Business services like LLC formation services and registered agent services can either bolster your entire business or bring it to its knees, which is why my BizFilings reviews are important.
BizFilings is a business formation and incorporation service that supplies registered agent services, as well as business education resources. I’ll tell you all about each of these services in this Bizfilings LLC review.
Unlike most Bizfilings reviews, I won’t hold any punches. I’ll sing its praises where they’re due, but I’ll also be honest about which aspects you should think twice about. By the end of the review, you’ll have all the information you need to decide if it’s the right company for you.
Quick Verdict: Is BizFilings Worth It?
Yes, BizFilings is worth it for some business owners — but not for everyone. I’ve been researching and reviewing LLC formation services for years, and BizFilings always makes its way onto my top 10 list. If you want to see which place it’s in currently, check out my article the Best LLC Services.
What you can tell from that article is that while BizFilings isn’t the best LLC service out there, it isn’t the worst either. And it could be the right one for you depending on what you’re looking for.
BizFilings’ Basic package supplies everything you need to make it through the business formation process, as well as other things you need to keep your business running, like compliance alerts. Its registered agent service isn’t really anything to write home about, but that’s mostly because BizFilings focuses on LLC formation.
BizFilings is a good option for people who want a company with a long-standing history, or who want extra security and guarantees, and are willing to pay extra for it. It has excellent refund and cancellation policies, as well as a guarantee in the event of filing errors.
Its site also lists a lot of information that’s helpful for first-time business owners. You can find out about the LLC formation process, common compliance issues, tax management, and more. And you don’t even have to sign up with BizFilings to get this info — it supplies it to everyone for free.
BizFilings’ Basic package is $99 and includes standard LLC formation services, like a business name check, business filing services, and compliance alerts for annual reports. You can also choose the Standard package for $229 or the Complete package for $359.
While this isn’t the best price out there for business formation, it’s still pretty competitive. And there are certain instances in which it could pay to choose BizFilings.
Pros:
- Guarantee for filing errors
- Website protection from Norton web security
- User-friendly system
- Free educational information about compliance, taxes, and other business-related topics
- Nonprofit incorporation packages
Cons:
- Only 6 months of free registered agent service
- Inconsistent pricing from state to state
- Deceptive wording
- Lack of customer reviews
- Slow turnaround time
Who Is BizFilings For?
Here’s who could benefit the most from BizFilings LLC formation:
- Nonprofit or charity owners
- Business owners who want a well-established business
- Business owners who want some added security and peace of mind
It’s definitely not for everybody. You should steer clear of BizFilings if this is you:
- You don’t want to deal with deceptive wording.
- You want the price reflected on the website, regardless of which state you live in.
- You need to form a limited liability company in a hurry.
- You want to check out some customer feedback before choosing a provider.
BizFilings Features Overview
You get everything you need to form an LLC with BizFilings’ Basic package, and it provides a lot of security. Here’s a rundown of all of BizFilings’ service features:
LLC Formation
Most often, business owners go for the $99 (plus state fees) Basic package because it covers all the essentials and you get a guarantee against filing errors.
LLC Formation Packages
BizFilings offers a $99 Basic package that provides unlimited business name availability searches, business filings, compliance alerts, and six months of registered agent service.
The Standard filing package, which is $229, adds expedited processing service, an LLC kit, a corporate kit and seal, several customizable LLC forms, and a sample operating agreement.
Here’s what an LLC kit includes:
- Custom membership certificates
- Meeting minutes templates
- Other customizable LLC forms
The Complete package, at a whopping $359, adds a federal tax id or EIN so that you can hire employees, a state-certified copy of your documents, and overnight shipping of your LLC formation documents.
Warranty Against Filing Errors
One of the best things about BizFilings is that it has a warranty on all of its LLC formation packages and some of its other services to protect you against filing errors.
If someone from BizFilings makes an error when filing your formation documents, they’ll cover the cost and correct the error. And there’s no time limit on that. So if an error is discovered years down the road, BizFilings will still cover it.
Here are some of the services the warranty applies to:
- Articles of organization or incorporation
- DBAs (doing business as)
- Amendments
- Name reservations
- Foreign qualifications
It’s not standard for LLC formation services to provide warranties specifically for errors like this, which makes it a plus in my book!
Easy-to-Use Website With Educational Information
BizFilings’ website is reasonably easy to use, especially once you find the sitemap. And you can rest easy knowing that any information you enter on the site during the sign-up process, such as your personal or payment information, is protected by Norton website security.
