The best LLC formation services charge a modest fee to file your paperwork and then get out of your way. The worst ones charge a modest fee, then spend three years billing you for things you never asked for. After a decade of advising founders through this exact decision, I can tell you the industry runs on one trick: sell the formation cheap, make the money on everything that follows.
So this comparison is built on what actually matters: true first-year cost, what renewals look like, how pushy the upsells are, and whether the company answers the phone a year from now. Note: I’m a business advisor, not a lawyer. This is general information about service providers, not legal advice. Prices and plans change constantly in this industry — verify current rates before you buy.
Contents
- What These Services Actually Do
- How I Evaluated Them
- Northwest Registered Agent — Best for Transparency
- ZenBusiness — Best for Budget Startups
- Bizee — Best Free-to-Start Option
- LegalZoom — Best for Brand Comfort, Worst for Your Wallet
- Rocket Lawyer — Best for Ongoing Legal Documents
- Inc Authority — Best Free Filing, Watch the Renewals
- Side-by-Side Comparison
- The Pricing Traps I Watch For
- Filing Yourself vs Using a Service
What These Services Actually Do
Here’s the part providers hope you never learn: forming an LLC is one filing with the state — the articles of organization. Everything else they sell is optional.
A typical service handles the articles filing (the state’s filing fee is always separate and ranges roughly $40–$300 depending on the state), bundles a year of registered agent service, and layers on compliance extras — annual report reminders, operating agreement templates, EIN filing, business name searches.
The real cost battle is years two and three — registered agent renewals and “compliance subscriptions”. That’s where I’ll focus below. For the full breakdown of service categories and red flags, see my LLC formation services guide.
How I Evaluated Them
I looked at a dozen providers and kept the six with enough volume and track record to judge fairly. Five criteria:
- True first-year cost — advertised price plus state fees plus whatever quietly lands in the cart.
- Renewal behavior — what years two and three cost, and how easy cancellation is.
- Upsell pressure — how aggressively add-ons are pushed during signup.
- Registered agent quality — the service you’ll actually use long-term, so it carries the most weight.
- Support reputation — what happens when something goes wrong.
Northwest Registered Agent: Best for Transparency
Northwest is the provider I point clients toward most often, for a boring reason: honest pricing. Formation starts around $39 plus state fees, and registered agent is $125/year — no introductory-rate games where year one is cheap and year two triples. The price you see is the price you pay.
Support is the real differentiator. You get a human who knows what an articles of organization is, and same-day document scanning — which matters if your LLC is ever served with legal papers, because hours count. They also don’t resell your data, which is rarer in this industry than it should be.
The base plan is lean — few bundled extras, no free EIN filing. If you’d rather pay for exactly what you need and nothing else, that’s a feature.
ZenBusiness: Best for Budget Startups
ZenBusiness is the go-to for cash-strapped founders: their entry plan is genuinely $0 for the formation itself (state fees still apply — nobody covers those), with paid tiers climbing into the low hundreds bundling EIN filing, operating agreements, and faster filing speeds.
The dashboard is clean and turnaround reviews are solid. Their registered agent runs about $199/year — mid-range.
Two caveats from watching clients use them. The $0 plan is designed to lead you toward paid add-ons at checkout — slow down and read each screen instead of clicking through. And cancelling add-on subscriptions takes a phone call or chat, not one click — keep a calendar reminder for renewal dates.
Bizee: Best Free-to-Start Option
Bizee (formerly Incfile) pioneered free formation and still executes it well. You pay only the state fee, plus a year of registered agent service (about $119/year after that) and lifetime compliance alerts. I’ve had pre-revenue clients pay nothing beyond the state fee in year one.
Understand the business model, though: Bizee earns on upsells and the year-two registered agent renewal. Signup is a gauntlet of add-ons — EIN filing, operating agreements, banking introductions, tax consultations. None are scams, but they can turn “free” into a $400 cart if you click yes to everything. My advice: take the free formation and the registered agent year, say no to everything else, and set a renewal reminder.
LegalZoom: Best for Brand Comfort, Worst for Your Wallet
LegalZoom is the brand your uncle has heard of, and that familiarity is exactly what you’re paying for. Formation runs from $0 basic tiers to roughly $300 for the premium bundle, and their registered agent is around $299/year — the highest on this list by a wide margin.
Your LLC gets filed correctly and support is professional — I’ve never seen them botch a formation. Their legal-plan subscription has real value if you genuinely need ongoing attorney access.
But you’re paying a brand tax of 30–100% over competitors for the same state filing. The only clients I recommend LegalZoom to are the ones who’ll lose sleep without a recognizable name behind their filing. If that’s you, fine — the premium buys peace of mind, not a better LLC.
