Most “best LLC service” lists end with a winner, and the winner tends to be whoever pays the best commission. This one doesn’t have a winner. We have formed an LLC through one of these companies, Bizee, and paid for it ourselves. The other three, Northwest Registered Agent, ZenBusiness and LegalZoom, we assessed from what they publish: pricing pages, terms of service and renewal fees, all checked in September 2026. Each section says which is which.
There are no scores here and no price table, because formation prices move with the state and the season. The prices mentioned are what each company’s own pages showed when we checked, with a link so you can see today’s figure. This page has no affiliate links. Our method page explains the rest.
The short answer, by situation
If you only read one section, make it this one.
- It’s your first LLC and you want the filing, the EIN and a registered agent handled in one order, with someone to email when a state letter looks alarming: Bizee’s Standard package. That’s what we bought, and our Bizee review covers how it went.
- You don’t want your home address on the public record, or you want the lowest registered agent renewal of the four: Northwest Registered Agent.
- You want someone to file your annual report every year and you’re fine paying a yearly subscription for it: ZenBusiness Pro.
- You expect legal questions in the first months and want a lawyer you can call: LegalZoom Pro or Premium.
- You live outside the US: the EIN is the hard part, not the filing. Choose on how the service handles an EIN without a Social Security number (more below).
- You have an address in the state you’re forming in and you can fill in a form: skip the service and file with the state yourself.
The price that matters is the year-two price
Three of the four advertise a $0 formation and the fourth charges $39. Those numbers are honest. They just aren’t where the money is. The money is in the registered agent, which every LLC must keep for as long as it exists and which renews every year. Our guide to what a registered agent does explains why most owners can’t be their own.
Here is what each company’s own pages showed in September 2026, state fees aside.
Bizee includes the first year of registered agent service with every package, the $0 Basic plan included. After that, its registered agent page lists the service at $149 a year.
Northwest charges $39 plus state fees for its single formation package. The registered agent is free for the first year and $125 a year after that, the lowest renewal of the four.
ZenBusiness’s plan table lists the registered agent as an add-on at $199 a year on every plan, the $0 Starter included. Its standalone registered agent page advertises a lower first-year price, so look at which figure your checkout actually shows.
LegalZoom doesn’t put a registered agent in any LLC package. Its registered agent service is $249 a year and renews automatically until you cancel.
Run that forward two years on each company’s cheapest plan, using it as your registered agent and leaving state fees out: about $149 at Bizee, $164 at Northwest, $398 at ZenBusiness and $498 at LegalZoom. The “free” LLC and the $39 one end up in roughly the same place. The other two don’t, and that gap grows every year the LLC exists.
If you, or someone you trust, has a physical address in the state and can receive legal papers there during business hours, none of this applies. You can be your own agent and pay nothing.
What renews unless you cancel it
The second place costs hide is anything that starts free and quietly becomes a subscription. None of these are secret. They’re on the pricing pages. They’re just easy to miss when the headline says $0.
- ZenBusiness Pro and Premium are annual subscriptions in themselves: $199 and $299, renewing at the same price each year, which pays for ongoing compliance filings such as your annual report. The $0 Starter plan comes with a free year of Worry-Free Compliance, which then renews at $199 a year.
- LegalZoom’s Pro and Premium packages include 30 days of its Business Attorney Plan, which then continues at $49 a month. Premium adds six months of bookkeeping software that continues at $9.99 a month.
- Northwest sells an annual report service at $100 plus state fees. Once you’ve signed up, it charges the card on file about 90 days before your state’s deadline.
- Bizee didn’t push a single add-on on us at checkout in 2024. The package was the product.
If you pick a plan with a free trial attached, put the end date in your calendar the day you order.
How fast each one files
A service’s speed is only half the wait. Once the paperwork is submitted, the state takes its own time, and no service controls that part. Our state guides, like the one for Wyoming, cover the state side.
Our Bizee order on the Standard package took a little over 30 days until everything was finalized, without expediting. Bizee’s order page now shows a three-week queue for Basic and Standard, and filing in one business day on Premium or with a $50 expedite.
ZenBusiness quotes 7 to 10 business days on Starter, $79 to upgrade to rush, and one business day on Pro and Premium. Those times exclude the state’s own processing.
We didn’t find a turnaround figure on Northwest’s or LegalZoom’s US LLC pages. If a bank account or a launch date depends on the LLC existing by a certain day, ask before you pay.
Bizee: the one we’ve used
Our startup’s Wyoming LLC went through Bizee in July 2024 on the Standard package, $199 plus the state fee. It was filed, the EIN and an operating agreement came with it, and support has answered every question we’ve sent in under an hour. The two things that bothered us were speed (a month, unexpedited) and paperwork: our only proof of payment is a confirmation email, not a PDF invoice.
