ZenBusiness Review for 2025

ZenBusiness may not be run by Buddhist monks, but its stress-free business-formation service is as calming as 30 minutes of meditation and a cup of green tea. If you’re looking to form a company, hand your worries to ZenBusiness and relax. You’re in good hands.

ZenBusiness Overview

It takes four main statements to put ZenBusiness into focus.

First, although ZenBusiness can help you set up any kind of corporation, the focus is on limited liability companies, which account for about 90% of ZenBusiness’s business. That focus is why ZenBusiness has gained a reputation of one of the world’s leading LLC services.

Second, the company is exploring ways to capitalize on its relationship with clients to provide ongoing business-management services, to continue working together after your business is incorporated.

Third, ZenBusiness has fine-tuned its formula of great customer care, affordable prices, and ease of use since it was founded in 2015. The company has announced its ambition to help clients launch 1 million companies over the next five years.

Finally, ZenBusiness is a socially conscious company. It is incorporated as a public benefit corporation according to Texas law, and it makes regular contributions to Kiva.org, a nonprofit that lends money to small businesses owned by women and minorities. ZenBusiness plans to continue making a profit, but it also intends to help make the world a better place.

ZenBusiness Plans

Zen Business offers three LLC-formation packages: Starter, Pro, and Premium. Although the packages are designed with small businesses in mind, larger companies shouldn’t disregard them. One of the ZenBusiness packages might offer everything you expect from a corporate legal team that’s helping you set up a subsidiary – at a much lower cost.

Starter Package

With an eye-catching price of just $0 + state fees, the Starter package blows the competition away. This package may be the market’s most affordable LLC service. The package is perfect for entrepreneurs who want access to critical business formation services without exhausting the budget. This package represents exceptional value. Here’s what you get:

Preparation and filing of formation documents. Government paperwork is intimidating, and it’s easy to miss a requirement in the fine print. That’s why companies like ZenBusiness exist. They specialize in preparing and filing startup paperwork. They know what information is needed and what documents must be submitted.

Name availability search. Before filing your business formation documents, ZenBusiness will check to see if the name you’ve chosen for your new company is available. If not, Zen will contact you so you can come up with a replacement.

Online document access. Once the company reviews your paperwork and sends your application to the secretary of state, you can monitor your order’s status on a personalized online dashboard. Later, you will be able to use the dashboard for viewing and printing documents as well as requesting new services.

Business credit card. ZenBusiness maintains a partnership with Divvy so you can get business credit cards for yourself and your employees. Divvy is a cloud-based financial-services platform that helps companies authorize, track, and control business expenses.

Free CPA assessment. All pricing plans include a free accounting and tax assessment by a certified public accountant who makes recommendations and provides helpful information.

Virtual business guide. A great many of today’s startups are online companies that face special challenges and business requirements. That’s why ZenBusiness provides an easy-to-follow guide on setting up a virtual business.

Registered agent services. Every incorporated business in America is required to have a registered agent to receive official documents on the company’s behalf. Zen’s annual fee for a registered agent service is $199 per year. This is easily amongst the most generous offers available today.

Operating agreement/corporate bylaws. An operating agreement lays out an LLC’s structure and sets rules for how it will operate. Corporate bylaws perform the same function for corporations. ZenBusiness helps you create these important documents.

Worry-free compliance. This service is free for the first year if accepted by the user. Keep in mind that after the first year, it renews for $199/year.

Pro Package

Priced at $199 per year (plus state filing fees, of course), Zen’s Pro package includes everything in the Starter package plus several useful additional services. The Pro package is an affordable LLC formation option for entrepreneurs who’d like to set up their businesses faster and prefer a little more than the basic coverage. The additional services are:

Banking resolution. Banks often need to see a corporate or LLC banking resolution before letting you open a business bank account. The resolution specifies who has the authority to sign loans or make payments on behalf of your new company. ZenBusiness will give you appropriate templates so you can get all of this squared away in no time.

