ZenBusiness vs Northwest vs LegalZoom (and Bizee): the real cost of each

Four companies dominate LLC formation, and three of them advertise it for $0. That makes the headline price almost meaningless. What separates them is what's included, what renews automatically, and what you'll pay in year two for the one service most owners keep: a registered agent.

This comparison covers ZenBusiness, Northwest Registered Agent, LegalZoom and Bizee on those points, using each one's published prices.

Prices side by side

Published prices on the day we checked, before state fees.

What a solo owner really pays

Here's the cost for one owner who wants a registered agent, an operating agreement and an EIN, choosing the cheapest plan that covers them. The EIN is counted as free where you'd get it from the IRS yourself.

• Northwest: $39 in year one, with the agent and operating agreement included and the EIN done yourself. $125 in year two.
• Bizee Standard: $199 in year one, with the agent, EIN and operating agreement included. About $149 in year two.
• ZenBusiness Pro plus its agent: $398 in year one. $398 again in year two if you keep the Pro plan, or $199 if you drop it and keep only the agent.
• LegalZoom Managed plus its agent: $498 in year one, plus $49 a month for advisors from the second month unless you cancel. $249 in year two for the agent.

Over two years, that's $164 at Northwest, about $348 at Bizee, $597 to $796 at ZenBusiness and at least $747 at LegalZoom, all before state fees.

ZenBusiness

ZenBusiness's free Starter plan files your articles of organization and includes a year of its Worry-Free Compliance service, which handles annual report filings. It doesn't include a registered agent, an EIN or an operating agreement.

The Pro plan, at $199 a year, adds the EIN, an operating agreement template, ongoing compliance and the fastest processing. Premium, at $299 a year, adds a domain, a business email address and more advanced compliance help. Neither includes a registered agent, which is $199 a year on every plan.

Good for: owners who want filings handled every year without thinking about it. Watch for: Pro and Premium renew annually, and the agent is always extra.

Northwest Registered Agent

Northwest started as a registered agent and it shows. The $39 formation includes a year of registered agent service, an operating agreement, and the use of Northwest's address on your filings instead of your own, which it calls Privacy by Default. After the first year, the agent costs $125 a year, the lowest renewal of the four.

It sells fewer bundles than the others and leans on plain service rather than upsells. If you want the EIN handled, Northwest will do it, but most owners with an SSN will get it free from the IRS in minutes.

Good for: owners who want privacy and the lowest long-run cost, and anyone forming in a state where they don't live. Watch for: fewer bundled extras, so compliance filings are yours to track.

LegalZoom

LegalZoom's Basic package files the LLC for $0 and adds a name check and a tax consultation from a partner. The Managed package, at $249, adds an operating agreement, the EIN, a licenses and permits report, and 30 days of business advisors, which then renew at $49 a month. The Expert package, at $999, adds an attorney and an accountant for 30 days, then $99 a month, plus bookkeeping and annual tax filing help.

Its registered agent service costs $249 a year, the highest of the four.

Good for: owners who want legal and accounting help bundled, especially in the Expert package. Watch for: the advisor subscription that starts after 30 days, and the highest agent renewal.

Bizee

Bizee, formerly Incfile, files the LLC for $0 on its Basic package and includes a free first year of registered agent service. The Standard package, at $199, adds the EIN and an operating agreement. Premium, at $299, adds banking setup, a tax consultation and Form 2553 preparation for owners who plan to elect S corp status. After the first year, the agent costs $149 a year in most states and $119 in some.

Good for: owners who want the EIN and operating agreement done for them at the lowest first-year price. Watch for: the agent renewal from year two.

What makes a registered agent good

Since the registered agent is the part most owners keep paying for, it's worth knowing what separates a good one from a cheap one.

• Speed of notice. When legal papers arrive, you want a scan and an alert the same day. A lawsuit gives you a fixed number of days to respond, and a slow agent eats into them.
• Mail handling. Agents receive more than lawsuits: state notices, tax letters and, inevitably, junk. Good ones scan the important mail and tell you what each item is.
• Privacy. The agent's address appears on public filings instead of yours. Some services, Northwest among them, also let you use their address as your business address on other filings, which keeps your home address off more records.
• Coverage. If you might register in other states later, a service that can act as your agent everywhere saves you from juggling several providers.

All four services offer the core legal function. The differences are in the extras and the price you pay for them each year.

How fast will your LLC be formed?

Formation services advertise processing speeds, but most of the waiting is at the state, not at the service. A service submits your filing within a day or two. The state then takes anywhere from the same day to several weeks, depending on where you file and how busy it is.

Many states sell expedited processing for an extra fee, and a service can buy it on your behalf. If you need the LLC by a particular date, check your state's current processing time on the Secretary of State's website before paying any service for speed, and ask whether the "rush" fee includes the state's expedite fee or only the service's own.

Switching later is easy

None of these choices locks you in. You can change your registered agent at any time by filing a short change form with your state, often for a small fee, and the new agent takes over from the date it's accepted. Your LLC, its EIN and its bank accounts don't change.

The thing to manage is the renewal. Registered agent services and plans like ZenBusiness Pro renew automatically each year. Before you switch, cancel the old service's renewal and confirm the state shows your new agent, so you don't pay twice or end up with no agent on record.

How we compared

Prices come from each service's own pricing pages, checked on the dates in the sources list below. We compared the cheapest plan that covers what a typical solo owner needs, and counted the EIN as free where an owner with a Social Security number can get it from the IRS in minutes. We have not yet bought each service ourselves, and the note at the top of this page says so. Screenshots of each checkout will be added as we do.

What none of them can do for you

Every service files the same state form you could file yourself. None of them can make California's $800 annual tax or New York's publication requirement go away, and none removes the need to keep your own books, file your taxes and keep your LLC's money separate from yours. If cost is the priority, our guide to the cheapest way to form an LLC shows how to do it all yourself.

And if you plan to raise venture capital, none of these LLC packages is the right starting point. Investors expect a Delaware C corporation, and Stripe Atlas is the common route for that. Our comparison of LLCs, S corps and C corps covers why.

How to pick

1. Want privacy and the lowest cost over several years? Northwest.
2. Want the EIN and operating agreement done, cheaply, in year one? Bizee Standard.
3. Want annual compliance handled every year? ZenBusiness Pro.
4. Want an attorney and accountant in the loop? LegalZoom Expert.
5. Happy to do the paperwork yourself? None of them. File with your state directly, following our guide to starting an LLC.

Before you check out

Each checkout offers extras, and some are pre-selected or promoted heavily. Before you pay, untick anything you can do yourself for free, such as the EIN, check whether a subscription starts after a trial period, and note the date your registered agent renews. A five-minute pause at checkout is worth more than any coupon code.