Do you need to incorporate a business but don’t know where to start? ZenBusiness and LegalZoom are two of the top companies online and each has its own pros and cons. This review takes a look at the five key factors you need to consider when deciding which service is the better fit for your business.
Key Comparison Points
In our review and comparison of each online incorporation service, we performed a “stress test” on each based on five key factors:
- Compared pricing and features to determine overall value.
- Researched their track record.
- Assessed the quality of customer service.
- Tested their ordering process and service’s ease of use.
- Reviewed the turnaround times for incorporating online.
That said, as you’ll see in our ZenBusiness vs LegalZoom comparison of these five key factors, these are both good services with plenty of positive attributes. Which one is the right choice for you?
$149
(corporation) or $79 (LLC)
- – Huge Client Volume
- – High Level of Experience
- – Solid Customer Reviews
Overall Pricing and Value
ZenBusiness: Our best attribute in this area is the fact that our incorporation service starts at just $0 — you don’t have to pay a cent other than your state’s required fee. If you’re looking for some advanced features, our $199 Pro package adds ongoing compliance assistance, a guided operating agreement or corporate bylaws, and faster processing. You also might like our $299 plan as well, as it adds our fastest processing, a domain name, and a business website package.
LegalZoom: LegalZoom has a customer volume in the millions, and they also have tremendous brand power due to their sizable advertising budget. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they provide a more valuable service than their competitors. Their cheapest incorporation package has a $149 price point ($79 for LLCs), and it includes no noteworthy advanced features. They also don’t include registered agent service in any of their packages, and they charge a variable fee of $249-299 per year to add it on.
Company Track Record & Experience
ZenBusiness: We’ve only been open since 2015, but we’ve served thousands of customers already and are showing no signs of slowing down. We receive spectacular feedback from their clients as well, as our 10,000+ reviews are almost all positive.
LegalZoom: LegalZoom has been around since 1999. With more than 6 million customers served (about a third of which are business clients), they handle a higher volume of customers than just about any competitor. LegalZoom also receives mostly positive customer feedback, although its reviews have both a slightly lower quantity and quality than Zen’s.
Customer Service
ZenBusiness: You can access the ZenBusiness customer service department by phone, email, or through the chat application on our website. We have expanded availability that even includes Sundays — very few competitors have any weekend availability. We pride ourselves in continuously improving the quality and responsiveness of our customer support, and we believe we compare favorably to the vast majority of competitors in this area.
LegalZoom: LegalZoom provides support via email or phone, and we’ve used both of these options several times. Their email support can have some very long response times, as we’ve waited about a week to get a reply before, and their responses are typically just form emails that don’t address any specifics. Their phone support is a different story though, as their representatives go into detail when responding to our questions, and they’re always easy to get ahold of.
Ease of Use
ZenBusiness: You can fill out our order form quite quickly, and our instructions are simple and straightforward. The only things you need to do to get the ball rolling with ZenBusiness are select the package you’d like to purchase, and provide us with some basic information about yourself and your company. It doesn’t get much easier than that!
LegalZoom: LegalZoom structures their ordering process differently than most competitors. Instead of starting by selecting your package and then building your order from there, LegalZoom has you start by entering your personal information. After that, they lead you through a series of expensive upsells (exceeding $1,000), before finally letting you select your formation package. It’s a convoluted process that can sometimes result in higher-than-expected total costs.
Speed of Formation
ZenBusiness: With ZenBusiness, all formation speeds vary based on state capabilities. Also, if you’re in a hurry, you can choose one of our premium packages to speed things up a bit! When compared to other formation services, we are usually either just as fast or slightly faster. To find out your turnaround time, simply plug in your state and immediately see your estimated processing speed.
LegalZoom: They structure their turnaround times, estimating by package instead of by state. With LegalZoom, their most affordable packages have a 30-business-day (six-week) turnaround time, while their most expensive package can be completed in 7-10 days.
$149
(corporation) or $79 (LLC)
- – Huge Client Volume
- – High Level of Experience
- – Solid Customer Reviews
Common Questions
What Is the Biggest Advantage of Each Service?
The biggest advantage for ZenBusiness is the fact that we offer a business formation service for free (except for your state fee), whereas with LegalZoom you’ll pay at least $149 for incorporation service (or $79 for LLC service).
LegalZoom has some advantages of their own though, especially their experience and customer volume, as they’ve been around for a long time and served a ton of customers.
Which Company Offers More Help With Ongoing Compliance Requirements?
You can get assistance with ongoing compliance issues from either of these companies, although their prices for providing these services have some differences.
With ZenBusiness, you can obtain registered agent service for $99 for the first year and $199 per year after that, and our annual report service costs $100 per year. As for LegalZoom, you can get their registered agent service for a variable annual fee of $249-299, but their annual report service is competitively priced at $55 per year. Keep in mind that ZenBusiness includes a year of annual reports for free in our premium packages though, which LegalZoom does not.
Can I Get a Refund if I Need One?
LegalZoom and ZenBusiness have fantastic refund policies that are nearly identical. If you decide at any time within 60 days of your purchase that you’re less than satisfied, either will provide a full refund of your service fees. There are no questions asked, and no processing fees charged.
Which Is the Better Option if I Need Publication Service?
In some states, you need to publish your company’s formation in a regional newspaper. For example, Arizona and Nebraska require publication for LLCs and corporations, New York requires it for LLCs only, and Pennsylvania and Georgia have this requirement for corporations only.
While LegalZoom does not handle this step for you and does not offer any sort of assistance, ZenBusiness actually offers to take care of your entire publication requirement on your behalf.
Am I Required to Use a Company Formation Service?
You are not legally required to use any sort of professional service to help form your business entity. If you would rather form your own corporation or nonprofit corporation, we have a detailed step-by-step guide that you can reference throughout the process.
However, you should know that the corporation is a complicated business structure in general, and we don’t usually recommend forming your own unless you’re already experienced with the incorporation process.
Additional Reading
If you’d like to check out more reviews to help start your business, in addition to our own LLC service, here are some of the most popular: