Incorporate.com LLC Service Review

Overview

Incorporate.com (formerly The Company Corporation) has helped form 750,000+ companies since they opened for business way back in 1899.

There are a lot of LLC filing websites, but this company has found a way to remain relevant for well over a century. This Incorporate.com LLC service review will hopefully give you a complete picture of their LLC formation process and help you decide whether you’d like to use their services.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages of Incorporate.com:

✔ Seeing as they originally opened in the 19th century (as The Company Corporation), it goes without saying that no competitor can match their longevity. They’ve also formed over 750,000 businesses, so they certainly know what they’re doing.

✔ Incorporate.com’s Corporate Compliance Guarantee covers their formation services against any filing defects for the life of your business. If your filing is found to be invalid due to errors made by Incorporate.com, they’ll immediately resolve the issue or pay you up to $75,000.

✔ They have an extensive collection of comprehensive guides in their online Learning Center. Covering topics ranging from state-specific formation requirements to tax filings and deductions, there’s a wealth of information available to Incorporate.com customers.

Disadvantages of Incorporate.com:

✖ You can get cheaper LLC services from some of their competitors. Incorporate.com’s basic formation package costs $99 and has fewer features than other top LLC services that will form an LLC for free (just pay your state’s fee), like us at ZenBusiness.

Incorporate.com LLC Packages

Incorporate.com has three different packages for LLC formation: Starter, Essentials, and Works. Here’s a breakdown of what you get in each package.

NOTE: Not all of the features they list on their package selection screen come with the advertised formation plans. In fact, you are not even allowed to purchase “The Essentials” or “The Works” packages without adding registered agent service (for $235/year), and even though annual report service is listed in these plans, that too will cost you an additional $150/year.

With this in mind, the prices on this page are the total amounts you’ll need to pay in order to receive all advertised features.

The Starter = $99 + State Fee

Best For: Entrepreneurs who simply want to form an LLC with no bells and whistles.

➢ Preparation and Filing of Articles of Organization: These documents officially form your LLC with the state. Incorporate.com will create these forms for you, then file them with your state of formation.

➢ Name Availability Check: They will search your state’s official business database to determine if your desired LLC name is available or if it’s already been claimed by someone else.

➢ Online Access to Company Documents: You’ll receive access to their online portal, where you can safely store and access your LLC formation documents.

The Essentials = $634 + State Fee

Best For: Entrepreneurs who want registered agent service and ongoing compliance assistance along with their LLC formations and are willing to pay a premium price to get it all in one package.

Everything from The Starter package, plus…

➢ Federal Tax ID Number (EIN): An EIN is basically a Social Security Number for your business, and it allows you to pay business taxes, hire employees, open business bank accounts, and more. Incorporate.com will obtain your EIN from the IRS.

➢ LLC Kit and Seal: A binder with your company name printed on it, along with a customized decorative seal and some sample documents. Keep in mind that this isn’t required to have a compliant LLC and is an entirely optional feature.

➢ Registered Agent Service: Incorporate.com will serve as your registered agent, receiving important document deliveries on your behalf and forwarding them to your business. This service costs $235 per year and is mandatory if you want to purchase The Essentials or The Works packages.

➢ Annual Report Service: They will prepare and file your annual reports, making sure you remain compliant with your state government. This service costs $150 per year, and this cost is not actually included in their advertised prices.

The Works = $734 + State Fee

Best For: Entrepreneurs looking for a complete package with everything needed to get their new LLCs off the ground.

Everything from The Essentials package, plus…

➢ Business License Research Package: With this service, Incorporate.com will identify which licenses, permits, and tax registrations your LLC requires to operate in a compliant fashion. They will provide you with the applications necessary to obtain these items and also give you instructions on how to fill them out and file them.

➢ Operating Agreement: This is the document that describes your company’s ownership structure, and it’s also where you can lay out how you want your LLC to be operated. Incorporate.com will draft this important document for you.

In-Depth Incorporate.com Review

Incorporate.com Overall Pricing and Value

Overall, their prices are much more expensive than their competitors’ offerings, without enough added value to balance out the increased cost.

Furthermore, their $235 price point for registered agent service as an add-on is quite high.

Besides the fact that the packages are all more expensive than those with other incorporation services, their package setup is misleading.

Two of their prize features ― their compliance dashboard and their annual report service ― are listed on the package selection screen as included features but are not actually included unless you also purchase their registered agent service as an add-on.

Furthermore, the annual report service costs an extra $150/year on top of the $235/year registered agent fee, so it’s not really an “included” feature at all, even if you do buy registered agent service.

Track Record

Incorporate.com certainly has plenty of experience, as they’ve been around since way back in 1899. Since then, they’ve helped form more than 750,000 corporations and LLCs, which makes them one of the industry leaders when it comes to both longevity and customer volume.

However, despite being in business since the 19th century and boasting nearly a million customers, there is very little customer feedback available online for Incorporate.com. We found just nine reviews on third-party review sites, and almost all of them were negative.

Customer Support

Incorporate.com offers phone, email, and chat support. We tested their chat function first and received a response almost instantly. The experience was just as we expected ― the support agent was knowledgeable and friendly and managed to answer our questions without a problem.

We also sent an email and received a detailed response in just over 24 hours. While we hoped for a quicker response, the level of detail they included was more than expected, which was a pleasant surprise.

When we called, we received a similar response to that via chat and email. Our question via phone was answered professionally but without as much detail as we received in the email. Once our question was answered, they did ask if there was anything else we needed help with.

Overall, customer support is a pro for Incorporate.com.

