Incfile vs Inc Authority
Read the Incfile vs Inc Authority LLC review below or get Mark Cuban's recommendation (ZenBusiness) for $0 + state fee.
Starts at $0 + state fees and only takes 5-10 minutes
12,191 reviews
Do Inc Authority and IncFile Offer Good Value?
IncFile and Inc Authority are two popular companies in the LLC services industry, and we’re quite confident in their abilities to efficiently form your compliant business entity.
Each of these companies has its own advantages when compared to each other.
Other than ZenBusiness, these are the only two companies we’re aware of in this entire industry that offer LLC formation service free of charge, as long as you pay your state fee. While they both receive strong customer feedback, IncFile has a significantly higher volume of positive reviews than Inc Authority does. Furthermore, IncFile has formed nearly four times as many businesses as Inc Authority has over the years.
Would you like to learn the details that set these service providers apart, as well as the common characteristics they both share? Read on as we discuss all the information you need to make a decision between these two respected companies
7 Things They Have in Common
1) Free LLC Formation: Inc Authority and IncFile are the only two companies offering LLC formation service free of charge. All you need to do is pay your state fee, and they’ll handle the rest for free!
2) Positive Customer Feedback: Both of these companies receive high average rating scores in their customer reviews, which indicates a good level of client satisfaction.
3) Registered Agent Service: IncFile and Inc Authority both include one full year of registered agent service with all of their LLC formation service packages. Considering the fact that every LLC needs a registered agent anyway, this is a solid offer.
4) Customer Support: These two services both have customer support networks that can answer your tough questions. Why go it alone when you can get help from IncFile or Inc Authority?
5) Efficiency: With either IncFile 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.
6) Experience: Both Inc Authority and IncFile have helped form thousands of businesses over the years, and they both have plenty of expertise. You can definitely trust them to have the experience they need to form your compliant LLC.
7) Additional Services: Do you need assistance with other popular business services like federal tax ID number (EIN) acquisition, foreign qualification, or LLC operating agreements? Inc Authority and IncFile provide many additional services, making them one-stop shops for your LLC.
Best Alternative LLC Service
If you’re ready to officially start your business and protect your assets, let ZenBusiness take care of the paperwork. We have formed over 500,000 businesses and received thousands of positive customer reviews.
Starts at $0 + state fee
Side-by-Side Comparisons
Pricing
It’s impossible to beat what IncFile and Inc Authority have to offer when it comes to pricing. Both of these companies offer LLC formation service for free — other than ZenBusiness, we’re not aware of any other companies that can match this offer.
Of course, nothing in life is truly 100% free, and that is the case here as well. With either IncFile or Inc Authority, you will still be responsible for paying your own state fee. Still, these companies can get your LLC formed for less money than anyone else can.
Features
Both of these companies offer one year of registered agent service with all of their LLC formation packages. Aside from that, Inc Authority includes an S corporation tax election filing (which most LLCs don’t need).
Overall, Inc Authority and IncFile offer LLC formation plans of relatively equal value. The big feature in both of their free formation packages is the full year of registered agent service.
Experience
IncFile has served 800,000+ clients since it opened back in 2004. Inc Authority has been around longer, but they’ve served a much smaller volume of customers. Inc Authority was formed in 1989, and they’ve formed more than 140,000 LLCs and corporations over the years.
Customer Support
Inc Authority offers customer support via chat, phone, or email. Their representatives are available from 11 am to 8 pm ET on weekdays. IncFile’s hours of availability run from 10 am to 7 pm ET on weekdays, and you can contact them via phone or email.
Inc Authority has quick response times, as we’ve never waited for long before we hear back from their representatives, and their reps are also knowledgeable and friendly.
IncFile has friendly, helpful representatives in our experience, but their availability isn’t great. It sometimes takes them over 24 hours to respond when you call them, which is less than ideal. However, their email support is even less responsive, as we’ve filled out their online contact form several times without hearing anything in return.
Turnaround Times
This is another category that’s a toss-up in our eyes. Both of these companies base their turnaround times on the capabilities of each individual state. These processing times vary from just a few business days all the way up to several weeks.
Order Tracking
Another category, and another tie. Both of these service providers have order-tracking tools available on their websites. Simply log into your account, and you’ll find your order status in your profile.
Registered Agent Service
Every LLC in America is required to designate a registered agent, which is a person or business entity that receives important document deliveries (like service of process) from your state government, informs you of the receipt, then forwards the documents to you.
This is so crucial because the state needs to have a reliable means of contacting your business at any time.
