CheapWills vs Farewill — Is It Worth Paying £100?

Farewill is the most well-known online will writing service in the UK. They've won the National Will Writing Firm of the Year award and have a strong brand. They charge £100 for a single will.

CheapWills charges £9.99.

Both services produce a legally valid will under the Wills Act 1837. So what does the extra £90 actually buy you? Let's break it down honestly.

Price Comparison at a Glance

The numbers speak for themselves. CheapWills is £90 cheaper for a single will, £145.01 cheaper for mirror wills, and £5.01 cheaper per year on updates.

What You Get with Farewill

Farewill is a good service. Let's be fair about what you're paying for:

Phone Support

Farewill offers phone support if you get stuck during the process. Real humans answer questions about your will. If you're uncertain about a particular provision — say, how to handle a complex family situation — you can talk it through with someone.

This is Farewill's biggest differentiator. CheapWills is entirely self-service. If you want human hand-holding, Farewill provides it.

Brand Recognition

Farewill has invested heavily in marketing and brand building. They're a recognised name. Some people find comfort in using a well-known brand, and that's a legitimate preference.

National Will Writing Firm of the Year

The award is real and deserved. Farewill has served hundreds of thousands of customers and built a reliable service.

Probate Services

Farewill also offers probate services, which means they can help your family handle your estate after you die. CheapWills doesn't currently offer probate.

Polished User Experience

Farewill's interface is well-designed and the questionnaire flow is smooth. They've had years to refine the user experience.

What You Get with CheapWills

The Same Legal Outcome for £9.99

Both CheapWills and Farewill produce a will that meets the requirements of the Wills Act 1837: written, signed, and witnessed by two people. Neither service has a solicitor review your individual will. Both use templates.

The legal validity of your will is identical regardless of which service you use.

Solicitor-Approved Templates

CheapWills' templates were designed and reviewed by a qualified solicitor. Farewill's templates are legally reviewed but not specifically described as solicitor-approved.

No Ads, No Upsell

CheapWills charges £9.99 and that's the end of the transaction. No follow-up calls, no email campaigns pushing premium products, no friction.

Lower Update Costs

CheapWills charges £9.99 each time you update your will. No subscription, no recurring billing. The average person updates their will 3–5 times in a lifetime — that's £30–£50 total vs Farewill's £10/year whether you update or not.

Cheaper LPAs

If you need a Lasting Power of Attorney, CheapWills charges £49.99 each compared to Farewill's £90 each. For both types of LPA (Health & Welfare plus Property & Financial), that's a saving of £80.

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Will Writing Process

Both services use an online questionnaire to gather your information, then generate a will from templates. Both use AI in the process. CheapWills typically takes about 10 minutes; Farewill's process can take 15–30 minutes depending on complexity.

Winner: Tie — both achieve the same outcome

Legal Validity

Both produce wills that comply with the Wills Act 1837. Neither has a solicitor review your individual will. Both use legally reviewed templates. Both carry professional indemnity insurance.

Winner: Tie

Price

CheapWills: £9.99. Farewill: £100. This isn't close.

Winner: CheapWills by £90.01

Support

Farewill offers phone support. CheapWills is self-service with written guidance throughout the questionnaire.

If you're comfortable completing an online form (and you're reading this online, so you probably are), CheapWills' self-service model works fine. If you want to speak to someone, Farewill offers that.

Winner: Farewill — if you need it

Updates

CheapWills: £9.99 per update. Farewill: £10/year. With CheapWills, you only pay when you actually update. No recurring billing, no subscription to manage.

Winner: Depends on frequency — CheapWills is cheaper if you update less than once a year (which most people do)

Mirror Wills

CheapWills: £14.99 for both. Farewill: £160 for both. That's a difference of £145.01.

Winner: CheapWills by £145.01

LPAs

CheapWills: £49.99 each. Farewill: £90 each. Both require the £82 OPG registration fee on top.

Winner: CheapWills

Probate

Farewill offers probate services. CheapWills doesn't.

Winner: Farewill — if you need probate services

When Farewill Is Worth the Extra Money

Let's be honest about the scenarios where Farewill might be the better choice:

You want phone support. If you're genuinely anxious about making decisions on your own and want to talk through your provisions with a human, Farewill's phone support has value. Some people need that reassurance, and there's nothing wrong with that.

