Does Direct Incorporation Have Good Customer Support?

Direct Incorporation keeps their support in-house, which is a big advantage compared to some competitors who outsource their customer service to anonymous call centers. You can reach Direct Incorporation’s helpful service reps from 9am to 6pm ET on weekdays.

Is Direct Incorporation Legit?

Direct Incorporation has been around since 2003, and they’ve served more than 80,000 customers over the years. They only have about 30 customer reviews available online, and although they’re somewhat mixed between positive and negative feedback, a majority of their reviews are positive.

Do They Have a Refund Policy?

In their own words: “If an order for any of our services is canceled after we have received payment then the full amount will be refunded less a $40.00 processing fee.”

Can I Form an LLC on My Own?

Sure, you always have this option. In fact, quite a few entrepreneurs choose to form their own LLCs. The issue with this is that it can be quite time-consuming, especially once you figure out your formation state’s unique rules and regulations. On the other end of the spectrum, some entrepreneurs hire a lawyer to form a new LLC, but this is usually much more expensive than online LLC services.

Should I Reserve My LLC Name Before Forming an LLC?

There are only a couple of scenarios where this is a necessary step. First, if you’re not yet ready to enter the formation process itself, you can reserve a name to use at a later date when you form your business. The other scenario is if you’re forming a business in Alabama, where reserving a name in advance is a requirement to form an LLC. Other than that, you most likely do not need to reserve a name in advance.

Can I Form an LLC Without Physically Being in the United States?

Yes, you can. Not only do you not need to be physically present in the United States to form an LLC, but you also don’t need to be an American citizen or resident. Part of the reason the LLC is such a popular business entity is the fact that the requirements regarding who can form one are so loose.

How Does Direct Incorporation Compare to Other LLC Providers?

It’s totally fine to be uncertain about which online LLC formation service is the right choice for your unique business. After all, there are a ton of options out there, and each of them has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. However, we’ve done countless hours of research on this topic, reviewing and comparing all of the best LLC formation services. Beyond that, we invite you to check out some of our comparison guides, which take a head-to-head view of the competition between Direct Incorporation and their top competitors: Direct Incorporation vs LegalZoom, Direct Incorporation vs IncFile.

Does Direct Incorporation Do New York Publication or Alabama Name Reservation?

We called Direct Incorporation to find out whether they tackle state-specific compliance requirements or not, and unfortunately, the answer was no. If you’re forming a business in a state that requires publication or other unique steps, you’ll need to handle those yourself. If you’re looking for a company that will take care of publication requirements on your behalf, check out our guide to the best New York publication services. They do, however, take care of name reservations in Alabama if that’s a service you require.

What’s the Direct Incorporation Support Phone Number & Email?

You can contact Direct Incorporation’s support reps by calling 1-877-281-6496. If you want to email them, they don’t have a general support email address listed on their website, but they do have each employee’s email address posted on the “Our Team” page. You can select the employee whose job description best fits your needs and email them directly.

Does Direct Incorporation Share My Information With Third Parties?

Even though Direct Incorporation offers a wide variety of services and features, they provide nearly everything in-house and therefore don’t have many areas where they would share your info with other entities. However, if you take a look at their privacy policy, you’ll find the following note in the fine print: “Our website clients may from time to time be contacted by a third-party merchant card service to discuss merchant card services and accepting credit cards.” Other than that though, they pledge that your information “will not be shared, traded, or sold to any other private organization.”

Other Than LLC Formation, What Else Can Direct Incorporation Do?

Direct Incorporation has an exhaustive list of additional business services, including doing business as (DBA) names, foreign qualifications, amendments, dissolutions, 501(c)(3) nonprofit applications, business compliance assistance, annual reports, tax programs, trademark protection, copyright service, logo design, and web design.

I’ve Heard LegalZoom Has a Lot of Upsells. Does Direct Incorporation?

