A creator ready to register a side hustle as an LLC usually starts from a homepage that advertises $0 formation. By the time the cart is full, the total is not $0. That gap is not a bait and switch, it is how both ZenBusiness and LegalZoom price this service: the state’s own filing fee is quoted separately, and the vendor’s registered agent service, EIN filing and compliance tracking are billed as line items on top. This piece reads each vendor’s own pricing page and lays out what is actually in the cart before checkout, for a creator moving a business from a spreadsheet to a registered entity for the first time.
Why the sticker price and the checkout total are different numbers
Every state charges its own fee to file Articles of Organization, and that fee belongs to the state, not to ZenBusiness or LegalZoom. Both vendors pass it through as “+ state fees” next to their own package price, which is why a $0 headline is a $0 service fee, not a $0 total. State filing fees vary widely by state, so this piece does not attribute a dollar figure to that line, only the fact that it exists separately from whatever the vendor charges for its own work.
On top of the service fee and the state fee, both vendors sell three things separately that a new filer tends to assume are already covered: registered agent service, EIN filing, and ongoing compliance reminders for annual reports. Registered agent service is not optional as a state requirement, it is only optional as a paid add-on, since the role can be filled without paying a vendor for it.
The reader who feels this gap hardest is someone converting an existing side hustle into a formal entity for the first time. A creator who has been invoicing brands as a sole proprietor sees a $0 plan and reasonably reads it as “formation is free.” The vendor’s own pricing page tells a different story once the add-on rows are read in full.
What ZenBusiness lists on its own pricing page
| Item | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Starter (Standard) LLC package | $0 + state fees | Name availability check, Articles of Organization preparation and filing, 7 to 10 business day standard processing, 100% accuracy guarantee. No registered agent, no EIN, no compliance filings included. |
| Pro LLC package | $199 + state fees, renews at $199/yr | Everything in Starter, plus 1 day rush processing, EIN, an operating agreement template, and one year of state-required annual report and amendment filing (described on the page as “included free for 1 year,” renewing at $199/yr after that). No registered agent service. |
| Premium LLC package | $399 + state fees, renews at $399/yr | Everything in Pro, plus registered agent service (a “$199/yr value” per the page), advanced compliance coverage with 24/7 monitoring and unlimited amendments, and a business documents library. |
| Registered agent service (standalone) | $99 for the first year when purchased alongside LLC formation, renews at $199/yr, per zenbusiness.com/registered-agent | Registered agent service purchased on its own rather than bundled into Premium. |
| EIN filing (a la carte) | $99 one time | Listed as a standalone add-on on the pricing page when not bundled into Pro or Premium. |
| Worry-Free Compliance Filings (a la carte) | $199/yr | State-required annual report and amendment filing when not bundled into Pro or Premium. |
Fetched from zenbusiness.com/pricing-products and zenbusiness.com/llc on 2026-09-09.
What LegalZoom lists on its own pricing page
| Item | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic LLC package | $0 + state filing fees | Articles of organization, name check service, a tax consult from 1-800Accountant. No operating agreement, no EIN, no registered agent. |
| Pro LLC package | $249 + state filing fees | Everything in Basic, plus an operating agreement, an EIN, a 30 day subscription to unlimited 30 minute attorney consultations (auto renews at $49/mo after 30 days), and a year of access to 150+ legal document templates plus eSignatures. |
| Premium LLC package | $299 + state filing fees | Everything in Pro, plus a 6 month bookkeeping tools subscription (auto renews at $9.99/mo), unlimited proposals and invoices, and income and expense tracking. |
| Registered agent service (standalone) | $249/year, auto renews, per legalzoom.com’s registered agent overview page | Not bundled into any of the three LLC packages above. Purchased separately. |
Fetched from legalzoom.com’s LLC overview and pricing page and its registered agent overview page on 2026-09-09. Neither page states a standalone price for annual report filing or compliance reminders as a distinct product; compliance calendar reminders are described as a feature of the registered agent service itself rather than a separately priced item.
Registered agent service: the one add-on that recurs every year
An EIN is not something either vendor is required to sell. The IRS issues an Employer Identification Number directly at no cost through its own online application: “You never have to pay a fee for an EIN,” and the process finishes in one sitting. Paying ZenBusiness $99 or having LegalZoom bundle EIN filing into a $249 package buys convenience, not a service the IRS itself charges for.
