Is Incfile a good LLC company?
If you are searching for an answer to this question, you could find some here in this review.
To be precise, here is what we will cover in this Incfile review:
- Incfile Overview
- Incfile Services
- Incfile Plans and Prices
- Pros and Cons
- Incfile Registration Process (ease of use)
- Incfile Alternatives
- Incfile vs. LegalZoom
- Incfile vs. Rocket Lawyer
- Incfile Online Reviews and Ratings
- Is Incfile Safe?
- Wrap Up
- FAQs
Incfile Overview
Incfile, a Houston-based LLC company, has a reputation as a low-priced legal service provider, but with very high quality, which makes them stand out from the competition.
When it comes to your company’s formation they can help you with the following:
- LLC
- S-Corporation
- Corporation
- Nonprofit.
Just to give you a review of “How people trust Incfile?”
Here are some numbers. Since 2004, they have assisted over 500.000 entrepreneurs and small business owners in forming and growing their businesses.
Incfile Services
Incfile offers the following services:
- Registered Agent Service
- Annual report
- Certificate of Good Standing
- Change of Registered Agent
- Foreign Qualification
- Amendment
- Dissolution
- EIN/Tax ID Number
- Business License Search
- Business Accounting
- Fictitious Business Name
- File S Corp Tax Election
Like other LLC providers, Incfile provides all the essentials an LLC company should provide. But
what differentiates them from the competitors is:
1. Preparation of Articles of Organization – Incfile will step in and handle and arrange all needed documents for filing. Even better, you will also make the best out of the Registered Agent service, free of charge for an entire year.
2. Filling of Articles of Organization – As soon as the preparation of documents is ready, the company will take care and send the filled documents and set up a legal entity.
3. Name Availability Search – This is an important step when starting a business. And Incfile will search the database of your desired state, to make sure the name you want is available. And if it is not, they will do another search and give you a list of alternatives.
4. LLC Operating Agreement – This kind of agreement depends mainly on the state where you intend to start a business, and in some states, it isn’t necessary at all. However, Incfile is a couple of steps ahead of things and for that matter, this service is included in almost all of their subscription plans.
5. Organizational Minutes – This option is included only in the Gold subscription plan, the same goes for $149 + state fees.
6. Customer Support (Email/Phone), Individual Agent Service – Incfile has an excellent support team, and they make sure to provide constant upgrades to the same. That being said, you can always email them, by using the ‘leave a message’ tab. Or, you can give them a ring, Mondays to Fridays (from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. CST).
Nevertheless, there are also other ways to get in touch with them. You can visit their website and use the ‘client support request’ space. And don’t forget to check out their published articles (you can find them on their site) and the rich, and well-explained FAQs section.
7. Free Guides, Checklists, and Knowledge Center – You won’t feel lost and drowning in the sea of papers and terms, because Incfile comes equipped with free guides, glossaries, and (as mentioned), a very rich FAQs section. You will be able to download checklists with in-depth info concerning business starters.
8. Company Alerts – You don’t have to be writing things down, or memorizing them for that case. This company will make sure for you to take advantage of the company alerts service they offer.
This feature acts as a reminder about all business-related due dates and papers, licenses, filling, etc.
9. Federal Tax ID Number (EIN) – Incfile arranges for you to receive an EIN, in a day, regardless of the state where you’re opening the business.
10. Business Forms – These kinds of forms are inevitable and crucial for the sake of your business, and the tax-related demands. Therefore, Incfile has prepared for you the following: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), both, 8832 and 1065 forms, and also numerous other LLC business forms.
11. LLC Decorative Seal – Incfile’s Business Formation Kit comes with valuable and handy things, like LLC Corporate Seal, alongside a branded folder, slipcase, and bank stock certificates.
Incfile Plans and Prices
There are 3 Incfile packages:
- Silver (starting at $0 + state fee)
- Gold (starting at $149 + state fee)
- Platinum (starting at $299 + state fee)
Let’s take a look at the services that each package contains:
| Services | Silver
($0 + state fees) |
Gold
($149 + state fees) |
Platinum
($299 + state fees) |
| Preparing and Filing the Articles of Organization | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Unlimited Name Searches | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| FREE Registered Agent Service for a year | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| EIN Business Tax Number | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| IRS Form 2553 | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Operating Agreement
Banking Resolution |
❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Express Shipping | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Lifetime Company Alerts | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Online Access Dashboard | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Unlimited Phone and Email Support | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Business Banking Account | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Business Tax Consultation | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Business Contract Templates | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Expedited Filing | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| FedEx Delivery | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Domain Name + Business Email | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
We can see that Incfile pricing for business entity formation starts at $0, plus state fees for silver package services, making them the lowest priced compared to its competitors.
