Bizee — review
Bizee's pitch: $0 LLC formation, same paperwork as every other service, lowest base price in the category, with a registered agent thrown in Year 1. Formerly known as Incfile, the company rebranded to Bizee in 2023 following a private equity acquisition. The underlying operation, support team, and customer accounts moved over unchanged — only the brand name, user interface, and tier labels shifted. For price-conscious solo founders who don't need attorney access or hand-holding, Bizee remains the cheapest credible path to a filed LLC.
The catch is the checkout. Bizee's $0 Silver tier covers only the formation paperwork itself, and the flow surfaces a procession of optional add-ons — EIN, operating agreement, banking resolution, expedited filing, business contract templates — that can quickly push the order total past competitors' mid-tier bundles. Customers who decline every upsell and apply for the EIN themselves at irs.gov genuinely pay $0 plus the state filing fee; customers who say yes to two or three add-ons end up paying more than they would have on ZenBusiness Pro for the same package. Bizee works for founders who know which add-ons matter and goes badly for founders who feel obligated to check every box at checkout.
Pricing tiers
Bizee restructured its tier names during the rebrand. Old Incfile customers will recognize the underlying packages, but the labels and a few line items moved. The current lineup, as of the 2026 pricing year:
- Silver — $0 + state fee. Articles of Organization preparation and filing, free business name availability search, online dashboard with order tracking, lifetime company alerts, and one full year of registered agent service. Registered agent renews at $119 per year beginning in Year 2.
- Gold — $199 + state fee. Everything in Silver, plus the EIN / Federal Tax ID application, a banking resolution document, an operating agreement template, IRS Form 2553 preparation (for S-corp election), and business banking account referrals. Registered agent renewal terms identical to Silver.
- Platinum — $299 + state fee. Everything in Gold, plus expedited filing through Bizee's internal queue, business contract templates (NDAs, employment agreements, vendor contracts), and a domain name credit. Most useful for founders who want to be operational in days rather than weeks.
State filing fees pass through to the Secretary of State and vary widely: $35 in Montana, $50 in Arizona and Colorado, $90 in Delaware, $300 in Texas, $500 in Massachusetts. The state fee is the same regardless of which formation service the customer chooses; only the service fee differs.
What's actually included at each tier
The marketing pages list dozens of features per tier, but most of them are the same item repackaged. The table below strips the included deliverables down to the eight that drive real cost differences between Bizee tiers and between Bizee and its closest competitors.
| Feature | Silver ($0) | Gold ($199) | Platinum ($299) |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLC filing (Articles of Organization) | Included | Included | Included |
| Registered agent — Year 1 | Free | Free | Free |
| Registered agent — Year 2+ | $119/yr | $119/yr | $119/yr |
| Operating agreement | — | Included | Included |
| EIN / Federal Tax ID | — | Included | Included |
| Expedited filing | — | — | Included |
| Business contract templates | — | — | Included |
| Compliance alerts (free tier) | Included | Included | Included |
Two practical takeaways. First, the compliance alert system (annual report reminders, state filing deadlines) is included on every tier including the free Silver plan — competitors often paywall this behind a "worry-free compliance" upgrade priced at $199 per year. Second, the registered agent renewal at $119 per year is identical across all three tiers, which means there is no reason to choose Gold or Platinum if the goal is to lock in a cheaper renewal rate. The tier upgrade buys deliverables, not better recurring economics.
Bizee Silver — $0 + state fee (plus free Year-1 RA)
Bizee's Silver tier remains the cheapest credible LLC formation offer in the market. The $0 service fee covers Articles of Organization preparation, business name search, online dashboard access, and a full twelve months of registered agent service — all the customer pays at checkout is the state's own filing fee. The renewal economics are what set Bizee apart from the rest of the $0-tier field: the registered agent renews at $119 per year beginning in Year 2, which undercuts every comparable provider. ZenBusiness renews at $199 per year. LegalZoom renews at $249 per year. Over a typical four-year renewal window, Bizee saves $320 versus ZenBusiness and $520 versus LegalZoom on registered agent service alone, which is meaningful for any operator running a side business or holding company where keeping fixed costs low matters.
The Incfile-to-Bizee rebrand
Incfile launched in 2004 and spent nearly two decades positioning itself as the value option in LLC formation — a no-frills alternative to LegalZoom's premium pricing. Over that run the company filed more than one million business entities and accumulated tens of thousands of Trustpilot reviews. In 2023, private equity firm KAR Global acquired Incfile and announced a rebrand to Bizee. The company kept its headquarters, kept its support team, kept its operational backend, and migrated existing customer accounts and registered agent contracts over without interruption. Old Incfile email addresses still route. Old Incfile order numbers still appear in the new Bizee dashboard. For practical purposes Bizee is Incfile with new paint.
