LegalZoom vs. ZenBusiness: Which Is the Better Fit for Your Business? (2025)
LegalZoom vs. ZenBusiness: Which Is the Better Fit for Your Business? (2025)
LegalZoom has helped form 4.8M+ businesses vs. ZenBusiness’ 850,000+. When comparing plans apples-to-apples, LegalZoom can save entrepreneurs up to 46%, too.
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Starting a business means filling out confusing paperwork, which is why many entrepreneurs turn to online services like ZenBusiness and LegalZoom. Both companies can help you work through the process to start a limited liability company (LLC), from confirming your business name is available to submitting the necessary filings to the Secretary of State.
At first glance, the two companies’ business formation packages and extra services may look similar. But when you factor in LegalZoom’s attorney support and bundled features, entrepreneurs can save up to $421 in their first year of business compared to ZenBusiness.
LegalZoom vs. ZenBusiness: Key takeaways
Save $39 on your LLC formation
Save $39 on your LLC formation
Up to 20% less than ZenBusiness
Save $350 on your LLC formation
Save $350 on your LLC formation
Up to 44% less than ZenBusiness
Save $421 on your LLC formation
Save $421 on your LLC formation
Up to 46% less than ZenBusiness
 Basic Plan + Essentials |  Starter Plan + Essentials | |
|---|---|---|
$0 + filing fees | Base cost | $0 + filing fees |
$159 | EIN + operating agreement | $198 |
$159 | Total cost | $198 |
$39 | You save | - |
Basic Plan + Essentials | Starter Plan + Essentials | |
|---|---|---|
$249 + filing fees
| Base cost | $199/yr + filing fees |
 | EIN + operating agreement | |
| 30 days of attorney support | ~$500 (local attorney) |
| Legal doc library (1 yr.) | $99 |
$199/yr | Compliance services | |
$448 | Total cost | $798 |
$350 | You save | - |
Basic Plan + Essentials | Starter Plan + Essentials | |
|---|---|---|
$299 + filing fees
| Base cost | $299/yr + filing fees |
| EIN + operating agreement | |
| 30 days of attorney support | ~$500 (local attorney) |
| Legal doc library (1 yr.) | |
$199/yr | Compliance services | |
| 6 mo. of bookkeeping tools | $120 |
$498 | Total cost | $919 |
$421 | You save | - |
Why even use an LLC formation service?
While it’s possible to start an LLC on your own, the process can be complicated and time-consuming. With online LLC registration services, you can choose the right business entity, get help registering it, and keep your business compliant and in good standing with your state. You’ll want to make sure any LLC service you choose can help you:
- Organize and file your LLC documents
- Get an EIN for business taxes, business bank accounts, and hiring employees
- Ensure all documents are completed fully and correctly
- Appoint a registered agent
ZenBusiness vs. LegalZoom: What’s the difference?
Both offer LLC formation services, but the real differences between ZenBusiness and LegalZoom start to show up in their packages. Here’s how the features and overall experience compare.
LLC formation process
To begin, each platform guides you through a short online questionnaire to get information about your new business and prepare your articles of organization. Once completed, LegalZoom and ZenBusiness submit your paperwork to the Secretary of State for processing.
In terms of timing, LegalZoom’s standard turnaround is 5–14 days, while ZenBusiness typically takes 7–10 days. Both offer expedited 1-day filing options, but final processing still depends on your state’s office.
Key features
LegalZoom and ZenBusiness both offer three LLC packages: a free entry-level option, a Pro plan, and a Premium plan. The basics are covered in every package, but the added features (and who they’re right for) look quite different.
LegalZoom LLC plan features:
- Basic. Handles your articles of organization and business name check, plus comes with a free tax consultation from 1-800Accountant.
- Pro. Adds unlimited 30-minute attorney consultations for 30 days, access to an attorney-drafted business document library (150+ templates) with eSignatures for one year, an operating agreement, and an employer identification number (EIN).
