Bizee vs. ZenBusiness: Which LLC filing service is better?

Stuck between Bizee and ZenBusiness? In this article I compare the LLC filing services between Bizee vs. ZenBusiness and pick the winner based on our criteria.

A crucial step in business ownership is forming an LLC or other business entity.

In this Bizee vs. ZenBusiness comparison, we reviewed these two popular formation services and their feature sets.

Our final verdict? Bizee is overall better, more cost-effective, and can be scaled up and down to meet your needs.

Ready to find out more? Let’s dive in!

Bizee vs. ZenBusiness at a Glance

Feature	Bizee	ZenBusiness	Winner
SMB Guide’s Rating	9.3/10	9.1/10	Bizee
Business Formation Services	LLC, C-Corp, Nonprofits	LLC, S-Corp, DBA	Bizee
Processing Time	24-hour formation guarantee	2 – 3 weeks	ZenBusiness
Registered Agent Services and Costs	1st year free, then $119/year	1st year free, then $119/year	Tie
Name Availability Search	✅	❌	Bizee
Online Document Access	✅	✅	Tie
Money-Back Guarantees	24-hour notice	60 days	ZenBusiness
Platform User-Friendliness	Simple and modern	User-friendliness	Tie
Customization Options	❌	❌	Tie
Compliance Assistance	✅	✅	Bizee
Industry-Specific Expertise	Founded in 2003	Founded in 2015	Bizee
Customer Education and Resources	✅	✅	ZenBusiness
Customer Support	Phone, fax, email, and live chat	Phone, email, chat	ZenBusiness
Pricing	$0 – $299	$199/yr – $349/yr	Bizee
Scalability	High scalability	High scalability	Tie

Bizee: Key Features, Pros, Cons, & Pricing

Bizee is a service that can help you with LLC filing and business formation. You may have previously heard of this company under their old name, Incfile.

They’ve since rebranded to Bizee but offer all of the same services as before. You can use Bizee to form an LLC, S Corporation, C Corporation, or nonprofit.

They also send you reminders to help you stay compliant with state/federal laws and set you up with a free registered agent service for a year.

Pros & Cons

Pricing

You can use Bizee’s basic LLC formation service for free – you’ll only have to pay out of pocket for filing fees, which vary depending on the state you’re located in.

Bizee’s advanced packages include extra features like business contracts, an EIN tax number, and more.

These packages use a one-time payment model (plus your state filing fee).

Here’s a breakdown of the packages Bizee offers:

• Basic: $0 + state filing fees
• Standard: $199 + state filing fees
• Premium: $299 + state filing fees

ZenBusiness: Key Features, Pros, Cons, & Pricing

ZenBusiness is one of the most well-known formation and incorporation services out there.

Their goal is to help simplify the legal aspects of starting and running a business so you can focus on what you do best.

Along with LLC and corporation formation, they also offer a registered agent service, annual report filing, operating agreement creation, EIN obtainment, domain registration and website creation, and more.

Pros & Cons

Pricing

Like Bizee, ZenBusiness also has a free plan that can help you file an LLC while only paying your state filing fee.

Their paid packages include more comprehensive features and continued support for maintaining your business and staying compliant with the state.

Unlike Bizee which uses a one-time payment model, ZenBusiness’ packages must be paid for on an annual basis.

Here’s a breakdown of the packages ZenBusiness offers:

• Starter: $0 per year + state filing fees
• Pro: $199 per year + state filing fees
• Premium: $349 per year + state filing fees

Business Formation Services

With Bizee, you can file an LLC, S Corporation, C Corporation, or nonprofit business entity.

ZenBusiness can help you establish an LLC, S Corporation, or C Corporation.

You can file in any U.S. state using these services. They’ll handle the process from start to finish, including paperwork, so you can make your startup official as quickly as possible.

Additionally, if you need a DBA (Doing Business As) name, both services can help you with that, too.

✅ Winner: Bizee

Processing Time

Bizee aims to process filing paperwork within 1 business day of receiving your order.

This 24-hour turnaround is a huge perk compared to other services that take longer to file.

This filing speed is even included in their free plan. Once filed by Bizee, your paperwork will still need to be processed by the state.

