Prices checked October 29, 2026 · provider charges only

LegalZoom alternatives for an LLC (prices checked October 2026)

Quick answer. LegalZoom's LLC plans cost $0, $249 or $299 plus the state fee, and its registered agent costs $249 a year. Stay with LegalZoom if you want attorney calls bundled with formation. Northwest costs less when you also need an agent. Rocket Lawyer suits owners who'd rather hold a yearly legal membership. Bizee and ZenBusiness start at $0.

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What LegalZoom charges, and what keeps billing

LegalZoom sells three LLC packages, all plus the state filing fee:

Basic, $0. No attorney access.
Pro, $249. Includes 30 days of the Business Attorney Plan: unlimited 30-minute consultations, each on a new legal topic. After 30 days LegalZoom charges $49 and keeps billing monthly until you cancel.
Premium, $299. Everything in Pro, plus 180 days of LZ Books bookkeeping tools. After 180 days that charges $9.99 a month until cancelled.

Its registered agent service is $249 a year. That price applies only to first-time agent customers, renews at the purchase rate each year until you cancel, and LegalZoom says the renewal rate can change. For the fee it lists alerts when important mail arrives, scanned documents you can open from anywhere, email reminders of annual report deadlines through its Compliance Calendar, and unlimited cloud storage. Switching to LegalZoom from another agent, it says it completes the paperwork and covers the state fees. Leaving is less automatic: LegalZoom says it may require proof that a new registered agent has been designated with your state before it cancels.

Worked example, a Pro buyer who keeps everything. Order day: the $249 package. Day 31: the first $49 attorney charge, then ten more monthly charges through month twelve. Agent: $249. That first year totals $1,037 in LegalZoom charges before state fees. Stopping the attorney plan inside the included 30 days brings that down to $498. From year two, the agent alone is $249 a year, and twelve months of the attorney plan add $588 at the current rate.

What each LegalZoom package adds

Basic: articles of organization filed with the state, a name check to confirm your preferred name is available, and a tax consult from 1-800Accountant.
Pro: Basic plus an operating agreement and an EIN (federal tax ID), the 30-day attorney plan with an attorney you choose by state, years of experience and rating, attorney-drafted forms such as NDAs and hiring agreements, a year of unlimited eSignatures and a customizable website built with Wix.
Premium: Pro plus the LZ Books app: unlimited proposals and invoices, income and expense tracking with auto-categorization, and automatic mileage capture.

The attorney plan's own limits, as LegalZoom prints them: each call is 30 minutes, each must concern a new topic, and document reviews stop at 10 pages. Longer documents are reviewed on a flat-rate schedule at the attorney's discretion. While the plan runs, LegalZoom also lists attorney review of your contracts (one new document per review, each scheduled individually) and one copyright registration per month, with federal filing fees extra.

Five options, one table

Columns show provider charges. The state's own filing fee comes on top and doesn't change with who submits the paperwork.

Option	LLC package	Agent, year 1	Agent after year 1	Year 2, package + agent	Renews on its own
LegalZoom	$0 / $249 / $299	$249	$249/yr for first-time agent customers; can change	$249	Attorney plan $49/mo after 30 days (Pro, Premium); LZ Books $9.99/mo after 180 days (Premium); agent yearly
Northwest Registered Agent	$39	Included in the $39	$125/yr	$125	Agent yearly; agent customers are enrolled in annual report filing at $100 plus state fees per filing unless they cancel
ZenBusiness	$0 Starter / $199 Pro / $299 Premium	$199/yr add-on on every plan	$199/yr	$398 on Starter if Worry-Free Compliance is kept	Pro and Premium renew yearly at the same price; Worry-Free Compliance $199/yr after a free first year on Starter
Bizee	$0 / $199 / $299, one-time	Free with any formation package	Not published for formation customers ($149/yr standalone)	Not published	Not published
Rocket Lawyer	No separate LLC price published; first registration free (state fees extra), then $99, with a $149, $249 or $349 yearly membership	$125/yr on Plus and Pro; not included on Standard	$125/yr; can rise with notice before renewal	$374 on Plus ($249 membership + $125 agent)	Membership; agent renews in 1-year terms unless you opt out
File it yourself	$0	You or another person in the state, at no service fee	$0	State fees only	Nothing

Rocket Lawyer also bills memberships month to month ($34.99, $49.99 or $64.99). Its free 7-day trial converts to a paid membership unless you cancel first.

State fees on top: in our data the state fee to form an LLC runs from $35 in Montana to $500 in Massachusetts, and Tennessee charges per member. The LLC cost index totals each state's formation fee and yearly charges over one and ten years.