- Premium. Builds on the Pro plan with bookkeeping tools for 6 months, unlimited proposals and invoices, income and expense tracking, and automatic mileage capture.
ZenBusiness LLC plan features:
- Starter. Handles your articles of organization and includes an optional free year of compliance services.
- Pro. Adds compliance services by default, rush filing, an operating agreement, and an EIN.
- Premium. Includes everything in Pro, along with access to a business document library (15–25 templates), domain name, website builder, email, and premium support (though ZenBusiness doesn’t explain how this differs from its standard customer service).
Where LegalZoom pulls ahead is with attorney support built into its paid plans, bookkeeping tools in the highest tier, and access to a business document library, which ZenBusiness only includes in its Premium tier. LegalZoom can also help you save on small business websites.
Plus, LegalZoom offers expedited filing for a fee and business compliance packages separately (more on this later).
Attorney support
With LegalZoom’s paid LLC plans, you get unlimited 30-minute attorney consultations on new legal topics tailored to your business for 30 days. You can ask questions, get business legal advice, or even have documents reviewed. For instance, you might ask about:
- Employment law basics when hiring your first employees
- Client contracts and service agreements before signing
- Commercial lease terms and tenant obligations
For small business owners, this is one of the most valuable features in any LLC formation package. Assuming a traditional attorney charges $250/hour (which may be hard to find in many parts of the country), then having just one consult a week for the first month of starting your business is worth around $500. Plus, you avoid the time and hassle of finding an experienced business attorney who’s accepting new clients and then getting on their schedule.
With LegalZoom, you choose from a network of vetted, experienced small business attorneys, and then choose a designated time slot that works with your schedule. LegalZoom’s Premium LLC plans also come with two guided attorney consultations to walk through set-up, compliance basics, and other important matters specific to your business.
In comparison, ZenBusiness doesn’t offer attorney support. You’ll need to find and hire an attorney separately, which often means higher costs and more hassle compared to using an online legal service like LegalZoom.
Business document library
Both business formation services have template libraries for common business documents like supplier contracts, confidentiality agreements, and liability waivers, among others.
However, ZenBusiness only offers around 15–25 templates, available as a $99 add-on or included with its Premium plan. LegalZoom, by contrast, includes over 150 attorney-drafted documents in both its Pro and Premium plans for one year.
Aside from having 6x as many templates, LegalZoom’s library includes guided tools to help you fill out the forms and eSignatures to get them signed with legally-binding effect, a valuable feature missing from ZenBusiness’ library. Paired with attorney consultations, you can even have a lawyer review your documents to ensure they’re accurate and tailored to your needs—something ZenBusiness doesn’t offer.
Filing guarantee and customer support
LegalZoom and ZenBusiness include filing guarantees with every LLC plan, meaning they’ll correct any mistakes made on their end at no extra cost.
If you do need to get help, both companies offer customer support by phone and live chat, though LegalZoom has a slight edge with more availability on weekdays.
LegalZoom customer support hours:
- Monday–Friday: 8 a.m.–10 p.m. ET
- Weekends: 10 a.m.–7 p.m. ET
ZenBusiness customer support hours:
- Monday–Friday: 9 a.m.–9 p.m. ET
- Weekends: 10 a.m.–7 p.m. ET
Is it cheaper to start an LLC with LegalZoom or ZenBusiness?
While LegalZoom and ZenBusiness may look similarly priced, the features included in their plans aren’t the same—and what really matters is what you get for your money. Here’s what you get with each company’s LLC formation plans.
Basic plan
LegalZoom and ZenBusiness both offer LLC formation plans that start at $0 + state filing fees. After you add on an operating agreement and EIN, you’ll end up paying $159 with LegalZoom or $198 with ZenBusiness.
Pro plan
LegalZoom’s Pro plan costs $249 + state fees, while ZenBusiness charges $199 per year + state fees. When you factor in what actually comes with each plan—attorney consultations, compliance services, and legal documents—LegalZoom gives you a lot more bang for your buck.
