ZenBusiness and Rocket Lawyer are no strangers to the LLC formation industry. In fact, they may be some of the first brands you encounter when you enter “best LLC formation services 2021.” Both companies share a similar degree of popularity among their loyal clientele but for entirely different reasons.
We’ve reviewed both companies’ LLC formation services separately before. But, to help you decide which one is right for you, we put together this more detailed comparison.
ZenBusiness was founded only six years ago on 12 March 2015. But, despite being a fairly new company, ZenBusiness currently stands at the top of all the LLC formation services we’ve reviewed.
This business formation service comes with great business features by default and couples them with an affordable price tag. If you’re looking for the best bang for your buck value, look no further than ZenBusiness.
That said, Rocket Lawyer is no slouch either.
Rocket Lawyer is a legal service platform that offers various services. While Rocket Lawyer’s staff members aren’t attorneys, the company does offer clients access to legal advice and services from their exclusive attorneys as one of their offered services.
They’ve been around since 2008 and have enjoyed a popularity that matches that of ZenBusiness.
Points for Comparison
ZenBusiness and Rocket Lawyer offer different services as a whole. Their paths only converge when it comes to business entity formation and registered agent services. To give you a more detailed look into both these companies, we made this comparison based on the following categories:
- Services offered
- Ease of Use
- Customer services
- Pricing
- Customer reviews
- Overall value
About ZenBusiness
ZenBusiness has risen to the top of the online business formation industry despite being around for just six years. It wants to “make the dream of starting a new business accessible to everyone across the country.”
This company has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, small business owners, and freelancers through the years by providing them the tools to start, run, and grow a successful business. Whether you’re looking to form a corporation, an LLC, or a DBA, ZenBusiness has you covered with their easy, fast, and affordable platform.
ZenBusiness Services
Business Filing
- Corporation
- LLC
- DBA
- Reserve Business Name
Business Operation and Compliance
- Registered Agent Service
- Worry-free Compliance
- Employer ID Number
- Operating Agreement
- Annual Reports
- Domain Name Registration
- Business Website
Business Growth
- Business Bank Account
About Rocket Lawyer
This company has been around since 2008. It aims to help more people get legal help by making legal services affordable, simple, and available. Rocket Lawyer combines free legal documents with free legal information which is then coupled with access to affordable representation by licensed attorneys.
By giving you everything you need to handle your personal or business-related legal question, then giving you easier access to local attorneys, Rocket Lawyer takes away the guesswork when it comes to the law and lets you focus on the more important things — taking care of your family and business.
Rocket Lawyer Services
Make Legal Documents
- Business and contracts
- Real estate
- Family and personal
Sign Legal Documents
- Digital signature with RocketSign
Start a Business
- Starting a business
- Business operations
- Business property
Ask a Lawyer
- Business and contracts
- Finance and real estate
- Family and personal
Side-by-Side Comparison
Now that we’ve introduced both companies, it’s time to compare them side-by-side. We looked into the services and features that both companies offered and started our comparison from there. We also included the services/features that are unique to each company.
Additionally:
We compare each company’s aspects like how easy their website is to use, how good their customer services are, how much value you get, and how their customers feel about them.
ZenBusiness vs Rocket Lawyer: Business Formation
Forming a business with ZenBusiness is easy. You just answer some questions, choose a formation plan, choose your add-ons, then go to checkout and you’re done. The company makes this process even easier by preparing all the documents for you and including extra features in their most basic formation plan by default.
Rocket Lawyer uses a similar formation process. However, it doesn’t tell you what legal documents your business will need so you’ll have to make do some research of your own. That said, if you already know what you need before you sign up, then everything should go along smoothly. You can also get help from one of the company’s Rocket Lawyers if you’re in a bind.
ZenBusiness vs Rocket Lawyer: Registered Agent Service
A registered agent is a person who receives legal and other documents on your business’s behalf. Most states require a registered agent before a business can be formed.
Both companies offer a standalone registered agent service. This means you can sign up for this service alone if you’re looking for a registered agent.
