Best online will makers: eight services ranked, with who each one is for

There are dozens of online will services, but the market really has three big names, a handful of established alternatives, and a long tail. This page covers the eight we track. They are listed in a fixed order, by how established each one is, and that order does not change with commissions. The picks at the top of the page are by situation, which is the better way to choose.

For every service we give the real entry price for the documents most adults need (a will, a health care directive and a financial power of attorney), what renews, and the one limit you should know before buying. Everything is from each company’s own pages, read on the date shown in the facts tables. We have not bought these plans yet.

The short version

#	Service	Complete will set from	Anything renews?	Best for
1	Trust & Will	$199	Only an optional membership	Guided plan, couples, homeowners
2	LegalZoom	$149	Attorney plan on Pro and Premium	Attorney access
3	Quicken WillMaker & Trust	$149	Optional renewal after a year	Lowest price for a full plan
4	Rocket Lawyer	Membership, $149/year	Membership	Several legal documents this year
5	FreeWill	Free	Nothing	Simple wishes, no budget
6	Ethos	With certain life policies	Your insurance premiums	Buying Ethos life insurance anyway
7	LawDepot	Single document or subscription	Subscription, if chosen	One document, lowest cost
8	GoodTrust	$149	Updates, $39/year after year one	Families, digital accounts

“Complete will set” means the cheapest option that includes a will, a health care directive and a financial power of attorney. For WillMaker that is the Plus plan, which also includes a living trust.

1. Trust & Will

Price: will plan $199 ($299 for a couple); trust plan $499 ($599).

Trust & Will’s will plan is the simplest complete package of the big three: the will, a living will, a power of attorney and a HIPAA authorization, with no subscription unless you choose one. The optional Essentials membership, $49/year, is what lets you edit the plan later. Its help-centre refund policy gives you 30 days from purchase, the most generous of the three, and it publishes prices for help finishing the job, such as a mobile notary who brings two witnesses ($170 to $210).

Know before you buy: editing your plan after purchase needs the membership; its terms and help centre describe refunds differently; disputes go to arbitration.

Skip it if you want the lowest price or plan to edit for years without a membership. Full review.

2. LegalZoom

Price: Basic Will $129 (will only), Pro Will $149, Premium Will $299; Basic Trust $399.

The biggest legal brand, and the strongest option if you want a lawyer to talk to. The Premium tiers include a year of unlimited 30-minute attorney consultations, attorney review and revisions of your documents, and an annual estate plan review. Its Basic Trust is good value: every document and nothing renews.

Know before you buy: the Basic Will has no health care directive or powers of attorney; the Pro Will’s attorney plan renews at $25/month after 30 days after 30 days unless cancelled; refunds close 7 days after your estate plan is completed.

Skip it if you want a full will set without a renewal to manage. Full review.

3. Quicken WillMaker & Trust

Price: Starter $109, Plus $149, All Access $219.

Do-it-yourself software from Nolo, the legal publisher. Plus is the real price: a will, a living trust, a health care directive, a financial power of attorney and a transfer-on-death deed, for you and your immediate family on one purchase, online or as a download. Nothing comes close on price for a couple.

Know before you buy: no attorney option; free revisions last a year; Make and revise for 1 year; documents viewable 90 days after if you use the online version; Not usable in Louisiana; no refund policy on willmaker.com that we could find.

Skip it if you want help or a lawyer, or live in Louisiana. Full review.

4. Rocket Lawyer

Price: Standard membership $149/year billed yearly, or $34.99/month billed monthly, after a 7 days free trial.

Rocket Lawyer is a general legal membership rather than an estate planning product. Its will page is titled as a free will template covering all 50 states and DC, and the membership adds unlimited documents and e-signatures plus written attorney questions (12 with yearly billing; 1 with monthly billing). It makes sense if you need several legal documents this year, such as a lease or contract as well as a will.

Know before you buy: the trial turns into a paid membership if you do not cancel; the pricing page shows no one-off price for a will without a membership.

