ZenBusiness reviews its own products and services and compares them to others in the industry.
Last updated: April 14, 2025
Starting a limited liability company (LLC) is a significant step for any entrepreneur, and choosing the right formation service can streamline the process. With numerous options available, it’s essential to identify a provider that aligns with your business needs and budget. In this guide, we review the top LLC formation services, highlighting their features, pricing, and customer feedback to help you make an informed decision.
LLC Service Provider | Starting Price (Excl. State Fees) | Registered Agent | Money-Back Guarantee | Best For |
---|---|---|---|---|
ZenBusiness | $0 | Add-on, $199/yr | 60 days | Overall value |
Bizee (Incfile) | $0 | 1st year free, then $119/yr | ✘ | Basic formation |
LegalZoom | $0 | Add-on, $249/yr | 60 days | Legal support |
Northwest Registered Agent | $39 | 1st year free, then $125/yr | ✘ | Personalized support |
Inc Authority | $0 | 1st year free, then $199/yr | 60 days | Customer loyalty |
Rocket Lawyer | $39.99/mo | ✘ | 30 days | Legal services and attorney access |
MyCompanyWorks | $59 | Included in higher-tier plans | 90 days | Fast customer support |
If you’re looking for an excellent LLC website overall, go with us at ZenBusiness. We’ve already formed 800,000+ businesses since 2017!
✔ Free LLC formation (only pay state fees)
✔ $5,000 grant program for customers
✔ 60-day money-back guarantee
✔ 21237+ reviews with a 4.8 average rating
✔ Award-winning customer support
✔ Extended customer service hours, including Saturdays and Sundays
✔ Socially conscious company (Public Benefit Corporation)
✘ Registered agent service costs extra after the first year
✘ Some advanced features require higher-tier plans
If you want a socially conscious LLC service with an excellent overall value, choose ZenBusiness.
Compare ZenBusiness LLC Packages below!
Another LLC service is Bizee (formerly known as Infile), with a basic formation service that only requires you to pay your state fee. Bizee is a well-known choice, with more than one million businesses formed since they opened in 2004. They also have a variety of features to suit an entrepreneur’s needs.
✔ Free LLC formation (only pay state fees)
✔ Includes one year of registered agent service ($119/yr afterward)
✔ Large customer base with 20,932+ reviews (as of April 2025)
✔ Phone and email support
✘ Lots of upsells can increase overall costs
✘ Customer support can be slow during peak times
Keep in Mind: Even though their free formation service is a good deal, you’re going to deal with more upsells and potentially higher overall prices as a result.
Want to learn more? See our Bizee review.
LegalZoom is the most well-known service in this industry, handling millions of LLC formations since 1999. They handle huge volumes of entity formations and offer legal services beyond formations. While they can’t match the value per dollar offered by ZenBusiness, LegalZoom is a popular option.
✔ Established brand with 4 million+ LLCs formed
✔ Extended customer service hours, including Saturdays
✔ Offers legal services beyond LLC formation
✘ Aggressive upsells during the ordering process
✘ Registered agent service is expensive ($249/yr)
✘ Not the best value compared to competitors
Want to learn more? See our LegalZoom review.
Northwest Registered Agent also offers a good business formation service, with personalized customer support as their standout feature. They’ve been forming businesses since 1998.
✔ Personalized customer support
✔ Includes one year of registered agent service ($125/yr afterward)
✔ Industry experience since 1998
✘ Higher starting price than competitors who offer free LLC formation
✘ No customer service hours on Saturday or Sunday and no chat support
Want to learn more? See our Northwest review.
Inc Authority also offers a free service in addition to paid packages. Inc Authority has been around since 1989, and they’ve formed more than 250,000 business entities over the years. Inc Authority’s platform isn’t the most intuitive or user-friendly LLC website we’ve ever used, but they do have several positives that still make it well worth a look for entrepreneurs on a budget.
✔ Free LLC formation (only pay state fees)
✔ Includes one year of registered agent service ($199/yr afterward)
✔ 39,000+ positive customer reviews
✘ High upsell costs for additional features
✘ No refunds on paid services
✘ Customer service is limited to Monday to Friday, 8 to 5 PST
Keep in Mind: Even though their free LLC service is a solid deal, if you want additional features, you’ll end up paying higher prices than some other options on this list. Their pricing for LLC formation packages is also unclear; we couldn’t find them on their website, and a customer service agent told us we would have to start the application process with them to get pricing.
Want to learn more? See our Inc Authority review.