Registered agent service is a different kind of add-on. Most states require an LLC to have one, and unlike an EIN, the state does not offer a free vendor-neutral portal to fill the role, since it is a person or entity, not a filing. This is also the add-on most likely to change price after year one. ZenBusiness’s own registered agent page advertises $99 for the first year when bought alongside LLC formation, then states it “renews at $199/yr.” LegalZoom’s registered agent page lists a flat $249/year with no separate introductory rate mentioned, so on the figures each vendor publishes, ZenBusiness starts cheaper in year one and LegalZoom charges the same rate from the start.
A creator’s actual first-year total, add-ons included
Using only the figures pulled from each vendor’s own pages above, checked 2026-09-09, here is what a creator who wants formation, a registered agent, and an EIN actually pays in year one, before the state’s own filing fee, which varies by state and is not a number either vendor controls.
| Vendor and path | Service fee | Registered agent (year one) | EIN | Year one total, before state fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZenBusiness, Starter plus standalone registered agent plus standalone EIN | $0 | $99 (first year rate) | $99 | $198 |
| ZenBusiness, Premium (bundles registered agent, EIN and compliance filing) | $399 | included | included | $399 |
| LegalZoom, Basic plus standalone registered agent | $0 | $249 | [EVIDENCE NEEDED: whether LegalZoom sells EIN filing as a standalone add-on outside the Pro and Premium packages, and at what price] | $249 plus EIN if purchased separately |
| LegalZoom, Pro (bundles EIN, no registered agent) | $249 | $249 (separate purchase) | included | $498 |
Every figure in this table is the vendor’s own published price as read on the date above, not an average or a state-specific quote, and every row excludes the government’s own state filing fee since that number is set by the state of formation, not by either vendor.
What this does not cover
This is not legal advice and does not weigh in on which state to form an LLC in, whether to elect S-corp tax treatment, or what an operating agreement should say. Those depend on a specific business and, for state choice, a specific state’s fee and tax treatment, neither of which this piece can responsibly generalize.
Liability protection and trademark clearance are also outside this piece’s scope. Both are real steps in setting up a business properly, and both are covered elsewhere on this site as their own topics rather than restated here.
Where this fits once the entity is registered
Once the paperwork is filed, the next recurring cost most creators run into is the tool stack for running the business day to day. followed, the wire service this piece runs on, tracks what social media management and scheduling tools cost at each pricing tier, with the same read-the-vendor’s-own-page approach used above.
FAQ
Do I need an EIN to open a business bank account for my LLC?
Most banks require an EIN to open a business account for an LLC. It can be obtained directly from the IRS in minutes at no cost through the agency’s own online application, so paying either vendor to file it is a convenience purchase, not a requirement. The IRS states directly that there is never a fee for an EIN.
Can I be my own registered agent instead of paying for the service?
In most states, yes, if the LLC’s owner has a physical street address in the state of formation, not a P.O. box, and is reliably available at that address during normal business hours to receive legal documents. Requirements vary by state, and a P.O. box or a home address the owner is frequently away from can defeat the purpose. A registered agent service exists for owners who cannot meet that availability requirement themselves or who prefer not to have their home address on a public state filing.
Is the state LLC filing fee refundable if the state rejects the application?
[EVIDENCE NEEDED: a state-by-state or general rule on refundability of a rejected LLC filing fee]. This varies by state, and neither ZenBusiness’s nor LegalZoom’s own pricing pages state a general refund policy for the government’s filing fee itself, as distinct from the vendor’s own service fee.
Sources
- ZenBusiness, Business Formation Pricing, Products & Services, fetched 2026-09-09
- ZenBusiness, Start an LLC Online for $0 + State Fees, fetched 2026-09-09
- ZenBusiness, Registered Agent Services, fetched 2026-09-09
- LegalZoom, Create an LLC Online, fetched 2026-09-09
- LegalZoom, Registered Agent Services, fetched 2026-09-09
- LegalZoom, How to Start an LLC in 7 Steps, fetched 2026-09-09
- IRS, Get an Employer Identification Number, fetched 2026-09-09
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