What did change is the front of house. The pricing tiers were renamed (Silver / Gold / Platinum replaced the older Basic / Premium / Gold structure), the user interface was rebuilt with a cleaner design system, and the marketing focus shifted toward modern small-business positioning — less "cheapest filing service on the internet" and more "your all-in-one business launchpad." The $0 base price survived the transition unchanged, as did the free Year-1 registered agent. The $119 registered agent renewal rate was previously $119 under Incfile and remains $119 under Bizee.
The brand split creates a Trustpilot reading problem. Reviews dated before mid-2023 reference Incfile and reflect the pre-acquisition operation; reviews after that date reference Bizee and reflect the new ownership's execution. The pre-rebrand Incfile reputation was mixed — thousands of glowing reviews from customers who got their LLC filed quickly for $0, offset by a smaller but persistent cluster of complaints about aggressive upsell tactics and difficulty cancelling auto-renewing registered agent service. The post-rebrand Bizee reviews trend slightly better on customer service responsiveness but show the same upsell-pressure complaints, which suggests the new ownership has not meaningfully changed the checkout funnel. Founders evaluating Bizee should read recent reviews (2024 onward) rather than older Incfile reviews, but should not assume the rebrand fixed the structural issues that drove the original complaints.
The formation experience
The Bizee checkout begins with a single question — which state — followed by entity type selection (LLC, S-corp, C-corp, nonprofit). From there the flow presents the three tiers side by side with feature checkmarks. The Silver tier is selectable without any preselected upgrade, which is more honest than some competitors that default to the middle tier. Once a tier is selected, the customer enters company name, member information, business purpose, and registered agent designation. Bizee defaults the registered agent to its own service, which is the included Year-1 freebie; customers can opt to designate themselves or another agent, but the default path keeps the bundled service.
After the core information is collected, the checkout enters its upsell phase. Eight to ten add-ons appear across two or three screens: EIN application ($70), operating agreement ($40), banking resolution ($30), business contract templates package ($150), expedited filing ($50 to $100 depending on state), domain registration ($25), business license research ($99), and a "lifetime company alerts" upgrade that is in fact already included on the Silver plan. Each add-on has a benign default state (unchecked) and a clear "no thanks" option, so the customer is not tricked into buying anything — but the sheer volume of decisions creates fatigue, and several add-ons are framed in language that implies they are required when they are optional.
Processing times are competitive with the rest of the industry. Bizee submits paperwork to the Secretary of State within one to two business days of order placement. Total turnaround is gated by state processing speed: same-day in Kentucky, Ohio, and a handful of other fast states; one to two weeks in mid-tier states like Texas, Florida, and Georgia; four to six weeks in slower states such as Arizona, New York, and Washington. Platinum-tier expedited filing speeds up Bizee's internal queue but does not override state-level processing — customers in slow-filing states who need quick turnaround should pay the state's own expedite fee directly to the Secretary of State on top of Bizee's service.
Post-formation, Bizee continues to surface upsells through its dashboard and email. The most aggressive recurring pitches are paid annual report filing (priced by state, typically $99 to $149) and BOI reporting assistance for the federal Beneficial Ownership Information filing required under the Corporate Transparency Act. The annual report service is a convenience play — customers can file the annual report themselves in fifteen minutes by visiting the Secretary of State website — but founders who hate paperwork may find it worth the fee. The BOI pitch is more cynical because the FinCEN BOI filing is genuinely free at fincen.gov and takes less time than logging into Bizee to authorize the paid service.
Strengths
- Cheapest registered agent renewal among $0-tier providers — $119 per year versus $199 at ZenBusiness and $249 at LegalZoom. Over four years of renewal the savings are $320 to $520, which matters for any operator running multiple entities or keeping a holding LLC parked for the long term.
- One million-plus formations served across two decades (under the Incfile brand and continuing under Bizee). Operational maturity, established relationships with all 50 state Secretary of State offices, and a deep playbook for handling state-specific quirks.
- Free business name availability search built into the checkout flow, with real-time results pulled from the relevant Secretary of State database. Some competitors paywall name search or limit it to one or two state lookups before forcing an upgrade.
- Compliance alerts included on the free Silver tier — annual report deadline reminders, state filing notices, and registered agent renewal alerts arrive at no extra cost. Competitors often charge $99 to $199 per year for the equivalent service.
