Quicken WillMaker vs LawDepot: the two cheapest do-it-yourself wills compared

If you have decided to make your will yourself and want to spend as little as possible, two names come up: Quicken WillMaker & Trust, Nolo’s long-running will software, and LawDepot, a legal forms library. Both are legitimate and both produce state-specific documents. But they charge in completely different ways, and that decides which is cheaper for you.

This page compares price, contents, terms and what happens to your documents later. Every detail comes from each company’s own pages, manual and terms, read on the date in the facts table. We have not bought either.

How does each charge?

	Quicken WillMaker & Trust	LawDepot
Model	One-time plans	Free trial, then subscription; or single documents
Entry option	Starter $109 (will, health care directive)	Trial: 7 days, then $49/month
Complete plan	Plus $149 (adds financial power of attorney, trust, download)	Estate plan: $35/month or $107.88/year
Everything	All Access $219	Pro: $155.88/year
One document only	Not offered	$7.50 to $119, one-time
Family	Up to five of each document for immediate family	Per account
What renews	Nothing; more revision time is optional at $39.99/year for more revisions, optional	Subscriptions renew until cancelled

The risk with LawDepot is the trial. Card required; billed if the trial is not cancelled before it ends. Forget to cancel and the trial converts at its monthly price; left for three years at the full trial conversion rate, that is $1,764. LawDepot’s refund terms: Yearly subscriptions within 30 days of first purchase; none for a trial that converted, or for a renewal you did not cancel beforehand.

What does each will include?

LawDepot’s will covers: Executor, beneficiaries, specific gifts, guardian, pet caretaker with funds, an inheritance age for young beneficiaries, self-proving affidavit. A codicil and a Spanish-language will are separate documents in its library.

WillMaker’s will covers an executor, beneficiaries, guardians for children and a property manager for young beneficiaries, and its Plus plan adds a living trust, transfer-on-death deed and financial power of attorney. Nolo publishes the will’s deliberate limits: no conditional gifts, no life estates, one property guardian per child, and a survival rule (Beneficiaries must outlive you by 45 days).

Both are solid for straightforward wishes. Neither suits a blended family wanting a life interest for a spouse, or a beneficiary with special needs.

Signing and online notary

WillMaker gives state-specific instructions: Wills witnessed; living trusts and financial powers of attorney notarized. There is no notary service.

LawDepot offers online notarisation for wills in Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah and Washington; in Nevada the will but not the self-proving affidavit. If you live in one of those states and want the self-proving affidavit done without finding a notary in person, that is a genuine advantage. For trusts: Revocable living trust template, notarised where your state requires; online notary not available for trusts in New York or Minnesota.

What happens to your documents later?

This is the sharpest difference.

• WillMaker download version: Use indefinitely; legal and technical updates for 1 year. The online version: Make and revise for 1 year; documents viewable 90 days after.
• LawDepot: May be deleted after cancellation; later access may require a fee. And documents obtained under a free trial are Not for new transactions starting one month after your access ends.

Your signed will is valid regardless. But with LawDepot, download every file before you cancel, and do not treat the account as storage.

Refunds and disputes

	WillMaker	LawDepot
Refunds	No policy published on willmaker.com	Yearly subscriptions within 30 days of first purchase; none for a trial that converted, or for a renewal you did not cancel beforehand
Disputes	Not covered here	Binding arbitration, no class actions, with a 30-day right to opt out for covered U.S. users

LawDepot’s 30-day arbitration opt-out is unusual and worth using if you care about keeping the option of going to court.

Louisiana

WillMaker is Not usable in Louisiana. LawDepot’s will page does not exclude any state that we could see. If you live in Louisiana, WillMaker is not an option.

Which should you choose?

Choose WillMaker if:

• You want a will, health care directive and financial power of attorney, and maybe a trust, for one price.
• You are a couple or family: one Plus plan covers you all.
• You want files you keep with nothing to cancel.

Choose LawDepot if:

• You want a single will and nothing else, as a one-time document.
• You live in a state where it offers online notarisation and want to use it.
• You need other legal forms this month and will cancel on time.

Choose neither if your wishes are simple and you want to pay nothing: FreeWill makes a will, health care directive and power of attorney free. Our cheapest online will page ranks every option.

Before you buy

1. Decide which documents you need. For most people: will, health care directive, financial power of attorney.
2. If WillMaker: buy Plus, not Starter, unless you only need the will and directive.
3. If LawDepot: set a reminder before the trial ends, and download before cancelling.
4. Sign with two witnesses and a notary for the self-proving affidavit.
5. Store the originals and keep your own digital copies.