Doola vs LegalZoom

Features, pricing, and contract terms compared

Patrick Ward Patrick Ward Follow Published: Dec 08, 2022

Doola and Legal Zoom both offer extensive compliance services for new companies. Doola is focused on non-resident founders who need guidance through the US compliance process. Legal Zoom is more self-service for a wider variety of company types. Their wider legal offerings are beneficial, but can be purchased off-the-shelf regardless of whether you use them for the LLC or C-Corp formation process. Overall, we suggest Doola for non-resident companies, and Legal Zoom for resident companies with less need for regulatory guidance.

Content on this page does not constitute financial advice. It is intended for general information purposes only. NanoGlobals may be compensated when featuring partner brands.

  • Best for most companies: Doola (View current offers)
  • Good fit for mid-size companies outside tech: LegalZoom

Note: most of our clients choose LegalZoom over Doola based on their longer track record and brand familiarity with investors.

Doola

3.2/5 stars

Doola is laser-focused on serving non-resident founders, and even has specific products for DAOs alongside a developer-friendly API. It's best for non-resident founders who need hands-on guidance throughout the formation process.

Doola data validated October 2024
Base price $297 + state fees
Registered Agent service Included
Registered agent renewal fee $197

LegalZoom

3.4/5 stars

Legal Zoom has a much wider library of legal resources, but can be confusing for non-residents who don't have a basic understanding of the US regulatory system. It's best for those who are already in the US and just need a cheaper alternative to hiring a lawyer.

LegalZoom data validated October 2024
Base Price $79 + state fees
Registered Agent service Not included
Registered agent renewal fee $299

Summary of key differences

FeatureDoolaLegalZoom
Entry price$297 + state fees$79 + state fees
Standard processing time1–3 business day20 business days
Banking, mail, tax service✅✅
View PlansView Plans

Pricing Analysis: Doola vs LegalZoom

While Legal Zoom's basic LLC formation packages beat out Doola on price by around $100, there's a cost in terms of wait time and complexity. When accounting for add-ons for compliance, registered agent, and other services, the cost is roughly equivalent. Doola has higher costs, but provides more clarity around what services new companies do and don't need. Finally, they provide much better service when it comes to bank setup for non-residents.

Doola pricing

The base pricing from Doola is less expensive than LegalZoom. However, note that pricing is impacted by state fees. For example, Doola customers setting up an LLC in Delaware will see an initial cost of $387 (package cost plus the state LLC fee). In Wyoming, the same package would cost $497 because of the higher state fee.

Doola pricing data validated October 2024
Base Price $297 + state fees
Registered agent renewal fee $197
Foreign qualification fee Variable

LegalZoom pricing

LegalZoom is the more expensive formation service offering compared with Doola. However, note that pricing is impacted by state fees. For example, LegalZoom customers setting up an LLC in Delaware will see an initial cost of $169 (package cost plus the state LLC fee). In Wyoming, the same package would cost $279 because of the higher state fee.

LegalZoom data validated October 2024
Base Price $79 + state fees
Registered agent renewal fee $299
Foreign qualification fee $229

Doola vs LegalZoom market value analysis

Market average based on analysis of 10 formation services providers.
MetricMarket AverageDoolaLegalZoom
Lowest package price$124 before state fees$297 + state fees$79 + state fees
Formation processing time8 business days1–3 business day20 business days
Registered agent annual cost$164 Variable $229
Foreign qualification fee $142 Variable $229

User experience & onboarding

Doola offers a mix of developer-friendly and user-friendly products, with the centerpiece being their chat-based formation process. Their chatbot follows a strict if/else script to collect basic information about your business and provides recommendations along the way about which state to incorporate based on your inputs. While we don't agree with their suggestions in many cases, the service is free and helpful for some companies. Pricing is up-front, although the renewal fees aren't displayed until the end of the chat. To be fair, these fees can vary based on the state and formation type, which is probably why they info-gate it.

Onboarding for LegalZoom aims to demystify legal services with respect to business formation. Optionality is built-in to the flow with micro-chat questionnaire to help business owners determine the right type of business formation along with options to pick from a set menu with transparent pricing. Add-ons populate throughout the onboarding, but given the transparent pricing up front, it isn't a surprise to any prospective business owner.

Legal Zoom is an a-la-carte service, but in spite of the wide range of offerings, they do a good job of onboarding users with forms that push to the correct packages and add-ons. Doola's onboarding chat is more streamlined in our testing, but this largely comes down to the focus on a specific customer type (non-resident founders) at the company level.

Formation speed

Doola has a big lead on Legal Zoom when it comes to processing times, delivering your company setup more than a week faster in most cases. This is possible because Doola is set up to accomodate a specific type of customer, and has largely automated the process to support their white-labeled API product.

Doola's services are tailored around their API offerings, meaning that it's heavily automated and extremely fast. The only holdup customers will experience is with state processing times; Doola's processing times are effectively instant.

LegalZoom's twenty business day processing time is in the highest range for formation services. When compared to lawyers in general, this speed might seem swift, and indeed their services are indicative of the 'legaltech' market that reduces the cost of traditionally expensive legal advice. However, their formation speed is not up to scratch when compared to Business Formation-specific services that promise processing in a handful of days.

Are they worth the cost?

Doola is heavily focused on non-US residents, and is unique in their product offerings for specific LLC use cases such as DAOs. While their obvious competitors like Stripe Atlas focus on the venture-funded startup crowd, Doola provides tools for more modest e-commerce and software companies. In addition to formation, they offer basic legal and regulatory compliance services in the $1.5–3k range.

LegalZoom is geared towards both the SMB and Solopreneur markets, with a strong emphasis on the individual business owner themselves. Their positioning is indicative of trying to be a one-stop-shop for businesses that have legal needs but are fearful of the costly retainers incurred by an in-house counsel or legal contractor. LegalZoom's products look to cover the breadth of what an SMB or Solopreneur business owner would need - not only professionally such as formation, trademarks, and ongoing contracts, but also personal with products for estate planning, family law, and real estate.

NanoGlobals' editor's rating of Doola is among the lower ones in our index. It is based on Doola's value matrix for a clear demographic, but offset by issues including high cost of upsold services and low company history. On the plus side, Doola provides ultra-tailored tools for non-residents and DAOs rather than trying to serve every type of business.

NanoGlobals editor's rating for LegalZoom reflects its comprehensive nature of legal services for an aspiring business owner. LegalZoom earns points for being more cost-efficient than regular attorney services along with ease of onboarding via chat and helpful introductory flows to their products. Unfortunately, they miss the mark on pricing and processing times when compared to the industry average, outweighing any perceived advantage of being legal experts since, like with all services in this formation niche, their recommendations don't constitute legal advice.

Author Credentials

Patrick Ward is an expert on working with startups and new businesses. He has 8 years experience serving tech-enabled companies with staffing and growth.

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