Starting an LLC can be a time-consuming, heavy, and expensive process. That is why most startups prefer to use professional LLC formation services.
Working with our great team of licensed LLC experts with over a decade of experience in the business formation sector, we reviewed and tested a number of online LLC formation services available today.
Our primary focus for this analysis is to show how the LLC filing services we reviewed performed based on customer ratings and reviews, affordability, and convenience in their packages, including exclusive offers.
We have also included the advantages and disadvantages of each service, summarizing the essential details you need to keep in mind when selecting the best LLC service.
ZenBusiness 
Northwest
IncfileTop 10 LLC Services in 2023 (October 2023)
1 - ZenBusiness (Editor's Choice)
2000+ Reviews
ZenBusiness offers discounted business services, low-cost LLC formation, and expert support to make starting a business easier.
ZenBusiness understands the importance of outstanding customer support, as each time we reached out with questions, they provided thorough answers without delay.
They have streamlined the LLC formation process for us remarkably. Their intuitive system walks users through the initial filing in just about 10-12 minutes.
They present clear package choices, with essential features like an EIN. Within a mere four days, my LLC got the green light, and I received a detailed New Business Kit. Their dashboard is well-organized, providing a post-filing timeline, and they offer a plethora of resources for business management.
Impressively, they only bill for registered agent services post-LLC formation, emphasizing their customer-first mindset.
Overall, ZenBusiness delivers a blend of speed, clarity, and support, making them a top recommendation.
Recent news reports that ZenBusiness has acquired Ureeka Inc., a growth-engine platform designed to help small businesses attract new customers.
If you're interested in learning more about this organization, our review of ZenBusiness provides valuable insights.
Service Features:
- Starter ($0 + State Fee): Standard filing speed (ready in about 2 to 3 weeks), expense and deduction tracking, name availability search capabilities and access to your files via the ZenBusiness site, and 100% accuracy guarantee, next to worry-free compliance free first year. With this package you will get one-month bank account free trial together with money pro bookkeeping service.
- Pro ($199 + State Fee): Faster ''rush'' expedited LLC filing service speed (1 to 2 business days) comes with this upgraded option. With the Pro package, you will get an EIN, which is mandatory for applying for business licenses and managing certain financial transactions. Next to an EIN, Pro plan brings an operating agreement to help you streamline both internal and external procedures.
- Premium ($349 + State Fee): Everything from the Starter and Pro package are included in Premium option. Next to these features, you will get business document templates to keep business processes fast and easy. Business document templates enhance efficiency, save time, and optimize procedures. Business website builder adds a professional outlook with user-friendly pre-designed templates.
- Registered Agent Service ($199): ZenBusiness offers its registered agent service for $199, which is charged after the business is formed, and annual renewal comes at the same price.
- Several formation packages available alongside legal services
- Pricing is reasonable
- Guaranteed compliance, especially for the Operating Agreement
- Business formation is quick
- A large number of positive customer ratings
- No non-profit business formation
2 - Northwest Registered Agent
1000+ Reviews
Choosing Northwest Registered Agent as your registered agent comes with a lot of benefits. You will have access to a variety of documents, email delivery, and company address solutions to help streamline your business operations.
Their manifesto includes Corporate Guides and Privacy by Default®. Through this manifesto, they maintain over 3 million businesses nationwide.
Northwest Registered Agent is an expert in the field with over two decades of experience, which was evident as they addressed each of our questions quickly and inside out. They made the entire LLC formation process straightforward and intuitive. We subscribed to their paid plan option and received comprehensive LLC services online, such as filing the articles of incorporation, EIN application, and custom LLC operating agreement.
The initial filing was finished in just 9 minutes and was all completed in 72 hours, even though we opted for a 5-day service and began on a Saturday. Their attention to detail and customer support were evident throughout.
Using PrivacybyDefault ensured that we didn't have to worry about protecting our data.
