MyCorporation vs LegalZoom

Common Features

1) Cheaper: Both providers will get your business incorporated for typically much less than a conventional lawyer or law firm charges.

2) Experience: Both have been in the industry for over a decade and can boast over 1 million successful business formations thus far.

3) Abundant Reviews: Each has accumulated a substantial amount of reviews on a variety of review-based websites. These are a great resource to get a sense of past customer experiences.

4) Satisfaction Guarantees: As a safety net both offer money-back and 100% satisfaction guarantees. If you’re not happy with their services they’ll refund you their fees (although they can’t refund any state fees/taxes).

5) Positive Ratings: The reviews for both are predominantly positive!

What Sets Them Apart

MyCorporation

• Cheaper Registered Agent Services: They charge $120/year for Registered Agent services, which is quite a competitive rate in the industry and $39 cheaper than LegalZoom. MyCorporation also includes one year of these services in their Deluxe and Premium incorporation packages, while LegalZoom only offers them as an add-on feature.

• MaintainMyBiz Compliance: Starting at $250 (or included in the Premium package) their business maintenance suite MaintainMyBiz is an easy, affordable option for post-incorporation compliance services. Rather than paying for your amendment, apostille, stock certificates, or whatever you may need separately, you can choose whatever four documents (out of their list of sixteen) you want them to file for you each year and have it all on the same bill.

• Lower package prices: Simply put, MyCorporation’s incorporation packages are just cheaper and more generous than LegalZoom’s.

 

LegalZoom

• More Diverse Services: In the end, LegalZoom offers a much greater variety of services than MyCorporation. In addition to business formation and general compliance services, they can take care of work visas, real estate business, wills and trusts, and much more. Their versatility makes them an attractive option for people who’d like to go to one provider for all of their legal needs, far beyond incorporation. Take a peek at all their business maintenance services below:

• No Registered Agent Services Included: As mentioned, none of LegalZoom’s incorporation packages include Registered Agent services. They’re only available as an add-on for $159/year.

• More Expensive Packages: Their formation packages just flat out cost more.

Hopefully all that information wasn’t confusing, and as you can see they both have their own unique approach. Speaking of which, let’s dive into their pricing & package differences!

Customer Reviews

MyCorporation

MyCorporation has more consistently positive reviews than LegalZoom. This is partially due to the difference in scale – LegalZoom has acquired tens of thousands of reviews whereas MyCorporation only has a couple hundred.

But nonetheless, MyCorporation’s complaints are scarce, and we can’t say the same for LegalZoom. Take a look at MyCorporation’s Trustpilot and Google review averages,

And here’s a few of their most recent Google ratings:

 

LegalZoom

Because they have a review forum specifically for their incorporation services on their website, they’ve accumulated a TON of reviews. Currently they’ve got nearly 20,000 on their website alone, and a few hundred across third-party sites.

While the reviews on LegalZoom.com are all pushing 5-star averages, the ones you’ll find on BBB, SiteJabber and some other forums are more of a mixed bag. To get a visual, here’s a sampling of their rating distribution on their website:

This compared to their ratings on SiteJabber:

Point being, LegalZoom has a HUGE amount of positive customer feedback, but they also have several hundred negative reviews, while MyCorporation only has a handful. That said, here’s a peek at some of LegalZoom’s most recent reviews:

Pricing Differences

MyCorporation

MyCorporation breaks their incorporation services into four packages: Basic, Standard, Deluxe and Premium.

Here’s what each one includes:

• Basic ($69 + state fees): Includes name availability search, articles of incorporation and a free newsletter subscription.

• Standard ($99 + state fees): Everything in the Basic package plus corporate bylaws, minutes, waivers, stock transfer ledgers, compliance tips, corporate stock certificates and annual report services.

• Deluxe ($199 + state fees): Includes Registered Agent Services in addition to everything in the Standard package (most popular among the four).

• Premium ($299 + state fees): Everything from the Deluxe package plus MaintainMyBiz services for the cherry on top.

When it comes down to it, MyCorporation will get your business started for $69. That said, they do a great job of making each upgrade worth the extra cost with a generous host of features and competitive rates for Registered Agent and business maintenance services.

For an in-depth look of their platform, check out our comprehensive MyCorporation Review.

 

LegalZoom

LegalZoom has three incorporation packages, Economy, Standard and Express Gold.

Here’s what comes in each:

• Economy ($149 + state fees): Includes business filing, name availability search, filing of state documents, financial account authorization letter and a 30-day turnaround time.

• Standard ($289 + state fees): Comes with 20 customized membership certificates, company seal & binder and a 15-day turnaround time, in addition to everything in the economy package.

• Express Gold ($359 + state fees): Everything in the Standard package plus your Federal Tax ID (EIN), 7-10 business-day turnaround time, 2-day shipping, and a 30-day trial of their business advisory plan.

LegalZoom can get you incorporated for a minimum of $149 (+ state fees), $80 more than MyCorporation.

Needless to say their prices aren’t the lowest in the industry, but they still have a solid following because of their long history, easy-to-use website and, frankly, their name recognition.

Be sure to bookmark our LegalZoom Review for a more detailed look!

Which Should You Choose?

Although MyCorporation and LegalZoom both have tons going for them, when it comes down to their incorporation services MyCorporation wins.

That said, they’re both reliable services that will make the process quick and easy for you – no muss, no fuss, no getting blindsided.

Go with your gut and choose the one that feels right for your business. But based on this side-by-side comparison, MyCorporation takes the gold!