Nobody likes having to deal with paperwork and bureaucracy. That’s when companies like ZenBusiness step in, transforming an otherwise tedious and scary process into an easier and smoother experience.
In this Review, we will cover everything you need to know about ZenBusiness and decide if it is ultimately worth it.
So, what do we know about ZenBusiness? What do they do? 💭
ZenBusiness (zenbusiness.com) is a business website based in Austin, Texas, that caters to start-ups and growing online businesses. The platform is a venture-funded online service focused on helping you grow and sustainably manage your business.
Established in 2015, ZenBusiness is considered one of the best LLC services specifically geared to assist ordinary individuals in becoming entrepreneurs. From state filing to documentation, to preparation of your Articles of Organization and worry-free compliance, ZenBusiness is here for you! Small business owners, gig workers, online retailers, freelancers, artists, real estate investors, and anyone wishing to form a business are eligible to apply for formation packages.
As mentioned previously, ZenBusiness specializes in business formation services, and despite its relatively new standing in the market, it is outperforming competitors by combining competitive pricing and high-quality customer support.
Undoubtedly, Zenbusiness is catered to the next generation of new business owners. Its service provides everything you need, including mobile and web-based products, support, services, and even business protection. With its quick customer support, which can even assist you in filing your business formation forms with your state, it delivers a personalized service that new business owners need to take advantage of. Furthermore, with an accreditation record of A+ by the Better Business Bureau and, an average review score of 4.21/5, ZenBusiness definitely provides one of the best LLC formation services online.
Defining LLC, how does it compare to a corporation?🏢
A limited liability company (LLC) is a business entity that allows limited liability and pass-through taxation.
“The LLC, like corporations, legally exists as a separate entity from its owners.” (Business tips, 2022) As a result, owners are rarely held personally liable for the company’s debts and liabilities.
Consequently, the LLC allows pass-through taxation because its revenue is not taxed at the entity level; regardless, if the company consists of/is owned by more than one individual, a tax return for the LLC must be submitted. Additionally, Any LLC revenue or loss recorded on this return is transferred to the owner(s). The owners, also known as members, must then register the income or loss on their personal tax returns and pay any applicable taxes.
Pricing — What are the formation packages, services, and plans offered by ZenBusiness? 💵
ZenBusiness offers three different plans that cater to your LLC needs. These services will help you in various ways to attain the successful business you wish for.
By registering, you’ll have access to a customizable dashboard where you can:
- Store key formation documents
- Receive State compliance warnings
- Free accounting consultations
- Manage your company’s domain name and business website.
Starter Plan 🐣
ZenBusiness’ starter package will file your LLC creation documents. However, this subscription plan only has the standard filing speed, so the turnaround time is a little bit slower—typically two to three weeks.
- The Starter Plan costs $0* plus standard state filing fees
Nonetheless, this is the perfect option for people whose businesses are just getting started, since all you really need to do is fill out the necessary forms through the ZenBusiness website.
The plan is non-renewable; however, you can easily add other services as you expand and grow your business.
Pro Plan 🦾
The Pro Plan expands on the capabilities of the Starter Package, starting with its faster-expedited, rush filing speed, worry-free compliance, and guided operating agreement. Moreover, this pro package plan also has additional services such as a banking resolution template and documents, employer ID number (EIN) creation, and compliance checks and reminders to avoid any filing deadlines.
- The Pro Plan costs $199 per year* plus state filing fees
Premium Plan 💎
ZenBusiness’ Premium Plan is ideal for companies who want to gain access to an all-inclusive legal service to handle all aspects of starting a new business.
- The Premium Plan costs $299 per year* plus standard state filing fees apply.
Its services include expedited filing speed ( 1 – 2 days ) and formation process by placing your filling ahead of all others, potentially cutting the time from filing to incorporation by weeks. Additionally, it will assist you in creating your business domain name and choosing the registered agent service website, creating a business email address, and other filing services for annual paperwork that businesses must comply with. Secondly, this service tier includes drafting operating agreements, bylaws, and a CPA evaluation to help decide what kind of accounting you may require for your business.
You can easily learn how to start an LLC in minutes with Zenbusiness here
Add-on Features 💡
One thing we really like about ZenBusiness is its customizability. There are a lot of different features that you can add up to your chosen plan to fits your needs best. Here’s a list of our favorites:
Best add-ons:
- Worry-free Compliance: This is an added service that handles your yearly report and amendment filings to ensure full compliance with the state’s business regulations. Cost: $199 per year.
