Part 1: Checking state facts
Every state fact on the site (a fee, a deadline, a form name, a search link, a status word) lives in one record per state. Pages are built from that record, so a correction made once shows up everywhere the fact appears.
How we check
- We open the official source: the agency's fee schedule, its forms, its FAQ, the statute, or the search page itself. Other guides and formation companies are never the source.
- We record the value, the exact page it came from, and the date we checked it. Where the agency gives an effective date for a change, we record that too.
- If we can't confirm something on an official page, we don't publish it. That's why a few states have shorter lists of status terms, and why New Mexico isn't in our fee tables yet.
- Each state is re-checked at least every quarter, and sooner when a reader reports a change.
Our last full check of every state was on November 8, 2026. It turned up real changes, including Delaware's LLC tax rising to $400 and new filing systems in Michigan, Texas, Utah and Nevada. The date under each page title tells you when that page was last checked.
Part 2: Ranking providers
Formation services and registered agent services are scored out of 100 on the weights below. The score sets the order on comparison pages. Commission rates are not an input, and the order would not change if a provider stopped paying us.
Formation services
| Criterion | Weight | What we measure |
|---|---|---|
| Year-two cost | 30% | What a typical customer pays in the second year with the registered agent kept and the default add-ons, before the state fee. |
| Included at base price | 25% | Whether the agent, EIN, operating agreement and compliance reminders are in the base package or sold separately. |
| Privacy and upsell behavior | 20% | Whether the service uses its own address where the state allows; whether add-ons are pre-selected; whether client data is sold. |
| Speed and support | 15% | Time to submit to the state; support channels and hours. Currently from published claims, to be replaced by test orders. |
| Track record | 10% | Years operating; pattern of complaints about filing errors (as distinct from complaints about renewals). |
Registered agent services
| Criterion | Weight | What we measure |
|---|---|---|
| Renewal price | 35% | The standalone annual price after any first-year promotion. |
| Address privacy | 25% | Whether the service's address can stand in for yours on public filings. |
| Forwarding | 20% | How quickly and by what means documents reach you. Currently from published claims. |
| Upsell pressure | 10% | How much of the checkout and account is devoted to selling other things. |
| Track record | 10% | Years operating; complaint patterns. |
What we have not done yet
We haven't placed test orders with each service yet. Until we do, speed and forwarding scores rest on the providers' own published claims, and the reviews say so. When test orders are done, the date will appear at the top of each review.
Provider prices come from each company's own pricing page, and we re-check them every month. The date of the last check is shown wherever a price appears.