Incfile/Bizee vs. Active Filings

Are you looking to form a new limited liability company (LLC), but you’re not sure which of the many formation services can best assist you? Companies like Active Filings and Incfile/Bizee can do the heavy lifting for you, but how do you know which one you should use? In this Active Filings vs. Incfile/Bizee LLC service comparison, we’ll walk through their main commonalities and differences.

Incfile/Bizee vs. Active Filings key differences

Incfile/Bizee and Active Filings are both good LLC formation services, and either one of them can form a compliant entity. However, Incfile/Bizee has a few advantages, starting with its strong customer feedback reputation. Incfile has thousands of mostly positive customer reviews available online, whereas Active Filings has very few reviews at all.

Another important point to note is that Active Filings’ pricing model can be hard to understand. For example, its top-tier LLC formation package (The Finisher) costs $150 more than its mid-tier package (The Sprinter) but adds no valuable features. If you would like to learn more about these two service providers, read on to discover all the relevant details.

6 Things They Have in Common

1) Affordable: Active Filings and Incfile/Bizee can save you hundreds of dollars over hiring a traditional business attorney to draft and file your Articles of Organization. Furthermore, given the relatively basic nature of the LLC as a business structure, you may not need a lawyer’s expertise in the first place.

2) Customer Support: Even though you’ll be saving a considerable amount of money, you still won’t be going it alone. With Incfile/Bizee and Active Filings, you have access to their helpful customer service reps who can answer your questions. No need to waste time trying to find the answers for yourself.

3) Experience: Both companies offer plenty of experience. Active Filings and Incfile/Bizee have each formed thousands of businesses over the years. They’re legitimate operations that know how to get the job done right.

4) Additional Services: If you want other business services like ongoing compliance assistance, registered agent service, or an operating agreement template, Active Filings and Incfile/Bizee can help you with more than just your formation itself. There’s no need to shop around at multiple companies when you can get everything you need under one roof.

5) Educational: Looking for more info about business services before you buy? Still thinking about the do-it-yourself route? Whether or not you end up using Active Filings or Incfile/Bizee for LLC service, their online blogs and learning centers are packed with free information about tons of business topics.

6) Registered Agent Service: Every LLC will require a registered agent to receive and forward your government documents. Incfile/Bizee and Active Filings both offer a year of registered agent service with any formation package. (What is a registered agent?)

Incfile/Bizee vs. Active Filings Comparisons

Pricing

Incfile/Bizee: Incfile/Bizee will help you form your business for free while also providing a year of registered agent service. Once the first year is over, the registered agent service will renew for $119 per year. In addition, their $199 Gold package and $299 Platinum package both include valuable features that make them options as well, even at their higher price points.

Active Filings: With Active Filings, The Starter package costs $0 (+ state fee) and includes one year each of registered agent service and ongoing compliance assistance. For $100, The Sprinter package adds an employer ID number (EIN) and business address, along with faster processing. However, the $250 Finisher package only adds a three-ring binder and decorative seal, making it hard to justify at this price point.

Experience

Incfile/Bizee: Incfile/Bizee’s experience level is high, as they’ve helped form more than 1 million businesses since they opened in 2004.

Active Filings: Active Filings was founded in Miami, Florida, in 2001. On its website, Active Filings says that it has served more than 100,000 customers with business services over the years.

Customer Support

Incfile/Bizee: Incfile/Bizee offers phone and email support, which we tested. Incfile/Bizee’s phone support is typically responsive and helpful. However, its email support is much less responsive. Some 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.

Active Filings: Overall, we have no complaints about the quality of Active Filings’ phone or email support, as we’ve received prompt, courteous, and knowledgeable assistance from their reps. However, their hours of operation are very short (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays).

Turnaround Times

Incfile/Bizee: With Incfile/Bizee, turnaround times vary based on each individual state’s formation speeds. This can be as quick as a few days in some states or could take several weeks in others. You can also add expedited processing to speed it up, although the price will vary by state.

Active Filings: With Active Filings, turnaround times depend on two things. First, each state has its own timelines for processing LLC formation paperwork. Secondly, Active Filings processes LLC formations a bit quicker if you order one of their premium packages as opposed to the free version.

Customer Reviews

Incfile/Bizee: Incfile/Bizee doesn’t just have hundreds of customer reviews available online, they have 75,000+ of them. Furthermore, their feedback is mostly positive, with critical reviews in short supply.

Active Filings: We were unable to find many reviews of Active Filings’ services, as we only dug up a few dozen reviews on any given site.

Ease of Use

Incfile/Bizee: As you walk through the process of signing up for Incfile/Bizee, your steps are personalized based on the state you live in and the type of business you wish to establish. There are 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.

Active Filings: The process of ordering LLC formation services from Active Filings is pretty simple. You’ll start by selecting your state and your business entity type (LLC, corporation, or nonprofit). Then, you choose which of Active Filings’ three LLC formation packages you’d like to purchase. From there, you only have one screen left to complete, where you’ll enter some basic information about yourself and your business and pay for the order.

Additional Services

With either Active Filings or Incfile/Bizee, you have access to a selection of additional services that can help you grow and maintain your business. As you might expect, these companies offer many of the same services, as either can help you with ongoing compliance assistance, operating agreement templates, registered agent service, and more.

However, there are also some services that are only available from Incfile/Bizee. For instance, Incfile/Bizee provides its customers with business accounting services, which is a feature that Active Filings lacks.

Which is the better LLC service?

Active Filings and Incfile/Bizee have many similarities in the way they provide LLC service, but they also differ in a few key ways. Furthermore, depending on your specific needs and priorities, your preference may vary.

If you’re not yet decided between Active Filings and Incfile/Bizee, let’s review a couple of scenarios that may sway you in one direction or the other.

Choose Active Filings if:

If you want a free LLC formation service package that includes ongoing compliance assistance, Active Filings could be worth a look. In general, they are a good Incfile/Bizee alternative.

Choose Incfile/Bizee if:

If you’re looking for low prices and registered agent service from a company with lots of positive reviews, Incfile/Bizee might be a good choice for LLC service.

🎉 Choose ZenBusiness if:

If you’d like to form your LLC for free (+ state fees), we’re here to help. Form your LLC quickly and get more tools to start your dream business.