LegalZoom Review 2026: LLC Formation Pricing and Is It Worth It?

The price on the button is not the bill you will book. The packages omit the state filing fee and the registered agent, so the button price does not finish the formation. Both paid packages then bill after the included month unless you cancel, which is how a filing becomes a year of charges.

Finpresso data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, evaluated 343 legal and compliance tools for its ranking, updated 13 October 2026 (toolradar.com/best/legal). In its entity management set, LegalZoom is listed as an alternative to 2 tools, 7th of 11 on that count, tied, as of October 2026. The LegalZoom page on Toolradar shows the set.

Methodology: prices were checked on 17 October 2026 on each company's own page, plus the Texas filing fee and the IRS rule on EIN charges. We did not form an LLC. Placement on this page was not sold. The category ranking is our LLC formation services guide, and the agent comparison is the registered agent cost page.

LegalZoom is an online filing service with three LLC packages, and it is not a law firm. What you tell it is not covered by attorney-client privilege, so keep an ownership dispute out of the form. Expert Service sends attorney work through Business Advantage Pro and tax work to 1-800Accountant.

Basic files the articles of organization, plus a name check and a tax consult from 1-800Accountant. Stop there only if you will get the EIN from the IRS and write the operating agreement yourself. Managed Service adds the operating agreement, the EIN, an advisor's review, and a licenses report. It also adds more than 150 forms with eSignature, which is why an owner leaves Basic. Expert Service adds an attorney review, tax returns prepared and filed, and bookkeeping, which means a team rather than a one-time filing.

A registered agent is a separate purchase, and most states require one during business hours. An owner who lives in the formation state and can be there on weekdays can serve as their own agent. Our registered agent guide is for owners who cannot be there.

You complete a questionnaire, LegalZoom prepares the articles, and the state still charges its own fee. Every package prints a service fee and then adds state filing fees, so the same package can cost more in another state. Texas sets the certificate of formation fee at $300 on the Secretary of State's Form 205 instructions. Our LLC startup cost guide shows how that fee changes by state.

The paid packages include people for the opening month and then charge the card. After that month, Managed Service bills the advisor monthly, and Expert Service bills the full team monthly. Cancel online or by calling (888) 310-0151 if you wanted a filing rather than a subscription. The form library and eSignature end with that subscription, so save what you need before you cancel.

The accuracy promise is narrow and does not cover a filing you broke yourself. If LegalZoom causes a rejection or an incorrect filing, it will correct that filing at no additional cost. A name you will not change, or details you typed, sits outside that promise.

Year one is the package, the state fee, and whatever you fail to cancel. Figures were checked on 17 October 2026 on LegalZoom's LLC packages, its registered agent page, ZenBusiness formation plans, Bizee's LLC packages, Swyft Filings, its agent page, and Rocket Lawyer pricing. The Texas fee in the totals is the Form 205 fee, and the EIN rule is the IRS EIN page.

Our count, not LegalZoom's, treats the included month as one month and the rest of year one as eleven charges. Eleven advisor charges come to $539 if the advisor stays on after the filing. A Texas Managed Service that keeps the advisor and skips the agent is the package, the $300 state fee, and those charges. That total is $1,088, the bill for an owner who never cancels.

Adding the agent, with the advisor canceled, brings the Texas total to $798 for an owner who cannot be there on weekdays and still cancels.

Expert Service is the expensive renewal, not the expensive checkout. The package is $50 more than Managed Service before the state fee, a weak reason to skip the attorney. Cancel the team and a Texas filing with no agent is $599, and only if you actually cancel. Keep the team for those eleven months and the extra charges are $1,089. The Texas total is then $1,688, the bill for keeping the attorney and the tax preparer. LegalZoom does not promise the tax filing survives a cancellation, so confirm that in writing.

Starter has no package fee, does not renew, and includes one optional free compliance year. That year later renews at the Pro price, so leaving it on starts a paid filing service. Pro renews yearly and covers the annual report plus up to two amendments, and the agent is extra on every package.

Pro, the agent, and the Texas fee come to $698 in year one, and both renew after that. A website-builder trial is already selected, you can clear it before paying, and leaving it renews at $15/mo as a site bill. Money Pro is a $30/mo bookkeeping add-on on the paid packages, separate from formation.

Bizee includes one free agent year in every package. Basic has no package fee, Standard is a one-time charge at the ZenBusiness Pro sticker, and Premium matches the LegalZoom Expert sticker. Bizee does not say whether the EIN or the operating agreement is included. It publishes no agent price after the free year, so the renewal cannot be priced from the package page.

Swyft Standard includes the EIN and an operating agreement, and Premium is the higher one-time package. The agent is quarterly, and four quarters come to $596, which can outweigh the formation package. A Texas Standard filing with no agent is $469, the comparison if you will be your own agent.

Standard, after a 7-day trial, makes the first entity registration free of Rocket Lawyer's fee, and you still pay the state. A Texas year on that plan with no agent is $449, and that total still leaves the EIN and the agent unpaid.

Plus and Pro list the EIN at $70 and the agent at $125/yr, so both stay add-ons. A later registration is a separate fee plus the state fee, so another company is not covered. ZenBusiness and Bizee sit on Toolradar beside these packages.

Buy Managed Service if you want the EIN and operating agreement handled, and you will cancel the advisor. That fits an owner who lives in the formation state, can be their own agent, and does not need an attorney on the articles.

Buy Expert Service only if you will use the attorney and the tax preparer, or you will cancel on that same clock. The checkout gap is small, and the monthly gap is what changes the bill. A foreign-owned LLC should ask whether the tax filing includes Form 5472 before paying. Our Form 5472 guide covers the penalty, and the doola review is the product for non-US owners.

Skip LegalZoom when the only job is the articles. Bizee Basic has no package fee and includes the agent for a year, which LegalZoom's free filing does not. ZenBusiness fits an owner who wants the annual report inside a renewing package. Rocket Lawyer fits an owner who wanted a membership and a first filing with no fee from that company.

The bank account comes after the state approves the LLC, so formation is not the last cost. See the Mercury review, the business bank accounts guide, and the free EIN guide.