SUNDOC FILINGS VS. LEGALZOOM 2024

When we started researching SunDoc and LegalZoom, we focused on three main questions:

• Is it a good deal?
• Is there a better deal?
• Who uses this service and how was their experience?

Answering these questions will boost your confidence so you can choose the best service to get your business up and running.

Both LegalZoom and SunDoc are unique in that they offer most of their additional services as a la carte fees. Neither include registered agent service in their base formation prices, nor do they include operating agreement services.

That being said, SunDoc offers their additional features for less money. While their formation packages are not the cheapest on the market, their basic package price is in line with LegalZoom’s and their higher-tier packages are less expensive than LegalZoom’s higher-tier packages. Their annual registered agent service is cheaper than LegalZoom, and their combined price of EIN registration and operating agreement is less than LegalZoom’s bundled package.

LegalZoom is a popular and established formation service, but potential customers should be aware that many of LegalZoom’s services come at a high premium cost. All of their packages include a 30-minute tax consultation, and their higher-tier packages come with a “Founder’s Kit” for storing important business documents. However, even these nice-to-have features don’t offset the potentially high formation costs.

SunDoc Filings
The available online reviews for SunDoc are mostly positive, with satisfied users praising the customer service system and the punctual formation process.

“I’ve used them 3 times now, 1 urgent LLC and 2 non-urgent. They have delivered on time and been very responsive. Won’t hesitate to use again going forward.”

“We’ve used SunDoc to file paperwork for multiple entities in the last few months. Seeing as though we’re based in Southern California, we were previously subject to long waiting periods when filing new California LLC paperwork. SunDoc helped us through the entire process of filing LLC paperwork through them and played a key role in getting the documents filed. With the 24 hour filing service, SunDoc will be able to have scanned confirmation of filing that same day (if it is submitted before a certain time).”

LegalZoom
LegalZoom’s available online customer reviews are mixed in their satisfaction levels. While their website has many positive verified reviews, other platforms have more negative verified reviews. Satisfied users were often first-time business owners looking for extra legal help.

“Everything is working out well with LegalZoom, for the most part. But they did, most of the time, not verify to me how to get the documents signed correctly to start my business. So, I was prolonged for four months from doing so.”

“For a couple of years, they charged me and I didn’t know. I called them and asked why they charged me. They said it was not refundable and that I put them as a secretary. I told them I didn’t know that they were gonna be my secretary. They charged me $300 for doing nothing and I never got my money back. But LegalZoom was okay. They also do their purpose.”

There are other formation services out there that include more in their packages for less money. Our favorite is ZenBusiness, which offers formation services starting at $39 (plus state fees) and includes a year of registered agent service as well as operating agreement services.

LegalZoom and SunDoc are both a la carte-heavy formation services, but SunDoc’s base package prices and a la carte features are less expensive than LegalZoom’s. SunDoc also has more consistently positive online reviews.

RATING DETAILS: SUNDOC FILINGS VS. LEGALZOOM

This section takes an in-depth look at SunDoc Filings VS. Incfile, in terms of:

• Value
• Customer service
• Ease of use
• Included features

SunDoc’s base formation package prices are average. The issue arises when including essential features like EIN registration, registered agent service, and operating agreement services — they all cost extra. Only SunDoc’s highest-tier package includes EIN registration with its package price. Many other formation services offer these services in at least their middle and high-tier packages, while some include these features in all packages.

LegalZoom is one of the most expensive services on the market. While their basic package price is in line with SunDoc’s, the leap from the basic package to the middle-tier package is about $250 and only introduces their “Founder’s Kit” and their business newsletter. Like SunDoc, LegalZoom also makes important services a la carte, including EIN registration, operating agreement services, and registered agent service. The cost of formation can quickly add up.

SunDoc has a responsive and attentive customer support system. They offer both phone and email support during normal business hours. Most of SunDoc’s online customer reviews are in praise of the customer service that businesses received during the formation process. However, some of the customer reviews note feeling unheard when they had complaints about the service received.

Some customer reviews note issues with LegalZoom’s customer service. Many of the available complaints concerned a slow formation process due to lack of communication on the company’s part. Other reviews claim issues with ongoing subscription service charges that they never signed up for and don’t want. For what it’s worth, LegalZoom makes themselves available to customers six days a week via phone — most competitors only offer support during regular business days.

SunDoc has an easy-to-navigate website. They do not hide any of the fees for additional services, and their package comparison page has a straightforward and informative layout. The checkout process is step-by-step, and navigating to the rest of the website is fairly simple as well.

LegalZoom’s formation process shouldn’t take more than 15-20 minutes. In the event that you cannot complete your order in one session, LegalZoom will email you a link with your saved answers so that you pick back up where you left off. However, it took us a while to find their package comparison page using a search engine, as finding it through LegalZoom’s website is not very intuitive. Most of the additional services are not laid out on the package comparison page anyways — we had to find them through the checkout process.

SunDoc offers essential features for an additional cost to formation. While their competitors tend to include registered agent service, EIN registration, and operating agreements in some of their packages, SunDoc offers these services a la carte. The only exception is their highest-tier Premier package, which includes EIN registration with its cost. Adding other key services, however, can make the cost go up significantly.

LegalZoom also makes most of their features a la carte. Like SunDoc, they do not include registered agent service, EIN registration, or operating agreements in their packages. However, their additional fees are more expensive than SunDoc’s — LegalZoom’s annual registered agent service is $249 compared to SunDoc’s $149. Additionally, because two of their packages are more expensive than SunDoc, the overall cost is going to be more.

SunDoc and LegalZoom do more than just form your LLC. They each offer additional services, either included in their formation packages or sold separately. You can view the following chart below for our side-by-side look at each company’s lowest-cost LLC formation package.

Please note that the service costs for each tier do not include the State filing fees.

Neither SunDoc nor LegalZoom offer much more than basic formation at this level. LegalZoom customers looking for EIN registration have to buy it as a bundle with operating agreement service — the price of which is more expensive than SunDoc’s combined EIN/operating agreement price.

LegalZoom’s Standard tier is about four times the price of its Economy tier and about three times the price of SunDoc’s Key tier. Neither middle tier adds much to their respective basic packages — LegalZoom adds a “Formation Kit” to store business documents, and SunDoc adds a name availability check.

It is only at this tier that SunDoc includes EIN registration, while LegalZoom continues to offer it as part of an a la carte bundle. LegalZoom introduces priority filing and shipping, while SunDoc also includes an LLC kit and seal.