Service Features:
- Basic Plan ($39 + State Fee): Standard LLC formation service with additional state filing fees, including one year of free registered agent service if you form your LLC with Northwest Registered Agent.
- Full Service LLC Formation Plan ($224 + State Fee): Same-day filing, a full year of registered agent service, no-cost restricted mail forwarding, an operating agreement, and a client account stuffed with free forms and different resources.
- Registered Agent Services ($125): Once you form your LLC with Northwest Registered Agent, you will get the first year of this service for free. After the first year, it will be billed annually. Discounted to $100 national registered agent service for multi-state business.
- Well-versed in the procedure due to 20-plus years expertise
- They prioritize your privacy
- Their service fees are apparent
- 1-year free registered agent service for the formation package
- They are a bit costly
3 - Incfile
1000+ Reviews
IncFile was initially a small business that grew into a national, full-service incorporation company.
Headquartered in Houston, IncFile is the cheapest LLC formation service as it offers zero fees with no hidden charges. Their goal is to provide an unmatched customer experience at an unbeatable price.
From our perspective, they achieved that goal as we experienced prompt replies from both phone and email support.
IncFile has a high customer rating with almost 38,000 customer reviews, 84% positive reviews, or a 4.8 customer rating.
Service Features:
- Silver Package ($0 + State Fee): This is a free LLC service package. The only charge is the mandatory state filing fees depending on the location and extra business legal services depending on your needs.
- Gold Package ($199 + State Fee): It includes everything Silver Package features plus EIN Business Tax Number, IRS Form 2553, operating agreement, banking resolution, lifetime company alerts, online access dashboard, business banking account, and business tax consultation.
- Platinum Package ($299 + State Fee): Everything available in the Gold Package is also included in the Platinum Package, plus business contract templates, free next-day filing, and a domain name and business email.
- Registered Agent Services ($119): Initial year free (if made with an LLC formation package), then $119 annual renewal charge.
- Low-cost professional LLC service
- Initial year of no-charge registered agent service
- They helped over 800,000 businesses with LLC formation services
- Phone and email customer support
- More add-ons along the process
4 - Rocket Lawyer
The founder of Rocket Lawyer, Charley Moore, aimed to provide affordable, simple, and available legal services.
After the 7-day free trial period, the Rocket Lawyer membership costs only $39.99/month and you can cancel it anytime.
That is why people opt to check Rocket Lawyer out during its 7-day free trial period since Rocket Lawyer offers a premium package for the free trial.
We tested the premium package for ourselves, and we love their easy-to-use legal templates. It made the whole process so much easier and quicker for us.
We would definitely recommend them to anyone who's just starting out.
For a better comprehension of this firm, peruse our review of Rocket Lawyer.
Service Features:
- LLC formation services ($99.99 + State Fee): This is the basic business formation LLC service and only covers basic LLC service filing. However, if you are a subscriber, Rocket Lawyer offers it for free for new members and 25% off from the registered agent service.
- Registered Agent Services ($149.99): You will get a 25% discount if you have a monthly membership priced at $39.99. Price Membership costs $39.99 monthly.
- Rocket Lawyer offers easy-to-use legal templates
- Provides a 7-day free trial of a premium subscription.
- Rocket Lawyer has online legal services
- Isn't the cheapest option
- It has limited live interaction
5 - Swyft Filings
Swyft Filings is a business filing service that was founded by an experienced lawyer who saw a need to simplify the process of incorporating companies.
He designed this incorporation service to help businesses get started as efficiently and affordably as possible.
Their exceptional customer service team and user-friendly technology made our business formation process a breeze, saving us valuable time and reducing stress.
We also appreciated their completely automatic renewals, which eliminated the need for us to manually extend our contract with their registered agent.
With competitive pricing and a comprehensive range of services, Swyft has quickly emerged as a dominant player in the market.
Find out additional information about this organization by checking the full review of Swyft Filings.
