Choosing a formation service to open an LLC online, you might feel confused and even bewildered, given the number of companies a market throws on you today. Which one is better? Which is right for you? Which has the best LLC prices and formation packages? How to choose? This is where detailed comparative reviews come to help. If you’ve already narrowed down your choice to LegalZoom and IncNow due to these providers lingering on the top of the ratings, our overview will let you finalize your thoughts and pinpoint the winner.
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LegalZoom or IncNow, is it a hard choice? By and large, each option is already a winning choice since each of these online legal services has a lot going for it. LegalZoom is a confident industry topliner backed by strong brand power and huge popularity. IncNow, on the other hand, is a mid-scale company. Yet, it boasts a long history, offers great flexibility, and provides amazing opportunities for Delaware-based businesses. So, if you are thinking about launching a new LLC in Delaware, IncNow will be among the best options to pick. At this point, though, it’s too early to make a final choice. First, check out our full-service overview to weigh up all pros and cons.
Sharing many commonalities, LegalZoom and IncNow are not similar, and an in-depth overview will reveal their pluses and minuses in detail.
With $99 and $79 flat rates at IncNow and LegalZoom economy LLC packages accordingly, both companies start at nearly the same LLC price points increasing the cost for the top-tier plans pro-rata to the included services. While basic packages cover name Availability Search and formation docs filing, premium plans also contain some valuable extras. Thus, IncNow offers a ready-made LLC operating agreement template and 1-day turnaround time while LegalZoom provides a corporate kit and customized membership certificates to form your company corporate style and a bank resolution to ease opening business accounts for your entity.
In the meantime, it’s worth noting that LegalZoom operates in all the 50 US states and IncNow is a Delaware-based service. Yet, seeking to get a Delaware Formation Certificate, you can pay $9 for the whole registration by serving as a registered agent on your own. No other LLC service can offer such a low price in this state.
Any LLC is obliged to designate a registered agent in the US. Though it could be any person residing in the state of LLC formation, many entrepreneurs choose to appoint a legal entity such as an LLC service and for a good reason. Not only do these companies have registered addresses in all required states but also they’ll give you peace of mind about all your communications with the state being maintained by professionals and help your company ensure compliance with the state rules.
Noteworthy, many legal service providers incorporate one-year registered agent service into their formation bundles at no cost and charge fixed annual payments only starting from the next year. However, neither LegalZoom nor IncNow delivers this essential service for free. Both companies will charge you straight away. IncNow makes it a part of its formation plans for $90, with each following year priced at $99. LegalZoom offers it as an added service at a flat rate of $159. Surely enough, if you launch your LLC in Delaware, IncNow is a much more competitive choice here.
Similar to other LLC assistant services, both IncNow and LegalZoom have quite a number of additional useful business services on their menus to meet varying business situations and scenarios. In this aspect, both services have something in common ensuring such generic options as a registered agent service, EIN acquisition, foreign qualifications, and DBA (doing business as) functions. In the meantime, each of them has some unique add-ons a competitor doesn’t provide. Thus, LegalZoom suggests assistance in business licensing and trademark rights as well as professional attorney consultations on many business-related issues. On top of that, LegalZoom boasts a wide choice of services not only for business owners but also for physical persons. Divorce, marriage, and last will forms and power of attorney templates are to name a few. And those options are available in all 50 states. IncNow, on the other hand, is solely a business assistant. Yet, apart from formation aid, they are also helpful in maintaining your business by covering taxation, payment, and compliance issues.
Right off the bat, both companies know their onions and are really good at what they are doing. Established in 1974 and 1999 accordingly, IncNow and LegalZoom have decades of expertise in the industry behind their backs and have served thousands of customers since then. Despite the fact that LegalZoom is 25 years younger, the company is an industry powerhouse with nearly 2 million business clients in its portfolio. Meanwhile, in IncNow, they know everything about doing business in Delaware and can help you optimize your business activity to meet the state rules and make use of all the local benefits. Anyway, huge expertise ensures you’ll get quality help with either of these LLC services.
It’s an aspect where IncNow and LegalZoom demonstrate a bit different approaches. With IncNow, normal turnaround times vary from 4 to 6 business days, which is alone pretty fast. Besides, if you are in a hurry for some reason, they have expedited Delaware filings and even offer one-day processing time within their premium package.
When it comes to LegalZoom, their filing times vary not by the state of registration but rather by the chosen package. Thus, ordering a basic plan, you’ll have to wait 30 days before your business is legally formed. And even their expedited options of 15 and 7 days can’t compete with IncNow filing speeds.
Checking your order with LegalZoom is a doddle. They have a special checking tool to monitor your LLC order status online. IncNow follows a more old-fashioned route here and sends order confirmations via email. And to check at what stage your business filings are, you need to call them.
The customer-focused approach normally realized via company employees’ dedication to their job and excellent customer support are the main strengths of smaller companies. And this is what InNow is valued for in over 600 reviews showing off positive customer feedback.
Bigger companies, on the other hand, often have some organizational issues, which is quite normal, given their business scope. LegalZoom is not an exception. Despite their impressive popularity, you’ll spot both positive and negative comments among more than 2000 reviews they have online.
A highly professional support team of responsive help reps is one of the biggest IncNow selling points. Their experts are always eager to answer any of your questions, demonstrating a positive attitude and friendliness at all times, not to mention the informative and detailed responses they provide, which again results from a strong customer-centered approach.
LegalZoom support staff is more of a standard story. Some of their support reps are good while others appear quite slow to answer and show not so much eagerness to help. At the same time, extended support hours on weekdays and availability even on the weekend are a big plus in favor of LegalZoom customer help.
Finalizing our thoughts, we should state that both of these companies are among the top choices to go. None of them will fail when forming a limited liability company, offering professionalism and strong business knowledge. Yet, they are by no means similar.
You need a nationwide service provider operating in all 50 states and having solid brand power. Experts in business formation, LegalZoom can be also of use if you have some personal legal issues that need settlement. Their impressive collection of legal forms will be at your disposal.
You need a firm helping hand in the state of Delaware. Operating in this very state, IncNow will form a compliant Delaware LLC at the lowest rates available. Going for top-tier packages, you also obtain a $50 coupon that will noticeably cut down your costs.
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