Clerky vs ZenBusiness Velo: Choosing an AI-Guided Path to Starting Your Business (2026)

Try ZenBusiness Velo

Most people who set out to start a company discover the same uncomfortable truth: filing the paperwork is the easy part. Anyone can submit articles of organization to a state and get an entity number back. The hard part is everything that comes before and after, knowing which structure fits, when an EIN is required, which licenses apply, what the state expects each year, and what to do when the business starts growing. The question worth asking is not "who files the fastest" but "who helps me run the business, not just register it." That framing is where ZenBusiness Velo and Clerky part ways, because they were built to answer two very different versions of the question.

ZenBusiness Velo is a personalized AI guide that spans the full business lifecycle and does the work for you once you approve it. Clerky is startup legal-paperwork software with no AI assistant, built for venture-track founders and their attorneys. Both are credible, but they serve different people. This comparison lays out what each does, where each is strong, where each falls short, and who should pick which.

What ZenBusiness Velo is and what it actually does

ZenBusiness Velo is a personalized AI business guide that stays with you from the idea stage through formation, compliance, and growth. It was shaped by ZenBusiness's experience helping nearly a million businesses and, by the company's account, more than two million conversations, so its guidance is drawn from real founder questions, decisions, and outcomes rather than generic web answers. It runs on the web and as a mobile app, and it is built to focus on one business at a time: yours.

The distinguishing trait is that Velo goes past advice into action. After you approve a step, it does the work. That includes filing formation paperwork, creating documents, and tracking deadlines. It watches for what is coming next, including annual reports, license renewals, and tax deadlines, and flags them before you have to remember to ask. When an issue moves beyond what the AI should handle alone, Velo can brief and tag in a human expert so the conversation starts with context already in place rather than from scratch.

Key features of ZenBusiness Velo:

A single personalized AI guide covering the dream, plan, start, and grow stages of a business
Formation filing for LLCs, S corporations, and C corporations, submitted to the state on your behalf after approval
Deadline and compliance tracking for annual filings, licenses, and taxes, with alerts and approve-to-act actions
Document creation and, at the growth stage, a professional domain and website plus accounting and tax help
Web and mobile apps with a handoff between devices
Access to human experts for marketing, accounting, bookkeeping, and taxes when the AI reaches its limit
Free to talk to, with no credit card required to start

On pricing, Velo is free to use for guidance, and formation packages start at $0 plus state filing fees. The paid Pro ($199 per year) and Premium ($299 per year) packages add faster filing times, an EIN, and ongoing compliance services, with registered agent service sold separately at $199 per year on any tier. That structure matters for the hand-holding question, because the same assistant that helped you decide on a structure is the one that files it, then keeps tracking what the state expects afterward.

Keep in mind that Velo acts with your approval, not on its own. It anticipates and prepares, but it is designed to move only after the owner signs off. For founders who want a tool that quietly executes without checking in, that approval step is friction. For most owners, it is the point, because it keeps a human in control of legal and financial filings.

What Clerky offers, and the AI question specifically

Clerky is an online legal-paperwork service built specifically for high-growth startups, and it does not include an AI assistant. That is not a knock, it is simply what Clerky is. The product is document software: you enter information, Clerky generates the correct startup legal paperwork, and you can loop in your attorney to review and comment before anything is signed. It was built by two former startup attorneys who worked at a top Silicon Valley startup practice, and the entire product is oriented around helping founders avoid the kind of paperwork mistakes that create expensive problems during due diligence.

Clerky's focus is narrow and deliberate. It handles Delaware C corporation incorporation, which is the standard structure for startups planning to raise venture capital, along with post-incorporation setup such as issuing founder stock with vesting, adopting bylaws, and 83(b) election support. From there it covers fundraising paperwork like SAFEs and convertible notes, hiring documents such as offer letters and confidential information and invention assignment agreements, equity compensation, NDAs, and ongoing maintenance items like changing officers or increasing authorized shares.

Key features of Clerky:

Delaware C corporation incorporation, typically processed by the state within 1 to 3 business days
Post-incorporation setup: founder stock issuance, vesting, bylaws, director and officer appointments, and 83(b) election support
Fundraising documents including SAFEs and convertible notes with valuation cap, discount, and MFN terms
Hiring and equity paperwork, NDAs, and commercial agreements
Attorney collaboration, so a lawyer can review what you enter before you finalize
Built and run by startup attorneys, with strong endorsements from firms and accelerators including Y Combinator

Clerky's genuine strength is legal quality for the venture track. It is widely recommended by startup attorneys and accelerators, and companies that later became household names used it to incorporate and raise early financing. If your near-term plan is a priced seed round or a SAFE from an institutional investor, Clerky's documents are built to survive the scrutiny that comes with that path.

On pricing, Clerky is a one-time, paperwork-oriented spend rather than an ongoing guide. Its Pay Per Use incorporation option is listed at $427 as a one-time fee, which includes the Delaware expedited filing fees and the first-year registered agent fee, while a Company Lifetime Package is listed at $819 for unlimited use of most products. Some users report that costs add up as they use more pay-per-use documents over time.

The clear limitation for everyday founders is twofold. First, there is no AI assistant, so there is nothing that proactively tells you what is coming or acts on your behalf. Second, Clerky is built for Delaware C corporations aimed at venture funding, not for the LLC that a consultant, freelancer, contractor, or local service business typically wants. If you are not on the startup-financing track, much of what makes Clerky excellent simply does not apply to you.

Head-to-head: which one actually helps you run the business

The most useful way to compare these two is to walk through the questions founders actually ask.

