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Are you looking to form a new limited liability company (LLC), but you’re not sure which of the many LLC formation services can best assist you? Companies like Active Filings and Incfile/Bizee can do the heavy lifting for you, but how do you know which one you should use? In this Active Filings vs. Incfile/Bizee LLC service comparison, we’ll walk through their main commonalities and differences.
Incfile/Bizee and Active Filings are both good LLC formation services, and either one of them can form a compliant entity. However, Incfile/Bizee has a few advantages, starting with its strong customer feedback reputation. Incfile has thousands of mostly positive customer reviews available online, whereas Active Filings has very few reviews at all.
Another important point to note is that Active Filings’ pricing model can be hard to understand. For example, its top-tier LLC formation package (The Finisher) costs $150 more than its mid-tier package (The Sprinter) but adds no valuable features. If you would like to learn more about these two service providers, read on to discover all the relevant details.
1) Affordable: Active Filings and Incfile/Bizee can save you hundreds of dollars over hiring a traditional business attorney to draft and file your Articles of Organization. Furthermore, given the relatively basic nature of the LLC as a business structure, you may not need a lawyer’s expertise in the first place.
2) Customer Support: Even though you’ll be saving a considerable amount of money, you still won’t be going it alone. With Incfile/Bizee and Active Filings, you have access to their helpful customer service reps who can answer your questions. No need to waste time trying to find the answers for yourself.
3) Experience: Both companies offer plenty of experience. Active Filings and Incfile/Bizee have each formed thousands of businesses over the years. They’re legitimate operations that know how to get the job done right.
4) Additional Services: If you want other business services like ongoing compliance assistance, registered agent service, or an operating agreement template, Active Filings and Incfile/Bizee can help you with more than just your formation itself. There’s no need to shop around at multiple companies when you can get everything you need under one roof.
5) Educational: Looking for more info about business services before you buy? Still thinking about the do-it-yourself route? Whether or not you end up using Active Filings or Incfile/Bizee for LLC service, their online blogs and learning centers are packed with free information about tons of business topics.
6) Registered Agent Service: Every LLC will require a registered agent to receive and forward your government documents. Incfile/Bizee and Active Filings both offer a year of registered agent service with any formation package. (What is a registered agent?)
Incfile/Bizee: Incfile/Bizee will help you form your business for free while also providing a year of registered agent service. Once the first year is over, the registered agent service will renew for $119 per year. In addition, their $199 Gold package and $299 Platinum package both include valuable features that make them options as well, even at their higher price points.
Active Filings: With Active Filings, The Starter package costs $0 (+ state fee) and includes one year each of registered agent service and ongoing compliance assistance. For $100, The Sprinter package adds an employer ID number (EIN) and business address, along with faster processing. However, the $250 Finisher package only adds a three-ring binder and decorative seal, making it hard to justify at this price point.
Incfile/Bizee: Incfile/Bizee’s experience level is high, as they’ve helped form more than 1 million businesses since they opened in 2004.
Active Filings: Active Filings was founded in Miami, Florida, in 2001. On its website, Active Filings says that it has served more than 100,000 customers with business services over the years.
Incfile/Bizee: Incfile/Bizee offers phone and email support, which we tested. Incfile/Bizee’s phone support is typically responsive and helpful. However, its email support is much less responsive. Some of our emails have gone unanswered, and several of the responses we have received are just form emails that don’t directly address our questions.
Active Filings: Overall, we have no complaints about the quality of Active Filings’ phone or email support, as we’ve received prompt, courteous, and knowledgeable assistance from their reps. However, their hours of operation are very short (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays).
Incfile/Bizee: With Incfile/Bizee, turnaround times vary based on each individual state’s formation speeds. This can be as quick as a few days in some states or could take several weeks in others. You can also add expedited processing to speed it up, although the price will vary by state.
Active Filings: With Active Filings, turnaround times depend on two things. First, each state has its own timelines for processing LLC formation paperwork. Secondly, Active Filings processes LLC formations a bit quicker if you order one of their premium packages as opposed to the free version.
Incfile/Bizee: Incfile/Bizee doesn’t just have hundreds of customer reviews available online, they have 75,000+ of them. Furthermore, their feedback is mostly positive, with critical reviews in short supply.
Active Filings: We were unable to find many reviews of Active Filings’ services, as we only dug up a few dozen reviews on any given site.
Incfile/Bizee: As you walk through the process of signing up for Incfile/Bizee, your steps are personalized based on the state you live in and the type of business you wish to establish. There are hyperlinks throughout the application to learn more about a specific question or entry on the form. There are a few upsells and third-party offers to navigate through, but if you opt into any of them, your total price is immediately updated on the screen.
