LegalZoom vs Nolo 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 LegalZoom and Nolo. 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 $79 to $349, plus state fees. Their Economy Plan is great value for what’s included and they have great customer service. 

Their site is also easy to use, and the purchase process is quick.

Nolo offers three business formation plans and a la carte services and is known for supplying a bounty of free legal information in plain language everyone can understand. Nolo additionally proffers several do-it-yourself guides that are available for purchase.

Plans Pricing

The LegalZoom “base” plan costs $79 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 business newsletter. You’ll also have access to your formation documents online at any time.

LegalZoom’s “middle” plan costs $329 and includes all the services in the “base” plan plus a founder’s kit, personalized business embosser, and membership certificates.

The $349 “top-tier plan offers all of the services listed above plus expedited filing and express document shipping, making it a better value than the “middle” plan.

Nolo’s “base” plan costs $49 and includes state fees, a business name availability search in your state, business formation filing, and error checking. It also offers two extras: a guide to formalizing your LLC and unlimited customer support.  

For $149, the Nolo “middle” plan has everything included in the “base” plan with the addition of a prepared EIN tax ID application and a supply of business forms. Nolo’s business form cache provides you with over 30 different documents. 

The $299 “top-tier” plan offers everything in Nolo’s “middle” plan, but with the added advantage of rush filing and a Personalized LLC Records Kit & Seal. 

Economy Plan vs Basic Package

The Nolo Basic Package is a good value compared to LegalZoom’s economy plan, unless the digital welcome kit and digital formation tracker are important to you. Nolo offers automated error checking and a handy guide to formalize your LLC instead.

	LegalZoom	Nolo
Price	$79	$49
Turnaround time	Standard	Standard
Registered agent	Not included but can be added for $299 annually	Not included  but can be added for $150 annually
Operating agreement	Not included	Not included
Worry Free compliance	Not included	Not included
EIN	Not included	Not included
Website	Not included	Not included
Legal Advice	Not included	Not included
Customer Support	Included	Included
Automated error checking	Not included	Included
Guide to formalizing your LLC	Not included	Included
Digital welcome packer	Included	Not included
Digital tracker	Included	Not included
Business newsletter	Included	Not included

Standard Plan vs Standard Package

Legal Zoom’s Standard Plan gives you a few fancy extras like the personalized business embosser, but Nolo’s plan offers their EIN service, which seems more important, at almost half the cost. 

	LegalZoom	Nolo
Price	$329	$149
Turnaround time	Standard	Standard
Registered agent	Not included but can be added for $299 annually	Not included  but can be added for $150 annually
Operating agreement	Not included	Not included
Worry Free compliance	Not included	Not included
EIN	Not included	Included
Website	Not included	Not included
Legal Advice	Not included	Not included
Customer Support	Included	Included
Automated error checking	Not included	Included
Guide to formalizing your LLC	Not included	Included
Digital welcome packer	Included	Not included
Digital tracker	Included	Not included
Business newsletter	Included	Not included
Business forms	Not included	Included
Deluxe founder’s kit	Included	Not included
Personalized business embosser and membership certificates	Included	Not included

Express Gold Plan vs Express Package

Neither the Express Gold Plan or the Express Package give you much more for the price except faster turnaround times. Neither plan seems like a great value, but Nolo’s is cheaper.

	LegalZoom	Nolo
Price	$349	$299
Turnaround time	Expedited	Priority rush
Registered agent	Not included but can be added for $299 annually	Not included but can be added for $150 annually
Operating agreement	Not included	Not included
Worry Free compliance	Not included	Not included
EIN	Not included	Included
Website	Not included	Not included
Legal Advice	Not included	Not included
Customer Support	Included	Included
Automated error checking	Not included	Included
Guide to formalizing your LLC	Not included	Included
Digital welcome packer	Included	Not included
Digital tracker	Included	Not included
Business newsletter	Included	Not included
Business forms	Not included	Included
Deluxe founder’s kit	Included	Not included
Personalized business embosser and membership certificates	Included	Not included
LLC Records kit and seal	Not included	Included
Express shipping	Included	Not included

Customer Service

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

LegalZoom

User Experience – What to Expect 

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.

