If you're looking for an alternative to LawDepot to put a loan to family or a friend in writing, here's an honest rundown of your options in Canada — and how to pick the one that fits.
LawDepot is a long-established service offering hundreds of general legal templates across Canada, the US, the UK and Australia. It's a reasonable, well-known choice. But it's a broad, all-purpose legal-document library — and if your only need is a clear loan agreement between you and someone you know, you may want something simpler, cheaper per document, or easier to sign online. Here are the realistic alternatives.
Option 1 — Other template sites
Sites like LawDepot and Netlawman Canada give you a fill-in-the-blanks loan agreement you download as a document. They're inexpensive relative to a lawyer and cover Canadian provinces.
What to watch for: two things. First, pricing model — several template sites run on a subscription (often a free trial that renews into a monthly fee if you don't cancel), with a separate one-time price if you'd rather buy a single document. Always check the current price on the provider's own site before you start, and decide whether you want a subscription or a one-off. Second, signing — many template sites give you a PDF you print, sign by hand, and scan. That's fine, but it's more steps than signing online.
Quick tip
If you only need one document, look for the one-time single-document price rather than starting a subscription trial — and set a reminder to cancel any trial you don't intend to keep.
Option 2 — A lawyer
A lawyer will draft a bespoke agreement tailored exactly to your situation. For a large or complicated loan — significant sums, security/collateral, or unusual terms — this is the most thorough route and worth the cost.
The trade-off: it's the most expensive option (commonly several hundred dollars) and the slowest — appointments, drafting time, back-and-forth. For a straightforward "I'm lending my brother $2,000" situation, it can feel like overkill. Many people want something in between a bare template and a full legal engagement.
Option 3 — A purpose-built online tool (like Lend Right)
Instead of a general template library, some tools focus specifically on personal loans between family and friends. That's what we built Lend Right to do. Being honest about where we fit:
- Canada-first and province-aware — built specifically for loans between individuals in Canada's common-law provinces.
- Free to draft and preview — you build and see your full agreement before paying anything.
- A flat $29 to finalise — no subscription. Not a trial that renews, not a monthly fee. You pay $29 once, only when you're ready, and the lender can even set it so the borrower covers that fee.
- Designed for both people to sign online from their phones, rather than print-and-scan.
- Sealed and independently verifiable — the final PDF is locked with a SHA-256 fingerprint, both people get a Certificate of Completion recording who signed and when, and anyone can confirm a copy is genuine at verify.trylendright.com. A template library hands you a document; this adds the proof around it.
- Focused and plain-language — it does one thing (family/friend loans) rather than hundreds of document types.
Whether that's the right pick depends on your need. If you want a wills-and-leases-and-everything library, a broad service like LawDepot makes sense. If you specifically want a simple, clear, Canada-built family loan agreement that both people sign in a few minutes for a flat fee, that's exactly the gap Lend Right is built for. (For the full picture of how the signing and verification work, see what Lend Right is.)
How to choose — a simple comparison
Rather than "which is best" (it depends on you), here's what actually differs between the routes:
Swipe sideways to see all columns →
Pricing and features for any third-party service change over time — always confirm current details on the provider's own website before deciding.
Whichever you choose, get the basics right
No matter which route you pick, a good loan agreement between family or friends should clearly state the parties, the amount, the repayment plan, any interest (as an annual rate), and be signed by both people. Canadian rules matter too: interest must be expressed as an annual rate under the federal Interest Act, and rates at or above the criminal-interest ceiling aren't allowed. For the full checklist, see what a personal loan agreement needs to include in Canada, and if you're charging interest, how to legally charge interest on a family loan.
A downloaded template leaves integrity up to you; Lend Right instead seals the finished agreement with a SHA-256 fingerprint that's independently verifiable. Here's document integrity and the SHA-256 seal.
A clear family loan agreement, your way
Free to draft and preview. A flat $29 to finalise — no subscription, and the borrower can cover it.
Create my loan agreement →This article is general information about options available in Canada, not legal advice, and Lend Right is not a law firm. Details about third-party services are based on publicly available information and may change — confirm current pricing and features on each provider's own site. For your specific situation, consult a lawyer or licensed paralegal in your province.
We write plain-language guides on lending between family and friends in Canada, reviewed against current provincial and CRA rules. Lend Right is not a law firm — this is general information, not legal advice.