Where LegalZoom is strong

Attorney calls inside the package. Pro and Premium include 30 days of unlimited 30-minute consultations with independent attorneys from LegalZoom's network. Northwest, ZenBusiness and Bizee don't list attorney calls in their LLC packages; Rocket Lawyer sells them through a membership instead.
A long refund window before filing. For filed products such as an LLC formation, LegalZoom refunds within 60 days of purchase as long as the order hasn't been submitted to the state. Subscriptions can be refunded within 30 days of purchase, with conditions. Its legal plan fee isn't refunded once you've had an attorney consultation.
Forms and tools. Pro includes a library of more than 150 customizable legal forms for one year.

Each alternative, in one line

Northwest Registered Agent: the lowest published year-two package-plus-agent cost here, $125, after $39 in year one, with same-day processing listed. Bizee is cheaper in year one but doesn't publish its year-two agent price. No attorney calls in the price.
ZenBusiness: a $0 Starter plan with an optional free first year of compliance filing. The agent is extra on every plan.
Bizee: $0 in service fees for year one including the agent. What the agent costs after that isn't published for formation customers.
Rocket Lawyer: the closest match to LegalZoom's attorney access, sold as a yearly or monthly membership rather than a formation package. Written “Ask an Attorney” questions are capped at 12 on Standard and 36 on Plus, and unlimited on Pro. Live calls (“Consult an Attorney Live”) are capped at 12 on Plus, unlimited on Pro, and not offered on Standard. A privileged Legal Advice Session costs $149 for 30 minutes or $249 for 60. Pro also lists annual report filing at $100 and Articles of Dissolution at $125.
Filing it yourself: costs only the state fee. A registered agent must still be named, and our glossary explains who can serve.

Pick LegalZoom if, pick another if

Pick LegalZoom if you expect legal questions in your first month and want the calls tied to the formation order. Cancel the attorney plan before day 30 if you don't want the $49 monthly charge.
Pick Northwest if the agent is the cost you care about. Cancel the annual report service in its portal if you plan to file reports yourself.
Pick Rocket Lawyer if you want attorney access all year and a formation thrown in. Compare the membership price with LegalZoom's $49 monthly attorney plan.
Pick ZenBusiness or Bizee if a $0 package matters most and you'll shop for the agent separately.
File it yourself if you'd rather pay the state fee and nothing else. Our how-to guide covers the yearly report, the filing most owners face after formation.

Shopping for an agent alone? See the cheapest registered agent in Wyoming and in Delaware. Without LegalZoom in the mix: ZenBusiness alternatives.

Billing and refund terms, provider by provider

LegalZoom. Attorney plan: $49 a month after the 30 included days, billed until you cancel online or by phone; document reviews cover up to 10 pages. LZ Books (Premium): $9.99 a month after 180 days. Registered agent: auto-renews yearly at the purchase rate, which can change. Refunds: filed products within 60 days if not yet submitted; once submitted, no refund, and a bundle isn't refundable if any part has been submitted. A standalone operating agreement counts as a non-filed product: refundable within 60 days while the order is incomplete, then for 7 days after it's ready to download. A legal forms subscription stops being refundable once you download a form. If LegalZoom made a mistake on an order, it says it corrects it at no cost.

Northwest Registered Agent and ZenBusiness. Their cancellation and renewal terms are quoted in full on Northwest vs ZenBusiness.

Bizee. Packages are one-time payments. Agent renewal for formation customers, refund terms and auto-renew terms are not published on the pages checked.

Rocket Lawyer. Refund requests must be made within 30 days of purchase, except where state law allows otherwise. Its terms exclude refunds on incorporation-related payments, including registered agent services, and on annual plans after 30 days.

Questions LegalZoom shoppers ask

Is LegalZoom's $0 LLC plan really $0?

The package is $0. You still pay the state filing fee, plus $249 a year if you use LegalZoom as your registered agent.

Does LegalZoom charge monthly after an LLC order?

On Pro and Premium, yes, unless you cancel: $49 a month for the attorney plan after 30 days, and $9.99 a month for LZ Books on Premium after 180 days.

Is LegalZoom worth it for an LLC?

It depends on whether you'll use the lawyers. Pro costs $249 more than Basic and adds, among other things, an operating agreement, an EIN and 30 days of attorney calls. An EIN is free from the IRS, so if you won't phone an attorney in that first month, Basic or a cheaper rival leaves more money for the state fee.

Which LegalZoom alternative includes attorney access?

Rocket Lawyer, through its Plus and Pro memberships. Northwest, ZenBusiness and Bizee don't list attorney consultations in their LLC packages.

Sources

Provider prices and terms, checked on each company's own pages on October 29, 2026, plus the IRS page on getting an EIN:

State fees come from our state pages (methodology). If a provider has moved a price, tell us at team@llcannualfees.com. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice.