When you are about to start a business, you are more focused on future plans, business strategies, and marketing ideas than legal formalities. However, though they seem a minor thing, legal routines are inevitable if you want to start your business on a lawful foot and run it eligibly. Hence, one way or another, you’ll have to accomplish LLC formation before you dive into daily activities and affairs. And while launching an LLC on your own is always an option, there is a better alternative, which is hiring an LLC creation service to do the job for you. Want to find the best LLC company? Then check our InCorp vs LegalZoom comparison where we will review the two online LLC formation services that confidently stand out among the rest.
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What makes a good online LLC formation service? In a few words, it’s a combo of professional approach, reasonable LLC costs, and diverse features to meet varying business needs. Both LegalZoom and InCorp have it all. Lingering on the top rating positions, LegalZoom has a bit more popularity and is a more recognizable name than InCorp. Yet, it doesn’t mean the latter lags behind. Both companies match stride for stride when it comes to industry expertise and the volume of customers served. There is no doubt these legal service providers know their onions and can open an LLC for you without a hassle.
What sets them apart, though, is a bit different approach to pricing, as well as the cost of the registered agent service and conditions under which this service is provided. However, it’s too early to make any conclusions yet. First, let’s take a closer look at how LegalZoom and InCorp stack up.
To make it clear from the start, there is no perfect service for creating an LLC. Each formation company has its strengths and drawbacks, and these LLC services are not an exception. At the same time, they are pretty much similar in several criteria essential for choosing a proper formation service.
Let’s figure out how these two LLC services compare in features you’d normally consider when selecting a service of this kind to launch an LLC for you.
As we’ve already stated above, these two companies have a bit different pricing philosophies, with LegalZoom throwing at you formation packages coming at fixed prices and InCorp avoiding pre-bundled services and a multi-tier LLC package system.
To start with LegalZoom pricing, you’ll have three package options at your disposal, matching different budgets and needs. Thus, LegalZoom LLC costs start from $79 for the Economy Package and escalate to $349 for the Express Gold Package, with a Standard Package in between priced at $329. We must admit that the Economy package is pretty scanty and covers solely filing services, i.e. name search and Articles of Organization submission along with a Financial Account Authorization letter to open a business bank account after LLC formation. Top-tier packages are also not as feature-packed as you might imagine. Though you’ll get a corporate kit to establish your corporate style, mostly, you’ll pay for VIP processing and expedited filing.
When it comes to InCorp prices, at a glance, basic LLC formation looks more expensive with this company. Their LLC formation plan which covers name search and formation documents filing comes at $99 beyond a shipping fee they’ll add anyway to send you back approved documents. So, the total cost will be $117, which is a noticeably higher price than that of the comparable LegalZoom Economy Package. The rest of the services you might need are available optionally and priced separately.
Casting a quick look at LegalZoom vs InCorp pricing, the latter seems to be more expensive. However, if you compare the costs of their added services and add them to the fixed price packages, with InCorp, you’ll get much more than with LegalZoom at the same price.
It’s worth noting that neither of these formation companies offers registered agent service as a part of LLC formation and has it on the list of additional payable services instead while there are many competitor services that provide it for free for a whole year. Despite this fact, though, InCorp appears to be an obvious leader in this battle since InCorp registered agent service is exactly what many customers value this provider for.
Fixed registered agent service price in InCorp is $99 per year, which is alone at a lower end of the price range. In addition, the company has a system of volume discounts in place. Thus, if you pre-pay the service for 5 years in advance, it will cost you only $66 per annum, which is a big benefit, given that an LLC registered agent is needed permanently.
InCorp pricing is really hard to beat here, and LegalZoom registered agent at $299 per year is no comparison to an InCorp’s offer.
This is yet another aspect where LegalZoom and InCorp show differences. In InCorp, they stick to turnaround times provided by the state and won’t charge you anything for speedy filing on top of official state fees for expedited processing. Hence, in some states, InCorp can set up an LLC within a single day.
LegalZoom, on the other hand, provides quick processing only within top-tier packages. Given that the suggested turnaround time in the Economy Package is around 30 days, they force you to choose high-priced packages to get your LLC filed in a faster manner. However, rush filing speeds are 15 and 7-10 days accordingly which is not too fast as well.
With full-fledged help centers in place, these two companies will come with the necessary feedback on all questions you might have in the process of forming an LLC. Notably, InCorp has a bit of an edge here again. Their support reps are friendly, helpful, and easy to access via phone and email. Yet, what makes InCorp support really stand out is that you’ll be assigned an expert from the start and, whenever you contact their customer service, you’ll get in contact with the same person each time who already knows your situation from within.
LegalZoom customer service is available from 10 am to 8 pm on business days and from 10 am to 7 pm on weekends, yet it is rather formal and, most often than not, you’ll have to wait before you are answered.
InCorp and LegalZoom have opened their doors nearly at the same time, and their professionalism is beyond any doubt. Established in 1998, InCorp has helped over 125,000 clients with LLC registration, which is an impressive figure to match. However, LegalZoom is still holding the lead here, with over 2 million customers in its portfolio since 1999. Though both companies operate nationwide, LegalZoom is an indisputable topliner.
With millions of customers on their list, it’s no surprise that LegalZoom has tons of customer feedback. If you navigate through the web, you’ll spot over 4700 LegalZoom reviews on trusted websites. While there are some negative comments, most reviews are positive ones.
InCorp can’t boast such extensive customer feedback. However, the reviews they have are positive and praise their filing speed and customer support.
LegalZoom or InCorp, their LLC websites are fairly easy to use and you’ll place an order for opening a new LLC business without any problem with either of these companies. More than that, with InCorp, you’ll get an alternative to file an LLC with their team of specialists instead of using an online service.
Overall, in InCorp vs LegalZoom matchup, there is no obvious winner. Both companies have a strong reputation and are distinguished by a high level of professionalism and service quality. So, any of them is a safe choice to launch your business with. If you want us to be more specific, here is what we think.
If you need basic filing services and want to get an LLC registered agent at a fairly affordable price. Besides, the quality of their customer service is hard to underestimate.
If you rely on rich customer feedback and want one of the best LLC services supported by solid brand power to be your business formation assistant.