State processing times can vary drastically, usually between 3 and 12 weeks.

ZenBusiness aims to complete the entire filing process in 2 to 3 weeks on average after purchase. This includes both the time needed for ZenBusiness and the state to process your paperwork.

If you choose the Pro or Premium plan, processing will be expedited to just 1 to 5 days.

While both services are pretty fast, the fact that paid ZenBusiness plans are automatically expedited puts them on top here.

✅ Winner: ZenBusiness

Registered Agent Services and Cost

All business entities are required to have a registered agent. You can be your own registered agent, or if you’re not up for the responsibility, you can hire a registered agent service.

When you form a business with Bizee, you’ll get a free registered agent for 1 year.

This applies even on the free plan. Pricing to continue using the service after that is $119/year.

ZenBusiness also offers a registered agent service for the same annual price of $119.

However, they don’t give you a free year to try it out like Bizee does.

✅ Winner: Tie

Name Availability Search

Bizee has a built-in tool for checking name availability. There are no limits on the number of searches you can do, and you can use it regardless of whether or not you’ve purchased a Bizee package.

I tried it out myself and it was super easy to use. All you have to do is input your desired business name and structure.

Then you’ll receive an email within 5 to 10 minutes letting you know whether the name you want is available.

When I used the tool, I received the email back with my results in just 3 minutes.

ZenBusiness does not have their own name availability search tool. Instead, they direct customers directly to their Secretary of State website for the name checking process in each state.

✅ Winner: Bizee

Online Document Access

Bizee’s Business Dashboard allows you to easily see all of your filed documents in one place and download or print them as necessary.

Your data is automatically encrypted and backed up on the cloud.

If you’re on the Platinum plan, this is also where you’ll be able to find Bizee’s business contract templates.

ZenBusiness also provides online access to all of your important documents.

They can be viewed, downloaded, or printed from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection.

✅ Winner: Tie

Money-Back Guarantees

While Bizee does technically offer a money-back guarantee, it comes with strict limitations.

Orders are refundable until forwarded to the state for processing, but you’ll be subjected to a $30 cancellation fee.

Since Bizee aims to process all orders within 24 hours, this leaves you a very small window of time to request a refund for filing.

For Bizee’s other services, there is a 60-day money-back guarantee.

ZenBusiness’ money-back guarantee is much more forgiving. They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee and you can request a full refund (minus any state filing fees) at any point within 60 days of purchase.

✅ Winner: ZenBusiness

Platform User-Friendliness

For full transparency, I didn’t use Bizee or ZenBusiness to form a business entity, so I can’t speak fully on how user-friendly they are.

However, just by looking at their dashboards, they appear to be simple to navigate.

Here’s what one Trustpilot reviewer, Dwana, had to say about Bizee’s ease-of-use:

“The website is user friendly. Filling out the forms for my LLC and DBA was super easy. Everything you need to start your business is available on the website such as opening a business account and obtaining domain name and website.”

I couldn’t locate any user reviews of ZenBusiness that specifically mentioned how user friendly the interface was, but here’s a look at the main dashboard:

And these are the options you’ll see in the left hand sidebar:

✅ Winner: Tie

Customization Options

Bizee packages are pretty rigid. What you see is what you get.

You can opt for expedited processing or add on extra services like a registered agent, business license/permit, or accounting and bookkeeping services.

But those will all be additional, separate services with their own costs.

ZenBusiness is set up similarly. Their formation packages are pretty set in stone, but they offer a ton of add-on features you may choose to purchase.

They list them all out conveniently so you can pick and choose what you want.

✅ Winner: Tie

Compliance Assistance

Bizee provides free compliance reminders with all of their formation plans. These are email reminders sent out about important tax and report due dates.

Compliance reminders on ZenBusiness are only free for the first year through their Worry-Free Compliance service.

This service sends alerts to notify you of upcoming deadlines and filing events.

If you miss filing deadlines or incur fines due to ZenBusiness’ negligence, ZenBusiness will resolve the issue and refund any costs you incurred.

The service is free your first year as a ZenBusiness customer, but after that, you’ll need to pay $199/year to continue using it.