Next up is Rocket Lawyer, a service that provides a host of legal features in addition to LLC formation. If you’re in a situation that requires discussing sensitive legal matters with an attorney, Rocket Lawyer could be a fit for you.
✔ Free LLC formation with a $39.99/mo legal subscription
✔ 3 million+ business clients served
✔ 100% satisfaction guarantee (30-day refund policy)
✔ Access to legal documents and attorney advice
✘ Higher costs for non-members
✘ Fewer LLC-specific features compared to competitors
Want to learn more? See our Rocket Lawyer review.
With more than 60,000 business formations since they opened in 2001, MyCompanyWorks fits the bill as a midsize company in the LLC services industry. They have the experience to do the job right without making you feel like you’re just a number. MyCompanyWorks reviews on the “Shopper Approved” website are 4.9 out of 5. However, TrustPilot rates them at only 2.6 out of 5.
✔ Fast response times (voicemails and emails answered within 20 minutes)
✔ $59 base formation price — affordable compared to premium providers
✔ Startup Wizard checklist helps guide new business owners
✘ Registered agent service only included in higher-tier plans ($199+)
✘ Lacks advanced compliance services
✘ Customer service hours are limited to Monday to Friday, 8 to 4 PT
Want to learn more? See our MyCompanyWorks review.
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There are so many different things to consider when choosing the best LLC service for you — it’s tough for us to completely say, “This service is the best, and everyone should use it.”
With that in mind, let’s talk about a few of the most important aspects of deciding which company creation service you should use — and what criteria we use to review and compare each option.
Low prices are always attractive, but you need to make sure you’re getting the perks and features you want. For instance, does your chosen LLC filing service include ongoing compliance assistance or registered agent service, or are you required to purchase it separately? Also, make sure you’re not paying for anything you probably don’t need, like a symbolic LLC kit and seal.
Check out what the competition has to offer. While discounts in the LLC service space are rare, there are added perks like a year of annual report service or a free operating agreement template. Evaluate how much value they add — not just in a vacuum, but for you.
This is an aspect that we think far too many entrepreneurs overlook. Some of the industry leaders have such a high customer volume that it’s impossible to get LLC service custom-tailored to your individual needs. You can end up feeling like you’re just a statistic rather than a valued customer.
Does your chosen service have a history of success, or do they register lots of customer complaints? Always look into the company’s reputation, and check out their customer feedback to get a better feel for what their client experience is like.
Do they offer phone support, or is it just web-based chat and email? What are their hours of availability? Are they available evenings and weekends? Do they outsource their customer service to call centers, or do they handle it in-house?
LegalZoom is the most well-known LLC formation service online, thanks to their massive advertising budget and impressive customer volume. However, their offering overall isn’t nearly as exciting compared to other LLC formation services like ZenBusiness that give you far more bang for your buck.
Using an LLC formation website removes much of the hassle from the business formation process. With these services, all you need to do is provide them with the name, location, and industry your business operates in, along with some info about yourself and your registered agent.
The service then creates your Articles of Organization and files them with your state to create your new LLC.
Absolutely. There are quite a few reputable companies offering LLC formation services these days, including the top LLC services you see above.
In fact, while we certainly have our opinions about which ones offer the best pricing and features, every one of the incorporation services we discuss on this website is entirely legitimate and trustworthy.
The do-it-yourself route is always an option, and quite a few entrepreneurs do choose to form their own LLCs without the assistance of a business incorporation service. If this is something you’d like to look into, check out our free guide to creating an LLC.
There are several steps involved if you’re going to form an LLC on your own. The most important phase of this process is preparing and filing your Articles of Organization, as this document formally creates your LLC with the state.
The information required varies from state to state, but you’ll generally need to provide them with some basic information about yourself and your business. You will also need to choose a name for your business, designate a registered agent, obtain a federal tax ID number (EIN), create an operating agreement, and more.
With any of these packages and with any of these service providers ― you will receive the full formation of your LLC.
It doesn’t matter if you purchase the most affordable or most expensive package unless you’re also interested in getting some advanced features with your formation.
We would actually argue the exact opposite, that there are many more risks to forming an LLC on your own. With an LLC formation website, your business is formed by experts who specialize in formation and can make sure your business is formed correctly.
These companies form hundreds or even thousands of LLCs every day, so they have the expertise to form a compliant business.
Yes! We’ve reviewed all of the industry’s top LLC formation services, as well as many of the smaller providers, in an effort to help you decide which LLC service provider is the right choice for you. Here is a list of these LLC services.
