LegalZoom vs ZenBusiness
Plans, registered agent prices, three-year cost, fine print and ratings for ZenBusiness and LegalZoom, side by side, with what each costs in your state. We have not used these services ourselves; every figure is read from the company's own site or from the rating site named.
ZenBusiness prices read from its own site on September 22, 2026; LegalZoom prices read from its own site on October 14, 2026.
Last updated October 14, 2026
TL;DR: ZenBusiness costs $99 in year one and $497 over three years; LegalZoom costs $249 and $747. Those are our totals of each service's cheapest plan plus registered agent, state fees excluded. ZenBusiness costs less in year one ($99 against $249), over three years ($497 against $747) and on registered agent renewal ($199/yr against $249/yr). On our computed score (55% three-year service cost, 25% BBB grade and 20% Trustpilot score), ZenBusiness is higher at 74.1 out of 100, against 64.7 for LegalZoom. Which fits you depends on the situation, set out below.
Who each fits
Each row names the service that comes out ahead on one figure printed on this page. Pick the row that matches what matters to you.
| You want the lowest bill in year one | ZenBusiness$99 against $249 for LegalZoom in year one. |
|---|---|
| You want the lowest total over three years | ZenBusiness$497 against $747 for LegalZoom over three years. |
| You will keep the registered agent for years | ZenBusiness$199/yr against $249/yr for LegalZoom on registered agent renewal. |
| You want attorney consultations with your formation plan | LegalZoomAttorney access on the $299 plan (Premium or Expert Service): unlimited 30-min consultations with independent attorneys, each on a new legal topic (first 30 days). The $299 plan's 30 days of attorney access then renews at $49/month or $99/month until you cancel, depending on which version of LegalZoom's plans you are shown. Our record of ZenBusiness's plans lists no attorney consultations. |
| You want the higher score on our formula | ZenBusinessZenBusiness 74.1 out of 100, LegalZoom 64.7 out of 100 (55% three-year service cost, 25% BBB grade and 20% Trustpilot score). |
Side by side
Scroll sideways on a phone.
| Item | ZenBusiness | LegalZoom |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 74.1 out of 100, third of four | 64.7 out of 100, fourth of four |
| Plans | Starter: $0 + state (one-time)Pro: $199/yrPremium: $299/yr | Basic: $0 + state (one-time)Pro or Managed Service: $249 + state (one-time)Premium or Expert Service: $299 + state (one-time) |
| Registered agent, year one | $99, not included in any plan | Not included, $249 extra |
| Registered agent renewal | $199/yr | $249/yr |
| 3-year service cost | $497 ($99 + $199 + $199) | $747 ($249 + $249 + $249) |
| BBB | A, BBB accredited | A+, BBB accredited |
| Trustpilot | 4.8/5 (32,500+ reviews) | 4.6/5 (32,900+ reviews) |
| Prices read | September 22, 2026 | October 14, 2026 |
| Ratings recorded | September 15, 2026 | September 15, 2026 |
The 3-year service cost is our total of each service's cheapest plan plus registered agent for a new LLC, state fees excluded. BBB and Trustpilot figures are as recorded on the date shown and not re-checked since.
Affiliate disclosure: ZenBusiness and LegalZoom pay us a commission if you sign up through our link, at no extra cost to you. We list only formation services we have an affiliate relationship with, so this is not a survey of the whole market. The score on this page is computed from 3-year service cost, BBB rating and Trustpilot score, and the code that computes it never reads which service pays us.
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
What you'll pay in your state
Each service charges the same in every state; what changes is the state's own filing fee and report fee. Pick your state to add them up. The year-one figure is the cheapest plan plus registered agent plus the state filing fee, and leaves out the state report and any other state charge.
| ZenBusiness in Alabama | $299 in year oneCheapest plan Starter: $0 + state (one-time); registered agent in year one: $99, not included in any plan (the same in every state); plus the Alabama filing fee. |
|---|---|
| LegalZoom in Alabama | $449 in year oneCheapest plan Basic: $0 + state (one-time); registered agent in year one: Not included, $249 extra (the same in every state); plus the Alabama filing fee. |
| Alabama filing fee | $200 |
| Alabama report fee | No annual or biennial report |
| Yearly state charges after year one | $0 a yearThe report fee per year plus any minimum entity-level tax we have checked for Alabama. |
Our estimated first-year state cost for an LLC in Alabama is $200, which is $32 less than the national average of $232. It counts a year's share of recurring state fees and taxes at their minimum, so what you pay in year one can differ.
Filing with Alabama yourself costs the state filing fee with no service charge. For your report's due date, use the annual report deadline tool.
Before you buy
What each record documents about automatic renewals, default enrollments and add-on prices, read from the company's own site. Check each one at checkout, because prices and defaults change.
ZenBusiness
- Registered agent renews at $199/yr after year one.
- Registered agent is not included in any plan: $99 for year one when you form with them.
- Compliance package auto-renews. Read the fine print at checkout.
- Every plan adds an AI website builder that is free for 30 days, then renews at $15/month unless you remove it at checkout.
- Pro and Premium renew at $199/yr and $299/yr.
LegalZoom
- Registered agent is $249/yr and NOT included in any plan.
- The $299 plan's 30 days of attorney access then renews at $49/month or $99/month until you cancel, depending on which version of LegalZoom's plans you are shown.
- The $249 plan (Pro or Managed Service) includes 30 days of attorney consultations in one version of LegalZoom's plans and a business advisor, not an attorney, in the other, then renews at $49/month until you cancel.
- In one version of its plans, Premium also adds bookkeeping tools that renew at $9.99/month after 6 months.
Do you need attorney access?
These are general considerations, not legal advice. If any of them describes your LLC, a conversation with a lawyer may be worth having, whichever service you use. Tick what applies.
With none of these, the comparison is mostly cost: ZenBusiness comes to $497 over three years against $747 for LegalZoom, state fees excluded.
How the score works
The score is 55% three-year service cost, 25% BBB grade and 20% Trustpilot score, computed the same way for all four formation services on our ranking, and it never reads which service pays us.
- ZenBusiness: 0.55 × 58.1 (cost) + 0.25 × 91.7 (BBB) + 0.2 × 96 (Trustpilot) = 74.1.
- LegalZoom: 0.55 × 38.7 (cost) + 0.25 × 100 (BBB) + 0.2 × 92 (Trustpilot) = 64.7.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Check each price at checkout: these were read on the dates above.
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC
Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.
Sources
The pages each price and rating on this page was read from. Prices are as read on the dates printed above, and ratings as recorded on the dates in the table; both can change after those dates.
- zenbusiness.com/llc/ZenBusiness: LLC formation plans and prices
- zenbusiness.com/registered-agent/ZenBusiness: registered agent service
- legalzoom.com/business/business-formation/llc-overview.htmlLegalZoom: LLC formation plans and prices
- legalzoom.com/business/business-operations/registered-agent-overview.htmlLegalZoom: registered agent service
- bbb.orgBetter Business Bureau business profiles (grades and accreditation)
- trustpilot.comTrustpilot company pages (scores and review counts)