- Attorney consultations. LegalZoom includes 30 days of unlimited half-hour consultations on new legal topics, a feature worth around $500 if you were to meet with a traditional attorney once a week during your first month in business.
- Compliance services. ZenBusiness bundles compliance support into its Pro and Premium plans for the first year, but renews at $199 annually—the same cost as LegalZoom’s optional Compliance Filings.
- Legal document library. LegalZoom includes access to 150+ customizable legal documents and eSignatures for one year, whereas ZenBusiness charges $99 for its library (which also has fewer documents and no eSignatures).
When matching plans feature-for-feature, LegalZoom’s Premium tier comes out to about $448 (including additional compliance services), while ZenBusiness’ equivalent plan will run you about $798 (factoring in the cost of its document library and hiring an attorney for 30 days).
Premium plan
LegalZoom and ZenBusiness Premium plans both start at $299 + state fees, though ZenBusiness’ plan renews annually by default. Just like with the Pro plan, LegalZoom includes attorney consultations and legal document library access, plus six months of bookkeeping tools. Compliance Filings is an additional service offered separately for $199/year.
ZenBusiness’ Premium plan comes with document library access (alongside compliance), but attorney consultations still aren’t included. Bookkeeping tools also aren’t included, though ZenBusiness offers this separately for $20/month ($120 for six months) or $200/year.
Total cost with all features included: LegalZoom’s Premium plan is $498 and includes attorney consults, compliance services, and six months of bookkeeping tools. To get all this with ZenBusiness, expect to pay closer to $919.
What other services do LegalZoom and ZenBusiness offer?
Both LegalZoom and ZenBusiness offer other services designed to help business owners as they grow their operations and scale over time. The services you need will depend on the type of business you’re running, but both offer the following.
Licenses and permits
Most businesses are required to maintain business licenses and permits if they want to keep their good standing with state, local, and federal government entities. Both LegalZoom and ZenBusiness offer reports that help you identify the licenses and permits you need.
ZenBusiness’ Business License Report gives you a clear explanation of the permits and licenses you’re required to have for $149. With each report, you’ll get instructions on what you need to do to get those licenses and permits.
LegalZoom’s business license plan starts at $99/year and offers essentially the same services that ZenBusiness’ plan does. Once you sign up, you’ll get a comprehensive report that explains the permits and licenses your business is required to maintain by law each year.
LegalZoom’s plan also lets you upload, view, and manage your permits in one dashboard. This lets you share license information with the organizations that matter most, like your bank or credit union, the city or county government, or professional licensing boards.
Business compliance
ZenBusiness’ Worry-Free Compliance service helps with annual report filings and gives you some assistance in maintaining your business’ compliance. The service includes up to two free amendment filings each year if there are any errors on your annual report or if you need to make an update after filing. The service also sends you reminders about upcoming deadlines on certain compliance matters. Their package starts at $199 per year and automatically renews each year after.
LegalZoom’s Compliance Filings gives you the comprehensive help you need to keep your business compliant each year. We’ll file your annual reports and unlimited amendments as needed directly with the Secretary of State. You’ll also receive real-time notifications about your compliance status and the ability to customize alerts about any upcoming filing requirements.
But what sets our service apart is Compliance Concierge. When you sign up for this tier, you’ll be connected with a dedicated compliance specialist who tracks, analyzes, and manages business filing requirements on your behalf.
Prices start at $199 per year for LegalZoom’s Compliance Filings package, and every package includes our 100% accurate filing guarantee. If LegalZoom makes an error on your filing or your filing is rejected as a result of our mistake, we’ll correct it for free.
Registered agent
ZenBusiness offers registered agent services across the country for $199 per year. Its service lets you store paperwork received by your registered agent in your account’s online dashboard and ensures that you get notices and important legal papers in a timely and private manner.
LegalZoom’s registered agent services are designed to give you the peace of mind you need when it comes to legal notices. The service has registered agents in all 50 states and gives you unlimited cloud storage for all notices in your dashboard. Your registered agent also filters out junk mail and sends additional compliance notices as needed.