Worry-free guarantee. This feature was one of the first to catch our eye when comparing the company's formation packages. Zen’s worry-free guarantee includes annual report filing plus two amendments per year if required. The guarantee has an alert system set in place to help you keep track of important filing dates for taxes and government paperwork.

If you miss a deadline, ZenBusiness’s support team will assist you in redeeming yourself to the state. Zen will even pay late fees and penalties if necessary.

Employer ID number. You can view your EIN as a Social Security number for your business. And ZenBusiness will file all necessery paperwork for you.

Rush filing speed. The company offers quick paperwork turnaround.

Premium Package

The Premium package focuses on the online side of operating your business. Developing an online presence is a costly endeavor, which accounts for this package’s price: $349 plus state fees.

The high price means that the Premium package might not be everyone’s first choice, but considering the services you get – including faster business formation services and the online kit – we recommend it.

Let’s take a look at the benefits of the Premium package, besides the ones that are in Pro, so you can decide for yourself whether or not it’s right for you.

Business website. A website is like your company’s business card on the internet. It’s not a necessity, but an excellent site leaves a good impression with customers, bankers, investors, and potential business partners. ZenBusiness gives you professional website templates customized to work on any device, unlimited web hosting, and even a $100 Google Ads voucher.

Business domain name. A domain name is your website’s online address, and to ensure that no one else can use it, you need to license it. ZenBusiness can help you register your unique domain name and make sure that it corresponds to the name of your business.

Domain name privacy. Are you comfortable with your website domain registration publicly listing your name and contact information? We didn’t think so. Zen’s Premium package includes a privacy shield around this sensitive data.

Business email address.  With ZenBusiness, your email and website domain names will match perfectly. The company will help you create professional email addresses for your business.

Business Document Templates. ZenBusiness gives Premium users accss to their business documents library which includes over 25 of the most important templates, including contracts, waivers, service agreements, etc.

ZenBusiness Customer Service

The company's customer service agents are available through chat and phone from Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Central time – and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can also send them an email. Expect a response within a single business day.

Even if Zen’s services were only average, the customer support team would make it one of the best we’ve seen in this industry. Team members are knowledgeable and quick to respond, no matter the nature of your question.

Ease of Use

Setting up your business is fast and easy. Once you select your business type and state, the page reloads to show your overall price and services. It’s the same with any add-on options you click on. After you’ve compiled your package, simply fill out the necessary information about your business and you’re done.

Turnaround Time

The system ZenBusiness has in place is simple: The more you pay, the greater the odds of opening your business in a few days instead of a few weeks. The company examines your order and prioritizes it based on your chosen package. Of course, all turnaround times are affected by how quickly the state reviews and approves your documents.

Extra Services and Features

Worry-Free Compliance

If you already have a business and are finding it difficult to stay compliant with the state paperwork requirements, you can purchase the worry-free guarantee as a stand-alone feature and have ZenBusiness deal with it. It’s just $119 per year.

Registered Agent

ZenBusiness’s registered agent offer is by far the most affordable on the market. If you don’t want to get it as part of a company-formation package, you can subscribe to the service separately for $99 per year.

EIN Service

Another feature that you can obtain individually through ZenBusiness is your employer ID number. Zen will file the necessary paperwork and acquire your EIN for $99. EIN service is included in Pro and Premium plans.

New York Certificate of Publication

New York is one of the few states that require a Certificate of Publication from new LLCs – a regulation left over from times when newspapers were the only way of informing the public of new companies.

The process involves a lot of hassle that even some of the leading LLC services don’t want to deal with, which is one reason ZenBusiness is our favorite. For $200 plus publication fees, Zen will take on the attorneys, newspapers, county clerk, and the Department of State for you.

Summary

The great thing about ZenBusiness is that even though the prices are low, the services are top-notch. Every one of them has a purpose – the packages aren’t padded with a lot of fluff to give you the illusion of abundance. It’s refreshing.

If you’re in the market for an affordable LLC formation service, you won’t go wrong with ZenBusiness.