Is Contract.diy a replacement for a lawyer?

For standard business contracts — NDAs, freelance agreements, service contracts, lease agreements — Contract.diy generates documents that follow established legal conventions and include the clauses professionals typically require. For complex situations involving litigation risk, regulatory compliance, or unusual deal structures, you should still consult a lawyer. Think of Contract.diy as the tool that handles the 80% of contracts that follow predictable patterns, so you can save legal spend for the 20% that actually need custom attention.

How does the credit system work?

You get 3 free credits when you sign up — no credit card required. Each credit produces one finalized contract that you can export as PDF. If you need more, credit packages start at $4.99 for 5 credits. For regular contract volume, the Starter plan at $9/month includes 25 credits. One credit, one contract, no hidden fees.

What types of contracts can I create?

Contract.diy supports NDAs (mutual and one-way), freelance contracts, residential lease agreements, service agreements, and custom contracts. Each type includes jurisdiction-specific clauses, signature blocks, notices provisions, and governing law references tailored to your selected jurisdiction.

What does jurisdiction-aware mean?

Contracts are not one-size-fits-all. A lease agreement in California has different requirements than one in Texas or New York. Contract.diy generates clauses that reference the specific laws and conventions of your selected jurisdiction — governing law, notice requirements, and applicable statutory references. This means your contract is not just a template with blanks filled in, but a document structured for where you actually do business.

Can I edit the contract after it is generated?

Yes. Every generated contract opens in a section-based editor where you can modify any clause, add sections, or remove provisions that do not apply. The editor shows you exactly what will appear in the exported PDF. You can also use the built-in contract assistant to get plain language explanations of any clause before making changes.

Why Does a Simple Contract Still Cost $500? We Built the Fix.

There is a $500 problem hiding in plain sight.

A freelancer lands a new client. The project is $3,000 — good money, worth protecting with a proper contract. They search online, find a template that sort of fits, spend an hour customizing it, and still wonder if the confidentiality clause actually covers their jurisdiction. Or they hire a lawyer, wait three days, and pay $500 for a document that follows the same structure as every other freelance contract.

A small landlord needs a lease agreement. Same story. A startup founder needs an NDA before a partnership meeting tomorrow. Same story again.

The pattern is always the same: basic contracts that follow well-established legal conventions, but accessing them costs either hundreds of dollars or hours of uncertainty.

We built Contract.diy to fix this.

The Problem Is Not Complexity — It Is Access

Most contracts are not complex. NDAs, freelance agreements, service contracts, and residential leases follow predictable structures. They need the right clauses for the right jurisdiction, proper signature blocks, notices provisions, and governing law references. Lawyers know this. That is why they use templates too.

The difference is that lawyers charge $200–$500 to customize those templates for your situation, and they should — their expertise, liability insurance, and time have real value. But when the contract is straightforward and the terms are standard, that $500 buys you a document that looks almost identical to the one they created for their last three clients.

The gap between "I know what I need" and "I have a legally structured document" should not cost $500. It should not take three days. And it should not require copy-pasting clauses from the first Google result and hoping for the best.

What Contract.diy Does Differently

Contract.diy generates complete, jurisdiction-aware contracts in minutes. Not templates with blanks. Not generic documents you need a lawyer to review. Professionally structured legal documents built around the specific terms and jurisdiction you select.

Here is how it works:

Pick your contract type. NDA, freelance contract, lease agreement, service agreement, or custom.
Fill in the details. A guided form walks you through parties, terms, and options — three steps, nothing overwhelming.
Get your contract. A complete document with all standard clauses: confidentiality, payment terms, termination, notices, signature blocks, governing law — all tailored to your jurisdiction.
Edit if needed. Every section is editable. Add clauses, remove provisions, adjust language.
Export as PDF. Done. One contract, ready to sign.

The entire process takes less time than finding a template online and figuring out which clauses to keep.

Built for the People Who Actually Need Contracts

We did not build Contract.diy for law firms or Fortune 500 companies. We built it for:

Freelancers and independent contractors who need a new freelance contract for every client but cannot justify $500 in legal fees on a $3,000 project. You need protection without the overhead.

Small landlords managing a handful of rental properties who want proper lease agreements without hiring a property attorney for every new tenant.

Early-stage startups that send NDAs before every investor meeting and partnership discussion. You need them fast, you need them right, and you need them to cost less than the coffee at the meeting.

Anyone who has ever Googled "free NDA template" and wondered whether the document they downloaded actually protects them. It probably does not — at least not for your specific jurisdiction and situation. See what to include in a free NDA template for the clauses most free downloads miss.

Jurisdiction Matters More Than You Think

Here is something most template sites ignore: contracts are governed by specific jurisdictions, and those jurisdictions have different requirements.

A residential lease in California must include specific disclosures that are not required in Texas. An NDA governed by New York law has different enforceability standards than one governed by Delaware law. A service agreement that does not reference the correct governing law provision can create ambiguity about which rules apply when something goes wrong.

Contract.diy does not generate one-size-fits-all documents. Every contract references the jurisdiction you select, with clauses structured to follow the conventions of that jurisdiction. This is the difference between a template and a real contract.

The Credit Model — Pay for What You Use

We did not want to build another subscription trap where you pay monthly whether you create contracts or not. Most people do not need contracts every month. They need one now, maybe three next quarter, then nothing for six months.

So we built a credit system:

3 free credits on signup. No credit card. Create three complete contracts and see if it works for you.
Credit packages starting at $4.99 for 5 credits. That is under a dollar per contract.
Monthly plans for higher volume: $9/month for 25 credits, $29/month for 100 credits.

One credit, one finalized contract. No per-page fees, no export charges, no surprise costs.

How We Compare

If you have looked at other options, you have probably noticed they solve a different problem or charge a different price:

Contract.diy vs. LegalZoom — LegalZoom starts at $99 per document and takes days. We generate the same standard contracts in minutes for under $1.
Contract.diy vs. DocuSign — DocuSign is a signing platform. It assumes you already have a contract. We create the contract, then you sign it wherever you want.
Contract.diy vs. Rocket Lawyer — Rocket Lawyer bundles contracts into a $39.99/month subscription. If you only need a few contracts a year, that math does not work.
Contract.diy vs. Hiring a Lawyer — Lawyers are essential for complex deals. For standard agreements, you are paying $500 for a template they already have.

What We Are Not

We are not a law firm. We do not provide legal advice. For high-stakes contracts — acquisitions, complex partnerships, regulatory matters — hire a lawyer. That is money well spent.

What we replace is the $500 spent on a standard NDA that follows the same structure as ten thousand other NDAs. The three hours spent Googling "is this lease clause enforceable in my state." The uncertainty of sending a contract you are not sure actually protects you.

Contract.diy handles the contracts that should be straightforward — and makes them straightforward. Whether it is an NDA, a service agreement, a freelance contract, or a lease.

Try It Today — 3 Free Contracts

We just launched on Product Hunt, and we would love your feedback.

Sign up at contract.diy, create your first contract with 3 free credits, and see how it works. No credit card required. If it saves you even one hour or one $500 legal bill, it has paid for itself.

Create your first contract free →