On one hand, Direct Incorporation does have plenty of opportunities for you to upgrade to their more expensive LLC formation packages. On the other hand, they’re never pushy about it, and once you’ve made your choice they don’t try to force anything extra on you. Overall, we don’t have a problem with Direct Incorporation when it comes to upsells, especially when compared to LegalZoom’s LLC service.

Is There a Promo Code or Discount for Direct Incorporation?

Unfortunately, we are not aware of any discount codes for Direct Incorporation. Trust us, it’s not for a lack of searching. We looked far and wide hoping to find a way for our readers to save money with Direct Incorporation, but we came up empty. Direct Incorporation has reasonable pricing, but it’s disappointing that there aren’t any ways to knock their rates down a bit.

Does Direct Incorporation Offer Assistance With Ongoing Compliance Issues?

Every package offered by Direct Incorporation has six months of free registered agent service. It will cost $159 per year when the trial expires. They also offer annual report services for $97.

ZenBusiness reviews its own products and services and compares them to others in the industry.

ZenBusiness > …
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Best Active Filings LLC Service Alternatives

Compare the top Active Filings alternatives below or choose ZenBusiness today.

Starts at $119

✨ ZenBusiness ✨

What This Service Is Best Known For: Great low rates, feature-packed formation packages, and a dedication to giving back.

At ZenBusiness, we opened our doors in 2017 and have a unique approach to business formation services thanks to the use of automation to speed up and simplify several parts of the process. Plus, we have formed more than 700,000 businesses.

Let’s see how we stack up when compared to Active Filings.

We’re one of the most affordable LLC services online. Like Active Filings, we can form your new business for free (just pay your state’s required fee).
If you like seeing positive customer reviews, you’ll love ZenBusiness. With more than 12,000 reviews available online, it’s difficult to find more than just a small handful of negative reviews. Meanwhile, we were only able to track down a few dozen reviews for Active Filings.
As a company, ZenBusiness has a commitment to giving back. Being a public benefit corporation, ZenBusiness offers 40 $5,000 small-business grants to our customers and loans money to help underrepresented entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground.

If you want to use a socially conscious provider and get exceptional value, choose ZenBusiness.

Northwest Registered Agent

What This Service Is Best Known For: Personalized customer support and a focus on registered agent service.

Northwest was formed in 1998, and with thousands of LLC formations since then, they’re an experienced and reliable option. If you’re looking for a solid mid-size company, they might just be the right choice for you. How do they compare to Active Filings?

Northwest offers LLC formation service at the price point of $225, while Active Filings has a $0 package (you’ll pay your state’s fee either way).
Northwest’s claim to fame is its personalized customer support network. While some competitors outsource their support to anonymous call centers in foreign countries, Northwest keeps it all in-house, with knowledgeable reps providing personalized service.
As you may have guessed from reading their name, Northwest Registered Agent focuses on offering registered agent service, and they include a year with any formation package, just like Active Filings. Furthermore, Northwest was the first major registered agent provider that locally scans each and every document they receive on your behalf.

Want to learn more? See our Northwest review.

Incfile

What This Service Is Best Known For: Free LLC formations that still come with valuable features.

Incfile opened in 2004, and they’ve served more than 1 million businesses since then. Their popularity can be attributed to a number of positive qualities, from their low prices to their strong customer feedback. Let’s take a look at how they compare to Active Filings.

Offering free LLC service packages that only require you to pay your state fee, Incfile and Active Filings are two of the most affordable LLC services available.
Incfile and Active Filings both provide a full year of registered agent service with any LLC formation.
Customer feedback is a strong point for Incfile. They have more than 75,000 reviews available online, and they maintain high average ratings. Active Filings has a much smaller volume of feedback.

Want to learn more? See our Incfile review.

LegalZoom

What This Service Is Best Known For: Extensive marketing campaigns and a massive volume of customers served.

LegalZoom is one of the most popular LLC service providers in the industry. They’ve formed more than 2 million LLCs since they opened in 1999, and they’ve served more than 4 million total customers. They clearly serve a high volume of customers, but do they compare favorably to Active Filings overall?

