LegalZoom vs Incfile (Bizee) for Landlords (2026): LLC Formation Compared
- The quick verdict
- At a glance: LegalZoom vs Bizee (Incfile) for landlords
- Pricing: the real first-year cost for a landlord LLC
- LegalZoom: the brand-name legal platform
Most landlords eventually hit the same question: should each rental sit inside an LLC? Once you answer yes, the next question is who files the paperwork. The two names that dominate every "best LLC service" search are LegalZoom and Incfile — though Incfile rebranded to Bizee at the end of 2023, so you'll see both names for the same company.
They sell the same core product (filing your Articles of Organization with the state) at wildly different price points and with very different long-term cost structures. Here's the full 2026 comparison through a landlord's lens.
General information only: This article is educational content for rental property owners, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Pricing and plan details change — confirm current terms with each provider before purchasing. Whether to form an LLC, and how to structure it, is a decision to make with a qualified attorney or CPA.
Affiliate disclosure: we're a LegalZoom affiliate via Yazing — signing up through our links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Read our full affiliate disclosure for how that works. Bizee (formerly Incfile) is covered neutrally; we have no affiliate relationship with them.
The quick verdict
Choose LegalZoom if you want the biggest brand name plus built-in attorney access — the Premium plan includes attorney consultations, and the broader LegalZoom platform covers trademarks, estate planning, and ongoing legal services your rental business may need later. It's the "one legal vendor for everything" pick.
Choose Bizee (Incfile) if you want the lowest total cost — the Silver plan files your LLC for $0 plus state fees and throws in a full year of registered agent service free. It's the budget pick that doesn't skip the essentials, and its $119/year registered agent renewal is less than half of LegalZoom's $249.
The landlord math: for a single LLC holding your rentals, Bizee's first-year cost is roughly $250+ cheaper than LegalZoom's comparable setup. If you plan to form multiple LLCs (one per property), that gap compounds fast — which is why cost-conscious portfolio landlords overwhelmingly pick Bizee.
At a glance: LegalZoom vs Bizee (Incfile) for landlords
| LegalZoom | Bizee (formerly Incfile) | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | Basic: $0 + state fees | Silver: $0 + state fees |
| Mid plan | Pro: $249 + state fees | Gold: $199 + state fees |
| Top plan | Premium: $299 + state fees | Platinum: $299 + state fees |
| Registered agent | $249/year (not included in any plan) | Free first year, then $119/year |
| EIN filing | Pro plan and up (or add-on) | Gold plan and up (or $70 add-on) |
| Operating agreement | Pro plan and up | Gold plan and up |
| Attorney access | Premium plan: consultations included; Business Attorney Plan available | Not offered |
| Turnaround | 5–14 business days standard; expedited $99 | Same-day processing (state filing time separate) |
| Trustpilot | 4.6/5 | 4.7/5 |
| Best for | Landlords wanting brand + attorney access | Landlords wanting lowest total cost |
Pricing: the real first-year cost for a landlord LLC
Headline "$0 formation" pricing hides the registered agent line item, which is where these two diverge hardest. Here's what a landlord actually pays in year one for a functional LLC (formation + registered agent + EIN + operating agreement):
| Cost component | LegalZoom | Bizee (Incfile) |
|---|---|---|
| Formation filing | $0 (Basic) or $249 (Pro) | $0 (Silver) or $199 (Gold) |
| State filing fee | $40–$500 depending on state | $40–$500 depending on state |
| Registered agent, year 1 | $249 | $0 (included) |
| EIN | Included in Pro; add-on otherwise | Included in Gold; $70 add-on |
| Operating agreement | Included in Pro; add-on otherwise | Included in Gold |
| Realistic year-1 total (excl. state fee) | $249 (Basic + RA) to $498 (Pro + RA) | $0 (Silver) to $199 (Gold) |
| Year 2+ annual cost | $249/year (RA renewal) | $119/year (RA renewal) |
The takeaway: a landlord who just needs a filed LLC with a registered agent and an EIN pays roughly $0–$199 with Bizee versus $249–$498 with LegalZoom in year one — and the $130/year registered agent gap repeats every year after. Across a 10-year hold, that's $1,300+ per LLC in savings before counting anything else.
