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 LegalZoom and Nationwide Incorporators. Which one is the better choice to form your new LLC and provide registered agent service?
30-Second Summary Of LegalZoom VS. Nationwide Incorporators
When you discuss online incorporation services, the first name that comes to nearly everyone’s mind is LegalZoom. That’s because they’ve served millions of customers, and they also advertise heavily across several different mediums. LegalZoom’s pricing models are more costly than many of their competitors, and they do not include registered agent service with any of their LLC formation packages.
Nationwide Incorporators’ claim to fame is that every document they prepare is either drafted or reviewed by an experienced business attorney. While their prices may be a bit higher than some competitors, their “Attorney-Powered” slogan is more than just a catchphrase.
Overall, if their unique attorney-reviewed service appeals to you, Nationwide Incorporators is likely worth the extra money. Otherwise, LegalZoom has cheaper rates, and they also offer registered agent service online, which Nationwide Incorporators does not.
We Recommend Zen Business
These LLC Services vs Other Options
LegalZoom is in fourth place in both our LLC formation service and registered agent service guides. As for Nationwide Incorporators, As for Nationwide Incorporators, we ranked them ninth for LLC formations and 14th for registered agent service.
Our top overall pick is Zen Business, due to their incredible low prices and their outstanding customer feedback. If you want to see how they stack up to LegalZoom, check out our Zen Business vs LegalZoom comparison guide. To see our entire comprehensive guide to LLC formation services, this comparison review runs down our top 14 options, including a spotlight on Zen Business.
Pricing & Additional Features
Nationwide Incorporators:
- LLC formation (starts at $145) – This package includes the essential elements of LLC formation, including a name availability check, and the drafting and filing of your articles of organization. Additionally, you’ll receive a sample operating agreement and organizational minutes.
- Registered agent (call for price) – Nationwide Incorporators does not offer registered agent service online, and you’ll need to call them to acquire a pricing estimate.
Who should use their services? We think Nationwide Incorporators is a great option for any entrepreneur who wants the additional peace of mind that comes with having an attorney review your filings. The main reason they don’t score higher in our overall rankings is because some businesses are quite simple, and therefore not everyone needs this layer of expertise.
LegalZoom:
- LLC formation (starts at $79) – LegalZoom starts with the essential elements of formation, including the full preparation of your articles of organization, and the filing of the completed documents with your state. LegalZoom also includes a banking authorization letter to help you open business checking and/or savings accounts.
- Registered agent ($299/year) – LegalZoom charges an annual fee of $299 to serve as your registered agent, although if you purchase business formation service from them, they’ll provide your first year for $159. In addition to the essentials of registered agent service, they also include a compliance calendar for annual reports and tax deadlines.
Who should use their services? If you prioritize using the most popular service with an incredible amount of brand power, LegalZoom should be a good fit. Just don’t expect them to blow you away with low prices or a vast array of features.
Total Price for LLC Formation + 1 Year Registered Agent
Nationwide Incorporators: Call for quote
LegalZoom: $238 (plus state fee)
Customer Satisfaction
Nationwide Incorporators: We were only able to track down five reviews for Nationwide Incorporators, with four on Yelp and another one on Google. While that’s obviously not a large volume of reviews, all of them are positive, with customers commenting on how easy they make the business formation process. Their clients also discuss the excellent peace of mind they receive from having a qualified business attorney handling their business services.
LegalZoom: We were able to find over 1,400 reviews for LegalZoom’s services, with the three largest collections of feedback belonging to Sitejabber, Consumer Affairs, and the Better Business Bureau. While the 859 reviews on Sitejabber are more often positive than negative, the 395 reviews on Consumer Affairs are split about 50/50, and the 174 reviews on BBB are almost all negative.
Quality of Customer Service
Nationwide Incorporators: Nationwide Incorporators provides access to their customer support team through email and phone. We have experience with both options, and are pleased to report that we received strong support through both email and phone. In fact, when we called Nationwide Incorporators, we actually got to speak to company founder Mike Ross ― a business attorney with 40 years of experience ― directly.
LegalZoom: LegalZoom has a bit of a shaky reputation when it comes to customer support. In our experience, their phone support is quite good, as we’ve received thorough and accurate responses from their service reps whenever we’ve called them with questions or concerns.
On the other hand, we’ve also tested their email support, which is a different story entirely. We’ve actually waited over a full week to get a response to emails in the past, and when LegalZoom does respond to email inquiries, it’s often just a form email that doesn’t actually answer our questions.
Company Stats and Track Record
Nationwide Incorporators: Nationwide Incorporators opened in 1997, and company founder Mike Ross has four decades of experience as a business lawyer. They don’t handle the same volume of clients that some competitors do, but as they say on their website, “Don’t confuse volume with quality.”
LegalZoom: Since they formed in 1999, LegalZoom has served around 3.6 million customers, which includes the formation of more than one million businesses. They also have tremendous brand power and corporate reach thanks to their extensive advertising efforts.
Final Scores and Our Recommendation
We Recommend Zen Business
Nationwide Incorporators (4.0/5): We’re impressed by their attorney-reviewed document filing process, but especially with their registered agent service pricing operating on a variable basis, we understand that they’re not the right choice for everyone. If your company could benefit from their attorney-powered services, they could be the right choice for you.
LegalZoom (3.8/5): LegalZoom’s prices aren’t great, especially considering the rather minimal feature sets included in their packages, and they receive mixed feedback from their clients. They’re the right choice if you prioritize customer volume and brand power above value-per-dollar.
Our Favorite Service – Zen Business (4.9/5): While we appreciate many aspects of what Nationwide Incorporators and LegalZoom 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.