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Both Swyft Filings and LegalZoom are good LLC formation services. With either option, you’re getting a reputable company that provides high-quality LLC service. Still, there are some differences between them.
LegalZoom has more experience than Swyft Filings (and most other competitors, for that matter). However, Swyft Filings has lower prices than LegalZoom for some important additional services, such as registered agent service. In general, Swyft Filings is a decent LegalZoom alternative. Read on to learn what sets these companies apart from each other and a top competitor.
1) Affordable: Swyft Filings and LegalZoom can both save you lots of money over hiring a lawyer to form your LLC while also not leaving you alone to figure it out on your own.
2) Customer Support: Along those same lines, these companies have helpful customer support networks. If you have questions or concerns, they’re just a phone call or email away, which means you don’t have to spend hours of your valuable time trying to find the answers yourself.
3) Experience: They’re both experienced companies, and they each serve a large volume of customers every year. These are legitimate operations with lots of existing clients, and they’re both capable of forming your LLC.
4) Satisfaction Guarantees: Swyft Filings and LegalZoom both have 100% satisfaction guarantees, which is a welcome safety net. If you’re unhappy for any reason, you can simply request a refund, and they’ll provide it, no questions asked.
5) Additional Services: If you need services beyond LLC formation, they can help. Both offer many features from registered agent service to federal tax ID numbers and much more. Think of them as one-stop shops for business services.
6) Efficiency: Do you need your LLC formed in a hurry? Swyft Filings lives up to its name with some of the quickest turnaround times in the industry, and they also have expedited service available. As for LegalZoom, they structure their turnarounds based on which level of service you purchase, and their formations can be completed in as little as a week.
LegalZoom: While LegalZoom does offer a $0 (+ state fee) package for LLCs, the number of upsells can get overwhelming — and expensive. They charge $199 per year for registered agent service.
Swyft Filings: Swyft Filings provides its customers with a free (+ state fee) package for LLC formations, although it comes with no additional features. Its $199 Standard package adds EIN acquisition, an operating agreement template, and a banking resolution, while its $299 Premium plan adds a company alerts system, digital corporate kit, document templates, and a business website package from SquareSpace.
LegalZoom: LegalZoom has served more than 2 million business customers since it started offering business services online in 2001.
Swyft Filings: Swyft Filings was created in 2015 by a pair of serial entrepreneurs. To date, the company has helped form 300,000+ LLCs, corporations, and nonprofits.
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 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.
Swyft Filings: They provide phone, email, and chat support from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET on weekdays. We reached out via each channel to see for ourselves how their response times were, as well as to determine the quality of their support. We were impressed with the response times for all, although the answers we received were rather basic.
LegalZoom: 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).
Swyft Filings: Swyft Filings promises same- or next-business-day processing. This doesn’t guarantee faster processing once paperwork reaches the state but rather helps ensure that they never take more than a day or so to submit your documents to your formation state. In general, Swyft Filings’ turnaround times are often a day or two faster than some competitors.
LegalZoom: We found 6,000+ reviews for LegalZoom, and while they do have some negative reviews mixed in, a majority of this feedback is positive. Their satisfied customers often talk about how convenient and easy it is to use LegalZoom’s services.
Swyft Filings: Client feedback is one of their major strengths because they have 36,000+ reviews available online, and more than 90% of them are either 4- or 5-star ratings.
LegalZoom: First, you’ll pick your business entity type (LLC, corporation, nonprofit) and which of LegalZoom’s three packages you’d like to purchase. From there, you fill out your business information and payment details over a series of screens that also include upsells for registered agent service, an operating agreement, an EIN, a license research package, ongoing compliance assistance, a tax consultation, ongoing legal guidance, standard or complex tax returns, a legal protection plan, two options for business bank accounts, expedited processing, and an LLC kit and seal.
Swyft Filings: After you choose your entity type and state, you’ll walk through a series of screens where you fill in your contact info, business type, and whether you’ll have employees before choosing which of Swyft Filings’ three LLC formation service packages you’d like to buy. You’ll also encounter upsells for registered agent service, a business license research package, EIN acquisition, an operating agreement template, faster processing, a business banking package from Bank of America, and an H&R Block tax consultation. Then, you can review the information you provided before checking out.
Both Swyft Filings and LegalZoom present many other services to their customers, and there’s a significant amount of overlap between the offerings of these two companies. For instance, they both offer registered agent service, annual reports, EIN acquisition, business licensing research, amendments, and more.
However, LegalZoom also has quite a few services available that Swyft Filings doesn’t offer, which is largely due to the fact that LegalZoom provides many personal services in addition to its business offerings. Along these lines, LegalZoom offers last will and testament, power of attorney, living trust, divorce paperwork, and property deeds.
With Swyft Filings and LegalZoom, we have two companies that are both capable of helping you form an LLC. If you’re still undecided, we’ll close by going over a couple of scenarios where you may be more likely to use one or the other (or a competitor) for LLC service.
If you’re in a hurry, Swyft Filings can beat LegalZoom’s turnaround times in many states, especially if you choose LegalZoom’s cheapest LLC formation package. If this interests you, Swyft Filings might be worth a look.
LegalZoom has far more brand power than Swyft Filings, and they are a more popular LLC formation service when it comes to customer volume. In addition, LegalZoom has some of the longest hours of customer support availability in the industry. If these are important factors to you, LegalZoom is an option.
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 have 12,000+ positive customer reviews available online. Form your LLC quickly and get more tools to start your dream business.
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LegalZoom, one of the most well-known services online, has formed more than 2 million businesses since 2001. Check out the comparison reviews below if you’d like to see how this giant stacks up to other good LLC websites.
LegalZoom compared to:
Swyft Filings does offer publication service in states that require it, whereas LegalZoom doesn’t. If you need help with NY publication requirements, check out our New York publication service for more information.
Swyft Filings has several pages of upsells throughout its order form, but we can’t blame a free service too much for trying to make a buck. With LegalZoom, you’ll need to navigate your way through more than $1,000 worth of upsells as you work your way through their order form.
LegalZoom has one of our favorite refund policies in the LLC services industry. You have 60 days to request your refund, and they will provide it within five business days of your request. There are no convenience fees or strings attached. It’s nearly identical to our refund policy at ZenBusiness. Not to be outdone, Swyft Filings also has a 100% money-back guarantee that says anyone requesting a refund will receive one.
Swyft Filings’ turnaround times vary depending on each state’s capability to process formations, and they can be as quick as just a couple of days or as slow as several weeks. In general, they’re often a bit faster than some competing services.
LegalZoom takes an entirely different approach, instead basing their turnaround times on which level of LLC formation service you purchase from them. If you buy their Economy package, it’ll take 30 business days to get your LLC formed. With their Standard package, you can cut that down to 15 business days, and the Express Gold package gets it done in 7-10 business days.
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.
LegalZoom’s big advantage is its track record of experience. They serve a massive volume of clients, and their level of brand power and name recognition is second to none. As for Swyft Filings, their biggest advantage is their turnaround times, which are often quicker than LegalZoom’s.
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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