ZenBusiness vs BizFilings Comparison

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

Two of the leading online services to consider are ZenBusiness and BizFilings. 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 make the choice that will put your business on the highway to success. 

ZenBusiness offers a better overall value, has better customer support and great industry reputation. Therefore, it’s our recommendation over BizFilings business formation service.

Features and Services Overview

ZenBusiness has three business formation plans to choose from, with annual fees ranging from $0 to $299. They have a great track record with BBB, competitive pricing, and a seamless formation process.

ZenBusiness generally offers a better value for your money than competitors. Package prices are mostly lower and more services are offered.

The BizFilings Basic Plan offers a good value compared to others, since they offer a few extras with the plan, including 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, but if you’re just interested in forming your business, they are a good option. 

Plans Pricing

ZenBusiness’ base plan is free and provides you with a business name availability search in your state’s database and the business formation service, with full customer support. It also offers a few extras, including an accounting consultation to help you get started with your finances. You’ll also have access to your formation documents online at any time.

The ZenBusiness “middle” plan costs $199 and offers all the services above plus an operating agreement template and annual compliance service, which means ZenBusiness will remind you of reporting due dates based on state requirements. The plan also includes expedited filing so your LLC is approved and ready to go faster.

The ZenBusiness $299 “top-tier” plan contains everything in the “middle” plan with the added advantage of rush filing, as well as a business domain name, website, and email. Note that none of these plans include registered agent services. They are available for an additional $99 fee. ZenBusiness also has a document library that customers can access for $99. 

The BizFilings “base” plan 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 that some competitors do not offer. It also offers a 24/7 business monitoring tool, and a library of common business documents. The price is $99. 

The BizFilings “middle” plan is $229 and includes all the services in the “base” plan plus an LLC kit and seal, an operating agreement and other form templates, and expedited processing. 

The BizFilings $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

Starter Plan vs Basic Plan

The ZenBusiness Starter Plan is free and offers significant cost savings from the BizFilings Basic Plan, but the BizFilings plan does offer six months of free registered agent services. However, after the six-month free period, the BizFilings registered agent services are significantly more expensive than the same offering by ZenBusiness.

If you’re just looking to form your business and don’t want the registered agent services, the ZenBusiness plan is clearly a better value (0$ + state fees). Note that the BizFilings business monitoring tool is only available when BizFilings is your registered agent. 

Pro Plan vs Standard Plan

The ZenBusiness Pro Plan and the BizFilings Standard Plan are quite similar. However, with ZenBusiness you get a worry-free compliance package whether ZenBusiness is your registered agent or not. The only bonus you get with the BizFilings plan is an LLC kit and seal. 

Again, we think the ZenBusiness Pro Plan is the better value. 

Premium Plan vs Complete Plan

With the ZenBusiness Premium Plan, you’ll get the addition of rush filing, which takes two to three business days, and a domain name and website. The BizFilings Complete Plan offers the additional services of an EIN, certified copies of your LLC documents, and overnight shipping.

Choosing between these plans comes down to which services are most important to you. With BizFilings you’ll be paying more but getting the additional benefits listed above, but with ZenBusiness, you’ll get rush filing and a business website. 

Customer Service

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

ZenBusiness

User Experience – What to Expect 

When you first go to the ZenBusiness site, you’re prompted to begin entering information, starting with your proposed company name. There is a menu at the top that you can explore to find some free tools, products and pricing, and more about the company.

However, you can only find a la carte product prices. You cannot immediately see the packages of services and their pricing.

When you enter your company name, you’re then asked a series of automated questions, and the chatbot then makes product and package recommendations, allowing the user to see the service packages and prices.

How is the formation process?

The questions were simple and quick, but most visitors might prefer to see packages and prices right away before starting the process.

Once the product recommendations are made — and they are not described in great detail — you can choose which you prefer and the site takes you immediately to payment. Keep in mind that if you do not pay right away, but instead want to come back to it later, you will have to go through all the questions again.

When we went through this process the first time, we received an email within an hour with an offer to assist. We then went a step further and actually formed an LLC. We chose the starter plan and added registered agent services, the EIN service, and the rush filing service.

The entire process took about 15 minutes and was very simple. Throughout the process, the chatbot recommended other products, and with a simple click, we could purchase or reject. Even though we were clearly being sold to, it did not feel intrusive.

What happens after payment?

