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Written by: Coralee Bechteler
Coralee is a business writer with experience in administrative services, education, and software testing.
Edited by: David Lepeska
David has been writing and learning about business, finance and globalization for a quarter-century, starting with a small New York consulting firm in the 1990s.
Updated on May 8, 2023
If you’re starting a business, the business entity formation process is one of the first and most important hurdles. This step can be terribly complex and time-consuming, which is why many entrepreneurs turn to professional formation services.
But which are the best services for you? ZenBusiness is a great option, but we’ve examined a wide variety of alternatives to help you choose the service that will put you on the road to success.
Here are our top alternative choices for LLC business formation.
Northwest Registered Agent differentiates itself from competitors with transparent pricing, great customer service, and a commitment to maintaining your privacy.
LegalZoom offers affordable pricing plans (free Basic plan) with the option to add on additional services. The company has a great industry reputation and offers a variety of other legal services.
We recommend Incfile because of good quality services with a lot of features and affordable online incorporation services.
We recommend Swyft Filings because of their quick signup process and fast turnaround times.
Tailor Brands offers a suite of online tools, such as an AI-powered logo generator, a social media theme maker, and a website builder, to help companies promote themselves.
Northwest Registered Agent offers several a la carte services and one business formation package, which is competitively priced and includes registered agent services for one year. All customers will have online access to their documents and full customer support.
Northwest Registered Agent differentiates itself from competitors with transparent pricing, outstanding customer service, and a commitment to maintaining your privacy.
Northwest’s plan, at $225 plus state fees include business formation, free registered agent services for a year, a business address, an operating agreement, and a few extras.
This plan is a good value since registered agent services and an operating agreement, which is very important, are included.
But if you do not choose the registered agent services, you’re still charged the full plan price.
Overall, Northwest Registered Agent provides valuable services for aspiring business owners. They can ensure that your new business gets off on the right foot. Their service is easy to use and offers a great customer experience, which we learned from testing their support services, reading countless customer reviews, and moving through their online formation process.
Northwest Registered Agent can take the time and hassle out of starting your business and the ongoing process of staying in compliance with your state’s laws. Their streamlined pricing is uncommon amongst competitors, so you’ll have more control over what you pay for. We highly recommend Northwest Registered Agent.
LegalZoom is an industry leader when it comes to LLC formation services. They offer three business plans, with one-time fees ranging from $0 to $299, plus state fees. Their Basic Plan is great value for what’s included and they have great customer service.
The LegalZoom “base” Basic Plan costs state fees only and provides a business name availability search through the state database, your business’s formation, and full customer support. It also offers a few extras, including a digital welcome packet and a customizable business website. You’ll also have access to your formation documents online at any time.
LegalZoom’s Pro Plan costs $249 and includes all the services in the Basic Plan plus an operating agreement, an EIN, a business license guide, and a tax and insurance consultation.
The LegalZoom Premium Plan, at $299 offers all of the services listed above plus expedited filing.
LegalZoom’s services are easy to use and they offer great customer experience. LegalZoom has competitively priced plans and they offer a wid variety of legal services and have been in business for more than 20 years. Overall, they’re a great one-stop shop for all of your business formation and legal needs.
Incfile offers three business formation packages: Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The Silver package is free, plus state fees, and includes free registered agent services for one year. Incfile also gives customers access to an online dashboard and unlimited phone and email support.
Incfile’s Silver package provides the preparation and filing of the articles of organization and unlimited name searches. It also includes free registered agent services for a year, making it a great value at no additional cost other than the state’s LLC formation filing fees.
Customers can purchase the Gold package for $149, which encompasses everything in Incfile’s Silver plus an operating agreement, business tax consultation, and lifetime company alerts. It has a few other benefits, as well, so it’s an overall good value.
For $299 plus state fees, Incfile’s Platinum package includes everything in Gold as well as expedited filing, a domain name, and access to business contract templates. However, if you have either the Silver or Gold package, you can gain access to the entire document library for $150.Incfile also offers a number of a la carte services. For a fee, Incfile can handle tasks like filing your annual report and changing your registered agent.
Incfile is great for entrepreneurs on a budget, as their Silver package covers the basics and includes a free year of their registered agent service. Competitors like LegalZoom and Swyft Filings have a more robust suite of services, but tend to be more expensive.
Swyft Filings has three business formation packages and a variety of a la carte services. Package prices range from $49 to $299 plus state filing fees, and are sold for a one-time expense. Swyft Filings is known for speed, as their signup process is quick and they have faster turnaround times.
Swyft Filings Basic Package costs $49 plus state filing fees. The Basic Package provides you with the verification of your company name, the preparation of the articles of organization, and document filing with the state. The package also includes online access to your documents and lifetime customer support. This plan comes with a one-hour business tax consultation to help you prepare for your first tax season, and company compliance alerts so you never miss a deadline.
You can purchase Swyft Filings’ Standard Package for $149 plus state fees. This includes all the services included in the Basic Package with the addition of a custom operating agreement and a federal tax ID, or EIN. You will also be provided with access to custom banking resolution services and custom organizational minutes, which is a form that helps you set up your very first meeting as an LLC.
