Sunbiz LLC Filing vs. ZenBusiness Florida LLC Filing

Yes. Sunbiz is the Florida Division of Corporations’ online filing portal, and any business owner can file Articles of Organization there directly.

Sunbiz LLC filing on your own means running your own name availability search, completing the form, designating a registered agent and tracking your annual report deadline every year after that. The $125 Florida filing fee applies either way, so the question is how much of that work you want to handle.

The total cost is the same. The ZenBusiness Starter package has a $0 service fee, so you pay Florida’s $125 filing fee and nothing more.

Sunbiz LLC filing on your own is not cheaper, because that $125 is a Florida state fee that applies no matter who submits the paperwork. What changes is who prepares the filing, who catches an error before the state does and who tracks the annual report next spring.

If you want more handled up front, ZenBusiness Pro is $199 per year plus the $125 Florida filing fee and adds 1-business-day submission, an EIN and an operating agreement template.

An LLC formation on Sunbiz directly costs $125 to file.

That breaks down into a $100 filing fee for the Articles of Organization and a $25 registered agent designation fee. A certified copy of your filing costs an additional $30 if you want one.

Because these are Florida state fees, they apply whether you file on Sunbiz yourself or have ZenBusiness file for you. With the ZenBusiness Starter package the service fee is $0, so the total to file in Florida is the same $125.

Florida does not publish a fixed turnaround. It posts the receipt date it is currently working through, so the wait moves with filing volume. In mid-August 2026 the Division was processing online filings received about three business days earlier, with mailed filings running a couple of days behind that. You can check the current date on Florida’s document processing dates page.

That review time applies no matter who submits the filing. What differs is how fast the Articles of Organization reach the state. Filing on Sunbiz yourself, you submit as soon as your paperwork is ready. With ZenBusiness, the Starter package submits in 7 to 10 business days and the Pro and Premium packages submit in 1 business day.

Florida examines every filing against the minimum statutory requirements, and a rejection means the application missed one or more of them. Common causes include a name that is not distinguishable from one already on file and an incomplete registered agent designation.

The rejection notice arrives by email with a tracking number and PIN. You enter those on Florida’s Articles of Organization e-filing page and use the option there to correct a rejected filing, which updates your original submission rather than starting a new one. That same page is clear that a filing already submitted is not canceled or refunded, so a rejection is resolved by correcting it rather than by recovering the fee. What a rejection costs for certain is time, since the corrected filing re-enters the processing queue.

ZenBusiness reviews filings before submitting them and backs the work with a 100% Accuracy Guarantee. If there is an error on our end, our team makes it right.

Florida requires every LLC to designate a registered agent with a physical Florida street address, and that agent signs an acceptance of the role as part of the Articles of Organization.

You can serve as your own registered agent. Doing so puts that address in the public record and means someone needs to be available there during business hours to accept legal documents. Using an agent service replaces your address in the registered agent field, though Florida also collects a principal business address that is public as well, so a home-based business may still have a home address on file. Registered agent service is available as an add-on with the Starter and Pro packages and is included in ZenBusiness Premium at $399 per year plus the $125 Florida filing fee.

Florida LLC annual reports are due by May 1 each year at a fee of $138.75, and the filing window opens January 1.

A newly formed LLC does not owe one right away. An LLC formed or made effective after January 1 of the current year is not due an annual report until the following year, so a business formed today files its first report next spring. Florida’s filing instructions also note that requesting a January 1 effective date postpones the annual report requirement by a full calendar year, which is worth knowing if you are forming late in the year.

Filing after May 1 adds a $400 late fee, bringing the total to $538.75. An LLC that still has not filed by the third Friday in September is administratively dissolved or revoked at the close of business on the fourth Friday in September, and getting it back means a reinstatement application plus the fees due. Deadlines and fees are listed on the Division of Corporations annual report page.

ZenBusiness’s Worry-Free Compliance includes your annual report filing and sends reminders before the deadline. The Starter package comes with a free first year.

No. ZenBusiness is an independent business formation service with no affiliation with, endorsement from, or sponsorship by Sunbiz, the Florida Division of Corporations, or the State of Florida.

ZenBusiness prepares and submits filings to the state on behalf of its customers. The state reviews and approves the filing in either case.

Filing on Sunbiz is not free. Florida charges $125 to file, and the ZenBusiness Starter package adds $0 to that, so the total comes to the same $125 either way.

The filing is also one step out of several. After it clears, there is a registered agent designation to maintain, an EIN to apply for with the IRS, an operating agreement to put in place and an annual report due each year by May 1. Sunbiz processes filings, and the Division states plainly in its own filing materials that it is a filing agency and does not render legal, accounting or tax advice, so state staff will not tell you which of those steps apply to your business.

ZenBusiness handles the filing and keeps track of what comes next. Over 950,000 businesses have used us to do it.

The Starter package is the closest match, because its total first-year cost is the same $125 you would pay Florida directly.

Starter is $0 plus the $125 Florida filing fee and does not renew. It covers the name availability search, preparation and filing of your Articles of Organization, a 100% accuracy guarantee, compliance alerts, lifetime support and a free first year of Worry-Free Compliance. Starter submits the filing to Florida in 7 to 10 business days, with rush submission available for $79.

If you want the filing submitted in one business day and the EIN and operating agreement handled too, ZenBusiness Pro is $199 per year plus the $125 Florida filing fee. You can compare all three packages side by side.

Every option below includes Florida’s $125 filing fee, because the state charges it regardless of who submits the Articles of Organization.

• Filing on Sunbiz yourself: $125 total.
• ZenBusiness Starter: $0 service fee plus the $125 Florida filing fee. Does not renew.
• ZenBusiness Pro: $199 plus the $125 Florida filing fee. Adds 1-business-day submission, an EIN and an operating agreement template. Renews at $199 per year, without the state fee.
• ZenBusiness Premium: $399 plus the $125 Florida filing fee. Adds registered agent service and advanced compliance protection. Renews at $399 per year, without the state fee.

That $125 covers the $100 Articles of Organization fee and the $25 registered agent designation fee. It is a one-time charge at formation, so it is not part of a plan renewal. Florida LLC annual reports are a separate $138.75 due each year by May 1, starting the year after the LLC is formed.