Willful vs. LegalWills:
Modern simplicity beats legacy complexity
Both create a legally-valid Canadian will. How you get there is different. Skip the manual setup, the renewal fees, and the decision paralysis . Write your will online in 20 minutes, and update it free for life.
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How Willful and LegalWills compare
Both platforms produce a legally valid Canadian will. Here are three of the biggest differences in how they work.
Will-building approach
LegalWills uses an a-la-carte form: you choose which sections apply to your situation and fill in open text boxes. Willful uses a guided questionnaire, asking you targeted questions in plain language. The platform generates the matching legal clauses, tailored for you.
Updates and revisions
LegalWills includes one year of edits with your purchase. After year one, ongoing edits require an annual membership ($14.95–$24.95/year) or a lifetime membership ($59.95–$199.95). Willful includes unlimited updates with every plan, free for life, with no subscription.
Executor communication
LegalWills leaves executor notification to the will-maker. Willful includes a built-in feature to notify your executor — the person who carries out your wishes — the moment you appoint them.
Willful was built for how Canadians live now
Mobile-first. Plain language. No subscriptions. Lawyer-reviewed in every province.
Willful or LegalWills?
Here's the difference.
LegalWills gives you a long menu of legal options and expects you to know which ones apply to your situation. Willful asks you plain-language questions and builds your will around your answers. If something doesn't add up, Willful flags it, preventing the risk of conflicting clauses in your will.
On pricing, LegalWills includes one year of edits. After that, updates cost $14.95 to $24.95 a year, or up to $199.95 for a lifetime plan. With Willful, every update is free, forever. Your Estate Inventory is built in too, covering heirlooms, photo libraries, social media, and crypto. LegalWills charges for similar tools
as paid add-ons starting at $17.95.
Willful is built mobile-first and takes about 20 minutes.
When you appoint your executor, one click notifies them automatically. With LegalWills, that's on you.
Willful vs. LegalWills at a glance
A closer look at what's included
Willful cost vs. LegalWills cost: the 10-year math
A will isn't a one-time document. The average Canadian updates theirs three to five times. So the price you should compare isn't the sticker price — it's what your estate plan costs you over a decade.
When updates are free, you're more likely to keep your will current. That's the real value: a will that reflects your life today, not the version of your life from five years ago.
Log in any time. Update what you need. Print and sign. Cost of each update: $0.
Willful (Premium): $199 + lifetime free updates = $199
Year one is free. After that, annual memberships run $14.95 to $24.95 depending on your plan. Lifetime memberships are available from $59.95 to $199.95.
LegalWills (Yearly Premium): $89.96 + 9 renewals at $19.95 = ~$269.51
What Canadians say on Reddit and Trustpilot
If you've spent time searching for "online will Canada" on Reddit, you've seen Willful and LegalWills come up most often. Here's what users actually say.
Which one is right for you?
Choose Willful if:
Choose LegalWills if:
Simplicity is a safety feature
For most Canadians — roughly 80 to 90% — an estate is straightforward. A home. A partner. Kids. Some savings. The complexity of a legacy platform doesn't add value here. It adds risk.
Willful's guided platform isn't just faster. It's harder to get wrong. And because updates are free for life, your will keeps up with your life — not the other way around.
Ready to write your will?
20 minutes. Lawyer-reviewed. Free updates for life. No subscription.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Both platforms produce legally valid wills. Willful's clauses are reviewed by lawyers in every province where Willful operates (all 10 provinces), and Willful is recognized by both the Law Society of Ontario's Access to Innovation program and the Law Society of British Columbia. LegalWills is reviewed by Canadian lawyers and serves all 10 provinces plus the three territories.
It depends on the time horizon. LegalWills' starting price ($39.95) is lower than Willful's ($129-$199) on day one. But Willful includes unlimited updates free for life, and LegalWills charges an annual or lifetime membership for ongoing edits ($14.95–$24.95/year, or $59.95–$199.95 lifetime). Over 10 years, Willful's total cost will remain $129 or $199 depending on the plan you choose. LegalWills' is about $269.51.
Yes, on either platform — but the experiences differ. Willful is built mobile-first, so the questionnaire, fields, and save-points are designed for a phone screen. LegalWills was designed for desktop; it works on mobile, but with more zooming and scrolling.
A will is a living document. Most Canadians update theirs three to five times — after a marriage, a baby, a new home, or a new executor. With Willful, you log back in any time, change what you need, and reprint and re-sign. There's no charge for updates, ever. With LegalWills, after your first year you'll need an active annual or lifetime membership to make edits.
Both platforms support witness wills (sometimes called holograph wills) for Quebec residents. Quebec also recognizes notarial wills, which are drafted and stored by a notary — these legally require an in-person notary, so neither online platform produces them. If you need a notarial will, work directly with a Quebec notary.
LegalWills offers options for Spousal Trusts, Henson Trusts, Life Interest Trusts, and Expat wills (for assets in places like the UK or US). Willful is built for straightforward Canadian estates — a home, a partner, kids, savings, investments — which fits roughly 80–90% of Canadians. If you have meaningful assets in multiple countries or need a specialty trust, LegalWills or an estate lawyer may be a better fit.
A guided platform (Willful) asks targeted questions in plain language and generates the matching legal clauses based on your answers — you don't need to know which clauses apply to you. A form-based platform (LegalWills) gives you a menu of sections to choose from and open text boxes to fill in. The form approach offers more flexibility; the guided approach reduces the risk of contradictions or unclear language. Creating a legal will involves abiding with provincial and territorial laws. We are working with our team of estate lawyers to expand across Canada.