ZenBusiness lets you get this service only through their $99 Standard Coverage or $149 Complete Coverage plans.
Here’s what the plans include:
ZenBusiness Registered Agent Standard Coverage — $99/year
- Registered Agent
- Online Document Access
- Expert Support
ZenBusiness Registered Agent Complete Coverage — $149/year
- Registered Agent
- Online Document Access
- Expert Support
- Worry-Free Compliance
Rocket Lawyer doesn’t offer anything together with its registered agent service which costs $149/year.
That said:
ZenBusiness also includes this service as part of its business formation plans by default. You get a registered agent for your business’s first year then renew it for $99 per year.
Rocket Lawyer only includes it as part of its premium formation package at 25% off.
ZenBusiness vs Rocket Lawyer: Turnaround Time
Turnaround times are difficult to predict because they depend on two factors: Document preparation/filing speed and how quickly your business’s state can process your formation. This is why turnaround times can range from a few business days to several business weeks.
Since business days don’t include weekends, you may have to wait several months in some cases.
ZenBusiness bases its turnaround time on the speed with which it can prepare and file your documents and the state you select. You’d normally have to wait several business days for your documents to be prepared and filed but you can cut down a few days with their Expedited and Rush filing add-ons. You can check out their website for estimated turnaround times.
On the other hand:
Rocket Lawyer bases its turnaround times on how quickly your business’s state can process your formation. Their website also lets you check out turnaround times for their standard and expedited service.
ZenBusiness vs Rocket Lawyer: Ease of Use
Online business formation services are great because they let you form, manage, and grow your business wherever you may be. This is why it’s always important to find a business formation platform that’s easy to understand and use.
ZenBusiness’s formation process is simple and straightforward: pick a pricing plan, answer some personal and business-related questions, enter payment information, and you’re done.
Rocket Lawyer’s formation process is just as simple and user-friendly as ZenBusiness. Since it only has one business formation package (Premium membership), forming your business with this company should present no problems.
ZenBusiness vs Rocket Lawyer: Customer Service
When starting or running your business, it’s always great to have a support team that has your back. Most times, a business formation service’s reputation is based on how well its support team can help customers in a bind.
ZenBusiness is backed by a support team of industry experts that respond quickly with helpful information. You can reach them either through chat, email, or phone from Mondays to Fridays and Sundays. ZenBusiness also has an FaQ section and Help Center where you can find answers to the most common questions and problems.
Similarly:
Rocket Lawyer offers customer support through a knowledge base where you can find answers yourself, email support from a representative, mail support through their P.O box, and phone/chat support that’s available on weekdays.
Additionally, Rocket Lawyer lets you reach an attorney quickly in case you want to speak with one.
ZenBusiness vs Rocket Lawyer: Pricing
A company can offer the best services, be extremely user-friendly, and offer the best support but all of these won’t be any good if you can’t afford to pay for them.
