LegalZoom LLC Review (2025): Pros, Cons, and What to Expect

Starting a business is exciting, but let’s be honest, the legal side of things can be a bit of a nightmare. If you’re anything like me, the never-ending paperwork and confusing laws can take all the fun out of bringing your dream to life.

That’s why I decided to try LegalZoom to help me form my LLC, and I’ve been happy with my decision so far. In this post, I’m going to share my experience with LegalZoom, break down their services, outline their pricing, and provide the pros and cons I’ve noticed along the way. Hopefully, it helps you figure out if it’s the right fit for you. Now, let’s get into it.

What Is LegalZoom?

LegalZoom is an online service that helps individuals and businesses handle legal tasks without the need for a traditional lawyer. They’ve been around for over 20 years and have helped over 2 million businesses get off the ground.

Their main offerings revolve around business formations, but they also provide legal support for a variety of other business types, which is where they stand out compared to some competitors. It’s not just about LLCs, either. LegalZoom can help you form C corporations, and S corporations, and even register a DBA if you’re running a business under a different name.

Honestly, if you’re unsure of what business structure you should go with, they’ll guide you through that process too. That kind of service was valuable for me when I started, and it’s nice knowing they could help people who might not fully understand their options yet.

Why Do You Need a Business Formation Service?

If you’ve never dealt with forming a business before, it might seem easy to just pick a name and file some paperwork, right? Wrong. The legal requirements can get tricky really quickly.

Not only do you have to check if your business name is even available in your state, but you might also have to deal with permits and licenses, create a solid operating agreement, and get an EIN (Employee Identification Number).

All of that takes time and requires some knowledge of laws you probably didn’t think you’d need. Dealing with this all on your own takes time away from actually building your business (which is the more fun part).

That’s exactly why I advocate for hiring a professional service like LegalZoom. They handle all the red tape, so you can focus on growing your business and avoid unnecessary headaches.

The LegalZoom Process: Making it Simple

Forming my LLC with LegalZoom was shockingly straightforward. Here’s how it went down:

Choose a business name – After I came up with my business name, LegalZoom checked to make sure it was available in my state. LLCs operate at the state level, so they only check availability within the state you’re registering in.
Complete the Application – After confirming my business name, LegalZoom walked me through a few simple questions about my business, helped me select a plan (which I’ll break down in more detail later), and filed the necessary forms with the state on my behalf. They even offered an expedited option, which I happily paid for to speed up the process.
Permits and Licenses – LegalZoom provided a guide on which permits and licenses I’d need to operate legally. This part was a game-changer because figuring out what you need in your specific state without help can be a real-time sink.

All in all, it was simple. When the process was finished, they even followed up with me, making sure everything was running smoothly in my first year.

Additional Services You May Not Know About

LegalZoom goes beyond just forming LLCs. They offer a library of legal templates, which saved me quite a bit on legal fees. Instead of hiring a lawyer every time I needed something small, I could just customize templates to fit my needs.

Another nice feature is legal consultations. I used their service to get answers from an attorney when I had more involved legal questions. You’d be surprised how much it can help to have a pro on hand for specific advice.

Also, if you’re a non-US resident wanting to start a US company, LegalZoom can assist with that too. Just make sure to check the requirements that apply to your country.

LegalZoom Pricing Plans: What Do You Get?

LegalZoom has three main plans for forming your business. Here’s what each plan includes and the cost breakdown:

Basic Plan (Free + State Fees)

This is the most affordable plan you don’t pay LegalZoom anything for their help, but you’ll still need to cover state registration fees. It’s tempting to go with just this but keep in mind that other important aspects of business formation (like getting an EIN or drafting an operating agreement) aren’t included.

Pro Plan ($249/year)

I opted for this plan originally, and here’s what it included:

EIN (Employee Identification Number), which is essential for your business to operate legally
Operating agreement, which outlines the structure of your business
A consultation with a business expert about things like insurance and taxes
Access to a business licenses and permits guide, which was super helpful for making sure I wasn’t missing anything important
Insurance consultation through their partner company, Next

Premium Plan ($299/year)

I eventually upgraded to their Premium Plan, and for just $50 more, I think it’s well worth it. On top of everything in the Pro Plan, it includes:

A lawyer consultation, which can come in handy for more complex legal needs
Copyright registration if you want to patent a product or design
Access to an expanded library of customizable templates that saved me a lot on legal fees

So, for an extra $50 a year, I had access to legal advice and services that would have cost quite a bit more if I’d hired a lawyer separately.

Website Creation and Branding

If you’re planning to run your business online, LegalZoom makes it easy to get a website started too. They partner with Wix, which allows you to create and host your website for free. The catch is, that if you don’t pay for a premium account, Wix will add their branding (e.g., www.mybusinessname.wix.com).

While that’s fine for some people, I recommend upgrading your site to a custom URL to look more professional. Nothing turns customers off faster than a confusing or weird-looking URL. People need to find and trust your website, which means cutting out the extra distractions from your domain name.

What LegalZoom Doesn’t Offer

While LegalZoom does a lot of things right, it’s not a “one-stop shop.” One glaring omission from their offerings is accounting and tax filing services. This isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker I’ve always used my own accountant but it would be convenient to have that bundled with their legal services.

Having one place to handle both legal and financial setup would be a huge time-saver. You also can’t fully replace personal legal advice with LegalZoom if your situation gets complicated. Their service works well for most business owners, but for bigger or more nuanced legal questions, you may still need a dedicated lawyer.

LegalZoom vs. ZenBusiness

LLC	LegalZoom	ZenBusiness
LLC formation services Price	$249	$199
LLC registration service	$0 + state filing fees	$0 + state filing fees
Businesses formed	2M+ businesses	500K+ businesses
Processing time	5–14 days	14–21 days
EIN + operating agreement	$249	$199
Business website builder	Included free, powered by WIX	Available at additional cost after the first month

I know some of you might be looking at other business formation services like ZenBusiness, and I actually checked them out myself before deciding on LegalZoom.

While ZenBusiness offers similar services, LegalZoom won me over with its legal support options and the comprehensive guides it provides, like the permits and licenses guide. Those little extras made me feel more covered legally.

My Overall Experience

LegalZoom made the process of starting my LLC easy, transparent, and relatively painless. They kept me updated throughout the process, answered my questions (yes, they’re available 24/7), and followed up even after my business was up and running.

I’ve also been able to renew certain services, like their legal support and copyright protection, which provides me peace of mind as my business grows.

Still, the thing that would have made my experience even better is if they included accounting and tax help. It’s an extra step to find an accountant separately, but I ultimately think their legal services were worth the cost.

Final Thoughts: Is LegalZoom Worth It?

Would I recommend LegalZoom? Absolutely. Whether you’re new to starting a business or you’ve done it before, LegalZoom can help cut down on time, stress, and legal confusion.

Their pricing is reasonable compared to hiring a lawyer for each little thing, and the fact that they continue supporting you with consultations and renewal options makes it a solid investment in your business.

Just make sure to plan if you need more complex services, like accounting or tax advice, as you’ll have to handle that outside the platform. But all in all, if you’re looking for an easy and quick way to form your LLC or any other business entity, LegalZoom is a great option.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments, and I’ll do my best to help. Thanks for reading, and good luck with your business!