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Quick answer: Inc Authority is the cheaper way to get an LLC on file — formation is $0 plus your state fee, with a free first year of registered agent service. Registered Agents Inc costs more upfront at $100 + state fee, but that one flat price bundles your state filing, a domain name, a website, and your first year of registered agent service, with a much shorter, quieter checkout. For most founders — and especially non-US founders who need predictable pricing and no sales calls — we recommend Registered Agents Inc. If your only goal is the lowest possible day-one cost and you are comfortable declining add-ons, Inc Authority is a legitimate, long-running alternative. Below, we run the real three-year math and show exactly where each service makes its money.
Table of Contents
- Side-by-Side Comparison
- Pricing and the True First-Year Cost
- What’s Included in Each Package
- Registered Agent Service
- EIN Handling (Especially for Non-US Founders)
- Extras, Upsells, and the Checkout Experience
- Customer Support
- Privacy
- Who Should Choose Registered Agents Inc?
- Who Should Choose Inc Authority?
- How This Comparison Was Done
- FAQ
- Final Verdict
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Registered Agents Inc | Inc Authority |
|---|---|---|
| LLC formation service fee | $100 + state fee | $0 + state fee |
| What’s included | State filing, domain name, website, 1 year of registered agent service | State filing, business name check, 1 year of registered agent service, tax planning consultation |
| Registered agent cost | Free for year 1, then $200/year | Free for year 1, then about $199/year (reports range up to $249 — check current pricing) |
| Domain name / website | Both included in the formation price | Not included; website and email tools are paid add-ons |
| EIN help | Guidance included; the IRS itself charges nothing | Free if you choose it instead of free expedited filing; otherwise about $49 |
| Checkout experience | One flat price, minimal upsells | Several add-on screens; follow-up sales calls are commonly reported |
| Best for | Founders who want everything handled at one known price — especially non-US founders | US-based founders chasing the lowest possible day-one cost |
Pricing and the True First-Year Cost
Headline prices are only half the story, so let’s do the full math on a real example: a Wyoming LLC, where the state filing fee is $100.
Registered Agents Inc: $100 service fee + $100 Wyoming state fee = $200 out the door in year one. That covers your Articles of Organization filing, a domain name, a starter website, and 12 months of registered agent service. When the free agent year ends, the registered agent service renews at $200/year.
Inc Authority: $0 service fee + $100 Wyoming state fee = $100 out the door. That covers the filing, a business name check, 12 months of registered agent service, and a tax planning consultation. It’s a genuinely good headline deal — $0 formation services are real, and Inc Authority makes its money later, on renewals and add-ons, instead of at signup.
Here’s how the two compare over three years, before optional extras:
| Cost over time (Wyoming LLC) | Registered Agents Inc | Inc Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 — formation service + state fee | $200 | $100 |
| Year 2 — registered agent renewal | $200 | About $199 (check current pricing) |
| Year 3 — registered agent renewal | $200 | About $199 (check current pricing) |
| Three-year service total | $600 | About $498 |
Both companies also sit on top of the same state obligations — in Wyoming, that’s the $60 minimum annual license tax, which goes to the state regardless of which service you use.
So let’s be honest about the math: if you buy nothing else, Inc Authority comes out roughly $100 ahead over three years. But there are two caveats. First, Inc Authority’s renewal price is not displayed as prominently as its $0 headline — most current sources put it around $199/year, though some report $249, so confirm the figure at checkout. Second, most founders do buy something else. The moment you add Inc Authority’s $89 operating agreement, the gap shrinks to almost nothing — and Registered Agents Inc has already given you a domain and website that Inc Authority sells separately. The real question isn’t which headline is lower; it’s which total matches what you’ll actually buy.
What’s Included in Each Package
Registered Agents Inc keeps it simple: one formation offer. For $100 + state fee you get your state filing prepared and submitted, a domain name, a website, and a full year of registered agent service. There are no bundle tiers to decode, and the order page shows the complete price before you pay.
Inc Authority leads with its free package, which is more generous than most $0 offers: Articles of Organization preparation and filing, a business name availability check, one year of registered agent service, digital document storage, an S-election form, a state and federal tax planning consultation, and a business credit and funding analysis. From there, everything else is à la carte or bundled into paid packages (bundle pricing changes often — check current pricing). A custom operating agreement is $89. A web address with business email addresses is a small add-on (around $10 in recent reviews), and their website builder is a paid tool after a free trial period.
