ZenBusiness Review 2026: LLC Pricing, Renewals, Pros and Cons

The package price is the smallest line on a three-year LLC. Starter looks free because the state fee is the only charge ZenBusiness passes through in year one. Year two is where Pro, the compliance add-on, and the agent each bill again, and stopping at the sticker undercounts every year the company stays open.

Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, lists ZenBusiness at $16.58 a month, billed yearly, with a free plan available, as of 15 October 2026. That figure is the Pro package spread across twelve months, not the amount checkout charges up front. The same directory's entity management ranking, updated the same day, evaluated 11 tools, and 3 of the 10 tools it lists have a free plan, so a no-fee tier is common in that set. The ZenBusiness listing and the LegalZoom listing sit in that directory, and this page compares formation services rather than that ranking.

Methodology: we read each vendor's own pricing or package page on 17 October 2026 and kept the figure that page prints. The order follows who pays least over three years for one LLC plus a registered agent, with state fees left out because ZenBusiness does not print them. We did not file an LLC, and placement on this page was not sold. How a printed price is weighed is on how we rate, and corrections go through the editorial policy.

ZenBusiness is a formation service with three packages and a shelf of add-ons. Starter, Pro, and Premium all prepare a name check and the articles and send them to the state, so the upgrade is speed and extras, not the filing itself. Starter uses standard processing of 7 to 10 business days, which is enough when no bank or lease is waiting. Pro and Premium use 1 business day on ZenBusiness's clock, and the formation page says that clock does not include the Secretary of State's own time.

Velo, the AI guide, is free on every package, so the guide is not a reason to buy Pro. Starter also includes a dashboard, compliance alerts, lifetime phone, chat, and email support, and a 100% accuracy guarantee, enough if you will get the EIN and file the annual report yourself. Pro is the bundle when you want those chores handled: the EIN, an operating agreement template, a logo builder, a Next insurance quote, and Worry-Free Compliance for the annual report plus up to two amendments a year.

Premium adds a domain with privacy, a business email, a document library, Advanced Compliance Protection, and one advisor consultation on the higher renewal, so skip it if you already own a domain. Tax filing and planning has no printed price, so budget a preparer, and ZenBusiness will not form or maintain obligated member entities.

The free package stops being free at checkout, where the optional lines are already on the screen. Starter includes one optional free year of Worry-Free Compliance, and that year renews at the Pro fee if you keep it, which turns a one-time filing into a subscription. The website builder trial lasts 30 days, is preselected, can be removed before you pay, and renews at $15 a month. Rush processing is a $79 add-on that shortens Starter to 1 business day, and Pro and Premium already include that clock.

After the state approves the articles, the dashboard holds the documents, but you still need a registered agent in the formation state. ZenBusiness supplies one only as an add-on, so the package price is not the cost of staying active. You can name yourself if you have a physical address in that state and can be there during business hours. The registered agent cost comparison prices that yearly line on its own.

Refunds run 60 days from purchase, minus state fees and other third-party fees, so the state keeps its share. After 60 days you can cancel and the fee is not returned, so a later change of mind only stops the next renewal. Pro and Premium renew every year, and the state fee is not part of the Pro renewal.

Year one and year two are different bills for the same LLC. On ZenBusiness's formation plans, read 17 October 2026, Starter has no service fee plus state fees and does not renew. Pro adds a yearly fee on top of the state fee and renews at that same fee, so it is a subscription rather than a one-time filing. Premium is $299 a year plus state fees and renews at that higher price for the domain, the email, and wider compliance, and the same figures are on the LLC page.

The agent, the EIN, and the website sit outside those headlines. The products catalog lists the registered agent at the same yearly fee as Pro, the EIN and the operating agreement at $99 each as one-time add-ons, and Money Pro at $30 a month. Starter's compliance year is optional and free, then matches the Pro fee if you keep it, so the free year is a trial of a paid service. A full year of the preselected website trial is $180.

Three years, one LLC, one agent, state fee excluded. These totals are our arithmetic on the prices above. Northwest is $289, the lowest total here: formation with the first agent year included, then two years of its published agent renewal. Bizee Basic is $298: no package fee, a free agent year, then two years at $149.

ZenBusiness Starter plus the agent, compliance dropped after the free year, is $597. The gap versus Northwest is the agent at the Pro fee every year, including the first, so dropping compliance does not close it. Keeping compliance for years two and three is $995. Pro plus the agent for three years is $1,194, which pays off only when you want those filings and still need the agent.

LegalZoom Basic plus its agent, if the first-time agent rate held, is $747, and LegalZoom says that renewal rate can change, so do not treat it as a promise. Swyft's agent is $149 a quarter, and twelve quarters is $1,788 before any package fee, the costly way to buy an agent. The IRS EIN page says you never have to pay a fee for an EIN, so a formation service's charge for the number is a convenience fee, not a tax.

Sources: Prices were read on 17 October 2026 on ZenBusiness formation plans, the products catalog, Northwest's LLC page, Northwest's agent page, Bizee, Bizee's pricing guide, Bizee's agent page, LegalZoom's LLC page, LegalZoom's agent page, Swyft's LLC page, and Swyft's agent page.

Buy Starter if the only job is the articles and you will remove the website trial before you pay. That fits an owner who will be their own agent, or who already has one, and who will file the annual report or cancel compliance before it renews. Get the EIN from the IRS rather than as a $99 add-on, because the number is the same and the fee only pays someone to file it.

Buy Pro if you want the EIN, an operating agreement template, and the annual report handled every year, and you accept a renewal that drops the state fee. Add the agent only if you do not want your home address on the state record, because that line is a full extra yearly charge. Premium bundles a domain, an email, and the wider compliance tier, and it is a poor fit if you already own a domain.

Skip ZenBusiness when the three-year agent bill is the decision. Northwest and Bizee Basic cost less on that job, and the wider ranking is the LLC formation services guide.

Skip it when a non-US owner needs Form 5472 filed, because this page does not price that return: read the doola review and the Form 5472 note. Skip it for a Delaware C corporation built for investors, where the Stripe Atlas alternatives are the closer set. After the entity exists, pay yourself from the LLC pay guide.