One of the best things about BizFilings’ website is that it contains loads of educational information on topics like tax and accounting, finance, compliance, legal, and other topics. You don’t even have to sign up for its services to access the information. Anyone can head to the site and read up on topics that interest them without creating an online account!
Registered Agent Service
You get six months of free registered agent services with any LLC formation package. You can choose to get your mail and legal documents forwarded to you in the mail or through email via an online document-management system, which comes complete with notifications.
If you opt for the email option, you can still have important documents mailed to you so that you have a physical copy.
The registered agent service automatically comes with BizFilings’ “BizComply” system, which is an online dashboard for document management, sample documents, and compliance alerts. Without the registered agent service, it costs $75 per year.
What I Like About BizFilings
BizFilings isn’t my first choice when it comes to an LLC formation service, but there are still things about it that I like, and there are several things that business owners can benefit from.
Nonprofit and Charity Incorporation
It can be hard for nonprofits and charities to find a formation company that will assist them. So it will come as a relief to many such business owners to know that BizFilings does nonprofit and charity incorporation.
Filing Error Warranty
Generally, you have a legal right to compensation if you hire a company to form an LLC for you and they screw up your paperwork, resulting in damages, but you typically have to go the legal route and seek the counsel of an attorney to get it. But BizFilings is up-front about it and offers this warranty with every LLC formation package it offers.
Not only will you be reimbursed for any financial damage you incur, but BizFIlings will fix the error.
Extra Information
All business owners have questions at some point, so it’s helpful to have a company that supplies information to you about taxes and accounting, finances, compliance, and legal issues. All this information is on BizFilings’ website. And the best part — it’s free!
Beyond that, it also offers extra compliance information in the form of a Compliance DVD. It includes extra information about various LLC compliance obligations that you’ll have to meet. The DVD is included with the Complete package, or $39 by itself.
Why You May Not Like BizFilings
I’m not going to lie here, BizFilings stacks up more cons than pros, and it’s probably not right for more people than it’s right for. Here are some of the reasons you may not like BizFilings:
Registered Agent Service
One of the most obvious drawbacks of BizFilings is that it provides only six months of registered agent service. Other LLC formation companies provide an entire year of free registered agent services, so that’s automatically half as good as many other formation companies.
Once the six months is up, its registered agent services are seriously expensive too. They cost $220 per state per year (plus state fees). Considering many premium registered agent services start at $299, and BizFilings’ registered agent services cost nearly the same amount without any premium features, it’s not worth the cost.
There’s another drawback to its registered agent service that may not be as obvious. The BizComply system, the dash for online document management, compliance alerts, and sample documents, comes free with the registered agent service. But you only get six months of registered agent service for free.
So, after that, you either have to pay for the expensive registered agent service or go with a different registered agent service. If you choose another registered agent provider, you’ll have to pay $75 per year to access the system where all your documents are stored with a different company from your current agent. It’s not very practical or cost efficient.
Inconsistent Pricing from State to State
The prices stated on BizFilings’ website are $99 for the Basic package, $229 for the Standard package and $359 for the Complete package. The problem is that it varies depending on your state, and that information isn’t stated on the website, which means many people will encounter hidden fees. The prices listed are only accurate for 44 states.
For instance, with the Basic package, some states cost more than $99. The Standard package can cost more than $229 in some states but only costs $159 in Delaware.
Here’s a table of the states where standard pricing doesn’t apply.
| State | Basic | Standard | Complete |
| Alaska | $99 | $229 | $434 |
| California | $99 | $229 | $434 |
| Delaware | $99 | $159 | $199 |
| Nebraska | $99 | $229 | $389 |
| Nevada | $174 | $244 | $284 |
| Washington | $99 | $229 | $434 |
Deceptive Wording
BizFilings offers expedited processing service for $60, and it’s included with the Standard and Complete packages. The problem isn’t the price, that’s actually fairly standard. The problem comes when you find out that even if you pay money to expedite the processing time, that doesn’t actually do anything on the state’s end.
All that does is ensure that BizFilings will prioritize filing your paperwork faster than someone who had signed up with them and hadn’t chosen expedited processing. In other words, it just speeds the people in the office a little bit without actually doing much good. You’ll still have to wait for the state to do its bit.
Lack of Customer Reviews
Many business owners research a company before partnering with them, and that’s true of LLC formation services, as well. The problem is that there aren’t very many positive online reviews for BizFilings. And since it was started in 1996, the lack of reviews is definitely a red flag.
