Zenbusiness VS Harbor Compliance 2024: Best LLC Service
Reviewed by Kristina Knight, Journalist , BA
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Starting $49/year
Starting $399 + State Fees
A free registered agent service can be a big help to those setting up a limited liability company, corporation, or other business licenses. Most registered agent services can help by providing the experience and knowledge necessary to be in legal compliance with the state’s rules and regulations, but you can act as your own registered agent. However, a registered agent service such as this is designed to perform certain actions and receive certain official documentation from official entities like tax registration, process servers, and courts for which some new business owners may need assistance. Some services include free registered agent services.
A professional registered agent service is a business registered entity designated to perform certain actions and receive certain official documentation from a process server. A registered agent may also be called a Resident Agent, Statutory Agent, or Service of Process agent, and will be in charge of paying the filing fee for businesses.
Read More: Best LLC Services 2024
ZenBusiness
ZenBusiness has the most reasonable pricing and offers two services that set them apart from other registered agent services: Money Essential and Worry Free Compliance, both are available with an online account. Money Essential tracks expenses and offers a tax deduction finder. Worry-Free Compliance is a service guarantee for filing deadlines. Zenbusiness has three pricing tiers, starting at $49 per year; this includes registered agent services, state compliance features, and LLC incorporation documentation. They also have expedited processing.
Pros:
- Affordable: Fees start at $49 + fees
- Can form a number of for-profit company entities
- Money Essential & Worry-Free Compliance options
Cons:
- No non-profit filing option
Harbor Compliance
Comprehensive support services set the company apart from many professional service competitors; this includes LLC formation service. They are an industry leader, but their overall pricing structure for a registered agent may be out of the reach of most business owners. Harbor’s pricing begins at $399 plus any fees. Their two packages do include all of the necessary items to start the business, but any additional services will be an added cost, which may put this company out of the price range of many small businesses.
Pros:
- Offer for-profit and non-profit filing options
- Comprehensive support services
- Filing service
Cons:
- High fee structure
- Difficult website navigation
Zenbusiness vs Harbor Compliance – Brand Comparison Details
| Compare | Zenbusiness | Harbor Compliance |
| Order Processing Time | 24 hours, expedited processing option | 24 hours, no expedited option |
| Starting Price | $49/year | $399 + state fees |
| Formation Services |  | |
| Registered Agent Service | | |
| EIN Registration Fee | | |
| Operating Agreement | | |
| Web Domain | | |
| Annual Compliance | | |
| Worry-free Cpa Assessment | | |
| Customer Service | | |
| Detail | Read Review | Read Reviews |
| Link |
Best Overall Pricing and Value: Zenbusiness
Zenbusiness
Zenbusiness has the most reasonable prices for registered agent service when compared with Harbor, with packages starting at $49 per year. Zenbusiness has three pricing tiers with the highest coming in at $299 per year. This makes them a leader in the entire industry.
Harbor Compliance
Harbor has only two fee structures: $399 per year plus state fees or $799 per year plus state fees. This is significantly higher than Zenbusiness’ fee structure.
Best Track Record & Experience: Harbor Compliance
Zenbusiness
Like Northwest’s services, Zenbusiness offers strong customer reviews and high customer satisfaction with the Better Business Bureau, but they are significantly younger than many competitors. They are a reliable registered agent service provider that has an expedited tier for those needing same-day electronic delivery, legal services, legal documents, and business formation service, and will serve more than a million business clients by 2025.
Harbor Compliance
Like Northwest Registered Agent service and Rocket Lawyer, Harbor Compliance offers one of the tops registered agent services in the US, with many years in business and many positive customer reviews and customer feedback. Their business formation package includes formation packages, business formations, and registered agent services, including a dedicated account manager and online dashboard.
Best Common Features: Zenbusiness
Zenbusiness
Zenbusiness offers business formation documents, legal paperwork including annual report filing, best-registered agent service, and documents for business formation, and also has a number of stand-alone services for those who do not need a bundled package. They are also one of the most affordable registered agent services and do have some free registered agent services within the first year of working together.
Harbor Compliance
Similar to Rocket Lawyer and Northwest Registered Agent, the company offers formation documents, annual reporting, resident agent service, and legal documents, but they do not have as many stand-alone services. Instead, you’ll choose the package that makes the most sense for new business formation services.
Best Customer Support: Zenbusiness
Zenbusiness
According to customer feedback, Zenbusiness offers a live customer support team during standard business hours, however, you will not always speak to the same representative. They offer phone, email, and chat support for clients.
Harbor Compliance
The company offers a dedicated compliance specialist for businesses; this 1:1 option is good when a business operates in different states or regions as they may need additional compliance assistance tools.
Best Ease of Use: Zenbusiness
Zenbusiness
Like Rocket lawyer and Northwest Registered Agent, Zenbusiness’ online registered agent services are simple to navigate and understand. Their online portal and dashboard will keep your business updated with any upcoming tasks or deadlines.