1) ZenBusiness
2) Bizee
3) LegalZoom
4) Northwest Registered Agent
5) Inc Authority
6) Rocket Lawyer
7) MyCompanyWorks
8) BizFilings
9) Nationwide Incorporators
10) Incorporate.com
11) MyCorporation
12) CorpNet
13) Swyft Filings
14) Direct Incorporation
15) Harvard Business Services
No. There are different LLC formation filing fees in all 50 states, so you’ll need to add your state’s fee to the listed price points.
Want to see how much it will cost to form an LLC in your state? Check out our state-by-state guide.
Depending on the nature of your LLC, as well as the legal requirements in your state, there is some variation here. In general though, it will likely cost at least $1,000-$1,500 to hire an attorney to form your new LLC. It could easily cost more than that as well, possibly as much as $3,000 or more.
There are only two situations where it’s advisable to reserve an LLC name ahead of time. One is if you’re not yet ready to form your LLC, but you want to make sure that the business name you want is available when you do take the next step.
Other than that, there are states like Alabama that require you to make a business name reservation before you start the LLC formation process. In general, reserving a name ahead of time is not necessary for the vast majority of entrepreneurs.
If you’re forming an LLC in New York, an LLC formation service that also offers to take care of New York LLC publication requirements might be the best bet. Unfortunately, there aren’t many companies that offer this service. However, there are a few services that do, including us at ZenBusiness.
Yes, most LLC formation websites offer a number of other online business services. Even the most basic and cheap LLC formation services also include a business name availability check to ensure that your business name is available.
While the exact services offered by these companies vary, you’ll often see offers for registered agent service, employer identification number (EIN) acquisition, annual report service, foreign qualifications, business licensing research, and more.
It’s not difficult to find articles online about how you should form your business in Delaware because this state has many advantages for businesses, or Nevada because they provide tax breaks. In our opinion, it’s almost always a better idea to simply form your business in the state you’ll operate it in.
This avoids all kinds of complications and hassles that often undermine the usefulness of starting an LLC.
Many companies include what’s commonly referred to as an “LLC kit” with their business formation packages. There is no legal requirement to have this binder or seal, as the benefits are strictly aesthetic.
A registered agent (for more information, please see our “What is a registered agent?” page) is required to form an LLC and is a person or business that is responsible for receiving legal notices (such as service of process) and important state documents on behalf of the company and relaying them to the business owner(s).
In most states, registered agents must be a resident of the state or a business authorized to do business in the state. The agent must be present at a registered office during all normal business hours so that they can accept service of process in person. The registered office can be your place of business, but it doesn’t have to be, as long as it’s at a physical street address in the state.
While you are legally able to serve as your own registered agent, consider using a service instead. Serving as your own agent means that you’ll be tied to the office all day in case you need to accept service of process; you won’t be able to go meet up with clients, go on vacation, etc. And, if a process server delivers notice of a lawsuit against you, they would do so at your business, possibly in front of clients. Using a registered agent service eliminates these worries.
The LLC organizer is simply the term used to refer to the person who sets up the business. In other words, the organizer has no ownership interests in the business, unless one of the owners is also serving as the organizer. Once the LLC is formed with the state, the organizer resigns their role, and all control of the business is assigned to its owners.
We think you should start an LLC before you begin conducting business. While it is entirely legally acceptable to operate your business as a sole proprietorship or general partnership before forming an LLC, doing so subjects you to a number of risks that LLCs don’t have to worry about.
For example, informal business structures don’t have limited liability protection, so any lawsuit filed against the business can include the owner’s personal assets as well as the business assets.
All entrepreneurs are required to pay state fees for LLC formations, no matter how the business is formed. If you use an online LLC service, you will also be required to pay that company’s in-house service fees. For example, with ZenBusiness, you will only pay the state fee.
Different businesses have different needs. Therefore, it’s impossible for us to make any blanket statements for a question like this.
For many companies and small businesses, an LLC is the perfect business entity, but for some larger or more complex businesses, the corporation has some advantages that the LLC can’t match. In general though, we strongly prefer LLCs to informal entities like sole proprietorships and general partnerships that don’t have any personal asset protection.
Nope! You don’t need to be physically present in the U.S. to form an LLC. You also don’t need to be a U.S. citizen or resident. Just about anyone can set up an LLC, which is part of the reason this is such a popular business entity type.
Disclaimer: The content on this page is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or accounting advice. If you have specific questions about any of these topics, seek the counsel of a licensed professional.
Top LLC Formation Services in All 50 States
We've broken down the best LLC formation services in all 50 states. Select your state for more information.
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