You will live in this portal for years and you never looked at it before buying. Backwards, right? Here is how to judge one before it becomes your daily reality.
- Mail handling: when legal or state mail arrives, the portal should show a scan fast and notify you the same day. - Compliance reminders: it should know your state and entity type and warn you before deadlines, not after. - Document access: formation documents and correspondence downloadable in one place, needed for banking and taxes on short notice. - Renewal transparency: what you paid, when the next renewal hits, what it costs; hidden pricing means the renewal is the real product. - Switching friction: can you change agents without a support-ticket saga? Lock-in is the quietest cost of all.
The big names all look similar, so judge the specifics, not the brand. Compare agents at formationcompare.fyi, and once you are formed, my service handles the post-formation setup, EIN, banking, and registered agent for $49 plus the state fee.