The cheapest online will that is actually complete

Sorting online wills by price is misleading, because the cheapest tiers often are not complete. A will on its own decides who inherits after you die. The two documents that protect you while you are alive, a health care directive and a financial power of attorney, are frequently left out of the lowest tier, and they are exactly what your family needs if you are ever unable to decide for yourself.

So this page ranks the services we track by the cheapest option that includes all three. It then adds the costs that can come later. Every price is from the company’s own pages, read on the date shown in the facts tables. We have not bought these plans yet.

What counts as a complete basic plan?

Three documents:

1. A will: who inherits, who settles your estate, and who looks after your children.
2. A health care directive (or living will): your treatment wishes and who decides for you if you cannot.
3. A financial power of attorney: who can pay your bills and manage your accounts if you are incapacitated.

A living trust is extra. It is worth it for some people, especially homeowners, but it is not part of a basic plan.

The cheapest complete option at each service

Service	Cheapest complete tier	Price, one person	Anything renews?
FreeWill	Will plus free directive and power of attorney	Free	No
Quicken WillMaker & Trust	Plus	$149	Optional after a year
LegalZoom	Pro Will	$149	Attorney plan, $25/month after 30 days after 30 days unless cancelled
Trust & Will	Will plan	$199	Optional membership
GoodTrust	Single plan with trust, will, financial power of attorney and directives	$149	Updates $39/year after year one
Rocket Lawyer	Membership with unlimited documents (check its library has each one)	$149/year (or $34.99/month)	Yes, it is a membership
LawDepot	Estate planning documents subscription (or single documents)	$107.88/year or $35/month	Yes, if you subscribe

And the sticker prices that are not complete:

• LegalZoom Basic Will, $129: the will alone, with pet care provisions and 30 days of revisions.
• WillMaker Starter, $109: a will, health care directive and final arrangements, but no financial power of attorney.

The free option is genuinely complete

FreeWill is paid for by nonprofit partners and does not ask for a credit card. It offers a will, a health care directive, a financial power of attorney and guidance on beneficiary designations, all free, and lets you edit and re-sign later for free. Its trust is for California residents only.

If you are single or married, your wishes are simple, and you do not need a trust outside California, FreeWill is the cheapest complete plan and we would rather you used it than paid for something you will not use. The trade-offs are that there is no attorney, no help with signing, and you will be invited to consider leaving a gift to charity, which is optional.

The cheapest paid option: WillMaker Plus

If you want more than FreeWill offers, WillMaker Plus is the cheapest complete paid plan by a distance, and the best deal in this market for couples. For $149 you get a will, health care directive, financial power of attorney, living trust, transfer-on-death deed and the download version, and you can make up to five of each document for yourself and your immediate family.

Nothing renews automatically. You get 1 year from purchase of free revisions; after that, renewing is optional at $39.99/year for more revisions, optional. If you use the online version, download your signed documents, because online access ends 90 days after the revision year.

Buy Plus rather than Starter. The difference buys the financial power of attorney and the trust.

What the entry tiers leave out

Entry tier	Will	Health care directive	Financial power of attorney	Living trust
FreeWill (Free)	Yes	Yes	Yes	California only
WillMaker Starter ($109)	Yes	Yes	No	No
LegalZoom Basic Will ($129)	Yes	No	No	No
Trust & Will will plan ($199)	Yes	Yes (living will)	Yes	No

Trust & Will’s entry tier is the only paid one of the three big names that is complete without stepping up a tier, which is why its higher sticker price is closer to the others than it first looks.

Is a fill-in template enough?

LawDepot and Rocket Lawyer work differently from the guided services: they are libraries of legal documents you fill in. LawDepot sells single documents for $7.50 to $119, one-time, depending on the document, or a subscription; Rocket Lawyer’s will page advertises a free will template, with its membership adding unlimited documents and attorney questions.

A template is enough if you know what you want and your situation is simple. What you give up compared with a guided plan is the questionnaire that prompts you about things you might forget, such as backup beneficiaries, a backup guardian or what happens if a beneficiary dies before you. If you choose a template, read every clause, fill in the alternates, and follow the signing instructions to the letter.

How not to pay twice

The most expensive outcome is buying a cheap tier, discovering it is missing something, and buying again. Three checks before paying:

1. List the documents you need and confirm the tier includes each one by name.
2. Check what renews, and when, before you enter a card.
3. Check what changing the plan later costs: free at FreeWill, a year free then optional at WillMaker, a membership at Trust & Will, and an attorney plan at LegalZoom after the free revision period.

When the cheapest is not the cheapest

Three ways a low price turns into a higher one:

A bundled plan you forget to cancel. LegalZoom’s Pro Will costs $149 but includes an attorney plan that renews monthly after 30 days. Left running for three years, it totals $1,024. Cancel it within 30 days and the Pro Will is a fair complete plan.

A trial that becomes a subscription. LawDepot’s free trial is 7 days, then $49/month, and Rocket Lawyer’s 7 days trial rolls into a paid membership. Both are fine if you cancel on time; set a reminder.

Costs after you sign. Notary fees if your state or your documents need one; printing; and, at Trust & Will, shipping of printed documents, which is free once a year only with the Essentials membership. If you would rather someone came to you, Trust & Will’s partner mobile notary costs $170 to $210, which is more than the plan itself for some people. A bank or local notary is usually much cheaper.

Three-year cost of a complete plan, one person

	If you do nothing after buying	If you keep editing open for three years
FreeWill	Free	Free
WillMaker Starter (incomplete)	$109	$188.98
WillMaker Plus	$149	$228.98
LegalZoom Pro Will, attorney plan cancelled in time	$149	Attorney plan needed for revisions after 30 days
LegalZoom Pro Will, attorney plan never cancelled	$1,024	$1,024
Trust & Will will plan	$199	$346 (Essentials membership each year)

Cheapest for couples

For two people the ranking gets even clearer. FreeWill is free for each spouse. WillMaker Plus covers both spouses on one purchase at $149. Trust & Will charges $299 for a couple’s will plan, and LegalZoom $249 for a couple’s Pro Will.

When paying more is worth it

Cheapest is right for most people with simple situations. Pay more when you need something specific:

• A living trust outside California: WillMaker Plus is still cheapest; LegalZoom’s Basic Trust and Trust & Will cost more but add guidance.
• Help finishing the job: Trust & Will publishes prices for a mobile notary and deed transfers.
• A lawyer to ask: LegalZoom’s Premium tiers include a year of attorney consultations.
• A refund window: Trust & Will’s help-centre policy gives 30 days from purchase.
• A complicated family: a local estate planning attorney, which costs far more and is worth it.

The cheapest way to do it right

1. Start with FreeWill if your wishes are simple and you do not need a trust outside California.
2. Otherwise buy WillMaker Plus, not Starter.
3. If you choose a plan with a bundled attorney plan or a trial, put the cancellation date in your calendar the day you buy.
4. Sign properly: two adult witnesses who are not in your will, and a notary where your state or document requires it. Ask your bank whether it offers notary service to customers.
5. Download and keep your signed documents, and tell your executor where the originals are.