Service Features:
- Basic LLC formation services ($0 + State Fee): Company Name Availability, Articles of Organization, Document Filing with the Secretary of State, Lifetime Customer Support & Free Domain Name.
- Standard LLC formation services ($199 + State Fee): This package includes everything from the Basic Package and a Federal Tax ID number, Custom LLC Operating Agreement, Banking Resolution, and Organizational Minutes.
- Premium LLC formation service ($299 + State Fee): Premium options offer all basic and standard services, including a custom Digital LLC kit, a Business website, and three months of free web hosting.
- Registered Agent Services ($99): It is an additional charge on top of the best LLC service packages. This price will be charged quarterly on an ongoing basis.
- Offering installments
- Personalized customer service, even for the Operating Agreement
- 100% money-back guarantee
- Lots of upsells
- Agent service not included
6 - MyCompanyWorks
MyCompanyWorks' entire focus has been to make creating LLCs quick, easy, and affordable.
It has one of the industry's most substantial refund policies. If you are not happy with their level of service, they will refund your service charge at any point within 90 days—no questions asked.
This is something not a lot of their competitors will offer and we must say that it is a useful perk. We tried them out and we were impressed with their attention to detail. Their account dashboard was excellent and the customer support was nice to work with as well.
Based on verified consumer evaluations from ShopperApproved, MyCompanyWorks has an A+ rating from the BBB and high customer satisfaction.
Service Features:
- LLC Formation-basic package ($59 + State Fee): This basic package includes features like a free logo, rewards and discounts valuing $250,000, a free E-book, a startup guide/wizard, and lifetime access to the vendor network.
- The Entrepreneur Package ($179 + State Fee): Includes everything the Basic Package includes, plus MyCompanyForms lifetime forms & tax guide, federal tax ID, and registered agent service.
- The Complete Package ($259 + State Fee): Complete Package covers everything the Basic and Entrepreneur Packages offer, plus MyCompanyWorks premium, including priority support.
- Registered Agent Services ($99): The Entrepreneur or Complete Package plans are recommended since they offer a free first year of registered agent service.
- Excellent reviews from customers
- 100% assurance of fulfillment
- Online account dashboard
- Basic services exclude registered agent
- LLC filing cost is a bit high
7 - Harbor Compliance
Harbor Compliance is a major company and they have assisted more than 35,000 clients across all industries with licensing applications, acquisitions, and maintenance.
Based on our personal experience, we can confidently say that the level of service provided by Harbor Compliance is more than satisfactory.
In our interactions with the company, they demonstrated great skill in facilitating official communications between our business and government institutions, ensuring that all legal requirements were met within the prescribed timelines.
Overall, their services proved to be highly effective in meeting our legal needs.
The company's strong point is its personalized customer support; whereas other competitors use an online interface, Harbor Compliance provides each client with an actual human compliance specialist.
Service Features:
- LLC Formation Package ($99 + State Fee): This is the basic formation package that includes a name search and Articles of Organization.
- Registered Agent Services (89-$99): Depending on the state, with no additional fees for receiving documents. You can get a 5%- 10% discount if you pay upfront for two years or more. Bulk discounts are available when ordering for several entities or combining agent services.
- Ultimate Convenience feature
- Personal customer service alongside other services
- Same-day document access
- Website not user-friendly
- Fewer online legal services
8 - Legalzoom
The company is an American online legal technology firm with the opportunity to add additional LLC services.
LegalZoom plans are flexible and affordable. Over the past 20+ years in the industry, they have helped over 2+ million businesses.
LegalZoom has certainly impressed us with its Compliance Calendar feature, which has proven to be an invaluable tool for monitoring compliance deadlines. With this feature, we were able to stay ahead of the game and ensure that all necessary legal requirements were met in a timely manner.
Also, LegalZoom offers an independent network of attorneys to help you with the appropriate advice since it firmly believes that every business deserves the complete protection of the legal system.