Like Active Filings, LegalZoom also starts their pricing for LLC formation service at $0 + state fee.
Neither of these companies includes any valuable features with their free LLC formation service packages.
Aside from their brand power and high customer volume, another pro for LegalZoom is their extended support hours that run from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET on weekends. That said, Active Filings is a solid LegalZoom alternative.

Want to learn more? See our LegalZoom review.

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*Processing times are based on receiving complete information. ZenBusiness processing times do not include Secretary of State processing times, which can vary.
**SPECIAL OFFER – Get Starter for $0 plus state fees. Includes one optional free year of Worry-Free Compliance that renews at $199/yr.
† ZenBusiness is a financial technology company and is not a bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC.

Customer Feedback Comparison

One of the most important aspects of any LLC formation service is the customer feedback the company receives. To help you analyze each company’s customer reviews, we decided to create this customer feedback comparison section that breaks down how these companies stack up next to each other in this crucial area.

LLC formation services can have customer feedback collections that vary considerably in both quality and quantity. With this in mind, we created the following comparison in an attempt to make it as easy as possible for you to compare these companies in an apples-to-apples manner.

Active Filings: 89 reviews / 4.6-star average score
ZenBusiness: 12,456 reviews / 4.6-star average score
Northwest Registered Agent: 779 reviews / 4.7-star average score
Incfile: 75,223 reviews / 4.7-star average score
LegalZoom: 6,067 reviews / 4.5-star average score

Final Thoughts

ZenBusiness, Active Filings, Northwest, Incfile, and LegalZoom are all popular LLC service providers. Depending on your preferences and the unique needs of your business, you may find that one of them meets your requirements better than the others can.

When it comes down to making a choice between these services:

At ZenBusiness, we have a well-rounded service offering that combines a free LLC formation service (just pay your state’s fee) with outstanding customer feedback.
Active Filings could be a solid choice if you prioritize receiving ongoing compliance assistance with your LLC formation service package.
Northwest is an option if you want personalized customer support and are willing to pay extra for premium services.
Incfile could be worth a look if you’re looking for a free LLC service and reasonably priced add-ons.
LegalZoom is an acceptable option if you prioritize using the most popular company.

Recommended articles:

Frequently Asked Questions About Active Filings

Do any of these services handle requirements like New York publication?

Only two of these five companies provides state-specific publication services: ZenBusiness and Active Filings. Northwest does at least provide their customers with a set of instructions to complete their own publication requirement, but Incfile and LegalZoom don’t help at all. With this in mind, it’s a pretty significant advantage for ZenBusiness and Active Filings to be the only options in this guide for those of you who want help with New York publication service.
Are any of these services faster than the others?

The filing times for Northwest and Incfile are quite close in most states because these companies use the same criteria to come up with their turnaround time estimates: the processing times of each state. While one of them might be a day or two quicker in a few isolated states, for the most part, there is no significant difference.

LegalZoom and ZenBusiness, along with Active Filings, have turnaround times that vary based on both state capabilities and which level of service you choose. LegalZoom’s cheapest package takes 30 business days, while their most expensive plan takes 7-10 business days. Meanwhile, we have turnaround times that vary somewhat from state to state, but processing speeds also depend on which package you select. Active Filings has a similar setup to ours.
Which service has the best refund policy?

Active Filings, LegalZoom, and ZenBusiness have highly similar refund policies that are the most reasonable in this industry. With any of these services, you’ll receive at least a 60-day satisfaction guarantee (Active Filings gives you 90 days). If you’re unhappy with the service for any reason, all you need to do is request a refund.
Can I form an LLC on my own without a service?

You can. In fact, it’s not uncommon for entrepreneurs to form their own LLCs without professional assistance. However, there’s nothing quite like the peace of mind we get from using a business formation service that forms LLCs every day.

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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