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The most important difference between these two LLC services is the fact that IncFile is a free LLC service (just pay your state’s fee), while Swyft Filings charges $49. In addition, IncFile includes a full year of registered agent service in any of their LLC formation packages, which is a feature Swyft Filings lacks.
If you would like to learn more about these two popular LLC formation services, read on to get all the details you need to make a smart decision for your new company.
1) Affordable: Regardless of which provider you end up choosing to help form your LLC, you’ll be making a financially sound decision. Compared to hiring a lawyer to draft and file your formation papers, Swyft Filings and IncFile can both save you hundreds of dollars.
2) Customer Support: Even though you’re saving a bunch of money, you still won’t be going the full DIY route. Both IncFile and Swyft Filings have customer support networks that can answer your tough questions. Instead of wasting time trying to find the answers on your own, you can invest that time into growing your business.
3) Experience: Do you prefer to do business with companies that have extensive track records? These providers have both formed thousands of businesses over the years, meaning Swyft Filings and IncFile are trustworthy, legitimate LLC services with years of experience.
4) Efficiency: If you need to form your new LLC quickly, both Swyft Filings and IncFile offer expedited services that can cut your turnaround times down from several weeks to just a few days, depending on your state of formation. There’s an extra cost associated with expediting an order, but it can be worth it if you’re in a hurry.
5) Customer Reviews: Swyft Filings and IncFile both get solid feedback from their many customers. Both companies have thousands of reviews all over the web, and they both still maintain impressively high average rating scores.
6) Additional Services: Do you need additional business services beyond your LLC formation? These companies both offer dozens of other services that help you start and run your compliant company. Whether you need registered agent service, a federal tax ID number (EIN), or a number of other business solutions, they’ve got you covered.
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IncFile: If you’re looking for LLC formation service, IncFile will help you form your business for free (just pay your state’s fee) 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.
Swyft Filings: Their Basic package only costs $49, which is a competitive price point on the surface, but doesn’t include any extras outside of helping you to establish your business. Their $149 Standard package is still pretty reasonable for the value, but their $299 Deluxe package is significantly more expensive. In addition, their registered agent service costs $149 extra for the year. If this service was included as a feature on their packages, it would provide much-needed value.
IncFile: IncFile has a considerable amount of experience, with more than 800,000 business formations since it opened in 2004.
Swyft Filings: Swyft Filings was formed in 2012, but despite being a fairly young company they’ve already formed thousands of businesses.
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.
Swyft Filings: Swyft Filings provides customer support via phone, email, and chat. We tested all three options and found that no matter which one we chose, their response times are fast (one of many areas where they truly live up to their name). However, they didn’t elaborate much on their answers, as we received quick, to-the-point responses.
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.
Swyft Filings: Swyft Filings promises same- or next-business-day processing. Depending on your state’s expediting options, Swyft Filings will also provide rush service with your state government for an additional fee of course. Whether you choose standard or expedited service, they will provide you with a time estimate for your specific state as you’re selecting a package.
IncFile: IncFile has around 32,000 reviews online, and even with this high volume of feedback, the company still maintains a strong average rating score.
Swyft Filings: Swyft Filings is one of the few companies in this industry that can hang with IncFile’s customer feedback reputation. They have more than 36,000 reviews online, and they still maintain high rating scores.
IncFile: As you walk through the process of signing up for IncFile, your steps are personalized based on the state you live in 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.
Swyft Filings: Once you’ve selected a package and any add-ons you need for your business, the application process doesn’t take long ― maybe 10-15 minutes at the most, as long as you have all of the information you need. Swyft Filings has a few upsells along the way (and a handful of third-party partnerships as well), but they’re generally unobtrusive.
These companies offer quite a few of the same additional business services, like registered agent service, EIN acquisition, annual reports, amendments, dissolutions, and more. However, they also each offer some services that the other company doesn’t provide. For instance, IncFile will perform a trademark name search, which Swyft Filings doesn’t offer, while Swyft Filings offers seller’s permits and IncFile doesn’t.
As you can see, Swyft Filings and IncFile probably have more in common than they have defining characteristics that set them apart from each other.
Still, that doesn’t mean they don’t have their own advantages and disadvantages that make them more or less appealing to entrepreneurs.
Because these providers are so similar, it wouldn’t be surprising if some of you remain undecided. With that in mind, we’ll close by outlining a couple of scenarios where you may be more or less inclined to use each service.
Are you looking for the cheapest LLC service online that’s paired with fully featured packages? IncFile is a good choice unless you’re looking for a decent alternative.
Are you more comfortable purchasing services that are covered by a 100% satisfaction guarantee? Are you in a hurry and need the fastest possible formation, even if it’s only a difference of a day or two? These are two of the top reasons customers choose Swyft Filings over IncFile.
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While none of IncFile’s LLC formation packages are a bad purchase, you might prefer their Silver package for free (plus state fee).
The Silver plan includes 12 months of registered agent service along with your formation.
If you would rather add some more advanced features, you could step up to their Gold package for $149 (plus state fee), which also gives you an operating agreement and an EIN.
IncFile is one of the most popular companies in this entire industry, but this is one area where they fail to impress us. They do not offer assistance with state-specific compliance steps like publication.
When we called them to clarify their position on this, they said that they don’t handle publication requirements because they “need to be taken care of with the state directly.” If you’re looking for a company that does handle these steps, you might want to take a look at Swyft Filings or ZenBusiness, as these companies provide a truly comprehensive LLC formation service for customers in any state.
If you’d like more information on the best options for New York LLC publication services, check out our full guide on this topic.
Would you like to take a look at a few other LLC formation websites? Check out our comparisons of IncFile:
We’re quite pleased with both of these companies in this regard, as neither of them overloads you with upsell attempts. Unlike some competitors (like LegalZoom), both Swyft Filings and IncFile lay off the upsells and allow their customers to make their own decisions without too much of a forceful push.
IncFile’s refund policy leaves something to be desired. They will only provide a refund if you request it before they’ve submitted payment to your state government, which they say is usually within 24 hours of placing your order. After that, they refuse all refund requests. Even if they do grant your refund, they keep $30 as a processing fee.
On the other hand, Swyft Filings has a fantastic refund policy that’s one of the best in the industry. Their 100% satisfaction guarantee ensures that anyone who requests a refund within 60 days of their initial purchase will receive one, with no questions asked.
While these companies have similar processing speeds, thanks to the fact that they both base their estimates on each state’s ability to process LLC formations, we’ve noticed that Swyft Filings is often slightly faster. It’s never a big deal ― often just a day or two’s difference ― but it’s worth noting.
The DIY route is always available as an option, and quite a few entrepreneurs do form their own LLCs with no assistance. However, there’s no substitute for the peace of mind you can get from an incorporation service. Furthermore, because each state sets its own requirements for LLC formations, it isn’t always easy to figure out what exactly you need to do with the DIY route.
IncFile’s big advantage over Swyft Filings is that their business formation packages have much lower price points.
Swyft Filings has an advantage of its own when it comes to turnaround times, as it can process formations a couple of days quicker than IncFile in quite a few states.
You can access plenty of assistance with ongoing compliance issues with either of these service providers, although their pricing does have some notable differences. As you know by now, Incfile includes a year of registered agent service with all formation packages, and they charge $119 per year beyond that.
They also have annual report service available for a reasonable rate of $88. Swyft Filings has a $149 annual price point for registered agent service, and they offer annual reports for $99.
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