Harbor Compliance
The Harbor Compliance website is more difficult to navigate than Zenbusiness, but its online compliance dashboard and online portal are hard to beat for business formation once you have the navigation down.
Best LLC Formation: Zenbusiness
Zenbusiness
Incorporation service can be confusing, but for businesses, it will help avoid tax pitfalls and ensure the businesses are compliant with state regulations. Zenbusiness offers comprehensive LLC service that is reliable, cost-effective, has a compliance calendar, and is fast.
Harbor Compliance
The company offers a comprehensive formation service, but its pricing is significantly higher than Zenbusiness, which makes them a better option for more established companies or those with additional funding sources.
Best Registered Agent Services: Zenbusiness
Zenbusiness
Zenbusiness has been in operation for a shorter time than some competitors, which means they have slightly less experience. However, their customer support and pricing tiers offer significant savings for businesses, they have positive customer reviews, and they will help your business get into operation quickly and effectively.
Harbor Compliance
Years of experience set the company apart. Their LLC service is second to none, they have the best-registered agent services, and offer top-tier communication and customer support.
Best Speed of Formation: Zenbusiness
Zenbusiness
Zenbusiness promises a quick turnaround in all of its services, and they have an expedited option that will ensure the business is ready to operate in a shorter period of time.
Harbor Compliance
The company does not offer expedited processing, which could slow the time it takes to file and be ready to operate.
Which Should You Choose?
Both companies have a lot to offer a new business according to customer feedback, from LLC services to developing business documents, business attorneys, and the best-registered agent services.
Choose Zenbusiness if:
For affordable registered agent services, Zenbusiness is the right choice. Their pricing starts at $49/year for basic registered agent services, and they have a number of packages with registered agent service included so that you can choose exactly what you need for your business. They also have add-on services that can be chosen if a full package is not needed.
Choose Harbor Compliance if:
For comprehensive online registered agent services, Harbor is the right choice. They offer only two pricing tiers, starting at $399/year, but their services are extensive and they have years of experience in helping small businesses thrive.
Final thought
There are several reasons to consider using a registered agent. Most services use a principal office address separate from the company storefront. The agent can accept service for process notifications for legal matters and may represent an individual or business entity as they transact business. A commercial registered agent in the United States will have experience in reports creation, and ensuring compliance paperwork is current with the Secretary of State where the business was incorporated.
What is the right registered agent service? One that helps fulfill legal requirements and whose costs call within your budget. There are several reasons to consider using a registered agent from extras like website formation, Norton Web Security, and legal document creation to a separate business address. The best-registered agent services use a principal office address separate from the company storefront. The registered agent can accept notifications for legal services, and a new registered agent may represent an individual or business as they transact business. A commercial registered agent in the United States will have experience in report creation, and ensuring compliance paperwork is current with the state entities and allows the owner to focus on growing the business rather than paperwork. When a CEO acts as their own registered agent personal information can become available to the public. Other benefits to working with the best-registered agent service include limited liability partnerships, the company’s formation document service, and providing annual reports.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes, it is mandatory to have a registered agent service, but the registered agent service does not have to be an outside entity. An owner or employee can act as their own agent. The registered agent service operates during the business hours of 8 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday.
This a service offered to combine many small complicated tasks into one larger service. Many times, LLC formation packages will include other legal offerings like a registered agent service, document creation, tax advice, linked bank account options, banking resolution, and other services.
There are many other products offered by a registered agent service or LLC services including local scanning, legal document creating or filing, RA service, operating agreements, LLC formation services tax filing, and tax analysis.
Registered agents are part of the public record. When a registered agent service files the LLC articles with the Secretary of State’s office, they designate either a company owner or employee to act as the registered agent, or the registered agent service filing will act on your behalf for legal services, mail forwarding, local office, and domestic corporations work. You can change the registered agent service for your limited liability company through the state in which the business is incorporated.
Many registered agents will act on your behalf for legal services, including the creation and filing of annual reports. Once you have the business registered, the legal advisor will offer legal filings, professional contact details for clients, tax advice, and even mail forwarding.
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- Formation Pricing, Products and Services. ZenBusiness Inc. Accessed December 17, 2022. https://www.zenbusiness.com/pricing-products/
- ZenBusiness Inc | Better Business Bureau® Profile. www.bbb.org. Accessed December 17, 2022. https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/austin/profile/incorporation/zenbusiness-inc-0825-1000146024
- ZenBusiness is rated “Excellent” with 4.6 / 5 on Trustpilot. Trustpilot. Accessed December 17, 2022. https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.zenbusiness.com
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LLC Formation Service | Harbor Compliance. www.harborcompliance.com. Accessed December 17, 2022. https://www.harborcompliance.com/limited-liability-company
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Registered Agent Service | Harbor Compliance. www.harborcompliance.com. Accessed December 17, 2022. https://www.harborcompliance.com/registered-agent-service