- Honest tier presentation at the start of checkout — the $0 Silver tier is selectable without preselected upgrades, and the comparison table at the start of the flow lists what each tier includes without obscuring the free option behind a "recommended" badge on a paid tier.
- Decent processing times — one to two business days for Bizee to submit the paperwork after order placement, which is industry standard and consistent with competitors charging significantly more.
- S-corp election (Form 2553) preparation included on Gold and Platinum at no additional fee, where some competitors treat it as a separate paid add-on.
Caveats
- UI is rougher than ZenBusiness. The post-rebrand redesign improved things substantially over the legacy Incfile experience, but the dashboard still feels dated next to ZenBusiness's clean, modern interface. Order tracking is functional but minimalist; the operating agreement generator is a fillable PDF rather than an interactive web form. Founders who prioritize a polished product experience will notice the difference.
- Data-handling disclosure is less generous than Northwest's. Bizee's privacy policy reserves the right to share customer information with third-party partners for marketing purposes, and uses customer business contact information for its own promotional emails. Northwest Registered Agent takes the opposite position — it explicitly states it does not sell, share, or rent customer data to third parties, and uses the registered agent's own address on public filings to keep the customer's personal address out of public business records. For founders prioritizing privacy, this is a structural difference that no amount of price savings overcomes.
- Trustpilot rating is lower than top competitors. Bizee's Trustpilot score (read post-rebrand reviews only) hovers around 4.5 out of 5, versus 4.7 to 4.8 for ZenBusiness and 4.6 for Northwest. The drag is concentrated in two categories: complaints about checkout upsell pressure and difficulty cancelling auto-renewing registered agent service. The first issue is by design and unlikely to change; the second is a workflow problem that gets resolved per-customer but recurs in fresh reviews.
- Post-formation upsell pressure is real. Even after the LLC is filed, the dashboard and email cadence continue to push paid services — annual report filing, BOI assistance, business licenses, banking referrals. Customers who do not want to be marketed to repeatedly should expect to spend time unsubscribing or actively declining.
- No attorney access at any tier. Bizee is a document-preparation service, not a law firm, and offers no path to an attorney consultation. Founders who want legal review of their operating agreement or counsel on state-specific operating rules need to go to LegalZoom (which offers attorney access on its higher tiers) or hire a business attorney separately.
How Bizee compares
Bizee vs ZenBusiness. The closest direct comparison. Both start at $0 plus state fee and include a free first year of registered agent service. Bizee wins on registered agent renewal economics ($119 versus $199 per year) and on free-tier compliance alerts. ZenBusiness wins on user interface polish, Trustpilot rating, and bundled feature density — the Pro tier ($199) packages EIN, operating agreement, expedited filing, and banking resolution into one cleaner purchase than Bizee Gold. Founders who prioritize long-term cost choose Bizee; founders who prioritize a smooth product experience and a tighter bundle choose ZenBusiness.
Bizee vs Northwest Registered Agent. Different positioning entirely. Bizee competes on the lowest upfront price ($0 versus Northwest's $39 service fee for formation). Northwest competes on long-term cost ($125 per year registered agent versus Bizee's $119, essentially identical, but Northwest folds in privacy-by-default address shielding that Bizee does not) and on customer service depth (US-based human support, no offshore call centers, no scripted upsell pressure). Over a five-year horizon the total cost is similar between the two services. The decision hinges on whether the customer values lowest-possible Year-1 price (Bizee) or privacy and a hassle-free support relationship (Northwest).
Bizee vs LegalZoom. Different tier of product. LegalZoom is the premium-priced incumbent with the most established brand, attorney consultation packages, and a deeper set of legal services beyond LLC formation (trademark registration, estate planning, employment contracts). Bizee has nothing close to LegalZoom's attorney access but charges roughly one-fifth the price for the comparable formation tier. Founders who need legal counsel or who value the LegalZoom brand recognition pay the premium; everyone else gets the same legally valid LLC for a fraction of the cost through Bizee.
Best for
Three customer profiles fit Bizee well. Price-conscious solo founders who need a filed LLC for a side business, freelance practice, or single-member operation and want the lowest credible total cost over five years. Multi-entity operators — holding LLCs, real estate partnerships, portfolios of small businesses — where the $80-per-year RA savings versus ZenBusiness compound across the entities. And founders who don't need attorney access, either because they're already working with a business attorney, are comfortable with template operating agreements, or run a business model that doesn't raise legal questions in the first place.
