ZenBusiness LLC formation review (2026)

How does ZenBusiness score on our rating?

ZenBusiness rates 8.0 out of ten, built from three parts: customer satisfaction (9.6), services and dashboard (7.6) and plan value (4.7). The satisfaction part comes from its Trustpilot score of 4.8 / 5, 32,795 reviews.⁴

Trustpilot: 4.8/5 32,795 reviews

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Plan value is its lowest part. The plan we compare is Premium, which includes 6 of the services our method counts for good and states processing of 1 business day. Because Premium renews every year, its cost across the first and second years is $598 before state fees, which scores low against plans that charge once. Bizee (formerly Incfile) has the same overall rating (8.0) and comes first in our tie order. The full method, weights and tie rule are on the rating method page.

Who do ZenBusiness plans fit?

ZenBusiness fits founders who want annual reports filed for them and will pay a yearly plan fee for it, or founders who want a plan price of $0 and will handle later filings themselves.¹

Each tier lines up with a different reader, judged only by what the plan includes.

• Starter fits someone who wants the filing done for $0 plus the state fee and can wait 7-10 business days, or pay $79 for rush filing. It suits owners comfortable getting their own EIN from the IRS and writing or buying an operating agreement.¹
• Pro fits an owner who wants the EIN and an operating agreement template in the price, plus filing of state-required annual reports and up to 2 amendments per year. That filing lasts only as long as the plan keeps renewing.⁵
• Premium fits someone who also wants a domain with privacy, a business email address, the document library and Advanced Compliance Protection, which adds unlimited amendment filings and a good standing certificate.¹

Some readers fit poorly. Anyone who wants a registered agent inside the plan price won't find one at any tier. Anyone who wants to pay once and still have reports filed each year will find that only the yearly plans do this. Founders outside the U.S. should know that our record for ZenBusiness has no verified statement on serving non-U.S. founders or getting an EIN without a Social Security number; the list of services for non-U.S. founders covers providers that do publish one.

What does each ZenBusiness plan add?

Pro adds the EIN, an operating agreement template, a logo builder and filed annual reports to Starter. Premium adds a domain, business email, a document library, an advisor consultation and Advanced Compliance Protection to Pro.

Full ZenBusiness pricing, plan by plan · ZenBusiness alternatives

Starter covers the name availability search, the state filing, Velo AI guidance and compliance reminders and alerts. Bought on their own, the EIN costs $99 and the operating agreement template $99, so Pro's yearly fee replaces those two charges in its first year. After that, a renewing Pro customer is paying mainly for annual report and amendment filing.²

Premium's document library holds over 25 business document templates, sold alone at $99. The library is a template set, not legal advice on your own documents.^{1, 6}

Items that start billing after a trial

Every plan comes with the website builder as a 30-day special offer. It then costs $15/mo unless you cancel. Starter also includes one optional free year of Worry-Free Compliance; after that year it renews at $199/yr. Neither of these counts toward our rating, because the rating counts only items included for good. A full price list by tier, including what each costs in the second year, is on the ZenBusiness pricing page.^{1, 5}

What renews, and how do you cancel?

Pro and Premium renew every year at their plan price, and the registered agent renews on its own at $199/yr. Starter does not renew, though its trial items do unless cancelled.³

The second year is where ZenBusiness costs diverge by plan. A Starter customer who adds nothing and cancels the trial items pays ZenBusiness nothing more, but may still owe the state a report fee or tax, depending on the state. A Pro customer pays $199/yr, a Premium customer $299/yr, and anyone who kept ZenBusiness as registered agent adds $199/yr. Our LLC cost guide shows how those yearly charges sit next to state fees.^{1, 3}

Annual reports work differently by tier. Starter gets compliance reminders for good, but filing is only free in the optional first year of Worry-Free Compliance. After that, ZenBusiness lists Annual Report Filing at $100 per report or Worry-Free Compliance at $199/year for the ongoing service. Pro and Premium include the filing while the plan is active. Our record doesn't say whether ZenBusiness pays the state's own report fee inside these services; every plan price is listed as plus state fees.²

The registered agent terms allow a refund request only if the agent service hasn't been used yet. ZenBusiness's general terms for yearly subscriptions add, "After 30 days, we can cancel your subscription but no prorated refunds will be issued." Cancelling the agent service means calling customer support at (844) 493-6249.⁷

Support is by phone, live chat and the Velo AI assistant, with no email support. Published hours are Mon-Fri 8am-8pm CT; Sat-Sun 9am-6pm CT.⁸

How fast does ZenBusiness file an LLC?

ZenBusiness states 1 business day for Pro and Premium and 7-10 business days for Starter. Starter buyers can add rush filing for $79 to get the same stated speed.^{1, 5}

• Rush (1-day processing): $79, 1 business day

These are ZenBusiness's stated processing times. The state also reviews the filing on its own schedule, and some states sell their own expedite on top. Our LLC timeline guide and state pages such as forming an LLC in Texas show how long each state takes. Providers with shorter stated times are on the fastest filing list.

How much is the ZenBusiness registered agent?

The ZenBusiness registered agent costs $199/year and isn't part of any plan. LLCs formed through ZenBusiness get the first year at $99, and the service renews automatically.^{2, 3}

ZenBusiness lists its registered agent service at $199/year, renewing at $199/yr. Every LLC needs a registered agent in its state; plans that include one say so above.

A registered agent is the person or company named to receive legal papers and state notices for the LLC. ZenBusiness says it will scan and upload important documents to your dashboard, and its terms say "Originals will not be forwarded unless the material being sent cannot be copied." They also say "ZenBusiness may increase its fees for RA Services effective the first day of a RA Service Term," so the renewal price is not fixed.^{3, 7}

Using ZenBusiness as agent puts its address in the agent field of the public filing. The state may still publish other details, such as the principal office address or the organizer's name, and that depends on the state. Providers that put an agent inside a plan are on the registered agent included list.

How does ZenBusiness compare with other services?

Our ZenBusiness vs LegalZoom comparison sets the plans, second-year cost and agent terms of ZenBusiness and LegalZoom side by side.

For other options, the ZenBusiness alternatives page groups providers by the reason someone might switch, and the every-plan table lists all tiers from all 12 providers.

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• Tailor Brands review
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• Bizee (formerly Incfile) review
• Swyft Filings review