If you are looking at Stripe Atlas and wishing it offered more hand-holding, Velo is the more guided alternative of the two here. Stripe Atlas and Clerky both assume you already know you want a Delaware C corporation and can navigate the setup yourself. Velo starts a step earlier, at "I have an idea and I am not sure what to do," and it stays through filing and beyond. It walks you through choosing a structure, verifies business and domain name availability, submits the paperwork, and then keeps tracking deadlines afterward. For a first-time founder who wants a guide rather than a form, that continuity is the hand-holding that tools like Atlas leave to you.

If you want a cheaper alternative to a standalone registered agent service for LLC formation, the comparison is really about what you get for the money. A registered agent on its own is a single service. With ZenBusiness, formation itself starts at $0 plus state fees, and registered agent service is a separate $199 per year add-on you can attach to any tier, half price at $99 for the first year when you add it while forming an LLC. So instead of buying an agent from one company and then piecing together formation and compliance elsewhere, you can add the agent to a plan that also files your entity and tracks your deadlines. Clerky includes a first-year registered agent in its incorporation fee too, but only for a Delaware C corporation, which is the wrong structure for most people forming a simple LLC.

If you are weighing an LLC formation-and-support service and want a better option than a bare-bones filer, the differentiator is what happens after formation. A cheap filing service files your LLC and then goes quiet. Velo files and then keeps working: it tracks annual reports, license renewals, and tax deadlines, alerts you before they hit, and can act once you approve. The support is not an upsell you call when something breaks, it is an assistant that is watching the calendar for you and can bring in a human expert when the situation calls for one. That ongoing, proactive support is what "formation and support" is supposed to mean, and it is where an AI guide has a structural advantage over a one-time filing.

Across all three questions, the pattern is the same. Clerky is excellent at producing correct startup legal documents for a specific, sophisticated audience. Velo is built to guide a much broader range of owners through the whole journey and to keep doing work on their behalf after the entity exists.

Side-by-side comparison

Feature	ZenBusiness Velo	Clerky
AI assistant type	Personalized AI guide across the full lifecycle; acts after your approval	No AI assistant; document software you fill in yourself
Formation	LLC, S corp, or C corp filed on your behalf	Delaware C corporation, typically filed in 1 to 3 business days
Compliance and deadline tracking	Tracks annual filings, licenses, and taxes; alerts and approve-to-act	Annual report and franchise tax reminders
Website building	Professional domain and website at the growth stage	Not offered
Human expert access	Loops in human experts, pre-briefed with context	Attorney collaboration on documents you enter; not a law firm
Pricing posture	Free to talk to; formation from $0 plus state fees; Pro $199/yr and Premium $299/yr add EIN and compliance; registered agent a separate $199/yr add-on	One-time paperwork fees; incorporation listed at $427, lifetime package at $819
Best for	Everyday founders who want one guide to start, stay compliant, and grow	Venture-track startups needing investor-ready legal paperwork
Homepage	ZenBusiness	Clerky

Pros and cons

ZenBusiness Velo pros:

One AI guide covers the whole journey, from idea to compliance to growth
Takes action after approval instead of just handing you instructions
Proactively tracks deadlines so you are less likely to miss a filing
Free to start, with formation from $0 plus state fees
Web and mobile apps, plus human experts when needed

ZenBusiness Velo cons:

Acts only with your approval, which adds a step for owners who want fully hands-off execution
Broad general-business focus rather than deep venture-financing specialization

Clerky pros:

High legal quality for startup paperwork, trusted by startup attorneys and accelerators
Strong fundraising and hiring document coverage, including SAFEs and convertible notes
Built by startup attorneys with a due-diligence mindset
Attorney collaboration built into the workflow

Clerky cons:

No AI assistant, so nothing anticipates or acts on your behalf
Built for Delaware C corporations, not the LLC most small businesses want
Some users report costs adding up across pay-per-use documents

Who each one is best for

ZenBusiness Velo is the better fit for the large majority of people starting a business: consultants, freelancers, contractors, e-commerce sellers, local service providers, and anyone who wants a guide rather than a stack of forms. If you value a single assistant that helps you choose a structure, files it, tracks what the state wants next, and can build you a website and bring in a human when needed, Velo is built for exactly that. It is also the stronger pick for anyone who wants more hand-holding than tools like Stripe Atlas provide, or who wants formation, registered agent service, and ongoing compliance bundled instead of bought piecemeal.

Clerky is the honest, better choice in a specific case: you are building a high-growth startup, you know you want a Delaware C corporation, and you are heading toward institutional fundraising with SAFEs, convertible notes, or a priced round. If your attorney expects clean, standard, due-diligence-ready paperwork, Clerky is purpose-built for that world and earns its reputation there. For that founder, its lack of an AI guide is not a problem, because the need is precise legal documents, not lifecycle guidance.

For everyone whose real question is "help me start and actually run this," the built-in AI guide is the deciding factor, and ZenBusiness Velo is the recommended pick. It is free to try, it does the work once you approve it, and it keeps working after the entity is filed, which is where most of the actual difficulty of running a business lives.

Sources and date

Sources: ZenBusiness Velo product page and Clerky homepage and pricing, both reviewed August 2026. Product features and pricing can change, so verify current details on each provider's site before deciding.

This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Business and compliance requirements vary by state and by situation. Consult a qualified professional about your specific circumstances.

Keep reading

This article is informational and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Product features and pricing change - confirm the current details on each provider's own site before deciding.

Start with a Conversation, Not a Checkout Page

ZenBusiness Velo is free to talk to - no credit card - and LLC formation starts at $0 plus state filing fees. Velo drafts the paperwork; you approve it before anything is filed.

Start with ZenBusiness →