However, it’s difficult to find the service package prices and information. They do not appear on the site menu. In fact, we had to do a Google search, “LegalZoom business formation plans” in order to get to that part of their website. 

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. 

The service is free for 10 days, which is a rather short period, and then costs $280 per year. This seems expensive since you can purchase their annual report a la carte for $55 per year. 

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 Economy, Standard, or Express Gold. 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. 

In Summary

Overall, the process was very smooth. Yet it was also very much a sales process, as they aim to get visitors to spend as much money as possible. 

It would be nice if all their service offerings and packages were easily accessible on the site before you start the process. Still, everything was made clear during the formation process and it only took a few minutes. 

Customer Support

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

Chat support

Phone support

Email support

Nolo

User Experience – What to Expect 

When we first visited Nolo’s webpage, we almost thought we had the wrong website. Whether you look up Nolo on Google or type in www.nolo.com, the home page doesn’t make it abundantly clear that you can hire Nolo to form your LLC. Rather, it only appears that you can purchase forms and other resources that will empower you to start your business yourself. 

After some trial and error, we finally figured out that clicking on “create an LLC yourself” takes us to the page where we can hire Nolo to form our LLC for us. 

Nolo’s ease of access to their LLC formation services is just the opposite– difficult! Someone unfamiliar with Nolo’s products and services could easily come to the conclusion that Nolo only offers do-it-yourself products and support. 

Even the main heading depicted in the screenshot above leaves the impression that Nolo isn’t actually forming your new business for you. We found the attached blurb beneath to also be vague, as it doesn’t explicitly state that Nolo takes on your LLC’s formation process. 

Clicking the “Start Now” button initiates a questionnaire about your new LLC. It’s worth noting that many of Nolo’s offered services can only be purchased by adding them to one of their formation packages, such as an operating agreement.

How is the formation process?

To write this review, we all but officially filed to form a new LLC using Nolo’s service. Below we detail our customer service experiences. 

We clicked the “Start Now” button and were then asked a series of business questions, starting with the state our LLC will be formed in. The questions were simple and quick, but many people might find it preferable to review Nolo’s LLC formation packages before going through the process. We thought that wasn’t an option, but finally found Nolo’s LLC packages page. 

We then went a step further and began to form an LLC. We chose the Basic Package and then had the opportunity to add supplementary, outsourced services to our package. We added an operating agreement, registered agent services, the business licenses service, tax services, and the website and hosting service. The entire process took less than ten minutes and was pleasantly simple. 

Nolo then presents you with a summary page where you can review and edit your order. When you proceed to the payment page, you’ll be asked to sign in or create an account with Nolo. At this stage, we were again unimpressed with Nolo’s usability and user language.

If you choose not to pay right away and come back to it later, your order details will be saved in your cart for 90 days.

In Summary

Overall, we didn’t find Nolo’s website to be very intuitive or easy to use, since LLC information can be difficult to find. You have the option to sign up for a free account on the site, though Nolo’s login page gives the impression that it’s only for lawyers or those seeking to tackle the business formation process themselves.

Additionally, signing up for an account doesn’t seem to provide access to anything you can’t access without an account. The documents listed in the screenshot above must still be paid for.  

Customer Support

We tested the three primary methods of Nolo customer support, and detail our findings below.  

Phone support

Email

Online contact forms

While exploring Nolo’s website, we came across more than ten different contact forms available for users to fill in and submit to request customer service support. 

In the contact form we submitted to Nolo, we asked the same question we had asked in our email about canceling registered agent services. Just like we did with our email, we submitted this contact form first thing in the morning. 

