Our dedicated research team analyzed the 14 most popular business incorporation services available. We spent hours studying 1,152 customer reviews and measured each brand against 12 criteria points. Through this intensive research, we narrowed the list of the best online incorporation services down to 5 outstanding brands. In this guide, you’ll learn all about why we love these top brands—and why we didn’t pick the other two options.
The Top 5 Best Online Incorporation Services
Each of the online incorporation services on our list is an excellent choice for different reasons, but we think most businesses can find the services they need with one of the following:
- LegalZoom — Best buffet of Business Services
- ZenBusiness — Best for beginners
- Bizee (formerly Incfile) — Best for the budget-conscious
- LegalShield — Best for home-based businesses
- Northwest Registered Agent — Best for maximum privacy
How We Evaluate the Best Online Incorporation Service Companies
Match Your Scenario to the Right Online Incorporation Solution
If you’re not sure which incorporation service to use, this section will walk through several scenarios that could be relevant to you. In each scenario section, we’ll suggest two services that would meet those needs.
- You need some extra help incorporating your business
- You want the best value
- You want the simplest and easiest incorporation process without the extras
- You need a registered agent service in addition to incorporation
- You need to incorporate your business quickly
- You need access to legal services as well
You need some extra help incorporating your business
Best Option: LegalZoom
If you’re struggling to navigate the paperwork needed to form your non-profits, LLCs, C corps, and S corp, LegalZoom offers several helpful tools to help you figure it all out:
Another great choice: LegalZoom offers users an extensive library of resources to help beginners understand the process of business incorporation. It also provides U.S.-based phone support on weekdays and weekends.
If you need a proverbial shoulder to lean on as you incorporate your business, keep these factors in mind:
- Customer Support: how easily can you reach a customer service agent? Which days and hours are agents available to help?
- Ease of Use: can you easily check the status of your documents, locate past communications within the service, and navigate the website?
- Customer Satisfaction: read customer reviews before you make a decision. Pay attention to whether or not the service solved the customers’ problems. How satisfied were they with the service?
- Type of Business Structure: which business structures—LLCs, sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, non-profits, cooperatives—does the incorporation service support? Does it support the structure you need to incorporate?
- Resources: How many educational guides and articles does the service have to help newer business owners understand the ins and outs of doing business?
You want the best value
Best Option: Bizee (formerly Incfile)
Bizee offers a 100% free online formation service for LLCs and corporations alike. The Silver package costs $0, and you just need to pay your state’s filing fees.
What’s amazing about Bizee is that the free plan even includes free registered agent services for your first year. While this is a common promotion for many online incorporation services, it’s almost unheard of to be offered in an unpaid tier.
If you want the most bang for your buck, Bizee offers a wealth of valuable features in budget-friendly packages. For example, Bizee’s Gold Package for business formation comes with:
- Incorporation paperwork completed on your behalf
- Name availability verification
- Processing on a next-business-day basis
- Online Bizee dashboard and communication portal
- Free registered agent services for one year
- An employer identification number (EIN)
- Personalized operating agreements and bylaws
- Lifetime compliance alerts
- Business tax consultation services
All of these services come with a one-time price of $199 plus state filing fees. To continue receiving registered agent services, you’ll pay $119 yearly after the first year.
If you’re looking for a high-value service that won’t break the bank, here’s what to keep in mind:
- Pricing: before you commit to a service that looks budget-friendly, find out what’s included in the initial price and how often you’ll need to pay a renewal fee.
- Discounted services: most platforms offer free or discounted registered agent services with certain packages, which ends up being a better value compared to a cheaper plan and having to pay full price for your registered agent.
- Freebies you’ll actually use: Lots of incorporation packages come with a “starter kit” that includes a binder and some certificates. But that shouldn’t be something to sway you into choosing one plan over the other.
You want the simplest and easiest incorporation process without the extras
Best Option: Bizee (formerly Incfile)
The best no-frills business incorporation service is Bizee. It’s free to file and prepare your business’s articles of organization with Bizee. Best of all, you’ll still get customer support, unlimited name searches, and one free year of Bizee’s registered agent service.
