If you want to form a business in the United States, you will need to designate a registered agent. The role of the registered agent involves the usage of their address as your official business address, which means they’ll receive important document deliveries on your behalf, including court summons and other official correspondence from your state government.
While you can legally serve as your own agent and still operate a compliant business entity, there are some other benefits of hiring a registered agent service, like the ability to keep your personal information out of the public record. In addition, having a registered agent makes it so that you don’t need to be available at your place of business during all standard business hours, and it also cuts down on the amount of junk mail you’ll receive.
There are many companies that offer this vital service to businesses, and it can be difficult to discern which one is the best option for your company. In this review, we’ll take a close look at Incorporate.com, one of the most popular service providers in the industry. Are they the right registered agent service for your business?
Incorporate.com opened in 1899, and they’ve served 750,000+ clients since then. Over the years, their name has changed several times ― from Corporation Service Company to The Company Corporation to Incorporate.com ― but the core business has stayed the same.
The mission statement on the Incorporate.com website states that “It’s a cruel world out there for the small business owner. And we can relate because we’re entrepreneurs, just like you.
We work with business owners throughout their companies’ life cycles, helping them overcome the obstacles blocking effective compliance. And we provide the kind of thought leadership and guidance that will inspire and encourage their continued success, no matter the odds.”
A fun fact about Incorporate.com is that they guarantee their services with a unique feature: their $75,000 Corporate Compliance Guarantee. With this guarantee, your purchase is protected against filing defects caused by negligence on the part of Incorporate.com. If your filing is found to be invalid through their fault, they will resolve the issue or pay you up to $75,000.
Incorporate.com is one of the oldest companies in the business services industry, as they opened for business well over a century ago, in 1899.
Unfortunately, their registered agent service is expensive, costing twice as much as many competitors without adding enough valuable features to make their price point worthwhile.
Incorporate.com charges $235 per year for registered agent service, with no volume discounts available for clients needing service in several states. In addition, if you want them to file your Change of Registered Agent form with your state, you will also need to pay the state fee, and Incorporate.com also requires you to pay the state expediting fee.
As for additional features, they do include access to their CSCNavigator online compliance dashboard that helps you keep track of important filing due dates.
We have some issues with Incorporate.com, starting with their high pricing for registered agent service. Also, unlike many of their competitors, they do not include registered agent service or annual reports with any of their business formation packages.
They also simply don’t have a great reputation regarding online customer feedback (more on that in a moment). For more information on your other options, take a look at our guide to the top registered agent services available.
For a company that’s been open for well over 100 years, and has served over 750,000 clients, it’s surprising that there is so little customer feedback available for Incorporate.com. We found just nine reviews on third-party sites, with an average score of roughly 2.0 out of 5.
Their unsatisfied clients often discuss how high Incorporate.com’s prices are, and also complain that registered agent service is sometimes added onto their formation service orders without the client’s consent.
Overall, we were pleased with the quality of Incorporate.com’s customer support department. They offer support over the phone, via email, or using their online chat function. With all three options, we received efficient responses.
Their representatives were pleasant to talk to, while also seeming quite knowledgeable, and expanding upon their answers as necessary.
If experience is the only thing that matters to you, it could make some sense to use a company that’s been around since the 1800s. Their compliance dashboard is also a nice feature.
If you want to save money, or if you appreciate positive customer feedback, you should probably look elsewhere. For instance, ZenBusiness gets great reviews and charges as little as $0 (plus state fee) for LLC formation service, while including annual reports and other valuable features in our premium packages. We also have more affordable price points for registered agent service.
You won’t find a company with more longevity than Incorporate.com, as its roots go all the way back to the 19th century! However, that experience comes at a price, as it has higher costs than many competitors.
Best LLC Service
Customers ❤️ ZenBusiness
over 400,000 customers agree!