The practical difference: Registered Agents Inc sells you a business starter kit at a fixed price. Inc Authority files your LLC for free and then sells you the starter kit piece by piece. Neither model is dishonest — but they reward different kinds of buyers.
Registered Agent Service
Every LLC must name a registered agent: a person or company with a physical address in your formation state that accepts legal documents and state mail during business hours. Both services include the first year free, so the real comparison is the renewal.
Registered Agents Inc charges $200/year for registered agent service — that’s their published standalone rate, so you know the year-two cost on day one. Inc Authority’s renewal is widely reported at about $199/year, with some sources saying $249; the company doesn’t promote the number next to its $0 headline, so check current pricing before you file. One more Inc Authority quirk worth knowing: reviewers note its registered agent service is tied to businesses formed through Inc Authority, so you generally can’t hire them as a standalone agent for an existing LLC.
In day-to-day quality, both do the core job: a real address in your state, document scanning, and forwarding. Inc Authority has been doing this since 1989, and that longevity shows in the depth of its support operation. Registered Agents Inc counters with simpler, flat pricing. For non-US founders — who legally cannot use a home address abroad as their agent address — this line item isn’t optional, so the renewal price matters more than the free first year.
EIN Handling (Especially for Non-US Founders)
Your LLC needs an EIN (Employer Identification Number) to open a US business bank account, hire, or file taxes. The EIN itself is free from the IRS. If you have a Social Security Number, you can apply online in minutes. If you’re a non-US founder without an SSN or ITIN, you must submit Form SS-4 by fax or mail — a process that takes weeks, and no formation company can make the IRS move faster. What you’re paying for, if anything, is correct paperwork and guidance.
This is where the two services differ in a sneaky way. Inc Authority’s free package makes you pick one freebie: either free EIN registration help or free expedited filing. Whichever you don’t choose costs about $49. It’s not a bad deal, but “free EIN included” and “free express filing included” are not both free at once. Registered Agents Inc builds EIN guidance into its formation flow without the either/or trade, and its overall process is oriented toward founders who may not have US documents — the fax-based SS-4 route is treated as the normal path, not an edge case.
Whichever service you choose, non-US founders should budget time, not money, for the EIN: file the SS-4 carefully the first time, because errors mean starting the fax queue over.
Extras, Upsells, and the Checkout Experience
This is Inc Authority’s weakest area, and it’s not close. Multiple independent reviewers describe an Inc Authority checkout built around a sequence of add-on screens — by one count, around eight separate upsell steps — with offers for the $89 operating agreement, legal document packages (about $99), IRS Form 2553 preparation (about $79), minutes and resolutions (about $99), the $49 EIN-or-expedited-filing option, and website/email extras. Many offers are perfectly legitimate products; the issue is the pressure. Countdown timers and follow-up sales calls after you order are commonly reported, and negative customer feedback about Inc Authority clusters heavily around unexpected renewals and add-ons rather than bad filings.
Registered Agents Inc is the opposite experience: one service, one price ($100 + state fee), and the domain, website, and agent year already inside it. There is simply less to sell you on the way through, because the bundle is the product.
If you’re disciplined about clicking “no thanks,” Inc Authority’s funnel costs you nothing but time. If you’d rather not run a gauntlet at the exact moment you’re trying to start a business, that difference alone may be worth $100.
Customer Support
Inc Authority is the bigger, older operation — in business since 1989 — with phone support on weekdays (Pacific hours), email support through its INC Care team, and a very large volume of customer reviews collected over decades. The pattern in that feedback is consistent: praise for knowledgeable, patient phone staff; criticism aimed at sales pressure and renewal surprises. In other words, the people are generally well-liked; the funnel is not.
Registered Agents Inc runs a leaner support model built around its formation customers, with help available through the order and account process. It doesn’t have Inc Authority’s 35-year track record, and we won’t pretend otherwise. What it offers instead is that there is less to need support about: one price, one package, fewer moving parts to dispute later.
Privacy
Using any formation service as your registered agent keeps the agent’s address — not your home address — on the public state record for that line item. For non-US founders this is doubly valuable: your foreign residential address stays out of US public filings, and you meet the in-state physical address requirement you couldn’t satisfy yourself.
