LegalZoom alternatives: cheaper, no renewals, or more time to change your mind

People look for LegalZoom alternatives for a handful of specific reasons: the price, the attorney plans that renew automatically on the Pro and Premium tiers, a refund window that closes about a week after your documents are ready, or a Basic Will that turns out to be just the will. Each of those has a different best alternative, so this page goes reason by reason rather than offering one list.

It also says plainly when LegalZoom is still the better choice. All figures come from each company’s own pricing pages and terms, read on the date shown in the facts tables. We have not bought any of these plans yet.

The quick answer, by reason

Your reason for leaving	Best alternative	Why
Price	Quicken WillMaker & Trust	Plus plan at $149 covers a will, trust and powers of attorney for your immediate family
You do not want anything that renews	Trust & Will (will plan) or WillMaker	Trust & Will’s membership is optional; WillMaker’s renewal is optional
You want more time to ask for a refund	Trust & Will	Help-centre refund window of 30 days from purchase
You only need a simple will	FreeWill	Free, plus a free health care directive and power of attorney
You need many legal documents this year, not just a will	Rocket Lawyer	Membership with unlimited documents and attorney questions

Like-for-like prices

The fairest comparison is the cheapest tier at each company that includes the documents most adults need: a will, a health care directive and a financial power of attorney. Then the cheapest living trust.

	Will set (will, health care directive, power of attorney), one person	Living trust, one person	Living trust, couple
LegalZoom	$149 (Pro Will, attorney plan renews unless cancelled)	$399	$499
Quicken WillMaker & Trust	$149 (Plus, which also includes the trust)	$149	Same plan
Trust & Will	$199	$499	$599
FreeWill	Free	California only	California only

If the price is the problem

LegalZoom’s tiers rise quickly once you want the documents most adults need. The Basic Will at $129 is only the will; a health care directive and powers of attorney start with the Pro Will at $149. A living trust starts at $399, or $499 for a couple.

Quicken WillMaker & Trust undercuts every one of those. Its Plus plan, at $149, includes a will, a living trust, a health care directive, a financial power of attorney and a transfer-on-death deed, and lets you make up to five of each document for yourself and your immediate family. A married couple pays once. Even its Starter plan, at $109, includes a health care directive that LegalZoom’s Basic Will does not.

What you give up: WillMaker has no attorney option, free revisions last 1 year from purchase, and if you use the online version your documents stay viewable for only 90 days after that unless you renew. Download your signed documents and it does not matter.

FreeWill is cheaper still: free. If you need a will, a health care directive and a financial power of attorney and nothing else, it covers all three at no cost. Its living trust is for California residents only.

If the renewing attorney plan is the problem

LegalZoom’s Pro Will includes 30 days of attorney consultations that then renew at $25/month after 30 days until you cancel; the Premium tiers renew at $199/year attorney plan after year one. The Legal Plan Contract describes the renewal reminder as a courtesy only. If you would rather not manage that at all:

• Trust & Will’s will plan ($199) includes the will, a living will, a power of attorney and a HIPAA authorization. Nothing renews unless you add a membership at checkout, and its terms promise a reminder before any renewal.
• WillMaker charges once. Renewing for more revisions after the first year is optional, $39.99/year for more revisions, optional.

You can also stay with LegalZoom and simply cancel the attorney plan within its first 30 days; your documents are unaffected. If you have not had a consultation, the plan fee is refundable within those 30 days.

If the refund window is the problem

The LZ Guarantee makes an estate plan refundable up to 7 days after your estate plan is completed, which in practice is about a week from the moment you finish the questionnaire.

Trust & Will gives more room: its help-centre refund policy is a 30-day satisfaction guarantee from purchase, with part of the price withheld if you used attorney, notary or deed services. Its terms of service describe refunds as discretionary, so ask inside the 30 days and in writing.

WillMaker publishes no refund policy that we could find on willmaker.com, so it is not the alternative to choose for this reason.

If you want attorney access for less

Here LegalZoom is hard to beat. Its Premium Will ($299) and Premium Trust ($549) include a year of unlimited 30-minute consultations on new legal matters, attorney review and revisions of your LegalZoom documents, and an annual estate plan review. Trust & Will’s equivalent, the Pro membership, costs $299/year every year on top of the plan.

Rocket Lawyer works differently. It is a general legal membership: $149/year for the Standard plan billed yearly, or $34.99/month billed monthly, with unlimited documents and e-signatures and 12 with yearly billing; 1 with monthly billing written attorney questions. If you need several legal documents this year, such as a lease or a contract as well as a will, it can be better value than buying each separately. Check that the estate planning documents you need are in its library before subscribing, and note that the membership renews.

If you live in Louisiana

LegalZoom says its wills and trusts have been accepted in all 50 states, and that matters here, because two of the alternatives do not cover Louisiana fully. WillMaker cannot be used for Louisiana documents, and Trust & Will offers Louisiana wills but not trusts. FreeWill supports Louisiana wills and tells you to sign with two witnesses in the presence of a notary. For a Louisiana trust, LegalZoom or a Louisiana attorney are the realistic choices.

What if you never touch the renewals?

The risk with LegalZoom is not the first charge but the one you forget. Here is a full will set for one person over three years, assuming you do nothing after buying:

	Three-year cost if you do nothing
LegalZoom Pro Will, attorney plan never cancelled	$1,024
LegalZoom Pro Will, attorney plan cancelled within 30 days	$149
Trust & Will will plan, no membership added	$199
WillMaker Plus, no renewal	$149
FreeWill	Free

The alternatives’ prices only change if you choose to add a membership or renewal. LegalZoom’s changes if you forget to cancel.

A note on Rocket Lawyer’s free trial

Rocket Lawyer offers a free trial of 7 days, after which billing starts at the plan you chose. That makes it possible to make a will during the trial, but it also means a charge if you forget. If you try it, put a reminder in your calendar a day before the trial ends, and check how to keep access to your documents if you cancel.

What you give up by leaving LegalZoom

To be fair to LegalZoom, a few things are hard to find elsewhere:

• A large attorney network on tap, bundled into the Premium tiers at a price lower than competitors charge for comparable access.
• Coverage everywhere, including Louisiana trusts.
• Phone support seven days a week. Its site lists customer care hours on weekdays and weekends.
• One company for related jobs, such as moving a deed into your trust, with title research included.

When LegalZoom is still the right choice

If your doubt is about whether LegalZoom can be trusted at all, rather than its price, our page on whether LegalZoom is legit answers that first.

• You want a year of attorney calls bundled with your plan. Premium Will or Premium Trust.
• You want a complete living trust with no renewals, and price matters but not to the last dollar. LegalZoom’s Basic Trust includes every document and costs less than Trust & Will’s trust plan.
• You want a company to handle moving your house into the trust. LegalZoom’s deed transfer service, $249, plus state filing fees, includes title research and filing with the county recorder.
• You live in Louisiana and want a trust.

How to switch without losing anything

1. If you have already paid LegalZoom, check the refund deadlines above before doing anything else.
2. Cancel any attorney plan online in My Account before its billing date if you will not use it.
3. Choose the alternative by your reason, using the table at the top.
4. Make and sign your new documents following your state’s instructions, with witnesses and a notary.
5. Destroy any older signed will only after the new one is signed, and tell your executor where the originals are.