For $299 plus state fees, Swyft Filings’ Premium Package offers everything in the Standard Package with the advantage of expedited filing, as well as a business website and web hosting services. A digital LLC kit, which contains a digital company “seal”, a ledger for tracking transfers of ownership, and customized stock certificates are also included.
Swyft Filings lives up to its name in terms of speedy processing times. However, the biggest drawback is that they don’t include registered agent services in any of their packages. Additionally, the registered agent service is $149 per quarter, whereas many other LLC formation services either charge an annual fee or bundle it with other offerings.
Tailor Brands is an LLC formation service focusing on the needs of digital entrepreneurs. Beyond formation filing, they offer various brand-building tools, including AI-generated logo design, website building, and merchandise printing.
Since its founding, Its mission has been to “make business creation easy, fun, and accessible to everyone.”
For $49 plus state fees, Tailor’s Lite plan will form your LLC with standard processing, which will take up to 14 business days to file your document.
At $199 annually plus state fees, The Essential plan includes all of the above plus expedited filing, compliance monitoring, and an operating agreement.
Expedited filing only means that Tailor will file your documents with the state within two days but the total time will be based on state formation times.
The Elite plan, at $249, includes everything from the Essential plan plus a year of a free domain, eight free logos, a website builder, a digital business card page that displays your links and products, a social media post maker, and a business card design tool.
Tailor Brands targets digital entrepreneurs with a modern website and many services for e-commerce and digital marketing.
Tailor’s customer service is an issue, and its sales pitches are aggressive.
If you’re planning a business with a physical location, Tailor’s offerings are expensive. But if you’re starting a web-based business, we recommend Tailor’s Elite plan, which offers some unique tools at a reasonable price.
A business formation service handles the business formation process for you, making it nearly seamless while offering additional services that can make life easier for a new business owner. Whether you’re forming a limited liability company (LLC) or a corporation, a business formation service takes care of all the red tape, freeing you up to focus on growing your business.
With so many business formation services to choose from, it can be difficult to decide which is best for you. There are four essential elements that can help you make your decision.
Each service offers various products and services and their plans are all designed differently. You may need some services but not others, so you need to choose the service that offers everything you need. For example, only some of the providers offer annual report filing.
If it’s important to you to get that task off your plate, you’ll want a service that offers that feature. Another feature you might need is a digital dashboard where you can always access your business formation documents.
You’ll want to choose a service that has everything you need to make starting and running your business as easy as possible.
One good way to learn about the quality of any service is to listen to what people are saying about it. When we review services we examine reviews and ratings from the Better Business Bureau and TrustPilot. It’s wise to look at both positive and negative reviews to find out what people love about the service and issues they’ve encountered.
Remember that fake reviews are common, so you should take some of the reviews with a grain of salt.
Of course, you’ll want to get the best value for your money!
Compare the cost of each service for everything you need. The price can really add up when you start adding extras, so be careful not to go too far. You also want to get good value and great customer service, so if you’re considering the cheapest service, check the reviews to see how people felt about it.
Business formation turnaround times vary with each service, so if you’re in a hurry to get your business up and running, you’ll want to look for the quickest service. You don’t want your order to sit in an office too long before your paperwork gets filed with the state. Some services differentiate themselves with fast turnaround times, so if they also offer good value, that might be your best choice.
As a leading entrepreneurial advisory site, we take our responsibilities seriously. We understand that countless entrepreneurs, and potential entrepreneurs, rely on our judgments and insights, particularly when it comes to creating their business.
As a result, our writers do their utmost to gain a comprehensive understanding of the services offered and the actual customer experience. In nearly every case, we:
Thanks to this full immersion in the actual customer experience, our reviewers are able to provide the most complete and insightful analysis of various LLC formation services.
When assessing whether or not a business formation service is right for you, it’s important to dive into the following four categories: included features, customer service, pricing, and turnaround time.
Incfile is great for entrepreneurs on a budget, as their Silver package covers the basics and includes a free year of their registered agent service. Competitors like LegalZoom and Swyft Filings have a more robust suite of services, but can be more expensive.
Rocket Lawyer is a unique option, not offering packages of business formation services, but a subscription service instead that allows you to form your business for free and get access to a host of business form templates.
Overall, Northwest Registered Agent provides valuable services for aspiring business owners. They can ensure that your new business gets off on the right foot. Their service is easy to use and offers a great customer experience. Their a la carte streamlined pricing is uncommon amongst competitors, so you’ll have more control over what you pay for. We highly recommend Northwest Registered Agent.
Published on September 11, 2022
If you’re starting a business, the business entity formation process is one of the first and most important hurdles. This step can be terriblycomp ...
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Published on September 8, 2022
If you’re starting a business, the business entity formation process is one of the first and most significant hurdles. This step can be terriblyco ...
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Published on September 8, 2022
Business entity formation is a crucial element of launching a business, and because it’s often complex and tedious many entrepreneurs hire aprofes ...
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