Bizee vs ZenBusiness

Forming a new LLC or corporation can feel intimidating. There are many steps to take, and ensuring accuracy is vital to avoid problems down the road. For entrepreneurs, the initial business formation process can be complex to navigate – but it doesn’t have to be. Fortunately, services like Bizee and ZenBusiness are making the business formation experience much simpler.

Essentially, these services help guide you through the process for forming a new LLC or corporation. They work directly with the relevant departments in each US state, and provide guidance and intuitive online tools to make your job easier.

Bizee vs ZenBusiness: Quick look

To compare these two services, let’s first start with the basics: What are these small business formation services all about, and why should you consider using them?

Check out our roundup of the Best LLC Services

Bizee basics

Bizee is an online service that focuses primarily on business formation. Their tagline, “Where Business Begins”, perfectly encapsulates their approach to service offerings. Bizee can help you form the following business structures:

Bizee is perhaps best-known for their $0 Silver package. This plan is free – you simply pay for the state filing fees, which go directly to your state. This is the cheapest way to form a new LLC, as it does not cost any more than what you would spend doing all the work yourself.

The company has been in business since 2004, and has helped form more than 250,000 businesses. So, suffice it to say, Bizee has the experience to ensure accurate and timely business registration services.

A core part of Bizee business strategy is to recommend products and services to their customers. For instance, many plans come with a business bank account, a business website, and more – all of which are offered by partners of Bizee. This is how Bizee is able to offer such competitive pricing, as they have financial relationships with these partner organizations

See the full review of Bizee here

ZenBusiness basics

ZenBusiness is a subscription-based business services provider. Like Bizee, the core offering of ZenBusiness is business formation. The service can help you form:

ZenBusiness is primarily known for excellent customer support, and very good customer reviews. ZenBusiness has earned excellent ratings on TrustPilot, the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and other review aggregators. Compared to Bizee, ZenBusiness has a better reputation overall.

ZenBusiness is a newer company, founded in 2015. Since then, they’ve helped tens of thousands of business owners form new companies. While ZenBusiness is not as old or experienced as Bizee, they have quickly developed a reputation as one of the most trustworthy providers in the industry.

ZenBusiness’ model is subscription-based. Plans start at $129/year, and all plans include Registered Agent services. This point is important: Registered Agent services alone cost around $119/year at Bizee, so while ZenBusiness’ pricing may seem steep at first, it’s actually quite similar to competitors.

See the full review of ZenBusiness here

Bizee vs ZenBusiness: Pricing

Pricing is a substantial factor when comparing any two products or services. The biggest difference here is that ZenBusiness is a subscription service, while Bizee is marketed as a one-time fee (although Bizee’s Registered Agent service will automatically renew if you don’t cancel it).

Of course, ZenBusiness can also be canceled at any time, if you don’t need the ongoing Registered Agent service. Essentially, this is just a difference in the way each service is marketed; in reality, their pricing structures and ongoing fees are very similar. The full breakdown of pricing for these two services is found below:

As you can see, Bizee is a bit cheaper, but ZenBusiness has a bit more features included. Bizee’s basic package is certainly a great deal – it’s tough to beat $0 for the first year (although remember that this plan renews at $119/year unless you cancel Registered Agent services). Overall, the value of each service is relatively similar, as ZenBusiness features certainly justify their somewhat higher cost.

Each service also offers various additional services and add-ons, priced individually. Additional fees may apply in some situations.

You’ll notice that each charges state fees separately. This is true of all LLC formation services and service providers. States charge various filing fees, depending on the business entity type. This money goes directly to the state.

Bizee vs ZenBusiness: Features

When it comes to the features and services found in the basic plans from Bizee and ZenBusiness, the functionality is quite similar.

ZenBusiness offers more templates and resources than Bizee, including a draft operating agreement, banking resolution, and other useful business document templates.

On the other hand, Bizee supports partnership and nonprofits, while ZenBusiness does not. Obviously, this is not relevant if you just plan to form an LLC; but it’s important to keep in mind for those with business partners, or anyone looking to start a charitable organization.

Both ZenBusiness and Bizee offer a variety of free services or specially-priced offers from partner companies. For instance, both have plans which include a business website, and both recommend various financial products (credit cards, business bank accounts, etc.) at favorable terms.

As for turnaround time, both services are similar. The processing time (on the service’s end) depends on the package you choose. The true turnaround time, including the time it takes for the state to process your documents, varies drastically. Some states can finish the process in just a few business days; others may take weeks or even months. You’ll see a preview of expected turnaround time for various formation packages when you make your selection.

Overall, features between these two incorporation services are remarkably similar. The distribution of those features between the various package tiers is different, however.

Bizee vs ZenBusiness: Customer service

Overall, ZenBusiness wins out in this category. They are available for longer hours during the week, and also available on Sundays. ZenBusiness also has chat support, while Bizee only has phone/email.

Plus, ZenBusiness support has earned higher marks in customer feedback. Bizee has good reviews on some websites, but on Trustpilot, BBB, etc. their track record is mediocre at best.

Customer support is another very important consideration when choosing a partner for your new business.

Which should you choose?

We’ve gone over the nitty-gritty of these two services. But what’s the bottom line? Which should you choose to help you form a new LLC?