(Pricing sources: LegalZoom plan details via llc.org and BoostSuite 2026 reviews; Bizee plan details via LLC Geek and SmallBusinessHQ 2026 reviews. Confirm current pricing before buying.)
Check current LegalZoom LLC pricing
LegalZoom: the brand-name legal platform
LegalZoom is the most recognized name in online legal services, and its LLC product is really an on-ramp to a much bigger platform. The formation plans themselves are straightforward:
- Basic ($0 + state fees): name availability check, Articles of Organization filing, tax consultation, digital welcome packet. Genuinely $0 in LegalZoom fees — you pay only the state.
- Pro ($249 + state fees): adds the operating agreement, EIN filing, compliance calendar, a library of legal templates, and a 30-day trial of attorney access.
- Premium ($299 + state fees): adds bookkeeping, invoicing, and expense-tracking tools (the bookkeeping renews at $9.99/month after the trial).
Three landlord-relevant notes. First, the registered agent is $249/year and included in no plan — the priciest RA in the industry (Northwest charges $125, Bizee $119). Second, LegalZoom is the only major formation service with real attorney consultations built into a plan, which matters if your LLC setup has wrinkles (multi-member ownership, partner buy-ins, properties across state lines). Third, watch the checkout: LegalZoom's upsell screens are famously aggressive, and the 30-day attorney trial converts to a $49/month subscription if you don't cancel.
LegalZoom also wins on ecosystem: if you later need a registered agent service, trademark help, or estate planning documents, it's all under one login. See our full LegalZoom review and how it stacks up against Rocket Lawyer and LawDepot.
Bizee (Incfile): the low-cost formation specialist
Bizee — the company still widely known as Incfile — has one job and does it cheaply. Founded in 2004, it's helped over a million businesses form, and its pitch is "zero dollars, zero hassle":
- Silver ($0 + state fees): filing, unlimited name searches, and — the headline — a full year of registered agent service free.
- Gold ($199 + state fees): adds EIN, operating agreement, banking resolution, and lifetime compliance alerts. This is the sweet spot for landlords.
- Platinum ($299 + state fees): adds contract templates, domain name, business email, and expedited next-day filing.
The Silver plan is arguably the best free LLC deal in the industry: no competitor includes a year of registered agent service at the $0 tier. The catch is the year-two renewal at $119 — still cheap, but set a calendar reminder so it doesn't surprise you. Bizee's checkout also runs multiple upsell screens, and support can be hard to reach by phone.
Bizee doesn't offer attorney consultations or a broader legal platform — it's a formation-and-compliance shop. For a landlord who already has a CPA and just needs entities filed cleanly and cheaply, that's a feature, not a bug. Our Incfile/Bizee review covers the full experience, and you can compare the broader field in our LLC formation services roundup.
The landlord-specific decision: one LLC or one per property?
The LegalZoom-vs-Bizee math changes with your entity strategy:
- One LLC for the whole portfolio: the simplest setup. Bizee Gold ($199) gets you filed with EIN and operating agreement; LegalZoom Pro ($249) plus a year of RA ($249) runs $498. Bizee wins on cost; LegalZoom wins if you want the attorney consult to sanity-check your operating agreement.
- One LLC per property: common once landlords pass 3–5 doors for liability segmentation. Here Bizee's advantage compounds — each additional LLC costs ~$0–$199 to form versus $249–$498 with LegalZoom, and the RA renewals run $119 vs $249 per entity per year. On five entities, that's roughly $650/year in recurring savings.
