ZenBusiness vs LegalZoom 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 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 make the choice that will put your business on the highway to success. 

ZenBusiness offers a better overall value with more competitive pricing than LegalZoom.

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.

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.

LegalZoom’s services are easy to use, and though they are more expensive than some competitors, they do offer a wider variety of legal services and have been in business more than 20 years. Overall, they’re a great one-stop shop for all of your business formation and legal needs.

Plans Pricing

ZenBusiness’ base Starter 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 Pro 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” Premium Plan contains everything in the Pro 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 LegalZoom “base” Economy Plan costs $79 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 Standard Plan costs $329 and includes all the services in the Economy Plan plus a founder’s kit, personalized business embosser, and membership certificates.

The LegalZoom Express Gold Plan offers all of the services listed above plus expedited filing and express document shipping, making it a better value than the Standard Plan.

Starter Plan vs Economy Plan

Both the ZenBusiness and LegalZoom basic plans come with a robust lineup of services. Neither company includes registered agent services in any of their three plans, but you can purchase it under a separate annual subscription. 

Although LegalZoom includes “extras” like digital business tools and a business newsletter, ZenBusiness is the better overall value. Zenbusiness also includes a free accounting consultation, while LegalZoom does not.

Pro Plan vs Standard Plan

Both middle-tier plans offer expedited turnaround times. ZenBusiness also includes an operating agreement and compliance alerts, which LegalZoom does not. However, LegalZoom includes a Deluxe Founder’s Kit, a personalized business embosser, and ownership certificates, which is unique. 

Premium Plan vs Express Gold Plan

LegalZoom’s top offering is only $20 more than the Standard Plan and offers express shipping on your LLC formation documents. However, ZenBusiness also includes this and is significantly cheaper. In the ZenBusiness Premium plan, you’ll get business website services, which is not included with LegalZoom.

Customer Service

We tested the customer 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:

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 aim to persuade visitors to spend as much as possible. 

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:

Very quick

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. 

ZenBusiness

ZenBusiness has an A- rating on BBB.

• Many positive reviews
• Friendly customer support
• Low number of complaints

ZenBusiness has an A- rating from the BBB with 4.35/5 stars based on 166 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.

• Many positive reviews
• Friendly customer support
• Low number of complaints

The Trustpilot score for ZenBusiness is 4.7/5 stars based on 10,079 customer reviews.

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.

LegalZoom

Better Business Bureau

LegalZoom does not have a current rating on BBB.

• Friendly customer support
• Fast response times
• High trust score rating

LegalZoom has no rating from the BBB, but they are an accredited business, with 4.55/5 stars and 5,572 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 revolve 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.

• Friendly customer support
• Fast response times
• High trust score rating

The Trustpilot score for LegalZoom is 4.5/5 stars out of 1,644 reviews.

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

ZenBusiness 

LegalZoom

Verdict

After a thorough assessment, we have determined that ZenBusiness offers the better value and broader service offerings. With ZenBusiness you’ll save money and likely receive higher quality customer service and equally fast turnaround times. The main advantage of LegalZoom is in its name — if you expect your business to need considerable legal guidance, that might be the right choice for you. 

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 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 ZenBusiness and LegalZoom LLC formation services.