Both SimpleDeeds and SmartDeeds prepare and record real estate deeds, and both are self-help document services rather than law firms. The difference is focus and pricing. SimpleDeeds is a California-only service run by a registered Legal Document Assistant; SmartDeeds is a national service, based in Nevada, that prepares deeds across all 50 states.
What you actually pay
A low advertised entry price isn't the same as a low total price. With an à-la-carte model, the headline number covers the deed, and the things that make the deed recordable — the county forms, the transfer-tax paperwork, the recording itself — are priced separately and added on. By the time the deed is recorded, the total climbs.
SimpleDeeds is $295 flat, all in. That single price includes preparation, vesting and legal-description research, the Preliminary Change of Ownership Report, the documentary transfer-tax affidavit, every required county form, and e-recording with your county. Nothing is added at checkout. The only situation that adds cost is a rental or commercial property, which adds $100 to cover California's state SB 2 recording fee — a fee that goes to the state, not to us.
A low entry price isn’t a low price — it’s just the first number of several.
Side by side
*Competitor pricing and included items as advertised at smartdeeds.com. Confirm current figures before relying on them. Both companies are self-help document services and are not law firms.
When SimpleDeeds is the better fit
If your property is in California and you want one predictable price from a service that specializes in California deeds and recording — and a registered LDA preparing it — SimpleDeeds is built for exactly that. If your property is in another state, a national service may be the only option, since we work in California only.