You have a slightly complex situation. If your family situation is unusual (though not so complex that you need a solicitor), being able to call Farewill and talk it through could save you stress.

You want probate services too. If you're thinking ahead about probate for a family member, using one provider for will and probate has convenience value.

You value brand recognition highly. Some people feel more comfortable using a well-known name. If the Farewill brand gives you confidence, that peace of mind might be worth £90 to you.

When CheapWills Is the Better Choice

Your will is straightforward. You want to leave everything to your spouse, then to your children. You need to name guardians and executors. You want to make some specific gifts. This covers the vast majority of people.

You're comfortable online. If you can fill in an online form — and you've done it a thousand times for everything from insurance to holiday bookings — CheapWills is no different.

You want to save money. £90 is £90. For a couple doing mirror wills, CheapWills saves £145 on day one.

You also need LPAs. If you're getting a will and two LPAs, the total with CheapWills is £114.97 (plus OPG fees). With Farewill, it's £280. That's a saving of £165.03.

The Maths for Couples

Let's compare the total cost for a couple getting mirror wills, both types of LPA, and five years of updates:

(OPG registration fees of £82 per LPA apply with both providers — £328 total — so they cancel out in the comparison.)

Over five years, a couple saves £330.10 by choosing CheapWills over Farewill. That's real money.

What About Quality?

This is the question that keeps people paying £100 for something that costs £9.99 elsewhere: "Is the cheap one any good?"

Here are the facts:

Both services use templates. Neither CheapWills nor Farewill has a solicitor sit down and draft your will from scratch. Both use pre-written templates that are populated with your answers. This is how every online will service works.

Both produce the same legal document. A will that meets the Wills Act 1837 requirements is a will that meets the Wills Act 1837 requirements. The font, the layout, the brand name at the top — none of these affect legal validity.

CheapWills uses solicitor-approved templates. The templates were designed and reviewed by a qualified solicitor. This means the legal structure, clause wording, and document format have been professionally verified.

Neither service reviews your individual will. At both services, your answers are applied to templates by software. No human reads your specific will before you download it. (If you want that, Make A Will Online offers individual solicitor review at £90.)

The quality difference between a £9.99 will and a £100 will from these two services is essentially zero for straightforward estates. The difference is in the wrapper: brand, support, and user experience.

Honest Summary

Farewill is a good service. They've earned their reputation and their awards. If phone support matters to you, they provide it. If brand recognition gives you confidence, they have it.

But for straightforward wills — which is what the vast majority of people need — the extra £90 doesn't buy you a better will. It buys you a phone number and a recognised brand name.

CheapWills produces the same legal outcome for £9.99. Solicitor-approved templates. Professional indemnity insurance. No ads, no upsell. Download, print, sign, done.

The choice depends on what you value. If you value saving £90, the answer is straightforward.

Make your will today for £9.99 — it takes 10 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CheapWills as good as Farewill?

For straightforward wills, both services produce an equally valid legal document. CheapWills uses solicitor-approved templates; Farewill uses legally reviewed templates. Neither offers individual solicitor review. The main differences are price (£9.99 vs £100) and phone support (CheapWills doesn't offer it, Farewill does).

Why is Farewill so much more expensive?

Farewill has invested in brand building, marketing, phone support staff, and a larger team. These overheads are reflected in the price. CheapWills keeps costs low through AI automation and minimal overheads — no office, no sales team, no advertising budget.

Does Farewill have a solicitor review my will?

No. Like CheapWills, Farewill uses templates populated by your answers. No solicitor reads your individual will before you receive it. If you want individual solicitor review online, try Make A Will Online (£90).

Is Farewill's phone support worth £90?

That depends entirely on your confidence level. If you're comfortable answering online questions about your beneficiaries, executors, and guardians, you don't need phone support. If you have questions or anxiety about the process, Farewill's phone support could be valuable — though many of the same questions are answered in CheapWills' written guidance.

Can I switch from Farewill to CheapWills?

Absolutely. Simply make a new will with CheapWills for £9.99. Your new will automatically revokes all previous wills (this is standard legal wording included in every will). Destroy your old Farewill document to avoid confusion.

Which is better for mirror wills?

CheapWills charges £14.99 for mirror wills; Farewill charges £160. The core product is the same — two near-identical wills for partners. CheapWills saves you £145.01.