BizFilings vs Legal Zoom Comparison

Business entity formation is a crucial element of launching a business, and because it’s often complex and tedious many entrepreneurs hire professionals to do the job right. 

Two of the leading online services to consider are BizFilings and LegalZoom. And to help you determine which is best, and which might be best for you and your business, we have thoroughly reviewed their services by putting ourselves in the shoes of an entrepreneur. 

Read on to learn about the service that will put your business on the path to success. 

If you just need to form your business and get some additional services, BizFilings’ top two plans offer a better value.

Features and Services Overview

The BizFilings Basic Plan offers a good value overall, with free registered agent services for six months. You can purchase extra services with all their plans, including an operating agreement and other forms, and a business license research package. 

They don’t offer as many services as some competitors and some plans are more expensive than LegalZoom’s, but if you’re just interested in forming your business, they are a good option. 

LegalZoom is an industry leader when it comes to LLC formation services. They offer three business plans, with one-time fees ranging from $79 to $349, plus state fees. Their Economy Plan is great value for what’s included and they have great customer service.

Legal Zoom also offers a host of other legal documents, so you’ll have access to more ongoing business support resources after your business formation. 

Plans Pricing

The BizFilings “base” plan is $99 plus state fees and includes a business name availability search through your state and the business formation service, as well as registered agent services for six months, which is something most competitors do not offer. It also offers a 24/7 business monitoring tool and a library of common business documents.

BizFiling’s “middle” plan is $229 plus state fees and includes all the services included in the “base” plan, but with the addition of an LLC kit and seal, an operating agreement and other form templates, and expedited processing. 

The $359 “top-tier” plan offers everything in the “middle” plan with several added benefits, such as:

• EIN number
• Compliance DVD
• Certified copies of LLC documents (state fees apply)
• Overnight shipping

Legal Zoom’s “base” plan costs $79 plus state fees and provides a business name availability search through the state database, your business’s formation, and full customer support. It also offers a few extras, including a digital welcome packet and a business newsletter. You’ll also have access to your formation documents online at any time.

LegalZoom’s “middle” plan costs $329 and includes all the services in the “base” plan plus a founder’s kit, personalized business embosser, and membership certificates.

The Legal Zoom $349 “top-tier” plan offers all of the services listed above plus expedited filing and express document shipping, making it a better value than the “middle” plan.

The LegalZoom Economy Plan is the best value of their three plans, but their other two plans don’t offer as much as BizFilings does for the money.

Basic Plan vs. Economy Plan

The Economy Plan is where LegalZoom has a slight advantage over BizFilings for people who are just looking to get their business formed. If you don’t need registered agent services, LegalZoom is the better choice so that you can get a $20 savings. 

Standard Plan (BizFilings) vs Standard Plan (LegalZoom)

The LegalZoom Standard Plan doesn’t give you many extras, but costs significantly more than BizFilings’ Standard Plan. With the BizFilings plan, you get expedited filing and an operating agreement, making it a much better value.

Complete Plan vs Express Gold Plan

While the BizFilings’ Complete Plan is slightly more expensive than LegalZoom’s Express Gold Plan, you get more bang for your buck with BizFilings. You get both an operating agreement and an EIN, which are not included in the LegalZoom plan. 

Customer Service

We tested the customer service experience of both services from every angle. Here’s what we found. 

BizFilings

User Experience – What to Expect 

When you first go to the BizFilings site, you can choose a type of business formation and enter your state to get custom pricing for the plans, meaning that some of the state fees are shown. This is the only way to get information about the plans; it’s not included in the menu. 

The plans are in a format that allows you to easily choose your plan and extras. 

How Is the formation process?

Once you’ve selected your plan and extras, you’ll see your costs and can select to order the plan. It will then take you to a page where you’ll enter all your business information,

When going through the process of entering information, we found that you can choose your registered agent plan, but you cannot opt-out, so you’ll need to be prepared for the fee in six months unless you cancel the service.

The registered agent fees are as follows:

• $176 one-year plan
• $320 two-year plan ($160/year)
• $420 three-year plan ($140/year)

This is somewhat confusing, considering we were told by customer service that the service costs $220 a year — which it is if you purchase a la carte.

After you make your registered agent choices, you’ll be offered additional products. You’ll then be taken to a page where you can review all your information before making payment. 

In Summary

We found the site to be very usable compared to some other similar services. We liked the way the packages and extras are presented, with plenty of information about each product. 

A few things were confusing, such as the registered agent service prices compared to what we were told by customer service. But mostly the information and service details were clear. 

