MyCompanyWorks and ZenBusiness both sit in the middle of the LLC formation market, and on paper their pricing looks similar enough that picking between them can come down to whichever site you land on first. It shouldn’t.
I’ve formed entities through both while running Ecommerce Paradise. I coach students through business formation for their high-ticket dropshipping stores every week, and the two services are actually built around different philosophies once you look past the homepage pricing.
MyCompanyWorks bundles a registered agent and EIN into one mid-tier package. ZenBusiness spreads its pricing across a subscription model where the registered agent doesn’t show up until its most expensive tier. Here’s exactly how the numbers and the features stack up.
| Feature | MyCompanyWorks | ZenBusiness |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest formation price | $79 + state fee | $0 + state fee |
| Mid-tier price | $199 + state fee | $199 + state fee |
| Registered agent included | Entrepreneur tier ($199) | Premium tier only ($399) |
| EIN included | Entrepreneur tier ($199) | Pro tier ($199) |
| Registered agent renewal | $119/year | $199/year (Worry-Free Compliance) |
| Extras | LLC kit, forms library | Logo builder, insurance quote, Money Pro trial |
Get Your Registered Agent and EIN Bundled for $199
MyCompanyWorks’ Entrepreneur package includes both in one order, something ZenBusiness doesn’t match until its $399 Premium tier.
Pricing at a Glance
MyCompanyWorks runs three packages: Basic at $79, Entrepreneur at $199, and Complete at $279, all plus your state’s filing fee. ZenBusiness also runs three: Starter at $0, Pro at $199, and Premium at $399, plus state fees.
The headline numbers look close, but what you actually get at each price point diverges fast. ZenBusiness’s $0 Starter plan is formation only, no EIN, no registered agent. MyCompanyWorks’ cheapest tier at $79 is also formation only, so neither company’s bottom tier is a complete solution on its own.
What You Get for Registered Agent and EIN
This is where the two services really separate. MyCompanyWorks bundles both your EIN and your first year of registered agent service into the $199 Entrepreneur package. ZenBusiness’s $199 Pro tier gets you the EIN, but registered agent service doesn’t show up until the $399 Premium tier.
If you want both handled in one order without overpaying, MyCompanyWorks’ Entrepreneur package is the more efficient buy. You’d need to jump all the way to ZenBusiness Premium, exactly double the price, to match what MyCompanyWorks includes at $199.
Ongoing Compliance and Renewal Costs
Year one pricing only tells half the story. MyCompanyWorks’ registered agent renews at $119/year starting in year two. ZenBusiness’s Worry-Free Compliance, which covers registered agent duties plus annual report reminders, renews at $199/year.
Over a three-year period, that $80/year difference adds up to $240, which is real money for a solo ecommerce operator watching margins. ZenBusiness’s Worry-Free Compliance does more than a bare registered agent service though, since it actively tracks your state’s annual report deadlines rather than just forwarding mail.
Extra Tools and Ecosystem
ZenBusiness leans harder into extras beyond formation. Their Pro and Premium tiers include a logo builder, a free insurance quote through Next Insurance, and a 60-day trial of ZenBusiness Money Pro, their bookkeeping tool, which renews at $30/month if you keep it.
MyCompanyWorks’ extras are more document-focused: an LLC kit with a seal and member certificates, plus lifetime access to their MyCompanyForms library. Neither company’s extras are essential, but if you’re launching your brand at the same time you’re forming your LLC, ZenBusiness’s logo tool has more immediate use for an ecommerce store.
Support and Ease of Use
Both companies offer phone and email support, and neither requires you to talk to a salesperson to get a straight answer about pricing, unlike some competitors on this list. ZenBusiness’s dashboard is generally considered more polished and easier to navigate for tracking ongoing compliance tasks after formation.
MyCompanyWorks’ interface is more utilitarian. It gets the job done but doesn’t actively nudge you about upcoming deadlines the way ZenBusiness’s dashboard does. If you’re the type who forgets renewal dates without a reminder, that’s worth weighing.
What Ordering Actually Looks Like
With MyCompanyWorks, you pick your package, enter your business name and member details, and their team runs a compliance and spelling audit before submitting to the state. You get access to scanned documents online once everything’s filed, and the whole flow feels closer to a traditional legal filing service.
ZenBusiness walks you through a more guided, app-like setup. You answer a series of questions about your business, and the platform recommends add-ons as you go, which is where a lot of the upsell friction people complain about actually comes from. It’s not dishonest, just persistent, and it’s easy to end up paying more than you planned if you click through without reading each screen.
