The limited liability company is an increasingly popular business structure in America, with thousands of new LLCs being formed every day. The LLC is effectually a hybrid business type, occupying the space between the rigid formalities of a corporation, and the casual nature of a general partnership or sole proprietorship.
If you want to form an LLC in the United States, you will need to designate a registered agent. The role of the registered agent involves the usage of their address as your official business address, which means they’ll receive important document deliveries on your behalf, including court summons and other official correspondence from your state government.
There are many companies that offer LLC formation and registered agent services online, and it’s sometimes difficult to determine which one has your best interests in mind. In this comparison, we’ll take a close look at InCorp and BizFilings. Which one is the better choice to form your new LLC and provide registered agent service?
30-Second Summary Of InCorp VS. BizFilings
InCorp is best known for their impressive registered agent service pricing, which starts at just $99 per year, and they also offer volume discounts. They have plenty of experience and a large roster of active registered agent clients. While InCorp does provide LLC formation service, it’s a somewhat unimpressive barebones offering.
BizFilings’ entry-level LLC formation price is reasonable, and all of their formation packages include six months of registered agent service. However, their registered agent service is a bit overpriced, and their top two packages vary in price considerably depending on which state you’re forming in.
While this is a close competition, we slightly prefer InCorp because of their excellent registered agent service pricing model that can save you quite a bit of money.
We Recommend Zen Business
These LLC Services vs Other Options
Overall, InCorp ranked #12 on our list of the best LLC formation services, and they came in sixth on our registered agent service guide. As for BizFilings, they were the inverse of InCorp in our rankings, as we have them at #6 on our LLC guide and 12th on the registered agent list.
There are plenty of competing services in this industry though. If you want more information about two of the most popular options, check out our Zen Business vs LegalZoom comparison guide. To see our entire comprehensive guide to LLC formation services, this article runs down our top 14 options, including a spotlight on Zen Business, our top pick.
Pricing & Additional Features
InCorp:
- LLC formation ($99) – InCorp only has one LLC formation service package, which costs $99 plus state fee. It just includes the basic elements of forming a company: a business name availability check, and the preparation and filing of your articles of organization.
- Registered agent ($99/year) – If you purchase one year’s worth of registered agent service from InCorp, they will charge you a flat rate of $99. However, if you prepay for future years of service, they’ll cut their rates as follows: 2 years ($89.10/year), 3 years ($80.52/year), 5 years ($66.56/year). One unique feature of InCorp is their EntityWatch system, which provides real-time information regarding the status of your business entity, and also helps prevent corporate identity theft. They also provide access to a convenient compliance calendar.
Who should use their services? We think InCorp’s registered agent service offering is appealing to any entrepreneur looking for reasonably priced service. However, we’re not quite sure who they’re trying to appeal to for LLC service. Their formation package is underwhelming and hard to recommend.
BizFilings:
- LLC formation (starts at $99) – BizFilings’ Basic package includes a business name availability check, the preparation and filing of your articles of organization, and six months of registered agent service.
- Registered agent ($164/year) – BizFilings provides registered agent service for $164 per year, and they also offer six months for free if you purchase any of their LLC formation packages. They also include their BizComply online compliance monitoring tool, as well as franchise tax and annual report filing alerts.
Who should use their services? We like their LLC formation service because it includes everything you need to get your company up and running, without costing an arm and a leg. Their registered agent service is a bit frustrating though, because we appreciate the additional features included, but feel that their price point is too high.
Total Price for LLC Formation + 1 Year Registered Agent
InCorp: $198 (plus state fee)
BizFilings: $181 (plus state fee)
Customer Satisfaction
InCorp: We were able to track down 95 reviews for InCorp, as they have 61 reviews on the Better Business Bureau website, along with another 34 on Facebook. Their reviews are decent, but not spectacular. In their positive reviews, InCorp clients discuss the quality customer support they receive, and also highlight the company’s ease of use. On the other hand, they do have some negative reviews that mostly revolve around customers having difficulties canceling their services.
BizFilings: While BizFilings has been around for decades, and they’ve served hundreds of thousands of customers, we were only able to find four customer reviews online. With such a tiny quantity of reviews to work with, it’s impossible to analyze that feedback in any way.
Quality of Customer Service
InCorp: You can access InCorp’s customer support representatives via phone, email, or web-based chat. If you prefer support in Spanish, they have bilingual reps available during all standard operating hours, which at InCorp run from 9am to 9pm ET every weekday. No matter which method you prefer for contacting their support department, they have quick response times, and their representatives are friendly and helpful.
BizFilings: BizFilings provides customer support via phone and email. With either option, you’ll receive prompt service from knowledgeable professionals, and their hours of operation are longer than the vast majority of their competitors. You can reach BizFilings support reps from 7am-8pm ET Monday through Friday.
Company Stats and Track Record
InCorp: InCorp was founded in 1998, and with over 125,000 active registered agent clients, they’re the fourth-largest national registered agent service in America. InCorp also provides business formation services, and their EntityWatch compliance management feature is a unique benefit.
BizFilings: BizFilings has been around since 1996, and they’ve formed over half a million businesses in that time. The company is a subsidiary of the massive global information services company Wolters Kluwer.
Final Scores and Our Recommendation
We Recommend Zen Business
InCorp (3.9/5): InCorp is one of the best registered agent service providers in the entire industry, as their low price points and valuable features are a winning combination. Their LLC formation service is underwhelming though.
BizFilings (4.1/5): BizFilings doesn’t really excel in any specific way. Their pricing and features are all acceptable, but not overly impressive. In general, we prefer InCorp’s value-per-dollar compared to BizFilings for registered agent service, although BizFilings has the advantage for LLC formations.
Our Favorite Service – Zen Business (4.9/5): While we appreciate some aspects of what InCorp and BizFilings have to offer, Zen Business is actually our favorite LLC formation service. For just $39, they’ll provide the full formation process of your LLC, while also including a year of registered agent service. It’s one of the lowest price points in the industry for this combination of services, and you won’t have to sacrifice anything when it comes to features.