For instance, LegalZoom – one of the top providers of LLC services, their lowest-priced plan starts at $79, compared to Incfile’s $0 subscription plan. And for just $0, you also get a free of charge Registered Agent for a whole year. On the other hand, you will pay $79, and you won’t get this service.
Make sure to keep in mind that you still have a state fee and the location of your business will determine the price of Incfile’s services; this is the same as any other online legal services company.
Regardless, they offer high-quality services for a lesser fee than their competitors.
Pros and Cons of Using Incfile
I think we can all agree that there is a lot to like about Incfile, but let’s categorize all of the positive and negative aspects of using this platform.
PROS
- First and foremost, as we previously stated their introductory price of a new entity formation is $0 + state filing fees, which makes them the most affordable platform on the market.
- Each of the three Incfile packages includes a year of free registered agent services.
- Lifetime notification alerts as long as they have a valid email, informing their clients of essential filing dates regarding their entities.
- Electronic copies of important documents.
- Top-notch security of personal information.
CONS
- The Silver subscription plan is pretty basic. You might need to purchase some additional services.
- Customer support can be slow at times, which can be very unpleasant.
- No lawyers are available for consultation or advice. Although this is a feature most of their competitors like Rocket Lawyer and LegalZoom, offer.
Incfile Registration Process (ease of use)
For the purpose of this Incfile review, we made an extra step, and went through the registration process ourselves, to help you get a better picture of what you are getting yourself into.
Let’s break it down into several steps:
Step 1: Go to www.incfile.com and click on the big orange button that says ‘Start my business.’
Step 2: Then you will be taken to another screen where you will be prompted to choose your entity type and state of formation (We decided to create an LLC based in Florida).
Step 3: Choose one of the subscription plans that we mentioned earlier.
Step 4: Once that’s done, you will be taken to another screen where you will need to enter your contact information and mailing address.
Step 5: Now you have to fill in information about your company: company address, LLC type, LLC name, etc.
Step 6: If you have more than one member, you must enter information about each member and
percent of their ownership.
Step 7: The website will then offer you a Registered Agent. Or, you can decide to be your own Registered Agent.
Step 8: Afterward, you need to provide your EIN info, physical address, and principal business activity.
Step 9: Check your information, see if all of the data is correct and proceed to payment.
Step 10: Fill in your billing information and click on ‘complete and pay’.
This wraps up the registration process, which takes about 20-30 minutes. In our opinion, the steps are precise and straightforward, we didn’t encounter any difficulties while completing our registration. It was a positive experience, overall.
Incfile Alternatives
When it comes to online legal services, the most renowned company has to be LegalZoom, which is why they are Incfile’s biggest competitor. But, there are also: Rocket Lawyer, ZenBusiness, Inc Authority, etc. For the sake of the review, we decided it’s best to focus on the two biggest competitors/alternatives of Incfile: LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer.
Let’s take a closer look at the most significant differences between Incfile and these two alternatives.
Incfile vs. LegalZoom
The most significant difference has to be the price of their starting package and what is included in it.
With Incfile you get a free Registered Agent for an entire year, and a free package, with just state fees to pay for. On the contrary, LegalZoom starts with a pricey package of $79 and doesn’t offer a free Registered Agent service.
Another vital difference is the time they take to fulfill the process. In other words, Incfile processes (all packages) the very next day. While LegalZoom takes a week to thirty-five days to do so.
Ultimately, Incfile appears to be more affordable than LegalZoom, faster as well, and yet it offers more services for lower prices.
Incfile vs. Rocket Lawyer
Like LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer also doesn’t start at $0, as is the case with Incfile’s starting price. Rocket Lawyer, therefore, offers a starting price of $39 + state fees.
