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Northwest Registered Agent and Incorporate.com are both respected companies in the LLC formation services industry. They’re both capable of forming your compliant LLC quickly, with minimal hassle and effort for you. Still, Northwest Registered Agent has some distinct advantages.
First off, Northwest Registered Agent receives mostly positive customer feedback, whereas Incorporate.com has very little feedback at all. In addition, Northwest includes a full year of registered agent service with any LLC service package, a feature that Incorporate.com charges extra for. However, Incorporate.com has lower prices for LLC services. If you’d like some more info, read on to get all the relevant details on these two LLC service providers.
1) Affordable: With either of these companies, you’ll receive LLC formation service at a reasonable price. They can both save you quite a bit of money over hiring a lawyer to draft and file your Articles of Organization and because the LLC isn’t terribly complicated as a business structure, you may not need the attorney’s expertise anyway.
2) Customer Support: While it’s nice to save money, you don’t want to be on your own if you have any questions or problems. Northwest Registered Agent and Incorporate.com both have customer service departments that can answer your questions quickly and accurately.
3) Experience: It’s always preferable to use a service that has plenty of experience, and both of these companies have it. Incorporate.com and Northwest Registered Agent have each formed thousands of businesses, and they have the know-how to get the job done right.
4) Efficiency: Do you need your LLC formed in a hurry? That’s no problem for these service providers. Northwest Registered Agent and Incorporate.com can expedite your formation (for an additional fee, of course), cutting your turnaround time from weeks down to just a few days in many states.
5) Additional Services: These companies both offer many other business services beyond just forming your LLC. Whether you need a federal employer ID number (EIN), an LLC operating agreement, a foreign qualification, or many other services, these providers have it covered.
6) Educational: Whether you’re a customer or not, these companies both have helpful information on their websites. Incorporate.com has a learning center with loads of valuable info, and Northwest Registered Agent has a selection of how-to guides that cover many common business topics.
Northwest: At $225, their price point is high compared to many competitors. Still, the inclusion of a full year of their registered agent service is a good feature that makes their pricing more attractive. Once the first year is up, the registered agent service will renew at $125 per year.
Incorporate.com: Their pricing starts at $99 (+ state fee) for a package that only includes the basics. Even though they have some valuable features, Incorporate.com’s two premium packages, priced at $634 and $734, are too expensive for what you get.
Northwest: Northwest Registered Agent has been around since 1998, and since then, they’ve served 2+ million customers.
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.
Northwest: Northwest offers phone and email support. We first tested their email support, and while it took nearly 24 hours to receive an email back, the response was detailed, and the rep went beyond simply answering our question and checking off an email response. We also called and received similarly impressive service. The representative who answered the phone took the time to ask for details so that he could give us the most accurate answer.
Incorporate.com: They provide support by phone, email, or chat. We tried all three options and had similar experiences with all of them. Incorporate.com’s representatives responded in a relatively efficient manner and accurately answered our questions. We couldn’t find any info about their hours of operation, however.
Northwest: When you select your state from the dropdown menu of the application, an estimated turnaround time will display on the screen. Most states have expedited service available for an additional fee, so you’ll see two turnaround times on the order form.
Incorporate.com: When you reach the bottom of your order form, Incorporate.com gives you turnaround time estimates for both standard and expedited processing. Incorporate.com bases its turnaround times on each state’s processing speeds.
Northwest: Northwest Registered Agent doesn’t have a ton of customer feedback, but they do have around 800 reviews, and they’re mostly positive.
Incorporate.com: Despite being in business since the 19th century and boasting nearly a million customers, there is little customer feedback available online for Incorporate.com. We found just a small handful of reviews on third-party review sites, and a large percentage of them were negative.
Northwest: The application process with Northwest is streamlined and easy to follow. You simply enter your personal info and business details and pay for the order. There aren’t any upsells, and Northwest only offers one LLC formation service package.
Incorporate.com: The ordering process is pretty simple with Incorporate.com. After you select your state and entity, you’ll choose from Incorporate.com’s three LLC formation packages. Then, depending on which package you selected, you’ll see a screen with a few upsell attempts. From there, you just need to fill out your personal contact info and business details, then you can review your information and pay for the order.