Overall, the site was easy to use and business formation can be completed in a few minutes. 

Customer Support

We tested all three forms of the BizFilings customer support. 

Chat support

When we tested the customer service response time through the online chat option on a Sunday, we received no response, so chat support is not available on the weekends. When we tried again on Monday, we received a response immediately.

Here was our question:

“Are the package fees annual fees or one-time fees – and if they are annual fees does that mean the registered agent services will continue after the first year?”

The response was that the plan fees are one-time fees, but the registered agent service is an annual fee of $220. We asked if the registered agent services were included for the first year, and the answer was that they are only included for 6 months, and then the annual fee kicks in.

They were very polite and clear in their responses. But the cust-serv rep did not mention that BizFilings offers discounted multi-year registered agent plans, as detailed above.  

Support Rating:

Response time:

Reasonable

Phone support

We called BizFilings and asked about their cancellation policy for the recurring registered agent services. Our call was answered immediately, and the answer was that you must file a change of registered agent with the state and then call BizFilings to cancel the service. The customer service agent was very friendly and professional and did not try to sell us anything. 

Support Rating:

Response time:

Immediate

Email support

We sent an email asking about the various business formation turnaround times – regular, expedited, and rush. We received an initial response in an hour and a half, but the response was a question about what state we were filing in and stating that turnaround times vary by state. 

We answered the question and got our next response with a clear and professional answer in about 15 minutes.

Support Rating:

Response time:

Very quick

LegalZoom

User Experience – What to Expect 

When you first go to the LegalZoom site, you’ll be able to explore products and pricing from the menu at the top, or you can just click “start my business” and select the business entity type you want to form.

However, it’s difficult to find the service package prices and information. They do not appear on the site menu. In fact, we had to do a Google search, “LegalZoom business formation plans” in order to get to that part of their website. 

How Is the formation process?

When you start the formation process by selecting LLC as your entity type, you’re asked a series of questions about your business. Then the site automatically offers you products, such as registered agent services and the operating agreement. You can accept or decline any of the services.

One of the products offered is a total compliance service, which does not appear in their products menu. This service helps you meet all your LLC’s requirements, such as annual report filings. 

The service is free for 10 days, which is a rather short period, and then costs $280 per year. This seems expensive since you can purchase their annual report a la carte for $55 per year. 

You’re also offered tax services, including “tax prep essentials” for $99 a month and a “full-service tax and accounting plan” for $159 per month. Then you’re offered a legal protection plan, which includes legal guidance and documents, for $49 per month.

Then you’re finally presented with their packages, so you can choose the Economy, Standard, or Express Gold. Once you make your selection, you get offers for special deals from Bank of America and Earth Class Mail. 

Lastly, you get to your total cost. Note that anything that has an annual fee, such as registered agent services, is not included in this initial total, so you’ll need to be prepared to incur those charges later. 

You can pay your initial total all at once, or you can choose to make three monthly payments. Note that if you do choose to make payments, you’ll pay a bit more due to the $2 monthly installment fee. 

In Summary

Overall, the process was very smooth. Yet it was also very much a sales process, as they attempted again and again to get you to spend more money.  

It would be nice if all their service offerings and packages were easily accessible on the site before you start the process. Still, everything was made clear during the formation process and it only took a few minutes. 

Customer Support

We tested all three forms of LegalZoom’s customer support, as detailed below. 

Chat support

When we tested the customer service response time through the online chat option, we received a response almost immediately.

We asked about the price of operating agreements, and what determines the final price since it’s listed as “from $99”. The answer was that it’s $99 for standard processing and $199 for rush processing. 

The customer service agent was quick and polite, and after the chat, we received a follow-up email almost immediately. 

Support Rating:

Response time:

Immediate

Phone support

We called LegalZoom to ask a question about registered agent services. Our call was answered in two minutes and the question was answered promptly. The question was whether registered agent services are included in any of the plans, and the answer was no. 

The customer service representative was professional and polite and made no sales pitches.

Support Rating:

Response time:

Immediate

Email support

We asked email support what the standard filing time is vs. expedited filing. Our email was sent on a Saturday, and we received a response on Monday at about 11 a.m. The answer was polite and clear.

Support Rating:

Response time:

Very quick

Customer Reviews

We wanted to know how real customers feel about both services, so we thoroughly explored customer reviews at the Better Business Bureau and Trust Pilot. Below we’ve summarized our findings. 

BizFilings

Better Business Bureau

BizFilings has an A+ rating from the BBB.