Both services give you this shield. Registered Agents Inc pairs it with an included domain registration for your business, so your web presence is set up under the business from day one. With Inc Authority, the domain and website pieces are separate purchases, which means separate accounts and separate renewals to track. Neither service can make your ownership fully anonymous in every state — some states ask for member or manager names on annual reports — but both are far better than filing with your personal address.
Who Should Choose Registered Agents Inc?
Choose Registered Agents Inc if:
- You’re a non-US founder and want a process built for people without an SSN or US address.
- You want your domain name and website handled in the same order as your filing.
- You prefer one flat, published price — including the $200/year registered agent renewal — over a $0 headline with à-la-carte math.
- You don’t want sales calls or a multi-screen upsell funnel between you and a filed LLC.
Who Should Choose Inc Authority?
Choose Inc Authority if:
- Your top priority is the lowest possible day-one cost: $0 + state fee is as cheap as legitimate formation gets.
- You’re US-based, comfortable declining add-ons, and happy to set a reminder to review the registered agent renewal before year two.
- You don’t need a domain or website bundled in, or you already have them.
- You value a company that has been forming businesses since 1989 and has a large, established support team.
How This Comparison Was Done
We compared the two companies’ published formation offers, order flows, and renewal terms as of October 2026, and cross-checked Inc Authority’s less prominent prices (registered agent renewal, add-ons) against multiple independent reviews, because Inc Authority doesn’t display every figure on its pricing pages. Anything that varies by state, promotion, or checkout path is marked “check current pricing.” Registered Agents Inc’s $100 + state fee price and its $200/year registered agent rate are the company’s published figures. FormaAdvisor earns a commission when readers buy through our Registered Agents Inc links; Inc Authority figures were pulled from its own materials and third-party reviews, and the cost tables above show several places where Inc Authority genuinely wins on price.
FAQ
Is Inc Authority’s $0 LLC formation really free?
Yes, the filing service itself is free — you pay only your state’s filing fee. Inc Authority makes its money from the registered agent renewal starting in year two and from optional add-ons like the $89 operating agreement. Set a reminder before the free agent year expires so the renewal is a decision, not a surprise.
Which service is cheaper over three years?
On our Wyoming example, Inc Authority totals about $498 in service fees over three years versus $600 for Registered Agents Inc — but that assumes you buy no Inc Authority extras and doesn’t count the domain and website that Registered Agents Inc includes. Add the operating agreement to Inc Authority and the gap nearly disappears.
Can non-US founders use either service?
Yes. Both can file LLCs for foreign owners. The bigger non-US hurdle is the EIN: without an SSN you must fax or mail Form SS-4 to the IRS, whichever service you use. A registered agent with a US address is also mandatory for foreign founders, which is why both services bundling year one is genuinely useful.
What happens when the free registered agent year ends?
The service renews automatically. Registered Agents Inc charges $200/year. Inc Authority’s renewal is reported around $199/year, sometimes higher — check current pricing in your account before the anniversary date. You can also switch agents by filing a change with your state, but that takes paperwork and a small state fee.
Do I actually need an operating agreement?
Most states don’t require you to file one, but banks frequently ask for one when you open a business account, and it documents who owns what — critical for multi-member LLCs. Inc Authority charges $89 for one as an add-on; if you skip it at checkout, have one drafted before you open your business bank account.
Can I change registered agents later if I pick wrong?
Yes. You file a registered agent change with your formation state (typically a small fee), and your new agent takes over. US-based founders with a physical address in the state can even act as their own agent. Non-US founders can’t — they need a service with an in-state address, which is why the renewal price deserves attention up front.
Final Verdict
Inc Authority wins the headline: $0 formation with a free year of registered agent service is a real offer from a company that’s been around since 1989, and if day-one cost is your deciding factor, it’s a sound choice. But for most founders — and for almost every non-US founder — we recommend Registered Agents Inc. One flat $100 + state fee covers your filing, domain name, website, and first year of registered agent service; the $200/year renewal is published up front; and there’s no upsell obstacle course between you and a formed LLC. Predictability is worth paying for when you’re starting a business from another country.
Ready to file? Form your LLC with Registered Agents Inc for $100 + state fee — domain, website, and your first year of registered agent service included.
This article is general educational information, not legal or tax advice. LLC formation rules, state fees, and tax obligations vary by state and by your personal situation — consult a qualified attorney or tax professional before making decisions for your business.