Bizee vs Inc Authority (2026): Best Free LLC Service?

If you are shopping for an LLC and refuse to pay a markup on paperwork you could technically file yourself, you have probably landed on the two best-known "free" services in the category. This Bizee vs Inc Authority comparison puts them head to head, because on paper they look nearly identical: both advertise a $0 formation tier, both throw in a free first year of registered agent service, and both make their money on the add-ons that follow.

So this is not the usual "one is free, one is expensive" matchup. It is two genuinely free services competing on everything around the free filing — how polished the experience is, how hard they push upsells, and how much you can trust the brand behind it. This guide breaks down where they actually differ so you can pick the right one with your eyes open.

Bizee vs Inc Authority at a glance

What each company is

Bizee, formerly known as Incfile, is one of the most prolific formation services in the United States, having filed for well over a million businesses. That volume matters: it means a long public track record, a large body of customer reviews, and a filing engine that has processed just about every state scenario. Its calling card is the genuinely free base package paired with a fast, reasonably modern flow. You can read more on the Bizee provider page.

Inc Authority is the other long-running name in the free-formation space. Like Bizee, it will file your LLC for $0 plus the state fee and includes a free first year of registered agent service. Where it differs is presentation and sales approach: the onboarding leans harder into offering bundles and premium services, and the dashboard has a more dated feel. See the Inc Authority provider page for the full breakdown.

If you are still fuzzy on what an LLC actually gives you before choosing a filer, start with our plain-English guide to what an LLC is.

Pricing: what you will actually pay

Both services start at $0 + your state filing fee, so the headline price is a genuine tie. The state fee is unavoidable no matter who you use — it goes to your state, not the service. The real comparison is what each bundles into that $0 and how hard they work to sell you more.

The good news for budget founders is that both include the single most valuable freebie in the category: a free first year of registered agent service. That is a real perk at both, and it is why these two consistently show up on "cheapest way to form an LLC" lists. After year one, that agent service renews at a paid annual rate at both providers.

The difference is what happens at checkout. Both present paid add-ons — an EIN, an operating agreement, expedited filing, compliance packages, and bundles. Inc Authority tends to surface more of these, more insistently, sometimes before you even reach the free option. Bizee upsells too, but the prompts are generally lighter and simpler to decline.

Here is a simplified view of how the two line up (always verify current pricing):

Want a personalized number? Our free LLC Cost Calculator estimates your real first-year and ongoing costs by state and by the services you actually need.

Where each shines

Bizee

Bizee's strength is that it delivers the free deal without making the experience feel like a sales gauntlet. The flow is quick, the dashboard is clean enough to navigate on your first visit, and the sheer volume behind the company means the filing itself is dependable. For a decisive founder who wants the cheapest correct filing and a usable dashboard afterward, it is the safer default.

Inc Authority

Inc Authority earns its place because the underlying offer is real: a $0 filing with a free first-year agent, from a company that has been doing this for years. The tradeoff is the experience. You will work harder to get through the upsells, and the dashboard feels a step behind. If you are comfortable clicking past sales prompts, none of that changes the fact that you can walk away having paid only your state fee.

Registered agent, EIN, and upsells

Every U.S. LLC must maintain a registered agent — a person or company with a physical address in your state that receives legal and government mail on the LLC's behalf. This is usually a paid annual service, which is exactly why a free first year is such a common hook.

Here, Bizee and Inc Authority are effectively tied: both include a free first year of registered agent service, and both renew at a paid rate afterward. That is genuinely useful at both, but treat the renewal as the real cost and diarize it. Because you can change your registered agent with the state whenever you like, a renewal you dislike is easy to leave — you are not locked in for filing with either.

On the EIN (your federal tax ID), both offer to obtain it as a paid add-on. It is worth knowing you can get an EIN yourself for free directly from the IRS, so this is an add-on you can usually skip. The same goes for an operating agreement: both sell one, but you can generate a solid one yourself with our free Operating Agreement Generator and have an attorney review it.

The upsell experience is the clearest behavioral difference between the two. Inc Authority is the more aggressive of the pair, weaving premium bundles and services throughout the flow. Bizee upsells too, but more lightly. Skipping unnecessary add-ons is one of the easiest ways to avoid the common LLC mistakes that quietly inflate your first-year cost — decide what you need before you start, and decline the rest at both.

Turnaround and track record

The mechanics of filing are nearly identical: answer a short questionnaire about your business name, address, and members, review, and the service submits your Articles of Organization to the state on your behalf. From there, turnaround is governed by your state, not the service. Standard state processing can range from a few business days to a couple of weeks depending on where you form and the current backlog. Both Bizee and Inc Authority offer paid expedited options that move you to the front of their internal queue, but neither can outrun the state's own processing tier.

Track record is one area where Bizee has a measurable edge. As Incfile and now Bizee, it has filed for well over a million businesses, which translates into a long history of customer reviews and deep operational experience across every state. Inc Authority is also well established and has been filing for years, but it operates at a smaller scale. For both, the most common complaints center on upsells and add-on renewals rather than the core filing — the actual formation is reliable at each.

Support and ease of use

Both companies offer support through the usual channels and are adequate for a standard formation, though neither is the category's gold standard for service (that reputation belongs to privacy-first specialists like Northwest). For a straightforward single-member LLC, either will get you filed and answer basic questions.

Ease of use is where Bizee pulls ahead. Its interface and dashboard feel more current, and the path from questionnaire to submission is cleaner. Inc Authority is perfectly usable, but the more dated design combined with heavier sales messaging makes the experience feel busier. If you are a first-timer who wants as little friction and second-guessing as possible, Bizee's polish is a real, if modest, advantage.

Who should pick which

Because the free offers are so similar, the decision comes down to experience and upsell tolerance rather than price.

• You want the cheapest correct filing with the smoothest experience: Bizee. Same free deal, more modern interface, lighter upsells.
• You want the free deal and do not mind a busier, sales-heavy flow: Inc Authority. The $0 filing and free first-year agent are real.
• You value brand track record and volume: Bizee, given its history as Incfile and over a million filings.
• You are nervous and easily rattled by upsells: Bizee, since the prompts are lighter and easier to decline.
• Either way: get your own free EIN from the IRS, diarize the year-two registered agent renewal, and decline add-ons you do not need.

If you are still weighing formation services more broadly, our full walkthrough of how to start an LLC covers the whole process, and it is worth comparing these two against other popular options like ZenBusiness vs Bizee and LegalZoom vs Inc Authority.

Our verdict