• Great customer service
• Few complaints
• Streamlined process

BizFilings has an A+ rating from the BBB with 5/5 stars in customer reviews, but there is only one review. They have been an accredited BBB business since 1997. They have received two complaints in three years, both of which have a closed status.

The one positive review was as follows:

“I’ve registered multiple businesses with BizFilings over the years and have experienced nothing but success with them. They’re quickly available to help answer any questions I have along the way. Reading the other review, it’s clear the individual doesn’t understand that BizFilings offers a service to streamline registration and compliance activities. Of course, this is a service you pay for and personally, I’d rather let the experts do it so I may focus on the core of my business. Keep up the great work.”

We also read the complaints about BizFilings on the BBB website. Both revolved around canceling registered agent services. To cancel the service, you must file a change of registered agent form with your state. Both of the complainers said they were subject to aggressive collection efforts for the unpaid registered agent service fees.

You can read reviews on the BBB website. 

Trustpilot 

There are no reviews of BizFilings on TrustPilot.

LegalZoom

Better Business Bureau

LegalZoom has no rating from the BBB.

• Great customer service
• Accredited
• Good response to complaints

LegalZoom has no rating from the BBB, but they are an accredited business, with 4.55/5 stars in customer reviews. They have been an accredited BBB business since 2011. They have received 903 complaints in three years, all of which have a closed status.

Many of the positive reviews for LegalZoom revolved around their exceptional customer service, such as this one: “I had an issue and was able to call the company and have it resolved within a matter of minutes.”

“LegalZoom has been our trusted agent for several years now,” said another review. “The care and coordination we’ve received allows us to run a challenging business successfully and ensure compliance remains consistent each quarter.”

Some of the negative reviews were about not receiving services as expected:

“I ordered an expedited filing mid-May. It sat, and sat, and sat while nothing was filed with the state. I had to call every day to try to move the needle on this filing and this ‘expedited filing’ is still not completed. I still do not have an EIN number and it is almost July.”

Others complained about not being able to get through to customer service by phone. Many of the negative reviews were about difficulties with cancellation.

You can read reviews on the BBB website. 

Trustpilot 

LegalZoom has a high trust score rating on Trustpilot.

• Good handling of customer issues
• Highly professional service
• Site easy to use

The Trustpilot score for LegalZoom is 4.5/5 stars.

The LegalZoom reviews from Trustpilot have the following range:

• Excellent 77%
• Great 3%
• Average 2%
• Poor 1%
• Bad 17%

Many positive reviews were again about the great customer service and the ease of use. 

“Easy and affordable. Things got a bit chaotic on my end (auto-correct made changes I didn’t authorize & then there were licensing questions on my part) but all was handled with ease, patience and in a timely manner. I highly recommend, as this is the second time I’ve used LegalZoom and both times went very smoothly for usually stressful events (divorce, new business owner).”

“LegalZoom has helped me with several legal processes and they have always been highly professional and helpful.”

Some negative reviews were about not getting the services paid for and not being able to get a refund. One person said LegalZoom failed to form her business and she ended up going to the state herself to make the filing. 

Another complained: “I paid for the most expensive package (Express Gold) for my LLC. I am beyond disappointed with LegalZoom. Not only did they register the wrong name for my LLC – causing me more time and money – for months they have refused to send me the physical items that were included in that package. I literally have sent over 20 emails and have been on hold and called several times explaining my situation. They just send me a link to my digital documents. That is not what I’m missing and requesting. I have sent pictures and explained ad nauseam with no avail.”

You can read reviews on the TrustPilot website.

Pros and Cons

BizFilings

LegalZoom

Verdict

After a thorough assessment, we have determined that BizFilings offers better value with their top two plans, as both offer more for the money. The LegalZoom Economy Plan is a better value than the BizFilings Basic Plan, and they offer other legal services. But if you’re forming a business and need some additional services, BizFilings is likely your best bet. 

Our approach

As a leading entrepreneurial advisory site, we take our responsibilities seriously. We understand that countless entrepreneurs, and potential entrepreneurs, rely on our judgments and insights, particularly when it comes to creating their business.

As a result, our writers do their utmost to gain a comprehensive understanding of the services offered and the actual customer experience. In this case, we:

• Examined every single page of both the BizFilings and LegalZoom websites
• Reviewed all of their offerings, from a la carte products to packages
• Put ourselves in the customer’s shoes, creating accounts
• Communicated with customer service via chat, email and phone
• Gained a full understanding of the customer experience and service value

Thanks to this full immersion in the actual customer experience, our reviewer and team are able to provide the most complete and insightful comparison of BizFilings and LegalZoom LLC formation services.