✅ Winner: Bizee

Customer Education and Resources

Bizee’s Resource Center is comprised of a blog with over 200 helpful articles on topics like business taxes, accounting, legal contracts, and even marketing and branding.

ZenBusiness also has an extensive library of articles covering all things business.

It’s got something for entrepreneurs at all levels, regardless of if you’re currently in the process of forming a business entity or not.

Along with that, ZenBusiness also offers free online video courses through the ZenBusiness Academy. These courses are completely free to take.

Both companies provide excellent resources for entrepreneurs and startups, but ZenBusiness wins simply because they offer a series of free video courses.

✅ Winner: ZenBusiness

Customer Support

Bizee offers phone support from 9am-6pm CST. Alternatively, you can submit a ticket through their client support request form.

ZenBusiness provides customer support via phone, email, and chat. Their representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8am-8pm CST and Sundays from 10am-7pm CST.

Overall, ZenBusiness provides more hours of coverage, and it seems to be of higher quality than Bizee’s (which, according to some customer reviews, leaves a lot to be desired).

✅ Winner: ZenBusiness

Pricing

Bizee offers three pricing tiers: Basic ($0 + state filing fees), Standard ($199 + state filing fees), and Premium ($299 + state filing fees).

ZenBusiness also has three pricing tiers: Starter ($0 per year + state filing fees), Pro ($199 per year + state filing fees), and Premium ($349 per year + state filing fees).

While pricing is pretty similar between the two, Bizee has a leg up here because their packages are a one-time fee.

ZenBusiness’ plans renew annually, so they end up being more costly in the long run.

✅ Winner: Bizee

Scalability

Bizee and ZenBusiness are both strong in terms of scalability.

Their free plans make them a great choice for budding entrepreneurs, but with their vast array of features and add-on services, you can stick with them as you grow your current business or expand into new ventures.

I would recommend either of them to entrepreneurs and startups of all sizes.

✅ Winner: Tie

Standout Features of Bizee

All businesses need legal agreements at some point or another, and paying an attorney to draft them up can be tough on the wallet.

With Bizee’s Premium plan, you’ll get access to a library of legal templates, including a consulting agreement, demand letter, bill of sale, and more.

Foreign qualification

You can file for a foreign qualification for free with Bizee and only pay your state filing fee.

This will allow you to legally conduct business outside of the state your business was originally formed in.

Business license or permit

Depending on the kind of business you’re running, you may be required to hold certain licenses or permits.

Bizee can research which ones are necessary for your business and help you obtain them. Pricing for this service starts at $99.

Accounting and bookkeeping

Bizee offers a separate accounting and bookkeeping service that will make managing your business finances and taxes a breeze.

This service includes:

• Done-for-you tax filing (both business and personal)
• Compliance assistance
• Financial reporting, online tools, and resources
• Monthly or quarterly bookkeeping
• Ability to link up to 4 bank accounts
• One-on-one support from bookkeeping and tax pros

Standout Features of ZenBusiness

Annual report filing

Most businesses are required to submit an annual report in the state they’re registered.

If you’re a busy entrepreneur and don’t want to deal with doing this yourself, ZenBusiness can do it for you each year.

Business tax services

Taxes are one of the biggest headaches for small business owners. ZenBusiness offers a service where they connect you with a CPA to prepare and submit your federal and state tax forms.

Not only that, but they’ll also provide tax advice with the goal of saving you money in the long run.

Business insurance

ZenBusiness helps you secure business insurance to protect your company in the event of litigation.

While ZenBusiness doesn’t actually provide the insurance themselves, they’ll help you determine the exact coverage you need depending on your industry and location.

Then, they’ll evaluate quotes from different insurance carriers and help you select the one that works best for you.

Bizee vs. ZenBusiness: SMB Guide’s Verdict

Bizee and ZenBusiness are two of the most popular formation services, but Bizee comes out the stronger competitor.

They’re extremely generous with their free features and offer more bang for your buck, especially in the first year. You can get your Bizee order started today by simply selecting your state and desired business entity.

However, if ZenBusiness’ Worry-Free Compliance service and other features sound like a better fit for you, you can start your order with them here.