Bizee is the wrong choice for founders who want a polished product experience (choose ZenBusiness), founders who prioritize privacy and address shielding (choose Northwest), and founders who want attorney consultation bundled into the formation service (choose LegalZoom).
Bottom line
Bizee Silver at $0 + state fee + free Year-1 RA + $119/yr RA renewal is the cheapest total cost over five years among $0-tier LLC formation providers. The product isn't pretty, the checkout pressure is real, and the privacy posture is weaker than Northwest's — but if all the buyer cares about is five-year cost, Bizee wins clearly. Over that window the typical founder saves $320 versus ZenBusiness and $520 versus LegalZoom on registered agent renewal alone, before the free compliance alerts are counted. For solo operators, side-business owners, and multi-entity holders running the numbers on long-term cost, Bizee remains the price leader. The Incfile-to-Bizee rebrand changed the paint but did not change the underlying value proposition.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bizee actually free? What's the catch with the $0 LLC formation?
The Bizee Silver plan charges $0 in service fees to prepare and file the Articles of Organization. The only payment at checkout is the state's own filing fee, which ranges from $35 in Montana to $500 in Massachusetts and is passed straight through to the Secretary of State. The Silver plan also bundles one full year of registered agent service at no extra cost. The catch is twofold. First, the registered agent renews at $119 per year beginning in Year 2 — still the cheapest renewal among major $0-tier providers (ZenBusiness charges $199, LegalZoom $249), but a real recurring cost. Second, the checkout flow surfaces a series of optional add-ons including the EIN application, operating agreement, banking resolution, and expedited filing, and several of these are useful to actually operate the business. Customers who decline every upsell and apply for the EIN themselves at irs.gov genuinely pay $0 plus the state filing fee in Year 1.
What's the difference between Bizee and Incfile?
Bizee is Incfile. The company rebranded in 2023 following a private equity acquisition, but the underlying business, infrastructure, support team, and customer accounts are the same. Existing Incfile customers were migrated automatically and retained their original pricing and registered agent terms. Trustpilot reviews from before mid-2023 reference Incfile; reviews after that point reference Bizee. The 1M-plus LLC formations the company advertises were almost entirely filed under the Incfile brand between 2004 and 2023. Operationally, Bizee is the same product with a new name, a refreshed user interface, and renamed pricing tiers.
How long does Bizee take to form an LLC?
Total turnaround is the state's processing window plus roughly one to two business days for Bizee to prepare and submit the paperwork. Standard state processing ranges from same-day in fast-filing states like Kentucky and Ohio to four to six weeks in slower states such as Arizona, New York, and Washington. The Platinum plan adds expedited filing, which moves your order to the front of Bizee's internal queue but does not override state processing times unless the state itself offers paid expedite directly. Customers in slow-filing states who need quick turnaround should pay the state's expedite fee on top of Bizee's service.
Does Bizee include an EIN?
The EIN application is included on Gold and Platinum but not on the free Silver tier. Silver customers either upgrade or apply for the EIN themselves directly through the IRS at irs.gov, which is free and takes roughly fifteen minutes online. The IRS issues the EIN immediately for applicants with a US Social Security Number or ITIN. Applicants without a US tax ID can apply by fax in about four business days or by mail in four to five weeks. Paying Bizee for the EIN is convenience, not necessity.
What happens after Year 1 with Bizee?
Two recurring items appear at the twelve-month mark. The registered agent service renews automatically at $119 per year on every plan unless cancelled in the dashboard. Bizee also sends annual report reminders at no charge and offers an optional paid annual report filing service that varies in price by state. Customers who chose the Gold or Platinum tier do not pay again for the operating agreement, EIN, or banking resolution; those are one-time deliverables included in the original purchase price. The two-year total cost on Silver is the state filing fee, the state's Year-2 annual report fee, and the $119 registered agent renewal.
Bizee vs ZenBusiness — which is cheaper over five years?
Bizee is cheaper over five years for customers who only need formation and registered agent. Both services charge $0 plus state fee in Year 1 with free registered agent included, but Bizee renews the registered agent at $119 per year while ZenBusiness renews at $199 per year. Over a four-year renewal window that is a $320 savings on registered agent alone. ZenBusiness is the better pick for customers who want the EIN, operating agreement, and worry-free compliance bundled into a single purchase, since its Pro tier ($199) and Premium tier ($349) are competitive with Bizee's Gold and Platinum tiers and the included worry-free compliance auto-files the state annual report. Pure price shoppers choose Bizee; bundle shoppers choose ZenBusiness.