Rocket Lawyer: Best for Ongoing Legal Documents
Rocket Lawyer is a different animal: a legal document and attorney-access service that also does LLC formation. Formation alone is around $100 (discounted with their ~$40/month membership). What you’re really buying is the ecosystem — attorney consultations, contract templates, ongoing document review.
This makes sense for founders who know they’ll need legal documents beyond the formation — quick attorney answers that would cost $300 at a local firm are genuinely useful.
For everyone else, it’s the wrong product. If you just need an LLC filed, you’re overpaying for a document library you won’t open. The monthly membership auto-renews quietly. Use the attorney time hard in month one and set a cancellation reminder.
Inc Authority: Best Free Filing, Watch the Renewals
Inc Authority offers free LLC formation — state fees only — and it’s legitimate. Decades in business, correct filings, useful basics like a business name check and a consultation included.
The catch is the renewal math: after the free first year, registered agent renews around $179/year — above Northwest’s flat $125. The free tier is an acquisition channel, not charity.
Still, free formation plus $179/year registered agent is a reasonable year-one deal. Just compare the two-year cost, not the headline price — that’s the number that actually matters.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Approximate figures, excluding state filing fees (identical regardless of provider):
| Provider | Formation (from) | Registered agent / yr | Upsell pressure | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest Registered Agent | ~$39 | ~$125, no intro tricks | Low | Honest pricing, best support |
| ZenBusiness | $0 basic | ~$199 | Medium | Budget founders, clean bundle |
| Bizee | $0 basic | ~$119 (after free yr 1) | High | Pre-revenue, cheapest start |
| LegalZoom | $0–~$300 | ~$299 | Medium-high | Brand-name peace of mind |
| Rocket Lawyer | ~$100 | Varies | Medium | Ongoing legal docs + attorneys |
| Inc Authority | $0 basic | ~$179 (after free yr 1) | High | Free filing with decent basics |
Stare longest at the registered agent column. That’s the bill that shows up every year — and it’s why Northwest wins for most founders despite not being free upfront.
The Pricing Traps I Watch For
- Introductory registered agent rates. “Free first year!” is fine — write down what year two costs before you sign up. That’s the number you’ll live with.
- EIN filing upsells. An EIN from the IRS is free and takes ten minutes online. Services charge $50–$100 for it. Expensive convenience.
- “Compliance package” subscriptions. Reminders are useful; a $150/year subscription to remind you about a $50 state filing is not.
- Auto-renewing add-ons. Audit your subscriptions at the one-year mark — that’s when introductory discounts expire across the board.
Filing Yourself vs Using a Service
The honest question most comparisons dodge: do you even need one of these companies? Often, no. Filing yourself through your state’s business portal is genuinely a 20-minute online form in most states, written for non-lawyers. If you’re comfortable with paperwork and don’t need address privacy, DIY is the cheapest correct option.
Services earn their fee on two things: registered agent privacy (keeping your home address off the public record — this alone justifies a service for most home-based founders) and the convenience of not thinking about compliance paperwork. Not magic — convenience and privacy.
So the short answer: Northwest Registered Agent for most founders — transparent pricing and the best long-term registered agent value. Bizee if money is truly tight and you’re disciplined enough to skip every upsell. ZenBusiness for a clean all-in-one bundle at a fair price. Skip the rest unless you fit their niche.
Still mapping the whole journey? My guide on how to start a business covers the bigger picture, and here’s how to name an LLC without the usual mistakes. The full library is in the business section.
Northwest Registered Agent is the best overall for most founders: honest flat pricing (~$39 formation, ~$125/year registered agent with no intro-rate tricks), same-day document scanning, and genuinely knowledgeable human support. Budget-tight founders do well with Bizee’s free formation tier; ZenBusiness is the cleanest all-in-one bundle option.
Formation fees range from $0 to about $300 depending on provider and package, plus state filing fees ($40–$300 depending on the state) that are always separate. The bigger long-term cost is the registered agent renewal — roughly $119–$299/year — so compare two-year totals, not just the headline formation price.
Yes — in most states, filing the articles of organization is a straightforward online form that takes about 20 minutes. The main reasons to use a service are registered agent privacy (keeping your home address off public records), compliance reminders, and convenience.
The formation filing itself can be free — you only pay the state fee. The provider makes money on registered agent renewals (typically $119–$199/year after a free first year) and add-on upsells during signup. “Free” refers to the filing, not the total two-year cost.
No — formation services handle state paperwork and registered agent duties, not tax filings. They can help you get an EIN (free directly from the IRS), but bookkeeping, tax returns, and entity tax elections are separate matters for you or your accountant.