Bizee suits a first LLC where you’d rather pay than learn the IRS forms. It’s the wrong pick if you’re in a hurry and won’t pay to expedite, or if your accountant insists on formal invoices. The full story is in our Bizee review.
Northwest Registered Agent: privacy and the lowest renewal
Assessed from published terms, not as customers. Northwest’s pitch is privacy. On its registered agent page it says it lists its own business address on your public filings instead of yours. The $39 package includes an operating agreement, and Northwest also throws in a domain, a website, an email address, a phone line and a business address.
The EIN isn’t included. It’s $50 with a Social Security number and $200 without one. Even with that added, Northwest stays cheap, and its $125 renewal is the lowest we found.
Northwest suits owners who don’t want their home address turning up in a state search. One thing to know first: its terms page, updated in August 2026, had no refund or cancellation clause that we could find. If that matters to you, ask before you pay. Our full Northwest Registered Agent review goes through the mail limits and the cancellation terms.
ZenBusiness: if you want compliance handled every year
Assessed from published terms, not as customers. ZenBusiness is built on the idea that you’ll keep paying it. Starter is $0 but takes 7 to 10 business days and leaves out the EIN and the operating agreement, which cost extra. Pro, at $199 a year, includes both, one-day processing and ongoing compliance filings. Add the registered agent at $199 a year and a Pro customer is paying close to $400 a year to have the paperwork done for them.
Its terms of use, updated in April 2026, give a 60-day money-back window on formation plans, though state fees already submitted aren’t refunded.
ZenBusiness suits owners who know they’ll forget the annual report and would rather pay than risk a late fee. For someone who just wants the LLC formed once, it’s the wrong model. If you take Starter, note when the free compliance year ends.
LegalZoom: if you want a lawyer within reach
Assessed from published terms, not as customers. Once the registered agent is added, LegalZoom is the most expensive of the four, and the only one whose packages are built around attorney access. Pro ($249) and Premium ($299) include the EIN, an operating agreement and 30 days of unlimited 30-minute attorney consults on new topics, after which the plan continues at $49 a month. The registered agent is $249 a year on top.
LegalZoom’s guarantee allows a refund within 60 days on filings that haven’t yet been submitted to the state.
LegalZoom suits a founder with real legal questions early on, such as a partner agreement, a lease or a first client contract, who will actually use those calls. If you won’t, it’s the priciest way to get the same filing.
If you live outside the US
All four will form an LLC for a non-resident. Filing is the easy part. The EIN is where it slows down, because without a Social Security number the IRS online application isn’t open to you. Our guide for non-US residents walks through the workaround. Here is what the services publish on it:
- Northwest sells a separate EIN service for owners without an SSN, at $200.
- LegalZoom’s page for international founders says no SSN is needed for its EIN service.
- ZenBusiness says non-residents can form an LLC, but its help articles don’t agree on whether you need an ITIN first, and the mail route it describes takes six to eight weeks.
- Bizee’s Standard package includes the EIN. If you don’t have an SSN, ask its support how long that takes before you order.
Whichever you choose, a foreign-owned single-member LLC still owes Form 5472 every year, even with no income. No formation package files it for you by default, and the penalty for missing it is $25,000.
When the best LLC service is no service
Our method page promises that every comparison will say when filing yourself works fine. For a single-member LLC, it usually does. The state form is short. The EIN is free from the IRS and takes minutes online if you have an SSN. A simple operating agreement you can write yourself. The one thing you can’t always do alone is act as registered agent, since that needs a physical address in the state.
If you have that address, a formation service mostly saves you an afternoon. Our LLC cost by state page shows what you’d pay the state directly, and if you hire an agent later, changing your registered agent is a standard filing.
FAQ
Who is the best company to start an LLC with?
There isn’t one for everyone. For a first LLC with good support, Bizee worked for us. For privacy and the lowest agent renewal, look at Northwest. For yearly compliance filings done for you, ZenBusiness. For attorney access, LegalZoom. With an address in the state, filing yourself costs the least.
What is the cheapest LLC service?
On the headline price, Bizee Basic, ZenBusiness Starter and LegalZoom Basic are all $0 plus the state fee, and Northwest is $39. Counted over two years with the registered agent, Bizee and Northwest were the cheapest when we checked in September 2026. Cheaper still is filing with the state yourself.
Is an LLC formation service worth paying for?
If you need a registered agent anyway because you have no address in the state, or you’d struggle to get an EIN, usually yes: the agent alone costs about as much as a basic package. If you live in the state and have an SSN, you’re mostly paying for convenience.
Do LLC services include a registered agent?
Bizee and Northwest include the first year, then charge an annual renewal. ZenBusiness and LegalZoom charge for it separately from day one.
