looch Start is built for founders who need to operate after formation
LegalZoom is a strong choice when you need a broad legal-services company and access to legal help. looch Start is the better LegalZoom alternative for a founder who wants to form a company, get an EIN, and move straight into accounts, Smartcards, payments, and accounting in the same app.
That’s the real split. LegalZoom helps you create a legal entity and offers a wide menu of related services. looch Start treats formation as the first move in running a business. Once the entity is active, the same system is there to help you receive money, control spending, and keep your books current.
looch is operated by Simplicity Fintech Inc, a financial technology company, not a bank. Account services are provided in partnership with Stripe, with funds held at Fifth Third Bank N.A., Member FDIC. looch Smartcards are Visa Commercial Cards powered by Stripe and issued by Celtic Bank. LegalZoom is a legal-services company, not a financial platform or bank.
The better option depends on what you need next. If the next job is legal guidance, contracts, trademarks, or estate planning, LegalZoom has more to offer. If the next job’s opening and operating a startup, looch Start keeps the handoff from formation to finance inside one product.
The all-in price matters more than the entry price
A formation service can advertise a low starting price while charging separately for the parts that make a company usable. The useful comparison isn’t the first number on a pricing page. It’s what you pay for state filing, an EIN, formation documents, and a registered agent for the first year.
looch Start is $249 all-in. That includes the state filing fee, the EIN, a registered agent and virtual office for the first year, and formation documents. You can form a VC-ready Delaware C corporation, a Delaware LLC, a Wyoming LLC, or a Florida LLC through looch Start.
LegalZoom uses tiers. Its Basic tier is advertised at $0 plus state filing fees. Its Pro tier is $249 and its Premium tier is $299, with state filing fees charged separately. The EIN and other essentials are paid additions on the entry tier.
A comparable LegalZoom setup is presented at about $587 once an EIN, a year of registered agent service, and an S corporation election are added, plus state filing fees. The EIN is listed at $79. That doesn’t make LegalZoom a bad service. It means founders should compare the complete setup they need, not a headline package that leaves key work outside the box.
The renewal is where the difference becomes harder to ignore. looch renews the registered agent and virtual office together at $49/year. LegalZoom’s registered agent service is $249/year. Formation is a one-time event. Keeping a company in good standing isn’t.
The formation packages solve different problems
Both services file entity documents with the state. The difference is whether formation ends as a delivered document set or begins an operating system for the business.
State filing is included with looch Start
looch includes the state filing fee in its $249 formation price. LegalZoom charges state filing fees on top of every package tier.
For a founder choosing between a Delaware C corporation and an LLC, entity choice should lead the decision. The service comes second. Read the Delaware C corporation guide if you expect to raise venture capital. If you are choosing an LLC state, compare Delaware and Wyoming LLCs before you file.
An EIN without an SSN or ITIN is part of the looch Start flow
looch obtains an EIN during formation at no extra cost, including for founders without an SSN or ITIN. That path takes about four days and ends with the IRS CP-575 confirmation letter.
This isn’t a small detail for international founders. An entity without an EIN can’t do much of the work it was formed to do. looch Start is designed to carry that founder from entity formation into the financial tools the entity needs afterward.
LegalZoom can obtain an EIN, but it’s a paid add-on at $79 and is bundled into Pro and Premium packages rather than the Basic tier. Its public workflow isn’t a clear fit for founders without an SSN or ITIN. If that’s your situation, confirm LegalZoom’s current eligibility requirements directly before you commit.
Registered agent service is not only a first-year question
Every formed company needs a registered agent in its state. looch includes registered agent service in the first year and renews it with the virtual office at $49/year.
LegalZoom sells registered agent service separately at $249/year. LegalZoom may still be the right provider if its legal-services ecosystem is worth the added cost to you. But founders should treat the registered agent renewal as part of the decision, not as a footnote after formation.
looch includes documents for a fundable company
A startup planning to raise needs more than a filed entity. looch’s VC-ready package includes a stock purchase agreement, an IP assignment agreement, and a Section 83(b) election draft.
