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 Incorporate.com. Which one is the better choice to form your new LLC and provide registered agent service?
30-Second Summary Of InCorp VS. Incorporate.com
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.
As for Incorporate.com, they’re one of the oldest companies in the business services industry, but they have poor customer reviews, high prices, and threadbare feature packages. Overall, we prefer InCorp, and it’s not a close competition.
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 Incorporate.com, they rank #14 in our LLC service guide, and they earned the #15 spot in our registered agent guide.
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.
Incorporate.com:
- LLC formation (starts at $79) – Their base formation package includes only the preparation and filing of your articles of organization. We’ll note that while this price isn’t terrible, their top two formation packages cost $574 and $654.
- Registered agent ($235/year) – Incorporate.com charges $235 per year for registered agent service, with no volume discounts available. In addition, if you want them to file your Change of Registered Agent form with your state, you will also need to pay the state fee, and Incorporate.com also requires you to pay the state expediting fee. As for additional features, they do include access to their CSCNavigator online compliance dashboard that helps you keep track of important filing due dates.
Who should use their services? We would only ever recommend Incorporate.com to people who prioritize experience and longevity above all else. Even then, there are other highly experienced options that provide more bang for your buck than Incorporate.com does.
Total Price for LLC Formation + 1 Year Registered Agent
InCorp: $198 (plus state fee)
Incorporate.com: $314 (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.
Incorporate.com: We found just 19 reviews on third-party sites, with 14 on the FitSmallBusiness website and another five from the Better Business Bureau. Only one of those 19 reviews is positive. Their unsatisfied clients often discuss how high Incorporate.com’s prices are, and also complain that registered agent service is sometimes added onto their formation service orders without the client’s consent.
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.
Incorporate.com: Overall, we were pleased with the quality of Incorporate.com’s customer support department. They offer support over the phone, via email, or using their online chat function. With all three options, we received efficient responses. Their representatives were pleasant to talk to, while also seeming quite knowledgeable, and expanding upon their answers as necessary.
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.
Incorporate.com: Incorporate.com opened in 1899, and they’ve served 750,000+ clients since then. Over the years, their name has changed several times ― from Corporation Service Company to The Company Corporation to Incorporate.com ― but the core business has stayed the same.
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.
Incorporate.com (3.6/5): We’re not impressed with what Incorporate.com has to offer their LLC formation or registered agent clients. Their prices are too high, their customer satisfaction is too low, and they just don’t stand out in any positive way.
Our Favorite Service – Zen Business (4.9/5): While we appreciate some aspects of what InCorp and Incorporate.com 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.