Neither process takes more than 15 to 20 minutes to complete on the ordering side. The real wait is always your state’s own processing time, not either company’s intake form.
Multi-State and Foreign Qualification
If you’re planning to register your LLC to do business in more than one state, both companies offer foreign qualification services, but neither makes it a headline feature. MyCompanyWorks prices foreign qualification individually based on the state, so you’ll need to request a quote rather than seeing a flat number upfront.
ZenBusiness handles foreign qualification similarly, as an add-on service priced per state rather than bundled into any of the three core plans. If you know upfront that you’ll be operating in multiple states, it’s worth getting a quote from both before you commit to either one, since neither company’s headline pricing reflects this cost.
Refunds and Guarantees
Both companies back their formation orders with a standard satisfaction guarantee, meaning filing errors on their end get corrected at no extra charge. That’s baseline in this industry, not a reason to pick one over the other.
Where they differ slightly is in how forgiving they are before filing happens. ZenBusiness’s $0 Starter tier means canceling before your state paperwork is submitted costs you nothing beyond time. MyCompanyWorks’ lowest tier still carries the $79 service fee, so canceling early on their end means requesting a refund on an already-charged amount rather than simply walking away from a $0 order.
Once your Articles of Organization are actually filed with the state, state fees are non-refundable everywhere, regardless of which company you used. Lock in your entity type and state before you pay either company, not after.
Processing Speed
ZenBusiness’s Pro and Premium tiers include 1-day processing once your order is submitted. MyCompanyWorks processes orders the next business day across all tiers, which is close but not quite as fast on paper.
In practice, both numbers refer to how fast the company submits your paperwork to the state, not how fast the state actually approves it. Your state’s own processing time, which can run anywhere from same-day to several weeks, matters more than the difference between these two companies’ internal handling speed. Both companies offer paid expedited processing add-ons in states that support it, which can shave several business days off an otherwise slow state’s turnaround.
Solo Founder vs a Growing Team
If you’re a solo ecommerce founder forming your first LLC, the decision usually comes down to whether you’d rather pay once for a bundle (MyCompanyWorks) or pay as you grow into needing more tools (ZenBusiness). Most solo dropshippers I work with don’t need a logo builder or a bookkeeping trial in their first month, they need the paperwork filed correctly and a registered agent on file.
If you’re forming an LLC for a small team or expect to bring on a business partner soon, ZenBusiness’s operating agreement template and business advisor consultation on the Premium tier can save you a separate legal consultation. MyCompanyWorks includes a personalized operating agreement on every tier including Basic, so that specific gap closes regardless of which company you pick.
Cancellation and Switching Later
If you start with one company and decide to switch, neither locks you in permanently. Registered agent changes are filed directly with your state, not through whichever formation company you originally used, so switching from MyCompanyWorks’ registered agent to ZenBusiness’s, or the reverse, is a standard state filing rather than a complicated exit process.
What you can’t undo easily is the entity itself. If you formed as an LLC through one company and later decide you actually wanted an S-corp election or a different state, that’s a separate filing with its own fees on top of whatever you already paid to get started. Get your entity type and state right the first time rather than treating either company’s formation order as easy to walk back.
Which One Should You Choose
If you want your EIN and registered agent bundled into a single mid-tier order without paying for a subscription-style compliance dashboard, MyCompanyWorks’ Entrepreneur package at $199 is the more efficient pick. It’s also the better deal on year-two renewal pricing, at $119 versus $199.
If you value an active compliance dashboard that tracks your state deadlines and you’re launching a brand that needs a quick logo, ZenBusiness’s ecosystem does more for you, provided you’re willing to pay for the Premium tier to get registered agent service included.
Neither is a genuinely bad choice for most ecommerce sellers. This one really comes down to whether you want a bundled package you set and forget (MyCompanyWorks) or an expanding subscription with more tools bolted on as you pay more along the way (ZenBusiness). If you’re still weighing a third option, my MyCompanyWorks alternatives guide covers nine more services worth comparing against both of these.
Reputation and Track Record
MyCompanyWorks has been operating since 2001, which gives it a longer track record than most of the newer, venture-backed formation services that have launched over the past decade. It doesn’t have the marketing budget or brand recognition of a company like LegalZoom, but it also doesn’t carry the aggressive upsell reputation that some cheaper competitors have picked up.