Once again, we have yet to receive a reply, and once again, we were under the impression Nolo would get back to us that same day.

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. 

LegalZoom

Better Business Bureau

LegalZoom has no rating from the BBB, but they are an accredited business, with 5,559 reviews and a score of 4.55/5 stars.  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 from 1,644 customer reviews.

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.

Nolo

Better Business Bureau

Nolo has been an accredited BBB business since 2020. Nolo has an A+ rating from the BBB, but with only 1.57/5 stars in seven customer reviews. Conversely, Nolo has had 18 complaints filed through the BBB in the last three years, all of which have been resolved. 

Almost all reviews on BBB rated Nolo with only one star. One customer left a two-star review in June of 2022, and one reviewer posted a four-star review in May of 2022. Unfortunately, the review from May didn’t contain a single positive remark about Nolo, so we found the four-star rating to be a little questionable. 

Most reviews posted on BBB concentrate on Nolo’s attorney lead services rather than their LLC formation packages and assistance. Just one review out of the seven was left by a user who purchased a formation package with Nolo for their new LLC in Delaware. 

This customer’s review complained about the filing time: “It has been a month and I’ve not received any paperwork for my business.” The reviewer went on to say that when they brought this issue to a customer service representative, they were told, “it may take another 3 weeks” for their LLC to be officially formed. 

However, this review was left in 2020, so the delay could be attributed to COVID-19. 

You can read all seven reviews on the BBB website. 

Trustpilot 

When we looked up Nolo on Trustpilot, we were surprised to find that there were two different verified profiles for Nolo. One profile is specifically for Nolo’s books and forms, and the other is for attorney services. We’ve provided an overview of both of Nolo’s profiles below. 

The Trustpilot score for Nolo’s books and forms profile is 4.3/5 stars, derived from 15 reviews that break down as follows:

• Excellent 86%
• Great 7%
• Average 0%
• Poor 0%
• Bad 7%

The Trustpilot score for Nolo’s attorney services profile is 1.9/5 stars, from 98 reviews that break down as follows:

• Excellent 34%
• Great 2%
• Average 3%
• Poor 1%
• Bad 60%

Positive Trustpilot reviews tend to focus on Nolo’s easy formation process and their use of plain language. One person said Nolo “always provides quality, informative materials,” leaving a five-star rating. Another reviewer praised Nolo’s content as “incredibly well written” and “easy for the layman” to understand. 

One customer that hired Nolo to form their business left a glowing five-star review, describing their experience with Nolo as “timely and cost effective,” and their formation process as “entirely consistent with [Nolo’s] brand promise.” 

Another person boasted that when prompted by Nolo to fill in their business’s information “each question was accompanied by [detailed] information” that clarified “what you were answering” and even offered suitable answers to help users “get to the next question with ease.” This same reviewer also declared that Nolo formed their new business in under a week.

Some of the less favorable reviews revolve around poor customer service and not receiving services or products that customers purchased from Nolo. One reviewer stated that Nolo’s “customer service is atrocious,” and complained that “every time” Nolo returned their calls, they were “rude and want to get you off the phone.”

Another angry customer left a review declaring that making a purchase from Nolo is “worse than burning cash.” One reviewer bemoaned Nolo’s persistent pressure to “just pay a little more,” and another griped that each purchase they made resulted in “harassing messages” from Nolo in their inbox. 

You can read reviews for both Nolo’s books and forms profile and Nolo’s attorney services on the Trustpilot website. 

Pros and Cons

LegalZoom

Nolo

Verdict

After a thorough assessment, we have determined that even though it’s a bit more expensive, LegalZoom is a better choice than Nolo. LegalZoom offers more services and has far superior customer service. LegalZoom’s site is much easier to navigate and Nolo’s reviews were troubling. Finally, LegalZoom is widely known as a trusted industry leader, so they receive our recommendation. 

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 LegalZoom and Nolo 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 LegalZoom and Nolo LLC formation services.