Ease of Placing an Order

If you don’t know what kind of business structure you want to form (LLC or corporation), their business formation wizard can help you figure it out.

Not sure about which package is the right choice for you? Check out their pricing page. It’s not difficult to decide which one is right for you, as long as you remember that neither the CSCNavigator compliance tool nor the annual report service is actually included in the listed price.

Once you select a package, there is a series of seven additional upsells to review before putting in your contact information and checking out. Since their website has a clean design, it was easy to find where to place an order and navigate through to the payment page.

Overall Turnaround Time

When you reach the bottom of your order form, Incorporate.com gives you detailed turnaround time estimates for both standard and expedited processing. It’s nice to see this level of transparency when it comes to the expected length of time for your formation.

Incorporate.com doesn’t commit to a same-day or overnight turnaround like some other services do. However, they said that they file ASAP once all of the information they need from the business owner is provided, which is a fair response.

Incorporate.com Customer Reviews

Despite the fact that they’ve been in operation for over a century, there aren’t many customer reviews online for Incorporate.com.

It truly is odd that this company has served 750,000+ customers and has been in business longer than any competitor, yet only has nine reviews available on third-party review websites — most competitors have thousands of reviews. It’s impossible to analyze feedback that doesn’t exist, so we’ll simply move on to the next section of our review.

Customer Service Quality

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.

Is Incorporate.com Right For You?

Incorporate.com is an experienced company that’s capable of forming your LLC. However, there are some other companies that we prefer for LLC formation services.

Of course, using their service is totally up to you, so we’ll wrap this review up by going over some scenarios where you may or may not want to use Incorporate.com for your LLC formation.

✔ When to Start an LLC with Incorporate.com:

If you place a high value on experience, a company that’s been around since 1899 likely appeals to you, and their Corporate Compliance Guarantee is a nice safety net.

✖ When NOT to Start an LLC with Incorporate.com:

If you want to save money, there are better options. Another factor is that some competitors have a better history when it comes to customer feedback.

About Incorporate.com

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.

What Other Services Does Incorporate.com Offer?

As with most competitors, Incorporate.com provides a wide variety of additional services to help entrepreneurs form, maintain, and grow their businesses.

We dug into the list of features Incorporate.com offers to see how much they charge for each of these services.

Let’s take a look at everything Incorporate.com offers and discuss which services are good deals and which ones you can ignore.

In addition, one of Incorporate.com’s annoying aspects is the fact that they don’t list price points for all of their services, and they also require you to call them to order many of these — only a few can be easily and conveniently ordered online, so we will also note where you will run into this extra hassle.

• Registered Agent Service ($235 per year): Every LLC needs a registered agent to receive important document deliveries from the state. Unlike many competitors, Incorporate.com does not include a free year of this vital service in its LLC formation packages. Moreover, the $235 annual price point is significantly higher than some other companies (IncFile charges $119, ZenBusiness charges $199 with a $99 first year, etc.).
• DBA Name ($150 – no online ordering): A DBA (doing business as) name is an alternative to forming a business entity, as it gives you the legal right to use an assumed business name. The $99 price point is roughly the industry standard, so this is a very high fee.
• EIN ($80 – no online ordering): It’s very easy to obtain your own Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS, so it’s probably unnecessary to spend $80 having Incorporate.com acquire one on your behalf. That said, this is the standard price point around the industry.
• Operating Agreement ($99 – no online ordering): $99 for a customized operating agreement isn’t a great price point when you consider that Swyft Filings provides this exact same service for just $35. Every LLC needs an operating agreement, but Incorporate.com charges too much.
• Business License Research Package (pricing not disclosed – no online ordering): This feature includes a list of all the licenses and permits your business needs to operate in compliance with federal, state, and local law. You still have to apply for the licenses yourself, but it’s quite helpful to get a list of everything you need.
• Annual Report (pricing not disclosed – no online ordering): Most states require some sort of annual or biennial report from entrepreneurs. This report keeps the state updated regarding some basic attributes of your business, like your address or your registered agent’s name.
• Certificate of Good Standing (pricing not disclosed – no online ordering): This is a form that proves your LLC is current and compliant with all regulations in your state.
• S Corporation Tax Election (pricing not disclosed – no online ordering): If you want your LLC taxed like an S corporation, this is the form you’ll need to file.
• Foreign Qualification (pricing not disclosed – no online ordering): If your LLC already exists in another state, you need to file a foreign qualification rather than a formation.
• Amendments (pricing not disclosed – no online ordering): If you need to amend your LLC’s formation documents to reflect important changes made to your business, Incorporate.com can help you.
• Conversion (pricing not disclosed – no online ordering): Do you want to convert your corporation to an LLC (or vice versa)? Incorporate.com will file the necessary paperwork.
• Dissolution (pricing not disclosed – no online ordering): Are you ready to shut your LLC’s doors for good? Incorporate.com will complete and file your dissolution paperwork.

How Does Incorporate.com Work?

If you choose to use Incorporate.com, you can expect a relatively straightforward four-step process. Here’s a quick overview of those steps:

1. Select your state and business type. In this case, you’ll want an LLC or corporation.
2. Choose your package and add-ons. These can include an EIN, a corporate kit, an operating agreement, a business license compliance package, and more.
3. Provide contact information for the company. Usually, each business will have one person to serve as its primary point of contact.
4. Fill in other company information. For example, you’ll need to give the name of your new company, who will serve as your registered agent, and more.

Once you have all your information submitted, Incorporate.com will file your formation documents on your behalf.

In Conclusion

Incorporate.com is one of the oldest and most experienced LLC formation service providers in the industry. We appreciate this company’s lengthy track record and its strong guarantee against filing defects.