Are you ready to form a new corporation for your business, but you’re not sure which of the many online incorporation services is the right choice to assist you?
ZenBusiness and Rocket Lawyer are two of the leading companies in this industry, and they each have their own set of pros and cons.
This incorporation service comparison guide takes a look at the five crucial points you need to consider in order to make the right decision for your business. Is ZenBusiness the best option for you? Or perhaps Rocket Lawyer is preferable? Read on as we weigh all the advantages and disadvantages of each service.
Key Comparison Factors
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, both ZenBusiness and Rocket Lawyer are reliable business incorporation services.
However, ZenBusiness wins our vote as the better option (in this comparison and those against other top incorporation services or LLC websites) due to their inclusion of a full year of annual report service and $30 lower prices.
Overall Pricing and Value
ZenBusiness: Would you like to form your new LLC or corporation for just $49, except for paying your state fee? ZenBusiness is one of very few companies that offers an incorporation package at such a low rate. Furthermore, it’s a remarkably fully featured plan that includes annual report service, up to two amendments, some customizable business documents, and an accounting assessment. We also like their $299 package, which adds custom corporate bylaws and a business website package.
Rocket Lawyer: Unlike most competitors, Rocket Lawyer does not offer several different business formation packages to choose from. Instead, they provide one general formation package for $99.99, which you can then add features to on an a la carte basis. We will note that if you’re interested in their legal services subscription for $39.99/month, you can receive discounted or even free business formation service.
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’re one of the more recent additions to the online incorporation service industry, as ZenBusiness just opened for business in 2015. In those few short years, they’ve already formed thousands of business entities, and they say that they want to form one million businesses in the next five years, which is quite the ambitious expansion plan. Their customer feedback is almost entirely positive, as they have more than 10,000 reviews and high average rating scores.
Rocket Lawyer: It’s nearly impossible to compete with Rocket Lawyer’s incredible popularity, as they’ve served over 20 million customers since opening in 2008. It’s important to note that not all of these customers are business clients, as Rocket Lawyer also offers a wide variety of personal services, like wills. Customer feedback is a pro for Rocket Lawyer, as they have a few thousand reviews available online, with mostly positive ratings.
Customer Service
ZenBusiness: We really appreciate most aspects of ZenBusiness, and customer support is no exception. You can contact their support team by phone, email, or chat, and in our experience they respond quickly no matter which route you choose. Their representatives are friendly, and they’ve been able to answer every tough question we’ve asked them.
Rocket Lawyer: Rocket Lawyer provides customer support via phone, email, or web chat, and their hours of availability from 9am to 9pm ET. They have quick response times, and their representatives are well-informed regarding the services Rocket Lawyer provides.
Ease of Use
ZenBusiness: There’s nothing complicated about forming a business with ZenBusiness. All you need to do is choose your formation package, provide them with your relevant personal and business information, and select any additional features that you may want. It’s incredibly simple and straightforward.
Rocket Lawyer: On one hand, Rocket Lawyer only has one business formation package, so it’s quite simple to decide which one you want to purchase. On the other hand, it can be a hassle to walk through their additional services. Still, overall it only took us around 10 minutes to complete the entire order form, which reflects how quick and easy the process is with Rocket Lawyer.
Speed of Formation
ZenBusiness: Whereas most companies in this industry base their turnaround times on the actual processing speeds of each state, ZenBusiness instead chooses to structure your formation speed based on the package or rush filing you choose. Overall though, when compared to other formation services, they are either just as fast or slightly faster. To find out your turnaround time, simply plug in your state and immediately see your turnaround time.
Rocket Lawyer: Rocket Lawyer’s formation speeds are determined by how quickly your state can form your business entity. In fact, they have a convenient page on their website where they list average processing times for both standard and expedited service.
Conclusion
While ZenBusiness picked up a big win in our overall pricing and value category (and their reviews are always impressive), Rocket Lawyer won two other categories.
The pricing offered by ZenBusiness is a huge advantage, but Rocket Lawyer has them beat for experience, customer support, and formation speeds.
At the end of the day, this comparison comes down to whether Rocket Lawyer wins those two other categories by enough to overcome the fact that ZenBusiness provides much more value per dollar. In our opinion, ZenBusiness is the better overall option because they simply deliver far more bang for your buck than Rocket Lawyer does.
That said, this competition was pretty close, and if you prefer Rocket Lawyer, we wouldn’t blame you at all.
Common Questions
What Is the Biggest Advantage of Each Service?
ZenBusiness has one advantage over Rocket Lawyer, but it’s a big one. Their offer of an incorporation package for just $49 (plus your state fee) is a unique and highly valuable attribute that few competitors in this industry can match. Rocket Lawyer has a handful of advantages in this comparison, with the most significant one being their high level of experience. They’ve helped millions of customers over the years, which is a track record that blows ZenBusiness out of the water.
Which Is the Best Package Available From These Services?
When we’re shopping for business formation service, we like to select the most affordable package that includes registered agent service. Seeing as neither company in this comparison offers incorporations with registered agent service included, we prefer the ZenBusiness Starter package for $49, which includes one year of annual report service, along with up to two amendments per year, some customizable business documents, and a free accounting assessment.
Which Company Offers More Help With Ongoing Compliance Requirements?
ZenBusiness has a significant advantage in this area, as they offer a wide variety of services that can help your business stay compliant down the line. ZenBusiness offers registered agent service for a rate of $99 for the first year and $199 per year after that, while Rocket Lawyer provides this service for an annual fee of $149.99. If you want annual report service, ZenBusiness includes a year with every incorporation package, while Rocket Lawyer does not provide this feature at all.
Can I Get a Refund if I Need One?
ZenBusiness has one of the best refund policies in the industry. This company provides you with 60 days in which to analyze your purchase. If you’re unhappy for any reason, you can simply request a refund and they will grant it. They don’t even charge any cancellation fees!
Rocket Lawyer is quite similar in this category, as their refund policy gives you 30 days to analyze your purchase. If you decide that you’re unsatisfied for any reason, they will provide a full refund of your service fees, with no convenience fee.
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.
For those of you forming businesses in these five states, you’re in luck ― both of these companies offer publication service. Rocket Lawyer has a rather steep price point of $299 (plus publication fees) for this feature though, whereas ZenBusiness charges just $200.
Does Either of These Services Go Overboard With Upsells or Third-Party Partnerships?
Rocket Lawyer doesn’t push any third-party partnership “deals” on their clients, and they also avoid upsells for the most part ― if we were being picky, we could categorize their ordering process of adding a la carte features to their base package as “upsells,” but they don’t feel pushy in any way.
ZenBusiness has a few upsells, as you’ll encounter about $500 worth of them as you work your way through their order form, and they also have some third-party partnership offers in their top-tier package.
Am I Required to Use a Formation Service?
Legally speaking, there is no requirement that forces entrepreneurs to use professional formation services. If you would rather form your own business entity, that is always an option. In fact, we have our own instructional guide for forming corporations.
However, we will point out that the corporation is a generally complicated business structure, and we only recommend forming your own if you’re entirely comfortable with the incorporation process.