When it comes to pricing, this is what you can expect to pay and what you’re getting:
ZenBusiness Starter Plan, $49 plus state fees, LLC or corporation fees
- Standard Filing
- Operating Agreement Template
- Free 1 Year of Registered Agent Service ($99/year after)
- Phones and real-time chat support
- Personalized account dashboard
- LLC or Corporation formed in about 1 to 3 weeks
ZenBusiness Pro Plan, $199 plus state fees, LLC or corporation fees
- Expedited Filing
- Operating Agreement Template
- Free 1 Year of Registered Agent Service ($99/year after)
- Phones and real-time chat support
- Personalized account dashboard
- LLC or Corporation formed in about 1 to 3 weeks
- Employer ID Number
- Banking Resolution Template
- Worry-Free Compliance
- 100% Accuracy Guarantee
ZenBusiness Premium Plan, $299 plus state fees, LLC or corporation fees
- Rush Filing
- Operating Agreement Template
- Free 1 Year of Registered Agent Service ($99/year after)
- Phones and real-time chat support
- Personalized account dashboard
- LLC or Corporation formed in about 1 to 3 weeks
- Employer ID Number
- Banking Resolution Template
- Worry-Free Compliance
- Business Domain Name
- Business Website
- Business Email Address
- 100% Accuracy Guarantee
Rocket Lawyer
Rocket Lawyer Premium Membership, $39.99 plus state fees, LLC or corporation fees
- Legal Documents
- Document Defense® on Rocket Lawyer documents
- Ask a Lawyer your legal questions
- 30-minute consultation on every new legal matter
- Discounts when you hire a Rocket Lawyer On Call® attorney
- Affordable incorporation filing
- Affordable Registered Agent service
Rocket Lawyer Standalone Services
Make Legal Documents – $39.99 per document
- Business and contracts
- Real estate
- Family and personal
Attorney Services
- Document Defense on Rocket Lawyer documents – $9.99 per document
- Ask a Lawyer your legal questions – $49.99 per question
- 30-minute consultation on every new legal matter – $59.99 per consultation
For Business
- Affordable incorporation filing – $99.99 (Excluding state fees)
- Affordable Registered Agent service – $149.99 per year
ZenBusiness vs Rocket Lawyer: Customer Reviews
We here at YesForFairTax believe that you shouldn’t buy or pay for a service-based solely on what a company’s website tells you. It’s always a good idea to check out customer reviews to make sure that what you see is what you get (and not just marketing).
For this comparison, we used Trustpilot.
As one of the top-rated business formation services, ZenBusiness is quite popular. 6,371 customer reviews give it an “Excellent” rating of 4.8 stars out of 5. Clients love this company’s easy formation process, fast turnaround times, and helpful customer support.
Meanwhile:
3,517 clients give Rocket Lawyer an “Excellent” rating of 4.7 stars out of 5. Most of these clients praise Rocket Lawyer for its ease of use, excellent customer service, and affordable legal documents. The customers who did rate the company poorly complained about technical difficulties with the site and canceling their monthly membership.
ZenBusiness vs Rocket Lawyer: Which is Better?
At this point:
You’ve learned about ZenBusiness and Rocket Lawyer, their business formation services, registered agent services, turnaround times, ease of use, customer support, pricing, and customer reviews.
So, which one is better?
It depends.
If you’re looking for a reliable, fast, and affordable business formation service, then ZenBusiness is the right choice. It’s one of the few business formation services that customers rate as “excellent” and is currently at the top of our list of best LLC formation services.
If you’re looking for a business formation service that gets you constant access to legal services and counsel — and you don’t mind paying a bit more — then Rocket Lawyer is a good choice.
Both companies are user-friendly, have great customer support teams, and excellent customer reviews.
While ZenBusiness does win when it comes to cost and overall value, Rocket Lawyer’s quick access to legal aid and counsel works to even out the scale.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which one is better, ZenBusiness or Rocket Lawyer?
It depends.
If you’re looking for a reliable, fast, and affordable business formation service, then ZenBusiness is the right choice.
Rocket Lawyer is better If you’re looking for a business formation service that gets you constant access to legal services and counsel.
Is ZenBusiness Legit?
Yes.
It’s currently one of the best companies in the business formation industry. It gets excellent marks from over 6000+ customer reviews on Trustpilot. ZenBusiness is also our top pick for the best LLC formation service.
Is Rocket Lawyer any good?
Yes.
There are several reasons why over 3000+ customers give Rocket Lawyer excellent marks.
With a premium membership that lets you gain access to all of its services, an easy-to-use interface, an excellent support team, and easy access to legal aid and counsel, Rocket Lawyer is great if you’re looking to form a business that requires constant legal aid.
Do ZenBusiness and Rocket Lawyer offer refunds?
Yes. Both companies offer refunds.
Do ZenBusiness and Rocket Lawyer keep your business compliant?
Yes. ZenBusiness offers annual reports and a registered agent service. Rocket Lawyer offers a registered agent service.
Why do I need an LLC formation service?
Forming an LLC can be time-consuming, confusing, and costly — especially if you’re just starting a business. A business formation service saves you from all of these problems (for a price) so you can focus more on growing your business