- Series LLC states (TX, IL, DE, and others): if your state offers series LLCs, one filing can segment liability across properties — ask a local attorney whether your state honors them before choosing either service.
Either way, pair the entity with a proper operating agreement — it's the document that actually governs multi-member ownership, and both services' mid-tier plans include a template.
Which should you choose?
Choose LegalZoom if: brand recognition matters to you (some lenders and partners find it reassuring), you want attorney consultations bundled with formation, or you expect to buy more legal services — trademarks, contracts, estate documents — from the same vendor. The premium is real, but so is the platform. See current LegalZoom pricing.
Choose Bizee (Incfile) if: you want the lowest honest total cost, especially across multiple entities. Free formation plus a free year of registered agent is unmatched at the entry tier, and $119/year renewals keep the long-term math friendly. The trade-off is no attorney access and a narrower product line.
Portfolio play: form with Bizee Gold for the cost advantage, then spend a fraction of the savings on an hour of a local real-estate attorney's time to review your operating agreement — you get the cheap filing AND the legal sanity check, for less than LegalZoom's Pro plan alone.
FAQs
Is Incfile now called Bizee?
Yes. Incfile rebranded to Bizee at the end of 2023. It's the same company (founded 2004), same $0 Silver plan, same free year of registered agent service — just a new name. You'll still see "Incfile" in older reviews and comparisons.
How much does LegalZoom LLC formation cost in 2026?
Three plans: Basic at $0 plus state fees, Pro at $249 plus state fees, and Premium at $299 plus state fees. The registered agent is a separate $249/year — the highest in the industry. A realistic first-year total (formation + RA, excluding state fees) runs $249–$498. Check current LegalZoom pricing.
How much does Bizee (Incfile) LLC formation cost?
Silver is $0 plus state fees and includes a full year of registered agent service free. Gold is $199 plus state fees (adds EIN, operating agreement, banking resolution). Platinum is $299 plus state fees (adds contract templates, domain, expedited filing). The registered agent renews at $119/year after the free first year.
Which is cheaper long-term, LegalZoom or Bizee?
Bizee, by a wide margin. The registered agent alone costs $249/year at LegalZoom versus $119/year at Bizee — a $130/year gap per entity that compounds across every LLC you own and every year you hold it.
Do landlords really need an operating agreement?
Yes — especially multi-member LLCs. The operating agreement governs ownership splits, profit distributions, buyout terms, and what happens if a member dies or wants out. Both services' mid-tier plans (LegalZoom Pro, Bizee Gold) include a template; have a local attorney review it if your structure is at all complex.
Should I put each rental property in its own LLC?
It depends on your portfolio size, state, and risk tolerance. One LLC per property segments liability but multiplies filing fees, registered agent renewals, and tax paperwork. Many landlords start with one LLC and split as the portfolio grows. This is a question for your attorney and CPA — not a formation service's checkout page.
Can I be my own registered agent to save money?
In most states, yes — if you have a physical address in the state (not a P.O. box) and are available during business hours to accept legal documents. The trade-off is privacy: your name and address go on public filings, and process servers show up at your door. Most landlords with more than a door or two find the $119–$249/year worth it.
Does LegalZoom's $0 Basic plan have hidden catches?
The $0 formation fee is genuine — you pay only state fees. The catches are what it excludes: no EIN, no operating agreement, no registered agent (that's $249/year extra), and an aggressive upsell checkout. It's a fine deal if you handle the extras yourself, but most landlords land on Pro or piece the add-ons together.
For more on structuring your rental business, see our LLC formation services comparison, the best registered agent services for landlords, and head-to-heads with Rocket Lawyer vs Incfile, Rocket Lawyer vs ZenBusiness, and LegalZoom vs Rocket Lawyer. Also compare document-focused options: Rocket Lawyer vs Nolo, LawDepot vs Nolo, and LawDepot vs eForms. If you're weighing attorney-access models more broadly, see Rocket Lawyer vs LegalShield.