If you decide to start a business through an LLC formation website, you will have plenty of options. Today, there are many online companies that can start an LLC in an easy and quick way. However, how to choose the best one among them?
We suggest you look at two reliable services – LegalZoom and Inc Authority. Each has a special approach to form a small business and unique features, which may attract aspiring entrepreneurs. To help you make your choice, we have prepared an Inc Authority vs LegalZoom comparison based on such key points as:
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Both these companies are professionals, so we have no doubt that by choosing LegalZoom or Inc Authority, you will get a high-quality service. They actually have many common characteristics, like extensive experience in creating an LLC, as well as convenience and efficiency.
Nevertheless, each of these websites has some peculiarities. Based on them, we have concluded that Inc Authority has the advantage in this review. Why? Well, unlike LegalZoom, it offers an LLC free of charge and also includes a free registered agent service for one year in each of its formation packages.
Experience is a field where LegalZoom has almost no competitors. Since its opening in 2001, it has helped form over two million business entities, making it the best online LLC service in the industry.
Inc Authority has provided LLC services online since 1989. Despite its advantage in duration, however, it has served considerably fewer customers, about 140,000.
The cost of LLC packages is one of the main arguments when choosing an online company. Almost no one can compete with Inc Authority here, as it will offer a free LLC if you pay the mandatory state fee. On the other hand, the basic business formation package from LegalZoom costs $79, which is less than some competitors offer but much more expensive than $0.
Let’s take a closer look at the services offered by Inc Authority and LegalZoom.
LegalZoom has developed three business formation plans that provide the following features:
Inc Authority, in turn, offers a choice of four LLC formation packages:
Although the cost of most Inc Authority formation packages is higher than that of LegalZoom, it is mostly due to the set of features included. For example, with any of its packages, you will get one year of a free registered agent for LLC, while LegalZoom does not provide this service even with its premium packages. If you want to add a registered agent service, you’ll have to pay $249/year extra. As an extra service, it would be even more expensive – $299/year, while Inc Authority charges only $99/year.
LegalZoom and Inc Authority also offer a number of unique additional services that can only be ordered from one of them. For example, LegalZoom customers get access to a variety of services related to intellectual property, as well as personal services, such as estate planning. In turn, Inc Authority offers a business funding service and business credit package, which LegalZoom does not provide.
LegalZoom offers lifetime customer support. The company has extended support hours: Monday through Friday it is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET on weekends. You can reach its experienced representatives by phone, email, or webchat on the website.
As for Inc Authority, its customer service is available only on weekdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET. Like LegalZoom, Inc Authority answers requests by phone, webchat, and email. However, it has faster response times, so you don’t have to wait long for results.
Overall, in this category of our LegalZoom vs Inc Authority comparison, these two companies are about equal.
Like most companies in the industry, Inc Authority bases its processing times on the capabilities of the state.
LegalZoom works in a different way. If you choose this service, then the processing time required for creating an LLC will depend on the level of your formation package:
As for order status tracking, whether you prefer Inc Authority or LegalZoom, there are handy tools on their websites. To use them, all you have to do is log into your account.
In our opinion, calculating the speed of business formation based on state specifics is fairer than the LegalZoom method of artificially speeding up or slowing down. Nevertheless, the option to choose the processing time when you purchase an LLC formation service package may be interesting to some clients.
Compared to the DIY method, the Inc Authority LLC formation process is simple. When filling out the application, you only need to answer a few questions and provide your personal information. Among the disadvantages is that it has a lot of upsells.
The LegalZoom registration process begins with getting your information. You will be asked to enter some business and personal information, then you can choose add-on features and a service package. This seems confusing because it’s hard to know which add-on features you need if you haven’t selected a basic service package yet.
Inc Authority receives mostly positive feedback and is credible among its customers. This online service has over 6,600 reviews online and high ratings. Its customers talk a lot about how much they like the free LLC creation option as well as fast service.
LegalZoom has about 4,700 reviews online. Compared to Inc Authority, its customer satisfaction reputation is lower because the number of positive and negative reviews is about equal. Still, the company is actively working on improving its ratings.
Overall, LegalZoom and Inc Authority are experienced services whose skills and professionalism have been confirmed by thousands of clients.
In this Inc Authority vs LegalZoom review, we have analyzed two reputable companies that provide quality LLC creation and support services. They both can help you launch your own business in any state of America.
If your decision is usually based on the high value of brand power and the number of customers, you should consider LegalZoom. It has served more than two million business clients and has built a great reputation.
As for Inc Authority, this is the best LLC website if you want to save on opening an LLC. Its prices for online LLC formation start at $0 (you should pay the state fee only). In addition, a big plus is that Inc Authority includes a free year of registered agent service in every service package.