However, you’ll still need to pay state filing fees. These vary dramatically, from $5 to form an LLC in California to $250 for the same incorporation in Alaska. If you need any additional services, you can order them à la carte.
If you’re in the market for business incorporation and not much else, here’s what to pay attention to:
- Ease of Use: does the service make it easy for users to complete important processes and stay organized?
- Customer Satisfaction: what do the public-facing customer reviews have to say about the company’s online incorporation service, specifically?
- Pricing: how much does the service cost? Does it come with a satisfaction guarantee?
You need a registered agent service in addition to incorporation
Best Option: Northwest Registered Agent
Maybe you run an ecommerce business with no physical location, and you don’t want to use your home address for your business. Or maybe you own a restaurant and want to avoid receiving sensitive documents with customers around. If you need privacy of any kind, a registered agent service is the perfect solution.
Northwest Registered Agent offers comprehensive registered agent services designed to give you maximum privacy as a business owner. You’ll receive same-day local scans of documents sent to you, mail forwarding, annual compliance reminders, and easy access to your incorporation documents.
Another great choice: Bizee (formerly Incfile)
Because it offers one free year of registered agent services, Bizee is an ideal choice if you’re still testing out the waters when it comes to using a registered agent other than yourself. If you decide you love it, you can renew the service year after year.
If you’re looking for a registered agent along with an online incorporation service, consider:
- Registered Agent Services: what’s included with the registered agent service? Does the registered agent help the business stay compliant as well as receive mail and legal documents on behalf of the business?
- Billing Frequency: most registered agents charge $90 to $150 per year and offer the first year free with an incorporation package. But a few charge significantly more, like $99 per quarter—which can add up quickly.
- Add-ons: some registered agents let you add things like a virtual address, virtual office, or even business phone number to your plan for a nominal fee.
You need to incorporate your business quickly
Best Option: Northwest Registered Agent
While most online incorporation services process documents within two to three weeks, Northwest Registered Agent can get everything filed on the same business day. For no extra charge. That’s what we call speedy service.
Simply select the fastest available time for your state, and Northwest Registered Agent will take care of the rest.
In addition to providing speedy service, Northwest Registered Agents provides detailed guides for registering a business in each state.
You need access to legal services as well
Best Option: Rocket Lawyer
Rocket Lawyer helps you incorporate your business while also providing legal services specific to running a business. With a Rocket Lawyer subscription of $39 per month, you receive:
- Answers to direct legal questions
- 30-minute consultations for legal matters
- Templates for dozens of legal documents
- Dispute protection on Rocket Lawyer documents
- Free incorporation filing
- Discounted registered agent services
Those who need to pay extra-close attention to legal issues should consider:
- Access to a Legal Team: do you want or need direct access to a lawyer and a larger legal team? If so, does the online incorporation service provide this? How quickly can you speak with a lawyer if you need one?
- Legal Forms/Templates: how many legal templates and forms are included with the service? Can you easily edit, store, and access these documents on a dashboard or portal?
Online Incorporation Service Company Reviews
Starting any type of business is both exciting and overwhelming. Online business incorporation sites make the process smoother, but how do you know which one to pick?
In this section, we provide a detailed review of each of the top 12 online incorporation services. Our goal is to give you the information you need to make a decision sooner rather than later. That way, you can get back to running your business while one of these services takes care of the paperwork.
LegalZoom – Best Buffet of Business Services
It can be exhausting to do your taxes with one online service, incorporate your company with another service, and use yet another online company for as-needed legal services. If you need a robust array of business services, LegalZoom enables you to do them all from one platform.
Here’s what LegalZoom offers:
- Online business incorporation for LLCs, corporations, non-profits, DBA, and sole proprietorships
- Registered agent services
- Business licenses
- Virtual mailbox
- Contracts and agreements
- LZ Tax Services
- Trademark registration and monitoring
- Copyrights
- Provisional patents
- Attorney services
The packages are robust, and you can get a lot of these services for a single price—but not all of them. Still, this is the closest you’ll get to a buffet of business formation and management services.
