money is no object, it may be faster to let LegalZoom do it all. That brings us to the topic of turnaround time. Plenty of customers say it's "swift”, like one business owner who received a notification that her business was official just 2 hours after LegalZoom filed her application. However, sometimes LegalZoom misses the mark. As is true for all business formation services, the processing time will vary depending on your state, but LegalZoom will give you an estimation.

...but not always

However In one case, they told a client in Florida that it would take 30 days for an LLC name amendment to process. However, it took months before LegalZoom claimed to have submitted the paperwork - and when nothing happened after that, the client got suspicious. She reached out to the state and was told that they had no record of the name change request being submitted by LegalZoom. When the customer asked LegalZoom for Fax ID numbers associated with the submissions, LegalZoom claimed it was impossible to provide them for privacy reasons. Ultimately, the customer requested a refund after 8+ months without completion of the requested service - but LegalZoom refused, citing a 120-day refund policy. So, while LegalZoom has an "A+” from the Better Business Bureau, that doesn't mean they don't drop the ball sometimes.

Could do better with pricing transparency and customer support consistency

LegalZoom provides customer support through phone and chat from Monday to Friday, 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. PT, and on weekends from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT. Generally, customers view the support team as friendly and knowledgeable. However, some customers have expressed difficulty in getting refunds for services they did not use. (One customer noted that it wasn't clear during checkout which services were included in their package and which would cost extra.) A few customers who were initially denied refunds, despite being within the refund period, left negative reviews on Trustpilot. As a result, LegalZoom's executive team stepped in and issued the refunds. It's unfortunate that the customer service team at LegalZoom does not consistently understand and apply the refund eligibility rules.

A good service with some room for improvement

According to LegalZoom's website, they've served over 6 million people since 1999. LegalZoom provides standardized legal services, which lets them serve a massive number of clients pretty efficiently at a fraction of what it might cost to hire a dedicated attorney, who could closely manage every detail of your business formation and make sure all unique needs are met. But just like anything, it's not perfect. Sometimes, this one-size-fits-all approach can overlook the unique aspects or specific needs of an individual case. So, while they have a 4.4 rating average on Trustpilot and an "A+” from the Better Business Bureau, at their scale, there are bound to be a few details that slip through the cracks. It's a trade-off to keep in mind when you're deciding if LegalZoom is right for you.