LegalZoom also helps you switch registered agents as needed, and covers state fees for the switch, saving you money if you move your business to another part of the country. LegalZoom’s registered agent service costs $249 per year, but the peace of mind you’ll get is priceless.
Virtual mail services
LegalZoom offers virtual mail services that let you receive mail at a designated location that’s not your business’s primary address, whereas ZenBusiness has no comparable service. LegalZoom’s virtual mailboxes help protect your privacy, but also offer other benefits, including:
- Digitized images of your mail so you can see what you’ve received anytime, anywhere.
- Junk mail filtering to keep your office and your mailbox free from clutter.
- Free shredding of unwanted mail
LegalZoom offers several plans that can work for solo entrepreneurs and large corporations alike. Plans start at just $29 per month.
Ongoing attorney support
ZenBusiness helps you set up your company and helps you stay in compliance with state and federal requirements, but they don’t offer ongoing attorney support for important legal issues or questions.
LegalZoom’s extensive network of qualified attorneys helps you get the answers you need when you need them. When you form your business with LegalZoom’s Pro or Premium plans, it includes a one-month subscription of unlimited attorney consultations.
But since legal questions can pop up at any given time in running your business, you’ll maintain access to attorneys for only $49/month—a fraction of the cost of working with a traditional attorney.
Intellectual property protection
If you want to protect your intellectual property, like a logo, slogan, design, or proprietary work, you’ll want to explore different forms of protection, like trademarks, copyrights, and patents. ZenBusiness can’t help with that, but LegalZoom can.
LegalZoom offers attorney-guided trademark filing and protection and can help with patent registration and copyright registration, depending on your business’ needs. When you work with LegalZoom to protect your intellectual property, you’ll have access to attorneys to guide you through the filing process.
In fact, LegalZoom is one of the only online legal services with its own dedicated law firm—LZ Legal Services, LLC—with a team of full-time lawyers who specialize in protecting small business intellectual property.
Our trademark and intellectual property services offer benefits including:
- A free trademark search tool
- A free second trademark application if your attorney finds an issue with your first choice
- Nearly 70% savings compared to working with a traditional law firm
On top of that, we’ve helped more than 400,000 people file for trademark protection since 2017.
Start your LLC with LegalZoom
Starting an LLC with LegalZoom can take the stress and uncertainty out of the process. We offer a variety of LLC formation services, so you can tailor the experience to fit your needs.
- Basic: Pay $0 plus state filing fees and get access to our free business name check service.
- Pro: Get guidance from experienced business attorneys, an employer identification number (EIN), an operating agreement, and more, plus filing help.
- Premium: Get everything in the Pro package plus bookkeeping tools, unlimited proposals and invoices, and income and expense tracking.
See why more than 4.8 million businesses have trusted LegalZoom with their formation needs in just a few steps.
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LegalZoom vs. ZenBusiness FAQs
Is LegalZoom better for patents, copyrights, and trademarks?
If you’re interested in pursuing a utility or provisional patent application, copyright registration, or trademark, LegalZoom can help. ZenBusiness only offers information about these services and can’t help you file the necessary paperwork.
Does ZenBusiness offer attorney consultations or legal advice?
No, ZenBusiness does not offer attorney consultations or legal advice with its formation services. If you’re interested in speaking with an attorney as part of your filing or have questions that only an attorney can answer, LegalZoom can help. Our network of business attorneys will help you get the answers you need quickly.
Who offers better support during and after the business formation process?
LegalZoom offers fantastic ongoing support to business formation customers. Our customer service team is available Monday through Friday, 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. PT, and on weekends from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT. If you sign up for our business attorney plans, you’ll get unlimited 30-minute consultations with an attorney for new legal issues as long as your subscription is active.
Does LegalZoom offer EIN acquisition?
Yes, LegalZoom offers EIN acquisition as a standalone service and as part of our Pro and Premium LLC formation plans. We’ll handle the paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and ensure your application is completed correctly.
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