LegalZoom provides an operating agreement on its Pro tier and offers a broad catalog of legal documents. Its published formation packages don’t list the stock purchase, IP assignment, and Section 83(b) package that looch includes for a VC-ready formation.
That distinction matters most for founders who know they are building toward institutional financing. It matters less for a local business that needs a straightforward LLC and expects to use legal counsel for specific work later.
The virtual office keeps formation connected to the business
looch includes a virtual office with formation. It provides a business address, registered agent service, and mail handling. It renews at $49/year alongside the registered agent.
A virtual office isn’t listed among LegalZoom’s formation-package inclusions. LegalZoom’s model is broader legal support. looch’s model is a business foundation that continues into the app you use after formation.
looch includes the S corporation election workflow
looch lets you make the S corporation election in-app at no extra cost. LegalZoom treats the election as a paid extra, and looch’s comparison cites about $60 for it. LegalZoom doesn’t publish a standalone price for this on its public pages, so confirm the current charge before deciding.
An S corporation election is a tax decision, not a default upgrade. A service can make filing easier, but it can’t decide whether the election fits your ownership, compensation, and tax situation. Talk with a qualified tax professional before making that call.
The side-by-side comparison makes the tradeoff clear
| Feature | looch Start | LegalZoom |
|---|---|---|
| All-in formation price | $249, state filing included | Packages $0 / $249 / $299; about $587 once EIN, registered agent, and S corporation election are added, plus state filing fees |
| State filing fee | Included | Charged on top of every tier |
| EIN | Included at no extra cost | $79 add-on, bundled into Pro and Premium tiers |
| EIN without SSN or ITIN | Yes, about four days, with IRS CP-575 | Not a clear fit; confirm eligibility directly |
| Registered agent, first year | Included | Sold separately at $249/year, not bundled in formation packages |
| Registered agent renewal | $49/year with virtual office | $249/year |
| Virtual office | Included, renews at $49/year | Not listed in formation packages |
| VC-ready documents | Included: Stock purchase agreement, IP assignment, and Section 83(b) draft | Not in published formation packages |
| S corporation election | In-app, at no extra cost | Paid extra; looch cites about $60, with no standalone price published |
| Filing speed | Filed with the state in one business day | Tiered processing options |
| Entity options | Delaware C corporation, Delaware LLC, Wyoming LLC, Florida LLC | LLC, C corporation, S corporation, nonprofit, and more |
| Attorney access and legal plans | Not offered | Yes; Business Attorney Plan $469/year or $259 for a six-month term |
| Trademark, estate, and contract services | Not offered | Yes, broad legal catalog |
| Mobile-first app | Yes | Web-based |
| Path into financial accounts | Yes, through no-fee business accounts, Smartcards, payments, and accounting | Not offered as part of formation |
| Formation approach | Built to continue into business operations | Built to support a broad legal-services catalog |
| Best fit | Founders who want formation and financial operations in one app | Founders who need attorney access and broader legal services |
LegalZoom wins when legal breadth is the priority
LegalZoom has real advantages, and they’re meaningful for the right founder.
It’s a familiar legal brand. LegalZoom has formed companies for a long time and is a recognizable name to founders, accountants, lawyers, and business partners. That familiarity can reduce uncertainty for someone who wants a known legal-services provider.
It offers attorney access. LegalZoom connects customers to an attorney network and sells a Business Attorney Plan with consultations and contract reviews. The plan is $39.09/month billed annually, or $469/year, and $259 for a six-month term. looch doesn’t provide legal advice or attorney access.
It covers legal work beyond formation. LegalZoom offers trademark and copyright registration, contracts, document review, wills, living trusts, powers of attorney, and compliance services. Its attorney-led trademark registration is $899 plus the USPTO’s $350-per-class filing fee. A last will and testament starts at $129, and a living trust starts at $399.
That breadth is valuable when your business and personal legal needs sit under the same roof. If you want a provider to help with a trademark, a contract review, and estate planning in addition to formation, LegalZoom has a wider catalog than looch.