As we’ve mentioned, both of these companies provide their customers with one year of registered agent service at no cost. After that, Inc Authority charges just $99 per year, while IncFile has an annual price point of $119.
Customer Reviews
Inc Authority’s customer satisfaction reputation is very good. We found more than 10,500 reviews of their services, and they were overwhelmingly positive. Their clients clearly love their free LLC formation service offer, and they also seem to appreciate their quick processing speeds.
There aren’t many companies in this industry that can compete with Inc Authority’s customer satisfaction level, but IncFile manages to actually surpass it. IncFile has nearly 34,000 reviews on Shopper Approved, and they still manage to maintain a 4.8 out of 5-star rating.
Ease of Use
These companies are relative equals in this category, as they both make the LLC formation process quite simple compared to forming your own business using the DIY method. Still, we will give IncFile a slight edge because their website is a bit more streamlined and user-friendly than the Inc Authority site is.
Additional Services
Inc Authority and IncFile offer many of the same services. They can both provide registered agent service, business bank accounts, trademark assistance, and more. However, they also both have some features that the other company lacks.
For example, only Inc Authority provides revocable living trusts and business credit assistance. On the other hand, IncFile offers business accounting service, amendments, and dissolutions, which Inc Authority does not.
Which Is the Best LLC Service for You?
IncFile and Inc Authority have plenty of common characteristics that make them two of the top LLC formation services available, but they also have some major 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 one way or the other.
Regardless of which one you ultimately choose to help form your LLC, we think you’ll be quite pleased with the service you receive from these companies.
➥ Choose Inc Authority if You Are:
Do you prioritize a company with highly responsive customer support? Or, if you want to elect S corporation taxation for your LLC, they’re a solid option because they include this filing with each LLC formation package.
➦ Choose IncFile if You Are:
Do you prioritize experience and customer volume? Do you prefer to use a company with a user-friendly website? Does a strong customer feedback reputation sway your decision? These are a few good reasons to use IncFile.
🎉 Choose ZenBusiness if You Are:
If you’d like to form your LLC with Mark Cuban’s favorite service. Form your LLC quickly and get more tools to start your dream business.
Starts at $0 + state fees and only takes 5-10 minutes
FAQ's
The IncFile Silver package is a good bargain for free, as it includes the full formation of your LLC and one year of registered agent service.
If you want some advanced features as well, you can go with their $149 Gold package, which adds an operating agreement, EIN acquisition, and access to their company alerts feature.
Even though IncFile is one of the most popular companies in this industry, that doesn’t mean they’re perfect. One of their biggest letdowns is the fact that they do not offer publication service in states that require it. When we called them seeking clarification on this issue, they said that publication requirements “need to be taken care of with the state directly.”
Inc Authority also does not offer publication service. If you’re looking for a service that does offer this service, you might want to check out ZenBusiness, because we handle all state-specific compliance requirements.
For those of you looking for the best New York LLC publication services, check out our full guide on that topic.
IncFile has very few upsells, as they do a good job of not annoying their customers by constantly asking them to upgrade their service package or add unnecessary features.
Inc Authority includes a page of optional add-on features at the end of their order form, but seeing as they’re a free service to begin with, this doesn’t really bother us.
On Inc Authority’s website, they specifically mention that they will not grant any refund requests for any reason.
IncFile’s refund policy is very strict, as they only grant refunds if they’re requested before they send your money to the state, which they say is typically within 24 hours of placing your order, and even then there’s a $30 cancellation fee. After they submit payment to the state, they grant no refunds.
These two sites have turnaround times that are quite similar due to the fact that they both base their processing speeds on each individual state’s ability to process formations. This means your turnaround time might be as quick as just a few days in some states but could take several weeks in others.
Of course, you can. In fact, thousands of American entrepreneurs form an LLC on their own each year. While there’s certainly 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 this process works.
Plus, services like us at ZenBusiness can form your LLC for free, as long as you cover the state fee.
Best LLC Service
Customers ❤️ ZenBusiness
Easy to use
ZenBusiness was easy to use and saved me a lot of time with the added market research option.
Zen Keeps you update with emails and notifications on the app letting you how your process is going what stage of the process your at and everything
What made my experience great and very easy was they pretty much hold your hand and walk you thru every step of the process. They set a time timetable with how long your process will take is exceptional. Very easy and keep you in the loop of how everything is going with Emails, and app notifications
Jerel was Great
Jerel was very helpful with my initial questions and gave me more info than I knew I needed. Great convo
over 500,000 customers agree!
