Running your business involves being informed and updated on LLC and legal matters. But in doing so, you may need the help of LLC services, who can then help you avoid the inconvenience of deadlines for legal forms and other demanding compliances.
In this review, we evaluate a provider which not only is known for LLC services, but also for legal work that may be good for your business.
Pros
- Most services are offered at a much cheaper rate than law firms charge
- You can buy legal forms and re-print them multiple times as needed
- You can find a local attorney to help with a case
- There are thousands of articles and books authored by legal experts available
- Users get access to legal research guides
- It has a lot of positive online reviews
Cons
- Nolo outsources its LLC formation business and non-profit filings to Incorporate.com and LegalZoom
- Some negative reviews online stem from unsatisfied lawyers who are using Nolo's lead generation services
In search of a reliable but affordable LLC service provider? We highly recommend Incfile.
As an established name in the industry, Incfile can do all the necessary legwork to keep your business up-to-date and in compliance with state requirements and more.
- Budget-friendly
- Formed over 800 thousand businesses
- User-friendly platform
Nolo.Com Features
Experience and History
Nolo.com is the first website among other well-established online incorporation services to offer access to legal software, articles, books, ebooks, and legal forms to customers. They help users with the legal documents associated with starting an LLC formation or a new business. Nolo may also connect you to an actual lawyer in your area.
Nolo has been in existence for over 40 years since its founding in 1971. It is two decades older than MyCorporation which was founded 20 years ago. Since then, their software has grown to reach over a million visitors each month. Nolo’s goal is to make legal information available to everyone in a language that everyone can understand without complicated legal terms.
Nolo.com is part of a network of over 50 sites, all reasonably well known and related to legal services.
Packages and Pricing
Nolo.com offers several services with varying pricing for all of them just like other LLC services such as Better Legal Services. There are some free legal services from real attorneys, and there are paid ones.
Some of the services you don’t have to pay for are finding a lawyer by practice area or state and utilizing their informational articles. Based on this Nolo review, customers can search for and book local attorneys that may be able to help with cases and offer helpful legal advice and legal information.
Users can also freely read through materials and guides written by authorized attorneys. Meanwhile, Nolo offers paid products and services with respective conditions that determine its fee.
Forming your own LLC business: Nolo can help you start up a business with all the legal information you’ll need to make informed decisions. The depth of that information depends on what plan you choose. In this Nolo.com review, we’ll look at the different packages they offer.
The Basic Package is $49 plus the state fee. It includes name validation, operating agreements, articles of formation, automated error checking, and a guide to formalizing your new business.
The Standard Package costs $149 plus the state fee. Apart from the Basic Package offers, it includes tens of LLC business forms and an IRS application for your business tax ID or employee identification number.
Along with all the other inclusions in the Standard Package, Express offers a number of other additions. They include the company seal, a personalized LLC binder, 20 customized membership certificates, a transfer ledger, and index tabs.
Your state LLC application also gets first priority as Nolo ensures that they’re filed within a business day. You may expect your official LLC formation documents within two to three days. It costs $299 plus state fees.
Legal forms: You can get custom legal forms from Nolo and re-print them multiple times. Single-use prices range from $9-$15. If you want to have unlimited editing within the legal forms, Nolo charges between $30-$44 per year.
Form a corporation or non-profit organization: You can form either one of these business organizations for a starting cost of $99 plus state fees.
Nolo.com Turnaround Time
Depending on what plan you choose to form your LLC formation business, you can have vastly different turnaround times and results. All plans below Nolo’s Express Package can expect to wait around two to three weeks for results.
As per our Nolo.com review, the turnaround time is way longer compared to that of Direct Incorporation. While Express Package users get their business documents and legal books filed within a day and delivered within two to three days.
Nolo.com Registered Agent Service
Nolo’s Registered Agent Service doesn’t come with any of its legal packages. In fact, it’s a recently launched feature that you can only buy at a separate cost through its partner, Vcorp Services. The price for this feature is currently undisclosed. However, customers need the best registered agent service when forming a business entity such as a limited liability company or a corporation.
According to Nolo, there are several ways to fulfill this legal requirement. But, they haven’t yet shared their methods on their website. However, users can book and appoint a person of their choice as a registered agent through Nolo.
Other Notable Features
Apart from the ones above, Nolo also has an extensive library filled with legal papers and books written by experienced attorneys. There’s also calculator software that has the formula for many legal equations.
For lawyers, Nolo has provided a page where attorneys can sign up to get a lead when one or more customers sign up on Nolo. In the same vein, Nolo.com also helps people find a lawyer who can help with their cases, including small claims and business formation.
Another company that you can trust is Northwest Registered Agent. You can check our full review of Northwest Registered Agent here.
Nolo.com Customer Support
Our team observed that Nolo has a great FAQs page with an extensive list of legal questions answered by a real lawyer. Beneath that is the “Contact.” A customer can only contact the company through e-mailed forms at any time unlike the online customer service provided by SunDoc Filings.
But you can phone customer service for an inquiry (including booking a lawyer or asking for a refund) on Mondays to Fridays from 8 am to 5 pm.
Customer Reviews
The Nolo open library and online articles have won over many people, and Nolo has hundreds of positive online reviews for the legal information and leads they offer.
Their LLC Formation business plan also works well for most customers, including small business owners. The majority of the negative Nolo.com reviews are from law practitioners who review that Nolo doesn’t provide the best quality leads and offers bad legal customer support.
For now, Nolo has a 4.7-star rating on Google, and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB). It enjoys the same rate as other top Limited Liability Companies today. It also continued to get good reviews on many sites, among them from the site Sitejabber. Clearly, based on our Nolo review, we find that this software service is still worthy of trust and use.
Nolo.com Alternative
The best alternative for Nolo is LegalZoom or Northwest. They have great legal support, a high rating, and allows you to pay monthly to book and access legal help[1]. But they do not connect people with lawyers as Nolo does.
FAQ
How much does a Nolo cost?
The cost of a Nolo depends on what you’re using it for. Some of their services include getting legal advice on LLC formation, finding leads, and printing legal forms, articles, and documents. Nolo’s price ranges from $0 to $299, exclusive of state fees.
Is Nolo free?
Some services of Nolo are free, like finding an article (or form) or finding an attorney or lawyer. They will only need you to provide an internet connection and a phone. Others like creating a limited liability company, online small business formation, or any other type of company entail corresponding fees.
Nolo.com Review Conclusion
After our experts surveyed helpful information, various resources, and online reviews for Nolo.com, we’re certain that Nolo.com is one beneficial option for your online business formation. Nolo does the work of libraries, lawyers, and firms at a reduced price, so it’s no wonder that they’re well-known in the law industry.
Our team recommends taking advantage of their legal features but be aware that Nolo takes no responsibility if the practitioner or lawyer found on its site cannot fulfill your request when it comes to books and forms.
Forming a professional limited liability companies (PLLCs) or professional corporations (PCs) is not simple. Knowing how PLLCs and PCs differ is one crucial step before making a decision on what business to form. Read our detailed comparison between PLLCs and PCs here!