It offers more entity types. looch Start is intentionally focused on the entity types most relevant to founders building Delaware C corporations, Delaware LLCs, Wyoming LLCs, and Florida LLCs. LegalZoom serves a wider range of entity needs, including nonprofits and other structures. A founder with an unusual entity requirement may find LegalZoom’s range more useful.
looch Start wins when formation is the start of operating
looch Start isn’t trying to be a legal department. It’s trying to remove the awkward handoff that usually follows formation. looch Start is $249 all-in including state filing, versus a comparable LegalZoom setup around $587 once an EIN, a year of registered agent service, and an S corporation election are added, plus state filing fees.
With a conventional formation service, the entity is filed and then the founder starts over. Find a business account. Apply again. Enter the company details again. Set up cards, payments, and accounting in separate tools. Keep the stack connected yourself.
looch Start takes a different path. After your entity is active and your EIN is confirmed, you can onboard into no-fee business accounts, issue Smartcards with spend controls, accept payments, and use real-time accounting. The business details formed through looch Start are already inside the system that helps you run the business.
That’s the part LegalZoom doesn’t fill. LegalZoom can help establish the legal entity. looch is built to help that entity operate after the documents clear.
The financial side is specific, not generic. Smartcards can be issued from the app and controlled by spending limits, merchant categories, and other guardrails. Payments can be accepted by card or through instant pay by bank. Accounting entries are categorized as transactions happen, so the books don’t wait for a manual cleanup session.
For a founder, this means fewer disconnected accounts to open and fewer business details to repeat. Formation, accounts, spending, payments, and accounting are designed as one flow. No second application. No separate system to stitch together after the company exists.
The practical choice depends on the job you need done
| If your priority is this | The better fit is likely |
|---|---|
| Attorney access and ongoing legal support | LegalZoom |
| Trademarks, contracts, estate planning, or a broad legal catalog | LegalZoom |
| A wider range of entity structures | LegalZoom |
| A low all-in formation price with state filing included | looch Start |
| An EIN without an SSN or ITIN | looch Start |
| VC-ready formation documents in the package | looch Start |
| A registered agent and virtual office that renew together | looch Start |
| Formation that continues into accounts, Smartcards, payments, and accounting | looch Start |
The key is to choose based on the work that follows formation. Do not pay for attorney access if what you need is a financial operating system. Do not choose a financial platform expecting it to replace counsel for legal questions.
LegalZoom is the better fit for founders who need legal help
Choose LegalZoom if you want a nationally recognized legal-services company and are comfortable assembling the rest of your business stack separately.
It’s especially worth considering if you want an attorney relationship, expect to need contract or trademark help, need a broader choice of legal services, or are forming an entity outside looch Start’s focused set of options. LegalZoom’s legal catalog is its advantage, and looch doesn’t claim to replace it.
LegalZoom can also be a sensible choice for a founder who already has a bank, accounting system, and payment stack. If formation is the only missing piece, a formation-focused legal provider may be enough.
looch Start is the better fit for founders ready to run the company
Choose looch Start if you want formation to lead directly into how the business gets paid, manages spend, and keeps its books.
It’s a particularly strong fit if you want $249 all-in formation with state filing included, need an EIN without an SSN or ITIN, want a VC-ready Delaware C corporation package, or care about the $49/year registered agent and virtual office renewal.
It’s also the clearer choice if you don’t want to spend the period after formation rebuilding your company profile across a bank, card program, payment processor, and accounting tool. looch Start gets the entity formed, then opens the path into the rest of the looch app.
You can review the full product and fee details on looch pricing. The point isn’t to hide the decision behind a package name. It’s to show what comes next and what each provider is actually built to do.
The bottom line is simple
LegalZoom is a credible choice for founders who need broad legal services, attorney access, and a familiar legal brand. looch Start is the better LegalZoom alternative for a founder who wants a fundable company at a clear all-in price, then wants to operate that company in the same app.
Ready to form and start operating in one place? looch Start forms your entity, gets your EIN even without an SSN, and opens your financial accounts for $249 all-in including state filing. Review looch pricing before you decide.