ZenBusiness is newer, founded in 2015, and has grown quickly by leaning into a modern, subscription-first product built around ongoing compliance rather than a one-time transaction. It’s become one of the more recognizable names in the space specifically because of how much it invests in the post-formation dashboard experience.
Neither company has a history of major complaints about withheld filings or lost paperwork, which is the baseline you actually want from a formation service. The differences between them show up in pricing structure and add-on strategy, not in whether they’ll reliably get your LLC filed.
Both maintain active accreditation and public-facing customer support channels, so if something does go wrong with your order, you have a real person to escalate to rather than a support ticket that disappears into a queue. That matters more than most formation-service comparisons give it credit for.
State Filing Fees Apply to Both
Every price above is the formation company’s fee only. Your state’s filing fee is separate and gets added on top no matter which of these two you pick. Florida’s fee runs around $125 through the Florida Division of Corporations. Washington charges roughly $200 through the Washington Secretary of State’s business filing office, and every other state publishes its own schedule that’s worth checking before you file.
If you haven’t settled on a state yet, that decision affects your total cost more than which of these two companies you choose. My complete guide to business formation for high-ticket dropshipping walks through how to pick the right state for an ecommerce business.
EIN Costs If You Skip the Add-On
Both companies charge for EIN acquisition on their lower tiers, but the IRS issues EINs for free directly through their online application if you have a Social Security Number or ITIN. The direct application takes about ten minutes but has to be completed in one sitting and times out if you’re inactive too long.
If you’re comfortable navigating a government form, applying directly and picking either company’s cheapest tier can save you the EIN add-on fee entirely. It takes about ten minutes once you have your entity’s approved filing in hand, and the confirmation letter arrives immediately on-screen rather than by mail.
Getting Your LLC Set Up Is Just the First Step
Whichever service you pick, forming the entity is table stakes for building a real high-ticket dropshipping business, not the finish line.
Once your paperwork is filed, you still need a niche worth building around before you start sourcing products.
You’ll also need suppliers you can actually rely on. If you’d rather skip the trial and error, my team handles formation, suppliers, and your full store build through the done-for-you turnkey build.
Frequently Asked Questions About MyCompanyWorks vs ZenBusiness
Which is cheaper, MyCompanyWorks or ZenBusiness?
For a bundled package with registered agent and EIN included, MyCompanyWorks is cheaper at $199 versus ZenBusiness’s $399 Premium tier needed to get the same bundle. ZenBusiness’s $0 Starter plan is cheaper if you only need bare formation.
Does ZenBusiness include a registered agent on its cheaper plans?
No. Registered agent service only appears on ZenBusiness’s $399 Premium tier. Their Starter and Pro plans don’t include it.
Which renews cheaper in year two, MyCompanyWorks or ZenBusiness?
MyCompanyWorks. Its registered agent renews at $119/year compared to ZenBusiness’s Worry-Free Compliance at $199/year, though ZenBusiness’s renewal includes active deadline tracking that MyCompanyWorks’ standard registered agent service doesn’t emphasize the same way.
Does either company offer a free LLC kit or logo tool?
MyCompanyWorks includes an LLC kit and forms library on its Entrepreneur and Complete tiers. ZenBusiness includes a logo builder on its Pro and Premium tiers instead.
Can I switch registered agents later if I start with one company and want to switch?
Yes, changing registered agents is a standard filing with your state and isn’t locked to whichever formation company you originally used. Most sellers only bother once their renewal date approaches and the pricing no longer makes sense.
Does either company help with foreign qualification if I expand to another state?
Both offer foreign qualification as a paid add-on rather than a flat included feature. Get a quote from whichever company you’re using before assuming the cost, since neither publishes a fixed price for it on their main pricing page.
Ready to Get Your Ecommerce Business Legally Set Up the Right Way?
My team handles formation, suppliers, and your full store build in one turnkey process, from your first filing through your first live product listing.
Related Articles
If you found this useful, these guides go deeper on related topics:
- MyCompanyWorks Review 2026: A Solid Mid-Range LLC Formation Service for New Business Owners?
- MyCompanyWorks Pricing in 2026: Complete Breakdown of Basic, Entrepreneur, and Complete Plans
- 10 Best MyCompanyWorks Alternatives in 2026
- Northwest Registered Agent vs LegalZoom vs ZenBusiness in 2026
- Best LLC Formation Services for High-Ticket Dropshipping in 2026
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
