ZenBusiness reviews its own products and services and compares them to others in the industry.
Read the Inc Authority vs. Northwest Registered Agent LLC review below or get started with ZenBusiness today.
Starts at $0 + state fees and only takes 5-10 minutes
Northwest and Inc Authority are two reliable and affordable LLC services. Inc Authority has a significant pricing advantage, as they’re one of a very small handful of companies (along with ZenBusiness) in this industry that offers LLC formation service for free — all you need to do is pay your state fee. However, Northwest has some advantages of its own, like offering customer support with a personalized approach that Inc Authority can’t quite match.
1) Affordable: With either Northwest or Inc Authority, you’ll save a significant amount of money on your LLC formation compared to hiring a business attorney to handle your formation process.
2) Positive Customer Feedback: Both of these companies receive high average rating scores in their customer reviews, which indicates a strong level of client satisfaction.
3) Registered Agent Service: Northwest and Inc Authority both include one year of registered agent (For more information, please see our what is a registered agent page) service with all of their LLC formation service packages. Considering the fact that every LLC needs a registered agent anyway, this is a good offer.
4) Customer Support: These two services both have customer support networks that can answer your questions. Why go it alone when you can get help from Northwest or Inc Authority?
5) Efficiency: With either Northwest or Inc Authority, you’re getting a service provider that’s capable of processing an LLC formation quickly. If you’re in a hurry, they both have options available that can speed up your formation (for an additional fee, of course).
6) Experience: Both Inc Authority and Northwest have helped form thousands of businesses over the years, and they both have plenty of expertise. You can trust them to have the experience they need to form your compliant LLC.
7) Trustworthy: These are both legitimate operations with strong track records. These aren’t fly-by-night companies, but rather they’re well-respected entities with plenty of expertise to get the job done right.
Inc Authority: They offer a free (+ state fee) LLC formation service package that includes a year of registered agent service and EIN acquisition. Inc Authority also sells two premium packages with advanced features like an LLC operating agreement template, faster filing, and personalized business advice, but you’ll need to contact them to inquire about pricing.
Northwest: At $225, their price point is high compared to many competitors. Still, the inclusion of a full year of their registered agent service is a good feature that makes their pricing more attractive. Once the first year is up, the registered agent service will renew at $125 per year.
Inc Authority: Inc Authority has been in business since 1989, and they’ve formed more than 130,000 business entities over the years.
Northwest: Northwest Registered Agent has been around since 1998, and since then, they’ve served 2+ million customers.
Inc Authority: Inc Authority offers customer support via phone, email, or web chat. With all three options, you’ll receive timely support from friendly and knowledgeable representatives. Inc Authority reps are available from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET on weekdays.
Northwest: Northwest offers phone and email support. We first tested their email support, and while it took nearly 24 hours to receive an email back, the response was detailed, and the rep went beyond simply answering our question and checking off an email response. We also called and received similarly impressive service. The representative who answered the phone took the time to ask for details so that he could give us the most accurate answer.
Inc Authority: Each state has its own in-house processing times, ranging from a few days all the way up to a couple of months. Inc Authority bases its turnarounds on these state estimates, so you’ll see quite a bit of variety in expected processing speeds between different states. All that said, Inc Authority’s turnaround times are usually competitive with other services.
Northwest: When you select your state from the dropdown menu of the application, an estimated turnaround time will display on the screen. Most states have expedited service available for an additional fee, so you’ll see two turnaround times on the order form.
Inc Authority: Customer feedback is a pro for Inc Authority. They have 23,000+ reviews available online with a 4.9/5 average score on Trustpilot.
Northwest: Northwest Registered Agent doesn’t have a ton of customer feedback, but they do have around 800 reviews, and they’re mostly positive.
Inc Authority: On the first screen, you’ll choose your entity type (LLC, corporation, nonprofit) and your state. Then, you’ll answer a series of questions about yourself and your business. Next, you’ll enter your name, email address, and phone number, followed by your business name, a short description of your business, and your business address. You’ll then navigate through an extensive series of upsells for an operating agreement template, a legal documents package, a minutes and resolutions feature, web design software, personalized business support, audit and lawsuit assistance, and business banking from Bank of America before finally paying for your order.
Northwest: The application process with Northwest is streamlined and easy to follow. You simply enter your personal info and business details and pay for the order. There aren’t any upsells, and Northwest only offers one LLC formation service package.
It’s probably no big surprise to discover that these companies offer many of the same services, like registered agent service, operating agreements, employer identification number (EIN) acquisition, business licensing, and more. However, they also each have a few services that the other company does not provide.
For instance, Inc Authority provides business credit and funding evaluations that can help you grow and expand your business — services that Northwest doesn’t offer. On the other hand, Northwest provides its clients with mail forwarding and virtual office services, which you can’t order from Inc Authority.
Northwest Registered Agent and Inc Authority have plenty of common characteristics that make them two of the most popular LLC formation services available, but they also have some differences that set them apart. If you haven’t yet made up your mind between them, let’s finish this comparison by quickly describing some scenarios that may sway your opinion.
Are you interested in getting your LLC professionally formed for free? Perhaps you prefer using companies that have large collections of positive customer feedback? Inc Authority might be a good fit for your business.
Do you want to experience personalized customer support? Northwest could be worth a look.
If you’d like to form your LLC with ZenBusiness, we’re here to help. We offer LLC formations starting at $0 (+ state fee), and we have 12,000+ positive customer reviews available online. Form your LLC quickly and get more tools to start your dream business.
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In our opinion, Inc Authority’s entry-level LLC formation package is the best one they offer. Not only is it free of charge (except for your state fee), but it also includes a year of registered agent service and EIN acquisition. However, you’ll need to contact them to get pricing info for their premium packages. If you choose Northwest, you only have one choice of LLC formation package.
Yes and no. Northwest doesn’t offer to handle state-specific requirements entirely, but they do offer some assistance with them. If, for example, you need to complete New York’s publication requirement, Northwest encourages you to use their Albany, NY address as an “address for service of process” or a “principal office.” They then provide you with step-by-step instructions to help you complete this requirement.
Inc Authority doesn’t provide any help with New York publication requirements. If you’re looking for a company that will take care of publication requirements on your behalf, check out our New York publication service.
Northwest doesn’t have any upsell attempts at all, which is yet another reason why we appreciate them so much. Inc Authority includes quite a few upsells throughout their order form, but since they’re a free service to begin with, it doesn’t bother us too much.
On Inc Authority’s website, they specifically mention that they won’t grant any refund requests for any reason. As for Northwest, they have a flat $25 fee for refunds, which they refer to as a “You changed your mind fee.” In other words, neither of these companies comes close to competing with our 100% satisfaction guarantee.
Inc Authority’s turnaround times vary from state to state ― in some states, they can get your LLC formed in just a few days, while in some others it will take several weeks. Northwest’s processing speeds also vary by state, so for the most part, these companies will have similar turnaround times in most states.
You can. In fact, thousands of American entrepreneurs form their own business entities each year. While there’s nothing wrong with doing this, we will caution that, because each state is allowed to create its own rules regarding how LLCs are formed, there is some variance from state to state regarding how an LLC is formed. Furthermore, we appreciate the peace of mind we receive from hiring a reputable company to form our businesses.
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Disclaimer: The content on this page is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or accounting advice. If you have specific questions about any of these topics, seek the counsel of a licensed professional.
Written by Team ZenBusiness
ZenBusiness has helped people start, run, and grow over 800,000 dream companies. The editorial team at ZenBusiness has over 20 years of collective small business publishing experience and is composed of business formation experts who are dedicated to empowering and educating entrepreneurs about owning a company.
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