- Registered Agent Service: Suppose you employ ZenBusiness as your registered agent. In that case, all legal paperwork is sent to the company, and legal notices are forwarded to you. Cost: $199 per year
- Employer ID Number (EIN): The IRS assigns every new business an Employer Identification Number (EIN), often known as a Tax ID number. Opening a business bank account or hiring personnel both necessitate it. With that, this $99 one-time fee feature allows ZenBusiness experts to obtain your EIN, so you don’t have to deal with the IRS directly.
- New York Publication: In New York State, all new LLCs must print an announcement of their establishment in two local newspapers for six weeks. To meet this $200 one-time fee requirement, they will serve as your agent and get the Certificate of Publication on your behalf.
- Business License Report: Compliance regulations are unique to your sector and locality. This one-time fee feature costs $99 and will help you learn what to do to comply with your city, state, and federal governments. This makes a list of all the licenses and certificates that your company requires to operate legally.
- Annual Report Filing: May it be your first year or fifth in operating a business, you must still complete an annual report to comply with state regulations. This will allow the ZenBusiness team to file your annual report so that you can keep good status with your state. Cost: a one-time fee of $100
- Amendment Filing: This feature will allow the team to process an amendment to verify that your state has the most current and accurate information on file. Cost: $100 one-time fee
If you’d like to check out the full list of add-on features with their pricing, click here
Which pricing package plan best suits me? 🙇
ZenBusiness has potentially created the most personalized online business formation experience. It developed a simple solution for situations in which you are unsure whether a particular set of packages would meet all of your requirements.
While three standard packages are available, you can customize your plan with specific services.
Personalizing your bundle allows you to select the required services while avoiding paying for things you do not require.
To create your package, go to their main page and pick LLC from the dropdown menu.
From here, you may click start on a plan, and begin creating your own bundle.
Your customized plan can include all of the services in the standard packages.
Each service has its own pricing table, allowing you to calculate the cost of your package.
So whether you are just starting your business or trying to acquire their service for annual renewal and management of your documents, ZenBusiness’ customizable packages and plans can surely cater to your needs.
Plus, each plan corresponds to a processing time, so if you want it to be filed in less than the regular processing time, then the Pro and Premium Plan is best for you. However, the Starter Plan is an excellent way to start if you are not in a hurry and have time.
What is their Refund Policy? 💲
Zenbusiness’s refund policy is covered by its 60-day money-back guarantee. Suppose you want to cancel a subscription or add-on service. In that case, you may contact their customer service within 60 days for a complete refund minus any state or third-party costs. We can cancel your subscription or service after 60 days. However, no refunds will be granted. Make sure to check and read customer reviews and thoroughly decide what to avail of the Zen business plans.
How long is the LLC process going to take? ⏰
ZenBusiness provides an expected formation date during checkout and in your dashboard.
Please remember that filing times and fees for establishing and creating an LLC vary by state and federal district. As a result, ZenBusiness has a timing estimate page for filling where you can get an idea of the lead time required per state.
Feel free to try out this tool yourself here!
With the ZenBusiness plan, you can select expedited or rush to complete your submission in days rather than weeks. It should be noted that speeds will vary by state. Your submission is prioritized in the queue to ensure that the company completes your official state filing by the specified deadline.
Express filing typically takes 4 to 6 business days, while rush filing is the fastest at 1 to 2 business days.
Is ZenBusiness Trustworthy? 🤔
Even though ZenBusiness is relatively new, this online legal business has received thousands of positive ratings, and as of writing this article has 4.7 out of 5 stars from Trustpilot and 4.8 stars from Google.
Most favorable ZenBusiness reviews emphasize how easy it is to utilize the platform and register an LLC with minimal effort. Furthermore, it is also praised for guiding consumers throughout the process, making navigating the usually complex idea of registering a firm easier.
However, ZenBusiness reviews have flaws. Some users have complained that the software guided them through forming an LLC only to discover that they needed a limited liability partnership (LLP) because of where they live.
What makes ZenBusiness unique?
It turns out, ZenBusiness does not only guide you in your journey towards building your business, but they also provide their own crash course.
Through their ZenBusiness Academy, which provides online learning courses, you will be guided and assisted in reaching your goals. The classes suit all business owners, whether they own a small or large established company.
The courses are completely free and come with downloadable manuals!
Every voice is heard at ZenBusiness, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, geography, or background. They welcome and appreciate the diversity of their remote, worldwide team. They have emphasized the importance of embracing and celebrating their differences. Through all these, their products, services, and customers thrive.