Service Features:
- Basic Package ($0 + State Fee): This package includes everything a beginner needs, from a name search to a customizable website powered by WIX.
- Pro Package ($249 + State Fee): This package comes with complete basic package features. The pro package also offers extra features, including operating agreement guidelines, an EIN for filing taxes, phone consultations on taxes and insurance, and a detailed license guide.
- Premium ($299 + State Fee): Has complete pro package features plus one-on-one 3 months of guidance from a professional legal business attorney. The package also includes a lifetime 30-minute hands-on consultation with a legal attorney on business-related laws. A professional attorney will also amend the legal contract documents during the initial 90-day period of your LLC formation, plus full library access to monthly editable legal documents.
- 60 days refundable policy
- User-friendly online platform
- Affordable legal help
- Registered agent service pricier than competitors
- Pricey Add-ons
9 - Tailor Brands
Tailor Brands offers all the resources required to transform your concept into a functioning company.
With Tailor Brands' one-stop shop for branding and website building, you can create a logo, business cards, and a website representing your brand.
We loved their concept of automating branding and marketing activities for small enterprises. The business has raised more than $70 million in funding since 2015.
These investors include, among others, Armat Group, GoDaddy, OurCrowd, and Mangrove Capital Partners.
We loved their easy to use online dashboard as well and we appreciated that their customer support was always ready to cater to all of our concerns.
Service Features:
- The Lite Plan ($49 + State Fee): They offer LLC formation and standard processing.
- The Essential Plan ($199 + State Fee): This plan includes LLC establishment, quick processing, yearly compliance, and an operating contract.
- The Elite Plan ($249 + State Fee): Full customization with access to an E-Commerce Store and all social media files. This plan offers identical features to the Essential Plan, plus business-building tools.
- Registered Agent Services ($199): You will be asked whether you need a registered agent, while the price remains the same after renewing.
- Budget-friendly LLC service
- Plenty of choices for business formation
- Online dashboard is simple to use
- May be too much for startups with basic needs
- Weak client support
10 - Incorp
With over 250,000 clients served, Incorp is one of the best LLC service providers out there today.
The most extraordinary thing about them is that they'll match rival competitors. That is the reason why their pricing is more adaptable and competitive.
We had to test them out of course, and we were very pleased with the results. Their customer support was very helpful and we managed to stay on top of all of our legal issues.
They have developed a security program that strictly monitors transactions that occur all at once and sends alerts for unauthorized permissions called EntityWatch.
Service Features:
- LLC Formation basic ($99 + State Fee): The pricing is location dependent and begins at $99 plus state fees. They don’t offer LLC formation if you don't opt for Registered Agent as well.
- Registered Agent Services ($129): They offer a multi-year discount to save money. For example, the five-year plan costs $87 annually.
- IOS compatible app
- EntityWatch program
- Price match guarantee
- Limited online customer feedback
- Packages do not include registered agent service
Best LLC Formation Services - Choose Your State
If you’re looking for the best LLC service to form an LLC, you probably already know that there are a lot of options out there. Many entrepreneurs are overwhelmed by the idea of registering a limited liability company themselves, but also don’t want to spend money on an attorney.
If you're looking for a reliable LLC formation service that fits your budget, don’t worry!
TOP Picks of LLC Business Formation Services for Every State:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Advantages of Hiring an LLC Formation Service
There are numerous advantages of establishing an LLC, which we have experienced ourselves after establishing numerous companies and helping our clients to form their LLCs.
In this article, we will highlight the most important benefits of using an online LLC formation service.
1. Limited Personal Liability
Your personal assets are separated from your company's assets. In the event you encounter legal issues, your assets are protected.
2. Hassle-free Paperwork
Most of the best LLC services offer a bundle or package that includes filing documents and voluntary paperwork so your focus can be growing your business.
