The limited liability company is an increasingly popular business structure in America, with thousands of new LLCs being formed every day. The LLC is effectually a hybrid business type, occupying the space between the rigid formalities of a corporation, and the casual nature of a general partnership or sole proprietorship.
While you can create your own LLC, the process for doing so varies from state to state, so there’s no uniform process for forming one. This can make it complicated and time-consuming. Some entrepreneurs choose to hire a business attorney to form their limited liability companies, but this route can be expensive, costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees.
The other option is to hire an LLC website to form your company. There are many companies that offer limited liability company formation services online, and it’s sometimes difficult to determine which one has your best interests in mind. If you’re looking to form your own LLC, but you’re not quite sure where to turn, we hope that our comprehensive reviews can help you decide.
In this review, we’ll take a close look at LegalZoom, one of the top service providers in the industry. Are they the right service to form your new LLC?
About LegalZoom
Since they formed in 1999, LegalZoom has served around 6 million customers, which includes the formation of more than 2 million businesses. While they clearly have a high degree of experience, LegalZoom’s high price points are a bit of a drawback for many entrepreneurs.
LegalZoom’s entire business model revolves around helping people confidently accomplish tricky tasks in the business world.
According to the “Our commitment” portion of their website, “You’re never alone — our Customer Care agents, independent network of attorneys, and tax pro service partner are along for the ride. Call, email, or chat if you ever need support (or a pep talk).”
A fun fact about LegalZoom is that they have relationships with many qualified business attorneys. LegalZoom says they have a thorough vetting process for their affiliated lawyers, and that they focus on building relationships with attorneys “who are friendly and speak in plain English (yes, they do exist!).”
30-Second Summary Of Our Review
When you discuss online incorporation services, the first name that comes to nearly everyone’s mind is LegalZoom. That’s because they’ve served millions of customers, and they also advertise heavily across several different mediums.
LegalZoom’s pricing models are more costly than many of their competitors, and they do not include annual reports or registered agent service with any of their LLC formation packages. In short, their actual service offerings do not always live up to the lofty expectations you may have, given their status as one of the industry leaders.
LegalZoom Strengths
- Lots of experience and high customer volume – Not many competitors can say that they’ve served millions of customers, but LegalZoom can. They have a ton of experience that gives them an advantage over most companies in this industry.
- Wide-reaching name recognition – LegalZoom advertises more than the vast majority of their competitors, which is part of why they’re so popular. Their brand power is unrivaled.
- Many other services available – Few companies offer as wide a variety of services as LegalZoom does. They provide personal services like wills and power of attorney, and of course they also have a vast array of business services as well.
LegalZoom Weaknesses
- High price points – While LegalZoom can still save you quite a bit of money compared to hiring an attorney, it has higher pricing models than many competitors for LLC formations and registered agent service.
- No annual reports or registered agent included with LLC formations – Some competitors include a full year of annual reports or registered agent service with any business formation package. LegalZoom does not.
Pricing & Additional Features
- Economy ($79) – This package starts with the essential elements of formation, including the full preparation of your articles of organization, and the filing of the completed documents with your state. LegalZoom also includes a banking authorization letter to help you open business checking and/or savings accounts.
- Standard ($329) – This package includes all features of the Economy package, then adds an organizer embossed with your company name, a decorative seal with your business info on it, and 20 customized LLC membership certificates.
- Express Gold ($349) – This package starts with all features from the Standard package, then adds expedited processing with your state (speeding up your formation process to 7-10 business days in most states), along with express shipping of all documents.
LegalZoom vs Other LLC Services
While LegalZoom has impressive experience and brand power, they fall short when it comes to pricing and features. For instance, you can save $30 with ZenBusiness’ LLC formation service, which also includes a year of annual report service and other valuable features. ZenBusiness also offers lower rates than LegalZoom for registered agent service.
For more information, take a look at our list of the top LLC services available online.
Online Customer Reviews
We were able to find more than 6,000 reviews for LegalZoom’s services, with the three largest collections of feedback belonging to Sitejabber, Consumer Affairs, and the Better Business Bureau. The majority of these reviews are positive, as LegalZoom maintains an average rating score of roughly 4.3 out of 5 across the three sites.
In their positive reviews, LegalZoom clients often comment on the helpful support they received from LegalZoom representatives, frequently thanking them by name. However, in their negative reviews, clients often complain about billing issues and inconsistent customer support.
Customer Service Quality
LegalZoom has a solid reputation when it comes to customer support. In our experience, their phone support is quite good, as we’ve received thorough and accurate responses from their service reps whenever we’ve called them with questions or concerns.
On the other hand, we’ve also tested their email support, which is a different story entirely. We’ve actually waited over a full week to get a response to emails in the past, and when LegalZoom does respond to email inquiries, it’s often just a form email that doesn’t actually answer our questions.
That said, we’re always impressed by LegalZoom’s lengthy hours of availability, which run from 8 am to 10 pm ET on weekdays and 10 am to 7 pm ET on weekends. Most competitors don’t come close to this level of availability.
Main Reasons to Use LegalZoom
If you prioritize experience and customer volume, LegalZoom is clearly a solid option. The best argument in their favor is the “millions of customers can’t be wrong” reasoning, which does have some merit. Also, their extended customer support hours can be very helpful.
Main Reasons Not to Use LegalZoom
Do you prefer to use services that can save you some money, while also providing additional features? This is a good reason to look elsewhere.
Conclusion