Active Filings: The process of ordering LLC formation services from Active Filings is pretty simple. You’ll start by selecting your state and your business entity type (LLC, corporation, or nonprofit). Then, you choose which of Active Filings’ three LLC formation packages you’d like to purchase. From there, you only have one screen left to complete, where you’ll enter some basic information about yourself and your business and pay for the order.
With either Active Filings or Incfile/Bizee, you have access to a selection of additional services that can help you grow and maintain your business. As you might expect, these companies offer many of the same services, as either can help you with ongoing compliance assistance, operating agreement templates, registered agent service, and more.
However, there are also some services that are only available from Incfile/Bizee. For instance, Incfile/Bizee provides its customers with business accounting services, which is a feature that Active Filings lacks.
Active Filings and Incfile/Bizee have many similarities in the way they provide LLC service, but they also differ in a few key ways. Furthermore, depending on your specific needs and priorities, your preference may vary.
If you’re not yet decided between Active Filings and Incfile/Bizee, let’s review a couple of scenarios that may sway you in one direction or the other.
If you want a free LLC formation service package that includes ongoing compliance assistance, Active Filings could be worth a look. In general, they are a good Incfile/Bizee alternative.
If you’re looking for low prices and registered agent service from a company with lots of positive reviews, Incfile/Bizee might be a good choice for LLC service.
If you’d like to form your LLC for free (+ state fees), we’re here to help. Form your LLC quickly and get more tools to start your dream business.
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*Processing times are based on receiving complete information. ZenBusiness processing times do not include Secretary of State processing times, which can vary.**SPECIAL OFFER – Get Starter for $0 plus state fees. Includes one optional free year of Worry-Free Compliance that renews at $199/yr.† ZenBusiness is a financial technology company and is not a bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC.
Frequently Asked Questions About Incfile/Bizee and Active Filings
If I decide to use Incfile/Bizee, which package should I choose?
The most widely recommended LLC formation package offered by Incfile/Bizee is their Silver plan, which is free if you pay your own state fee. With this option, you’ll receive a year of registered agent service in addition to your formation.
Does either handle extra state requirements like New York publication?
Incfile/Bizee doesn’t provide assistance with publication requirements. We called their customer support department to make sure, and they told us that state publication requirements “need to be taken care of with the state directly.” Active Filings does offer New York publication service, but you’ll need to contact them for a pricing quote. For more information on your options, check out our New York publication service.
Which service has fewer upsells?
In our opinion, both Active Filings and Incfile/Bizee do a good job of avoiding annoying upsells throughout the ordering process. Incfile/Bizee does include some upsells as you work your way through the order form, but they’re usually tastefully presented.
Does either of these services have a refund policy?
With Active Filings, you’ll have access to a refund policy that’s quite similar to ours at ZenBusiness. They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee that lasts for 90 days — you can request a refund anytime in those 90 days, and they’ll grant it. Incfile/Bizee’s refund policy isn’t nearly as generous. They only allow customers to request refunds before they’ve sent your payment to the state, which they say is often within 24 hours. Even if you squeeze your refund request into this tight window, there’s a $30 processing fee. Once they’ve submitted your money to your formation state, the refund window is closed.
Is Incfile/Bizee as good as other LLC services?
Would you like to take a look at a few other options and see if Incfile/Bizee is as good as other options? Check out our comparisons of Incfile/Bizee to other top-rated LLC services:
Which LLC formation website is faster?
Both companies have similar turnaround times because they’re both primarily based on each state’s formation speeds. In addition, Incfile/Bizee and Active Filings both offer faster internal processing for customers who purchase their premium packages rather than the free options.
Can I form an LLC on my own, without a service?
You can. In fact, plenty of people do form their own LLCs without assistance every day. However, we simply like to caution our readers that because every state has its own requirements to form an LLC, it can be a hassle to familiarize yourself with the details of your state’s specific rules and regulations. In addition, we appreciate the peace of mind we get from hiring a professional service because we trust their expertise. ZenBusiness LLC Service can form your LLC for free as long as you cover the state fee.
What is the biggest advantage of each service?
In our opinion, Active Filings’ offering of ongoing compliance assistance in every LLC formation package is an advantage over many competitors. As for Incfile/Bizee, its biggest advantage is its customer feedback reputation, with tens of thousands of positive reviews available online.
Which company offers more help with ongoing compliance requirements?
Active Filings offers a year of registered agent service and annual reports in each LLC formation package, and it also sells registered agent service separately for $99 per year. Incfile/Bizee has a higher price for registered agent service, at $119 per year, and it has a $99 rate for annual reports.
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.
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