3. LLC Tax Advantages
Online LLC services can take advantage of "pass-through taxation," in which the business is not required to pay LLC taxes. It will pass through the owner's tax returns and pay personal income tax [1].
4. Flexibility in Management Structure
An LLC may be managed by a member, manager, or member manager.
5. Cost-effective
Forming a Limited Liability Company is relatively easy and inexpensive compared to corporations. It also involves less operational complexity with the formation process.
Our Selection Process
We carefully evaluate and compare the various business formation service options available to identify the most qualified and reputable LLC services.
We also consult with our team members, experienced lawyers, and legal advisors who help us select the best LLC formation services.
Our recommendation is based on evaluating the following criteria:
- Service Features
- Turnaround time
- Pricing mode
- Online Dashboard
- Customer Feedback
In addition, we considered the level of high-quality customer support they offer alongside their business formation service, and whether they can provide our clients with the professional guidance and business formation services they need at every step along the way.
Business Formation Process
Regardless of whether you hire a professional formation service or complete the process yourself, the same rules apply.
These are the steps that must be completed:
- Step 1: Name your LLC
- Step 2: Appoint your registered agent
- Step 3: File the Article of Organization / Certificate of Formation
- Step 4: Draft an Operating Agreement
- Step 5: Acquire an EIN
- Step 6: Open a Business Bank Account
- Step 7: Get Business Licenses and Permits
FAQs
Why Do I Need an LLC Service Provider?
You need an LLC service provider because it protects you from personal liability for the actions of your employees, co-owners, and company members.
You can also set up a structure for your business that allows you to make decisions and divide profits and losses. LLC gives you a taxation option.
Can I Start an LLC in Any State?
Yes, you can start an LLC in any state regardless of location, but in most cases, staying in your native home will be your best bet.
What Type of LLC is Best?
The type of LLC that is the best is the single-member because it is the most economical and straightforward legal entity to register.
It offers an unmatched cost benefit and requires a fraction of the paperwork necessary for other filing types. Single-member LLCs work similarly to sole proprietorships regarding taxes, company transactions, and debts.
Is an LLC Worth Having?
An LLC is worth having because it benefits small and medium business owners significantly. These benefits include personal asset protection, legal name and credibility, less paperwork and requirements like annual meetings, tax advantages, and flexibility with profit sharing if the business is a multi-member LLC.
How Much Do LLC Companies Cost?
LLC companies cost anywhere from $0 to a few hundred dollars, depending on the services offered. LLC filing services can help you navigate complex legal documents and help your business comply with state regulations. Most times, the fees charged by LLC filing services are far more cost-effective than hiring a traditional lawyer.
Do I Need a Registered Agent for My LLC?
Yes, you need a registered agent for your LLC. You can act as the registered agent for your business if you have a physical address where you are available during traditional business hours. You can also assign a trusted family member or friend. Additionally, many LLC filing companies offer registered agent services to receive documents on your behalf.
What State Is Best to Start an LLC?
The best state to start an LLC is Delaware because it has a reputation for being a friendly-business state with increased business owner protection and fast filing. Wyoming also offers good tax advantages and low filing fees for business owners.
What is the Best LLC Formation Service for Your Business?
After reviewing these companies and comparing their features, pricing, turnaround time, and customer support, we came to the conclusion that ZenBusiness provided the best value for money.
We also had a great first-hand experience with ZenBusiness and can confirm that it is the most reliable LLC formation service. With their superior LLC services, they make the formation process easy and enjoyable for any business owner.
They offer a level of customer support that no other company comes close to; their website features a high volume of positive reviews, and the service features guarantee worry-free compliance without anything to add any extra cost.
Our #1 Recommendation
ZenBusiness
- Several formation packages available alongside legal services
- Pricing is reasonable
- Guaranteed compliance, especially for the Operating Agreement
- Business formation is quick
- A large number of positive customer ratings
- Get the BEST PRICE until the end of October
- No non-profit business formation