Any LLC service that’s been in business for over a year should have online reviews. But BizFilings doesn’t have any reviews on the Better Business Bureau website, Trustpilot, Google, or Facebook. On Yelp, they have a measly four reviews and a two-star rating. In general, it’s a bad look for the company.
Slow Turnaround Time
When it comes to turnaround times, BizFilings falls behind many LLC service providers. On its website, it says that a regular order will take somewhere between four and six weeks, while expedited processing service reduces that to one to two weeks.
They also make a distinction between how fast they file expedited orders and standard orders, which other LLC service providers don’t. So, if you’re looking to start an LLC quickly, BizFilings is not the company to go with.
No Online Services
Many formation services provide services that will help you establish an online presence for your business, like website-building tools, web hosting, and domain name registration. But BizFilings doesn’t do any of this.
Methodology
After perfecting my evaluating system for both the Best LLC Formation Services and the Best Registered Agent Services, the process for rating and reviewing individual providers is similar. Here’s some insight into my reviewing process.
Why You Should Trust Me
You can trust me when it comes to advice about LLC services and registered agent services because it’s pretty likely that I’ve spent more time interacting with and researching these industries.
As niche as this area of study is, I didn’t just get a wild hair to look up LLC service providers one day. I stumbled into this rabbit hole when I started my first LLC. I was inexperienced when it came to LLC formations and didn’t know what I was doing, so I decided to hire a professional LLC service to assist me.
Unfortunately, despite being a professional service, the first company I chose left a lot to be desired. It didn’t offer much in terms of services, and delivering those services wasn’t something they excelled at either. They held my formation up for several weeks.
When it came time to start my second LLC, I chose Northwest Registered Agent. I picked it because it had loads of services and a reasonable rate for everything it offered. On top of the basics, it also offered several additional services that I didn’t expect, like business advice from experienced professionals.
Then came my third LLC and I decided to go with Harbor Compliance because I’d saved up some money to pay for a premium service provider. The driving force behind this decision was Harbor Compliance’s dedicated customer service representatives. And although they were great, I really missed Northwest.
I’ve also helped hundreds of people find the best service provider for their LLC formations. I started BoostSuite so I could provide first-time business owners with advice they could trust. Since then, I’ve helped over 1,000 business owners choose the best LLC service for their companies.
How I Review Each Provider
Here are the things I took into account when writing my BizFilings reviews.
Services
I started out by looking at the list of services that the company offers to make sure it supplies everything you need to start your business. Here are the things I’m looking for in LLC services, and they’re things you should keep an eye out for, too:
- Registered agent service (preferably free for the first year)
- An online document-management system
- Compliance alerts and an online compliance-management tool
- Premium services (like specialty insurance or payment of state fees)
- The quality with which they deliver these services
- Filing formation paperwork
- Assistance with an operating agreement
- Charity and nonprofit formation
- Help getting an EIN or business licenses
Price
For many small business owners who don’t have an influx of cash, the price of a formation service is important. On the bright side, you usually only have to pay for your formation once, but there are things like registered agent service and compliance alerts that you pay for on an annual basis, as well as state fees, and these fees can add up over time.
There are different pricing tiers in the formation industry. There’s the full-service tier that provides the services you need to start a business for $99–$199, and the premium tier that covers everything on the full-service tier, plus additional services and things like specialty insurances and covering state fees. Those usually cost $299 or more.
I compare the price of a service provider to other providers in its tier to determine whether it’s a good deal.
Another thing you should think about is the price of your registered agent service after the first year. BizFilings only offers six months of registered agent service for free, and once that’s up you’ll have to pay $220 for it. That’s not a good price for most registered agent services, but because it’s so bare-bones, it’s absolutely not worth it in the long run.
And you should keep in mind that BizFilings has hidden fees. It may say it’s $99 for the Basic package on its website, but if you live in Nevada, for instance, it will cost you more and there’s no real information that discloses that on the website.
Delivery
Offering services isn’t the only factor that’s important. A company could have a basic package with a service list a mile long, but if the company doesn’t deliver on them, then that service list doesn’t do you any good.
I read online customer reviews — where I could find them — to learn how well LLC providers deliver on their services, how easily navigable their websites and systems are to use, and whether they provide good customer support. Unfortunately, BizFilings doesn’t have very good ratings so it’s safe to assume that nothing it does exceeds customer expectations.
