Do you want to form a new corporation, but you need some help with the formation process?
There are many online incorporation services available, but it can be tricky to figure out which one is the right fit for your business. ZenBusiness and MyCompanyWorks are both reputable services in this industry that can form your new business entity accurately and efficiently.
In this comparison guide, you’ll find all the relevant details about how these companies fare according to our five key points for business incorporation services. Is ZenBusiness or MyCompanyWorks the better option for you?
Key Comparison Points
In our review and comparison of each online incorporation service, we performed a “stress test” on each based on 5 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.
As you’ll see in this comparison review of ZenBusiness and MyCompanyWorks, they are both good incorporation services. However, we think ZenBusiness is the better option because of their $10 lower prices and their year of included annual report service.
$59
- ✔ Good Customer Support
- ✔ Solid Overall Value
- ✔ No Free Registered Agent or Annual Report
Overall Pricing and Value
ZenBusiness: Does the idea of receiving your incorporation for just $49 (plus state fee) appeal to you? ZenBusiness is one of the only services in this industry that offers an incorporation package for such an affordable rate, and it includes annual report service, up to two amendments, some customizable business documents, and a risk-free accounting assessment. We also appreciate their $299 plan, which adds custom corporate bylaws and a business website package.
MyCompanyWorks: Their basic formation package has a price point of $59, which is pretty reasonable as this package does include some business documents, but on the other hand it does not have annual report or registered agent service. However, they do offer registered agent service for the low rate of $99 per year, and the first year of this service is included with its top two incorporation packages.
Guru Tip: If you’d like to compare ZenBusiness to two other top-rated incorporation services, see how they stack up to Incfile and Northwest Registered Agent.
Company Track Record & Experience
ZenBusiness: They’ve only been open for a few years, as ZenBusiness was just founded in 2015. In those few short years, they’ve already formed thousands of LLCs and corporations, and their stated goal is to complete one million more business formations in the next five years. When it comes to customer reviews, ZenBusiness really stands out from the pack, as they have more than 10,000 reviews across the internet, and almost all of them are perfect five-star scores.
MyCompanyWorks: This company formed in 2001 under the name MyNewCompany, and they changed their name to MyCompanyWorks a couple of years ago. To date, they’ve formed over 60,000 business entities. Their customer feedback is comparable to that of ZenBusiness, because they have 4,000+ reviews online, and over 97% of them are either four or five stars.
Customer Service
ZenBusiness: ZenBusiness offers three options to access their customer support team — you can call them, email them, or chat with them through the portal on their website. We have experience with all three choices, and we’ve found that they consistently provide high-quality support. Their reps are friendly, and they respond quickly as well.
MyCompanyWorks: With MyCompanyWorks, clients can access their support network via phone or email. They typically respond to phone calls and emails within 20 minutes during business hours, which is a great benefit. Their reps are professional and courteous, and they have always provided thorough responses to our questions.
Ease of Use
ZenBusiness: ZenBusiness simplifies the business formation process to the point where you’ll only invest a few minutes filling out their order form. All you need to do is choose your formation package, and provide them with basic information about yourself and your business.
MyCompanyWorks: Their formation process is similarly streamlined, as it only took us about 10-15 minutes to provide them with all the information they needed to form our business entity. They can also help you figure out which kind of company to form, thanks to their helpful collection of business articles. MyCompanyWorks doesn’t push many upsells at all, but there are a handful of third-party offers to navigate past when placing your order.
Speed of Formation
ZenBusiness: The vast majority of their competitors have formation speeds that are based on each state’s ability to process business formations, but ZenBusiness handles this aspect differently. Their turnaround times are instead based on which formation package you purchase.
MyCompanyWorks: MyCompanyWorks guarantees to prepare and file your articles of organization/incorporation the same day if you make your purchase before 3pm ET, or the next day if you place your order after that. They provide estimates for each state on their order form, including turnaround times for both standard and expedited processing, where available.
Conclusion
While we do think MyCompanyWorks has a couple of noteworthy advantages over ZenBusiness, the one category ZenBusiness won is also easily the most important one ― overall pricing and value.
Their value proposition is so much better than MyCompanyWorks’ that we feel it outweighs the category where MyCompanyWorks has an advantage. That said, if you value experience or formation speeds more than we do, MyCompanyWorks is also a good company that’s easy to praise.
$59
- ✔ Good Customer Support
- ✔ Solid Overall Value
- ✔ No Free Registered Agent or Annual Report
Common Questions
What Is the Biggest Advantage of Each Service?
ZenBusiness has a huge advantage over most other companies in this industry, in the form of their $49 business formation package ― there are very few companies that offer lower rates.
As for MyCompanyWorks, we think their biggest advantage over ZenBusiness is their experience and longevity, as some people simply prefer to use a company that’s been around since 2001, instead of one that just formed a few years ago.
Which Is the Best Package Available From These Services?
In our opinion, it’s usually a good bet to find the least expensive formation package that includes registered agent service. Typically, we would choose the MyCompanyWorks Entrepreneur package for $199, as it includes these features. However, we actually prefer the ZenBusiness $49 Starter package. It includes a year of annual report service and you can add your first year of registered agent service for just $99.
Which Company Offers More Help With Ongoing Compliance Requirements?
With either one of these companies, you’ll have access to a wide variety of tools and features that can help your business stay in good standing with the state. With ZenBusiness, registered agent service costs $99/year for the first year and $199 after that, and they also offer annual report service for the reasonable rate of $100. Keep in mind that ZenBusiness includes a year of annual report service with all incorporation packages, which MyCompanyWorks does not.
MyCompanyWorks offers registered agent service for an annual rate of $99, and their annual reports cost $99 as well.
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.
MyCompanyWorks provides clients forming businesses in these states with a set of detailed instructions outlining how to complete this requirement, but ZenBusiness actually offers to handle this entire process for you.
Am I Required to Use a Formation Service?
There is nothing that legally requires you to use a professional service when forming a new business entity. If the DIY option is something that appeals to you, you can find a how-to guide for forming a corporation right here on this website. We would like to mention though that the corporation is a complex business structure in general, and we only advise forming your own if you are entirely comfortable with the incorporation process.