What Makes LegalZoom Great
LegalZoom is easy to use, and those who just need a bit of support with business formation services can do so with a Basic or Pro package.
But LegalZoom’s Premium package is unique in that you get a qualified attorney to help you set your business up correctly. Not only that, but you get to choose the attorney from LegalZoom’s network yourself.
For the first 90 days after you begin the business formation process, you get unlimited 30-minute consultations with your attorney. You’ll also be able to make any necessary changes within those 90 days without paying extra.
As you go through the checkout process, you’ll be able to pick and choose all the business services you’ll need.
It’s free—plus state fees—to form an LLC using LegalZoom’s Basic plan. Incorporation services from LegalZoom start at $149 plus state fees.
ZenBusiness – Best for Beginners
If you’ve never incorporated a business before, ZenBusiness is the perfect tool to get you started. Our favorite feature for beginners is the chatbot that guides you through the process of incorporating an LLC or corporation. It’s like having a pro sitting next to you and explaining each step in detail.
If you run into any problems, ZenBusiness offers the following customer support options:
- Live chat: Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CST and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST
- Email: An agent typically replies within one business day
- Phone: Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CST, Sundays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST
One downside with ZenBusiness is that you can’t form a non-profit using its services. We’d love to see this feature included in the future—there are plenty of beginners in the non-profit space who could benefit from ZenBusiness’s easy-to-use tools.
What Makes ZenBusiness Great
ZenBusiness users praise the company’s intuitive interface, customer service, and reasonably quick filing speed. Most paperwork is filed within two to three weeks, but you can expedite the process for a fee: $50 for 4-6 day filing or $100 for 1-2 day filing.
ZenBusiness also makes it easy to brand your business. Its business name checker feature helps you quickly find out if the name you want is already taken. If it is available, you’re good to go and can register it on the spot.
However, if you’re still in the planning stages, ZenBusiness has you covered. You can reserve your business name for $50 and keep it safe until you’re ready to form your LLC or corporation.
We also appreciate ZenBusiness’s commitment to helping its customers stay compliant. Keeping in good standing with the state—or states—where you do business can be challenging, especially if you’re new to business ownership.
Depending on the state and type of business, you’ll likely need to submit an annual report to your state every year.
ZenBusiness offers a Worry-Free Compliance service in each of its pricing plans. The service will send you alerts when it’s time to submit paperwork—and it’ll file the documents on your behalf.
If you accidentally miss a deadline, ZenBusiness will deploy an expert to help you get back on track.
The Starter plan starts at just $0 plus state fees for the first year and then $199 each year thereafter. It’s basically a less expensive first year of the Pro plan, which costs $199 per year. Regardless of which plan or service you use, you’ll need to pay state filing fees, too.
Bizee (Formerly Incfile) – Best for the Budget-Conscious
Some states—looking at you and your $520 filing fee for an LLC, Massachusetts—charge a lot of money for anyone wishing to incorporate a business. Nevada, Massachusetts, Alaska, Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas are some of the pricier states. If you want to do business in one of these states, Bizee can help keep your costs down.
That’s because its incorporation service is 100% free. You can form a business using Bizee without paying the company a penny. You’ll only need to worry about state filing fees.
Even better, Bizee provides you with a free registered agent service for one year. If you like having a registered agent, you can continue this service for $119 a year.
One thing we wish we could see is weekend customer support options—agents are only reachable from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST. But this is a small price to pay for a budget-friendly service.
What Makes Bizee Great
Bizee’s website is stylish and easy to navigate. For the most part, you won’t be wasting time trying to figure out where to find the services you need. The only detail that might be hard to find at first is pricing, but that’s because Bizee includes state filing fees in its plan pricing tiers.
Those filing an LLC in California, for example, will select both those options to see the resulting price—just $5 for Bizee’s Silver package because that’s the state filing fee. Massachusetts will still be a whopping $520, but that’s all the state’s fault—not Bizee’s.