With either of these companies, you’ll have access to a variety of additional business services to help you start and maintain your business. Both Northwest Registered Agent and Incorporate.com can help you with registered agent service, annual reports, EIN acquisition, mail forwarding, and more.
However, Northwest offers comprehensive virtual office services, while Incorporate.com only offers basic mail forwarding. On the other hand, only Incorporate.com can help you with reinstating a dissolved business, as this is a service that Northwest doesn’t provide to its customers.
With Northwest Registered Agent and Incorporate.com, we’re looking at two popular LLC formation service providers. They can both make your life easier while also saving you money. Whether you end up choosing one of these companies or a top competitor, we wish you the best of luck with your new business.
Do you want a year of registered agent service bundled in with your formation? Do you appreciate strong customer reviews? These are a couple of the reasons you might consider Northwest.
Are you seeking the company with the most experience and longevity? Incorporate.com is an industry leader in this area. In general, they’re a decent Northwest alternative.
If you’d like to form your LLC with ZenBusiness, we’re here to help. We offer LLC formations starting at $0 (+ state fee), and we also have 12,000+ positive customer reviews. Form your LLC quickly and get more tools to start your dream business.
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If I decide to use Northwest Registered Agent, which package should I choose?
This is an easy question to answer for Northwest, as they only offer one package for LLC formations. At $225, it includes your LLC formation process and a year of registered agent service.
Does Northwest handle state-specific requirements like New York publication?
No, they don’t. Neither of these LLC services handles NY publication requirements, although Northwest does at least offer a set of step-by-step instructions. If you’d like us to handle the publication step on your behalf, check out our New York publication service.
Which service has fewer upsells?
Northwest has basically zero upsells, but Incorporate.com makes a few attempts to get you to add their $235/year registered agent service to your order. It starts with their LLC formation service package selection screen, which displays two features that aren’t included with any level of formation service: their “access to online tool: CSCNavigator” and their annual report prep and filing. Despite their inclusion on the package selection graphic, if you read the fine print, you’ll find that you cannot access these features unless you add registered agent service to your order.
How does Northwest compare to other LLC websites?
Would you like to take a look at a few other options? Check out our comparisons of Northwest Registered Agent to other top-rated LLC services:
Does either of these services have a refund policy?
Northwest Registered Agent provides refunds with a processing fee of $25, which they refer to as a “You changed your mind fee.” As for Incorporate.com, they’re a bit more ambiguous. In their own words, “If you cancel your order before we have submitted it to a federal, state, or local office, incorporate.com will refund the total amount paid for such order less a service fee. If you cancel your order after we have already submitted it, we will use our discretion to determine what portion, if any, we will refund.”
Want a better refund policy? Here at ZenBusiness, we give you a 100% satisfaction guarantee with a 60-day window for refund requests, with no processing fees.
Which LLC formation website is faster?
Northwest and Incorporate.com both base their processing times on the actual requirements of each state. As a result, their turnaround times are mostly very similar. Northwest has a slight advantage in some states, and Incorporate.com is a day or two faster in others. For the most part, this category is a toss-up.
Can I form an LLC on my own, without a service?
You can, and many entrepreneurs do form their own LLCs every day. However, we appreciate the peace of mind we receive from using a reputable formation service. In addition, each state has its own rules and regulations for LLC formations, so there can often be more legwork than people might expect.
What is the biggest advantage of each service?
Incorporate.com’s biggest advantage is its impressive longevity. Any company that’s been around since the 19th century must be doing something right. On the other hand, Northwest has around 800 positive customer reviews available online, whereas Incorporate.com has a much smaller collection of mixed feedback.
Which company offers more help with ongoing compliance requirements?
Both Northwest and Incorporate.com provide assistance with compliance requirements. Northwest offers registered agent service for $125 per year. They also offer annual report service, which is available for $100 plus state fee. Incorporate.com charges $235 per year for registered agent service and $150 per year 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.
Written by Team ZenBusiness
ZenBusiness has helped people start, run, and grow over 700,000 dream companies. The editorial team at ZenBusiness has over 20 years of collective small business publishing experience and is composed of business formation experts who are dedicated to empowering and educating entrepreneurs about owning a company.
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