Honesty and Transparency
If you partner with a company, you want to know you’re in good hands, and that it’ll be up-front about its services and prices. LLC providers that are anything less than genuine and trustworthy lose serious points with me. After all, I’m not going to recommend a company that even I can’t trust!
This is another reason that BizFilings got a poor review from me. It shadily hides the fact that its Basic, Standard, and Complete packages cost different prices in different states. And its expedited processing doesn’t speed the process up outside its office.
It does prioritize customers who have paid for expedited processing, but other businesses that have same-day filing don’t require extra fees for it.
Customer Reviews
Reading customer reviews should be mandatory for all Bizfilings reviews. If a company has been in operation for a year or more, there should be a plethora of online reviews. These reviews provide mountains of information, like the quality of the customer support and how well they deliver their services.
The problem that I ran into during research for my BizFilings review is that there are extremely few online reviews to speak of. They amount to less than half a dozen on Yelp, and a two-star rating at that. This is a major red flag.
Conclusion
If you have a nonprofit or charity, you want to use a company that’s been around for a while, or you want to benefit from the added security of BizFilings’ guarantee, then BizFilings could be a good option for you.
The Basic package will cover everything you need to immediately start a business. Its filing-error warranty offers an additional layer of security and peace of mind for business owners. And the fact that it services nonprofits is a feature that’s not guaranteed in the LLC service industry.
Bizfilings definitely isn't for everyone. Its price isn’t the lowest, there are hidden fees and deceptive language on its website, there’s a complete lack of customer reviews online — and the ones that are up aren’t great — and it only supplies six months of registered agent service compared to other companies that supply a whole year of complimentary service.
But if you need a specific type of business entity filing performed or you want additional peace of mind, then BizFilings could be a solution for you.
If you want to check out its Basic, Standard, and Complete packages and get six months of registered agent service for free, head to the website here: BizFilings.
If you enjoyed my BizFilings review, you can read my other business service reviews.
If you’re not sure that BizFilings is the company for you, then I’ve got you covered there, too. Here are some alternatives to BizFilings for you to consider.
Alternatives
Northwest Registered Agent
Northwest Registered Agent is my top choice for the best LLC service. It only has one package, which makes pricing straightforward and easy to understand.
With that package you’ll get your business filings taken care of, as well as a business name search, an operating agreement template, compliance alerts, an online document-management system, a free consultation with its in-house accountants to properly set up your payment systems, a 90-day trial of VoIP service, and a free year of registered agent service.
Along with its basic package you have the option to purchase add-ons, like an EIN or a certified copy of your documents. But because it doesn’t have dozens of service packages, there’s nothing to confuse you with Northwest.
It also has the best customer support team in the industry. It features small business advice delivered straight from experts, which is a fancy way to say you can call in and ask the Corporate Guides any questions you may have about managing your business.
Business advice of this caliber can cost as much as $5,000 per day from consulting firms, but if you use my link you can sign up with Northwest Registered Agent for a surprisingly low $39.
If you want to learn more about Northwest, read my complete review here: Northwest Registered Agent Review.
Harbor Compliance
With Harbor Compliance, you get a dedicated account manager. The manager assigned to your account is familiar with how your business operates and the current struggles it’s facing, so they can provide you with sage wisdom that’s customized to meet your unique needs.
With its basic package, you’ll get a business name check, business filings, an operating agreement template, an EIN, and a year of free registered agent service. And its registered agent service is $99 per year (plus state fees) after that first year, which isn’t bad.
The downside is that you’ll pay a pretty penny for this outstanding support and excellent service list. Its formation package is $399, and its compliance package is an astonishing $799. That’s enough to turn a lot of people off entirely, so it’s a good idea to consider whether it’s worth it to you.
If you’d like to learn more about Harbor Compliance, read my Harbor Compliance review.
Incorporate Fast
If you’re looking for a company that can get your business up and running in a hurry, you should look into Incorporate Fast. It’s spent years creating a network of filers and couriers to ensure speedy filings. It offers same-day filing, and unlike BizFilings, it doesn’t charge extra for it or prioritize one filing over another.
With its $99 basic package you get same-day processing, unlimited business name searches, an online document-management system, an operating agreement, compliance alerts, and a free year of registered agent service.
The drawback is that it’s not as cheap as Northwest, it has an alarming lack of online customer reviews, and its registered agent service costs $125 per year (plus state fees) after the first year.
If you’d like to learn more about Incorporate Fast, check out its website here: Incorporate Fast.