Lastly, as a public benefit corporation (PBC), ZenBusiness’ mission is to achieve a world of just and equality. Thus, they attempt to pay it forward by providing grants and loans to small business owners in need. In fact, since 2020, they have distributed more than $300,000 in grants to small businesses. They also give to groups that foster entrepreneurship and work to eliminate systematic inequalities.
Pros and Cons of ZenBusiness
Pros
- All-inclusive business formation service: ZenBusiness provides business owners with everything they need to register and file their new company with their state. The software makes the filing procedure as simple, easy to use, quick, and pleasant as possible.
- Several add-on products: Furthermore, if you want to avoid looking around for other items like business credit cards, web hosting, or registered agent services, ZenBusiness has you covered there as well.
- Pricing: ZenBusiness is praised for its simple price plan, particularly for a-la-carte services. Only some firms want or require the portfolio of services offered by ZenBusiness in its annual plans (for example, if you only want help setting up your LLC). If this is the case, paying for a single service is simple without purchasing a yearly subscription. ZenBusiness’s three tiers are affordable for individuals looking for a quick and economical approach to handling annual forms and filings.
- Alerts: Another essential tool provided by ZenBusiness is a series of alerts to help business owners keep track of when certain periodic filings are due. This is a valuable service that only some filing businesses offer. Keeping track of form submission deadlines may be a hassle if done manually, but having ZenBusiness keep track for you means one less thing to worry about.
- Free informational courses
Cons
- Some places have better discounts on supplementary services: ZenBusiness contains several services that could be more useful for most business owners. Most business owners do not require their filing provider to help them choose the best business credit card. Instead, they should seek the counsel of a financial specialist. Additional elements like domain name registration and web hosting may be less expensive if done elsewhere.
- Fee for recurring registered agent services in the base package: Most firms will benefit from having a year’s worth of registered agent services included in a basic-tier subscription. However, enrolling customers in a recurring registered agent service after purchasing a year’s subscription to ZenBusiness could be a better user experience. It may be less expensive to select your own registered agent. Alternatively, customers should be reassured about canceling their registered agent services before the $119 fee kicks in. They have yet to be well-known in the market of business creation services
Is ZenBusiness Worth it?
ZenBusiness has only been in the industry for about seven years. Yet, during that time, the service provider founded over 400,000 firms, with over 10,000 reviews available online, nearly all of which are positive.
To be honest, ZenBusiness is the best LLC service provider out there at the moment due to its low cost, informational resources, ease of use, excellent customer service, and customizable pricing options. So, it is definitively worth it if you’d like to start your LLC, or if you’d like to learn more about what would entail to create an LLC.
ZenBusiness Customer Reviews 🌟
Here are some reviews straight from Trustpilot:
“The process was easy and well-explained. The options were plentiful and useful. The service was exceptionally fast. “
– Douglas
“My experience with ZenBusiness so far has been great. I like everything about the site. It’s easy and simple to build specifically for anyone who wants to launch a business for the first time. 👍”
– Zenbusiness Customer
“I had a wonderful experience working with Kristen M. (Sales Agent). I recently formed a few LLCs, and the overall process has been simple and pleasant. I would like to thank Kristen in particularly for her help. She is a delight to interact with and is always willing to help.”
– Hammad S.
“I am so grateful to be working with ZenBusiness. Yesterday, I was presented with an issue, and Zenbusiness was able to resolve it for me. I can say for sure that Zenbusiness really cares about its clients. The staff is so helpful. Thank you, Hannah, for being so patient with me and supportive.”
– Jerry M.
Alternatives and Competitors
ZenBusiness VS. Incfile
ZenBusiness boasts some of the industry’s lowest pricing, and Incfile is noted for its no-fee LLC formation. You merely have to pay the state fees related to your formation with it.
While ZenBusiness provides a money-back guarantee, Incfile only provides a refund less a $30 cancellation fee. As a result, ensure you understand what you’re obtaining before paying for the file.
ZenBusiness VS. LegalZoom
LegalZoom subscribers can also get legal advice, but ZenBusiness keeps things simple by merely handling business filings.
Before selecting an option, consider what other needs your organization has so that you can assess whether you will require additional services. But nonetheless, both LegalZoom and ZenBusiness can assist you in forming your business entity.
ZenBusiness VS. Northwest Registered Agent
Northwest offers LLC formation services as well, but their process/fees are not so easy to understand in the sign-up process, whereas ZenBusiness prioritizes a smooth and pleasant website experience that really shines when you are trusting them with a key service.
We also wrote an article about IncAuthority, another LLC formation service competitor, you can check out our review here
