IncFile vs LegalZoom (DON’T Waste Your Money!)

Do LegalZoom and IncFile Offer Good Value?

Before we dive into our comprehensive comparison of IncFile vs LegalZoom, let’s briefly outline if either LLC service is actually a good deal.

LegalZoom overall has solid value and charges $79 + state fee to form an LLC, with minimal included features. IncFile, on the other hand, has much lower prices (including a free package) and still includes a lot more features in every package. However, LegalZoom has much more experience and a higher customer volume.

6 Things They Have In Common

1) Affordable: Both of these providers can save you a significant amount of money over hiring a business attorney to draft and file your formation papers.

2) Customer Support: If you have any questions or concerns, IncFile and LegalZoom have extensive customer support systems with helpful, professional representatives. This is one of the biggest advantages over the DIY route.

3) Experience: LegalZoom and IncFile both have extensive track records. Both companies serve thousands of customers every year and are quite capable of handling your formation. Experience matters and these companies have plenty of it.

4) Additional Services: They each offer extensive business solutions beyond LLC formation. From registered agent service to business licensing, they can help you just as much down the line as they can today.

5) Efficiency: If you’re in a hurry to get through the formation process, these companies can help. IncFile has expediting service available, and LegalZoom will speed up your formation if you purchase a higher tier of LLC service package. Both of these options have additional costs attached, but if you need your LLC formed quickly it can be worth it.

6) Educational: LegalZoom’s Knowledge Center has loads of information sorted by category for entrepreneurs who want to know more about the legalities of the business world. Similarly, IncFile has a learning center with articles about different business structures and ongoing compliance issues, plus they have a helpful blog as well.

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Side-by-Side Comparisons

Pricing (The Main Difference)

LegalZoom: LegalZoom is one of the most popular services (for LLC setup and online incorporation) available, but we found that it does not translate into better value for their customers. While LegalZoom does offer a $149 package to incorporate and a $79 package for LLC service, the number of upsells can get overwhelming — and expensive. Furthermore, they do not include annual reports or registered agent service with any of their formation packages, and there’s a variable fee of $249-299 per year to add on.

IncFile: IncFile will help you form your business for free while also providing a full year of registered agent service. Once the first year is over, the registered agent service will renew for $119 per year, which is a strong price point. In addition, their $149 Gold package and $299 Platinum package are both packed with valuable features that make them strong options as well, even at their higher price points.

Experience

LegalZoom: LegalZoom has a very high client volume, as they’ve helped more than 2 million business clients and formed more than 1 million LLCs since 1999.

IncFile: IncFile has formed 800,000+ businesses since it got started in 2004.

Customer Reviews

LegalZoom: LegalZoom has a large volume of customer feedback, as you might expect, considering the fact that they’re a massive operation. We found 6,000+ reviews for LegalZoom, and while they do have some negative reviews mixed in, a majority of this feedback is positive.

IncFile: IncFile gets nearly universally positive feedback from its customers, as the vast majority of its 33,500+ reviews are positive.

Ease of Use

LegalZoom: Unlike most competitors, LegalZoom doesn’t give you your package options to begin the application. Instead, you enter your personal info first, then navigate through a series of rather costly upsells before you select your formation package. It’s a bit convoluted, and it can result in some surprisingly high price points by the time you work your way through the order form to the package selection screen.

IncFile: As you walk through the process of signing up for IncFile, your steps are personalized based on the state where you’re forming a business and the type of business you wish to establish. There are even little question marks and 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. There are never any surprises with IncFile.

Customer Support

LegalZoom: LegalZoom offers phone and email support. We reached out twice via the email form on their site, but it took them a full week to respond. The response we received was generic – thanking us for reaching out but not answering our question.

When we contacted them via phone, our question was answered very thoroughly. The representative went into detail about our different options and then sent us an email with their direct extension so that we could reach out directly with questions. Overall, while their customer service via phone is good, their online support could be improved.

IncFile: IncFile offers phone and email support, which we tested. When we used their phone support, our call was answered quickly, and our question was answered but not elaborated upon. However, IncFile’s email support is much less responsive. Many 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.

Turnaround Times

LegalZoom: Unlike most competitors, their turnarounds are based on which package you order rather than which state you’re forming in. With their most expensive package, you could receive your finalized business formation documents in 7-10 business days, but their cheaper packages take as long as 30 business days (six weeks).

IncFile: IncFile guarantees that every LLC or corporation formation will be processed and forwarded to your state of formation within one business day. If you need your business formed in a hurry, IncFile offers the ability to order expedited state processing for an additional fee (determined by your state), or you can purchase their Platinum package which includes expedited service.

Additional Services

IncFile and LegalZoom both provide access to a wide variety of additional services that can help you start or maintain your compliant business entity.

They offer many of the same services as well, including registered agent service, annual reports, doing business as (DBA) names, foreign qualifications, EIN acquisitions, and more.

However, LegalZoom also offers many other services that IncFile doesn’t offer, due in large part to the fact that IncFile only sells business services, while LegalZoom also provides its customers with quite a few personal services like last will and testament, power of attorney, living trust, divorce documents, and property deeds.

Which Is the Best LLC Service for You?

As you can see, there are plenty of similarities between IncFile and LegalZoom, but also a lot of differences.

If you’re still undecided about which service to use, let’s review a couple of scenarios that can help you choose whether IncFile or LegalZoom should help you form your LLC.

➥ Choose IncFile if You Are

Seeking the best prices? IncFile can save you money over LegalZoom’s base rate while also including some valuable services like registered agent service. Also, if customer reviews are important to you, IncFile has a small yet noteworthy advantage in that area.

➦ Choose LegalZoom if You Are

If experience and brand power are your top priorities, then LegalZoom is the better fit for you. In addition, LegalZoom offers extended customer support availability, and they also tend to be more responsive in this area than IncFile.