Skip it if you only need a will once.

5. FreeWill

Price: Free.

FreeWill is funded by nonprofit partners and asks for no credit card. It produces a will, plus a free health care directive and financial power of attorney, and lets you edit and re-sign for free. Its living trust is for California residents only. For a single person or couple with simple wishes, it is a complete basic plan at no cost, and we would rather you used it than paid for features you will not use.

Know before you buy: no trust outside California, no attorney, no help with signing; it will prompt you to consider a charitable gift, which is optional.

Skip it if you want a trust outside California or a lawyer. FreeWill alternatives.

6. Ethos

Price: Complimentary with certain Ethos life policies (Perks rider).

Ethos is a life insurance company whose estate planning subsidiary offers wills and trusts. Its estate planning page says these are complimentary with certain Ethos policies through a rider, and does not show a standalone price. If you are already buying term life insurance from Ethos, check whether your policy includes it. Our Ethos review covers what its pages leave unanswered.

Know before you buy: Not available in Alaska or Louisiana; the rider is not available on policies issued in Washington or South Dakota.

Skip it if you do not want life insurance from Ethos.

7. LawDepot

Price: single documents $7.50 to $119, one-time; estate planning documents $35/month or $107.88/year; free trial 7 days, then $49/month.

LawDepot is a legal forms library. If you want one will document and nothing else, buying it as a single document may be the cheapest paid route on this list; LawDepot prices single documents by document, within the range above. The subscription route suits people making several documents.

Know before you buy: the free trial renews monthly if not cancelled; it is a forms service, with no guided trust package or funding help.

Skip it if you want a guided plan or a trust with support.

8. GoodTrust

Price: $149.

GoodTrust sells one price for a will, trust and directives with a year of unlimited updates, says family members can each create their own plan at no extra fee, and adds a digital vault for online accounts.

Know before you buy: its help centre says updates after the first year cost $39/year, and that editing or downloading your documents needs an active subscription. Our GoodTrust review covers what that means in practice.

Skip it if you want to download your documents years from now without paying again.

What should a good online will service give you?

Before comparing names, it helps to know what “complete” looks like. A good basic estate plan from any service should include:

• A will that names who inherits, an executor, and guardians for any minor children.
• A health care directive (often called a living will), saying what treatment you want and who decides if you cannot.
• A financial power of attorney, so someone can pay bills and manage accounts if you are incapacitated. This is the document cheap tiers most often leave out.
• Clear, state-specific signing instructions. Validity depends on signing, so these matter more than the questionnaire’s polish.
• A way to change it later, whether free, by membership or by renewal, and a clear statement of which.

Beyond that, extras are personal: a living trust if you own a home or want privacy, attorney access if you want advice, and help with notarizing or deeds if you would rather not arrange them yourself. Every service above publishes enough to check these points before you pay; the ones we flag are where the published information runs out.

How we checked

We read each service’s pricing page, plan comparison, terms or refund policy and, where they exist, its help centre or FAQ, and recorded each price with the page it came from and the date. Where a company does not publish something before you pay, such as whether a membership is pre-selected at checkout, we say so rather than guess. The facts tables under this article show the source and date for every number.

How to choose in three questions

1. Do you need a living trust? If yes, compare WillMaker Plus, LegalZoom’s Basic Trust and Trust & Will’s trust plan. If you live in California, FreeWill’s trust is free.
2. Do you want a lawyer to talk to? If yes, LegalZoom Premium.
3. Is your budget the deciding factor? If yes, FreeWill for a simple will, WillMaker Plus for a complete plan.

If none of those decides it, Trust & Will is the most straightforward complete package with the best refund terms.

Whatever you choose

A will from any of these services is valid only if you sign it the way your state requires, usually in front of two adult witnesses who receive nothing under it, and often with a notary for a self-proving affidavit. Read the signing instructions that come with your documents, sign everything in one sitting, and store the originals where your executor can find them.