When it comes to the Registered Agent service, there are differences in this section too. You already know that Incfile offers this service free for a whole year. Whereas you can have this also with Rocket Lawyer, but for $149.99 a year.
Rocket Lawyer has served more than twenty million customers since its opening in 2008, while Incfile has helped over 500.000 since 2004. However, these digits shouldn’t be taken into consideration when making a final decision, unless, this is what determines things for you.
All in all, both companies have plenty of positive customer reviews and come with many add ons and services that will be more than helpful to you while starting something brand new.
Incfile Online Reviews and Ratings
Incfile has been in business for 17 years now, and its overall rating is 4.8/5 on its official site based on over 22.200 reviews.
Let’s have a look at how it ranks on other unbiased review sites like BBB (Better Business Bureau), Trustpilot, G2, etc.
BBB: IncFile was accredited by the BBB, but in September 2020, they revoked their accreditation – failing to meet and abide by the BBB standards and requirements.
There are over 240 complaints (closed) in the last three years. 147 of the complaints were related to problems with products or a certain service. Whereas, 218 complaints were closed in one year.
Yet, the BBB has rewarded Incfile with a 4.6-star rating/5, based on more than 410 customer reviews.
Trustpilot: Incfile has a fairly low 2.7-star rating, with over 100 customer reviews—nearly 50% of the reviews are marked as ‘excellent.’
G2: This rating site gave Incfile 5 out of 5, however, this is based on just one customer review.
This section isn’t done yet, we’re missing some valuable verified customer reviews. Let see some more satisfied and less satisfied reviews.
Satisfied Customer Reviews
(The screenshots are taken from verified customer reviews on G2 and Trustpilot.)
Less Satisfied Customer Reviews
(The screenshots are taken from verified customer reviews left on BBB and Trustpilot.)
Well, there you have it. But, what you have read is a personal experience, no more. While some are more than satisfied, others aren’t that much.
Is Incfile Safe?
Yes, Incfile is a safe option, and the safety of the clients’ information comes first.
If you have chosen to do business with Incfile, it means you are dealing with legal services and some delicate information will be used. The kind of information that you want to protect.
In addition to that, as stated on Incfile.com, they don’t sell your information to any other person or outside the business. And also they don’t have permission to store any payment card information in their database.
Wrap Up
To sum up. Incfile brings in the whole package: low prices, free Registered Agent for a year, handles all paperwork and filing, and all that and more on an extremely easy to navigate platform.
Moreover, it comes with three plans (and one of them is for free, plus state fees). What’s even better, is that if your package lacks something, you can always add something from the variety of add ons they have in store.
Let’s be honest. You can’t often find something like Incfile: easy-to-use, excellent customer support, top-quality services and valuable add ons, and all that for a reasonable price.
We hope this Incfile review brought up all the reasons why you should consider Incfile as a good bargain and a trustworthy online legal services platform.
FAQ
1. What is Incfile?
Incfile is an online legal services company that helps small business owners form business entities.
2. Is Incfile safe to use?
Incfile operates such as to protect their clients. Hence, there is no selling of clients’ data to third-party vendors or alike. Incfile isn’t allowed to even store any of the clients’ billing information.
We can say their safety is guaranteed. Since 2004 they’ve formed more than 500.000 business entities. They also have the most impressive customer feedback reputation with more than 12.000 reviews available online, and the majority of these reviews are positive.
3. What are the benefits of using Incfile?
Incfile pricing for business entity formation starts at $0 + state fees, making them the lowest priced compared to its competitors. And, don’t forget that you are entitled to a Registered Agent service free of charge, throughout the year.
4. Is the platform easy to use?
Yes, you can form a business entity, hire a Registered Agent, file compliance documents, and file taxes, all these within a few clicks.
5. What are the reviews for Incfile like?
Of course, there are mixed feelings and opinions, or rather experiences. However, Incfile’s customer reviews are mainly positive.
6. Is the company BBB accredited? What is their rating?
No, it isn’t anymore. It was, though, until September 25th, 2020. Afterward, BBB revoked its accreditation.
7. What are their refund and discount policies?
While some competitors offer 100% satisfaction guarantees, Incfile does not.
They charge a $30 cancellation fee. Nevertheless, they will refund you, only if you request a refund before they submit your payment to the state – which is typically within 24 hours of the placement of your order.