Once the signup process and payment were complete, we had immediate access to our dashboard. The dashboard shows everything you have to do, and what ZenBusiness is working on for you. It’s also where you can access your formation documents once the formation process is complete.

The dashboard also shows all the products that are still available to purchase.

Shortly after forming the LLC, we received a welcome email about what would happen next.

In Summary

Overall, the site is easy to use if you’re ready to go and just want to complete the process. Otherwise, information can be difficult to find. You have the option to sign up for a free account on the site, though we had difficulty finding that option. However, signing up for the account doesn’t seem to give you access to anything you can’t access without an account.

Customer Support

We tested all three forms of ZenBusiness’ customer support.

Chat support

When we tested the customer service response time through the online chat option, we received a response within five minutes.

The question we asked was about the annual compliance a la carte service, which costs $199, compared to the registered agent service with annual compliance included, which is $149.

We asked if those two annual compliance services are different, considering the price discrepancy. The customer service agent was polite but could not explain the discrepancy.

**The registered agent + annual compliance service for $149 has since been removed from their a la carte products page.

Support Rating:

Response time:

Very quick

Phone support

We called ZenBusiness to ask a question about registered agent services. Our call was answered almost immediately, 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 the same question via email about registered agent services and received the same response in 45 minutes. Our question was answered thoroughly and politely. The person who responded did not make a sales pitch.

Support Rating:

Response time:

Immediate

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 services 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 does if you purchase it 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 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 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 responded to their question and received clear and professional answers 15 minutes later.

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. 

Zen Business

ZenBusiness has an A- rating from the BBB.

• Exceptional customer service
• Quick turnaround times
• Good issue resolution

ZenBusiness has an A- rating from the BBB with 4.35/5 stars in customer reviews. They have been an accredited BBB business since 2019. They have received 56 complaints in three years, all of which have a closed status.

Many positive reviews at BBB revolve around exceptional customer service. Customers mentioned phone support being very helpful and cordial, as well as proactive in identifying potential problems. Customers also discussed the chat support being excellent at resolving issues.

Another person said they received their formation paperwork in “record time”, and one said they were “blown away” by how easy it was to set up their LLC and get questions answered. They also said that customer service agents went “above and beyond” to provide helpful details.

Some of the negative reviews concern errors made in processing and issues canceling accounts. One person said they waited 6 weeks and their LLC still had not been formed; another said they waited over a year for their EIN. But it should be noted that EIN is an add-on service that is not included in the packages, so it may have been a misunderstanding on the customer’s part.

Some reviewers pointed out that ZenBusiness would not cancel their account unless they first dissolved their LLC with the state or filed a change of agent form.

You can read reviews on the BBB website.

Trustpilot

ZenBusiness has a high trust score rating on Trustpilot.

• Great customer service
• Ease of formation
• Quick turnaround time

The Trustpilot score for ZenBusiness is 4.7/5 stars.

The ZenBusiness reviews from Trustpilot have the following range:

• Excellent 86%
• Great 8%
• Average 2%
• Poor 1%
• Bad 3%

Many positive Trustpilot reviews, again, revolve around great customer service. One person said they were “shocked” at how easy it was to form their LLC, and that it was finalized within days. Another person liked the ease of answering the questions asked by the chatbot that guided them through the process of formation. Others mentioned the quick and friendly responses from customer service.

Some of the less favorable reviews revolve around fee disclosures and the fees themselves. One person complained that all fees for the products they ordered were not charged immediately so they received surprise charges on their credit card.

Others complained that the site consistently uses “upselling strategies” to get users to buy more products and that $49 for an operating agreement template is “disgustingly absurd”. Another customer complained that there seem to be hidden fees and that they ended up paying double what they expected.

You can read reviews on the Trustpilot website.

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 unpaid registered agent service fees.

You can read reviews on the BBB website. 

Trustpilot 

There are no reviews of BizFilings on TrustPilot.

Pros and Cons

Zen Business 

BizFilings

Verdict

After a thorough assessment, we have determined that ZenBusiness offers the better value. By choosing ZenBusiness instead of BizFilings, you will save some money and likely receive higher quality customer service and equally fast turnaround times. While both services have excellent offerings, we prefer the quality and reliability of ZenBusiness.

Our approach

As an 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 ZenBusiness and BizFilings 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 ZenBusiness and BizFilings LLC formation services.