If you choose a Gold or Platinum package, you’ll pay a package fee and a state fee, but you’ll receive plenty of benefits, including:
- Lifetime compliance alerts
- Business tax consultation
- Legal document templates
- Business banking account
Bizee also offers a plethora of à la carte services should you need them.
Another cool feature that Bizee offers is its business name generator tool. It can be hard to capture your new business idea with a memorable name. Bizee takes the guesswork out of the creative process.
You just type in words that describe your business, niche, target audience, and products or services, and Bizee does the rest. It even displays them with different color palettes to inspire your creativity.
LegalShield – Best for Home-Based Businesses
Starting a new business is always an exciting—yet challenging—time for an aspiring entrepreneur. But it can be especially tricky when you’re a one-person show running your business from home. LegalShield helps take the stress out of being a home-based solopreneur.
LegalShield offers all the services you’d expect for a new business in its Launch package. This includes a business name check, formation of a single-member LLC, drafting Articles of Incorporation, and more. LegalShield will also secure your federal tax ID (EIN) number for you.
To top it off, LegalShield includes three months of legal support for both business and personal matters. All these services cost just $149, making it affordable for new business owners, no matter their budget.
What Makes LegalShield Great
Where LegalShield really shines for home-based solopreneurs is with its Home Business Supplement. This add-on gives you peace of mind with one year of unlimited legal consultations for general business matters, plus three designated consultations for tax, patent, copyright, trademark, or antitrust issues.
You won’t have to worry about writing legal letters or making tough phone calls, either. LegalShield includes 12 letters and/or phone calls (or a combination of the two) each year.
And if you have late paying clients, LegalShield will send up to four collection letters each month on your behalf. It doesn’t matter where your client is located, either. Both in-state and out-of-state correspondence is included in the add-on price.
But perhaps the most peace of mind comes from LegalShield’s IRS audit protection. You’ll receive assistance with any Schedule C or E audits, so you don’t have to go it alone.
LegalShield’s Launch package—a one-time $149 fee—includes three months of its Home Business Supplement. After that, you’ll pay just $14.95 per month for total peace of mind. One thing to note, though. You’ll need to have an ongoing legal plan with LegalShield to qualify for the Home Business Supplement after your initial three months of complimentary coverage.
Northwest Registered Agent – Best for Maximum Privacy
Every state in the United States requires businesses to have a registered agent. This person can be you or someone else, and their job is to run a physical office to receive mail and legal documents on behalf of your business. You can act as your own registered agent, but if you want privacy, using a service like Northwest Registered Agent is a better idea.
As part of its registered agent service, Northwest Registered Agent will:
- Keep your contact information private unless strictly necessary
- List its business address on the paperwork instead of yours
- Scan up to five mail documents a year for free
- Provide pre-populated legal forms and templates
- Send out annual compliance reminders
- Automatic annual report filing
In addition to these services, Northwest offers online incorporation services so you can form your business and manage it from one platform.
One drawback to Northwest Registered Agent is that its pricing structure is difficult to pin down. You have to do a fair bit of searching to find it as there’s no pricing page. And while Northwest provides phone support, it’s unclear whether live chat is an option.
What Makes Northwest Registered Agent Great
In addition to its registered agent services, Northwest Registered Agent offers additional perks for reasonable prices. All of these extras can help your business secure even more privacy:
- Virtual Office: for $29 a month, get a real office lease and suite number to act as your business address—phone service, document scanning, and mail forwarding are included
- VoIP Phone: pay $9 a month for a business phone number, so you don’t have to use your personal number for your business
- Premium Mail Forwarding: at just $20 a month, Northwest will give you a business mailing address and the option to forward or scan all business mail
We should note that the virtual office service is only available in a handful of states—California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Montana, New York, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.
To file documents for forming a business, you’ll pay $100 plus your state’s processing fee. You’ll also pay $125 for the registered agent service—and you can’t opt out of that.