What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for business formation services (startups) on 2026-09-25

Claude (Anthropic) with web search claude-opus-5 asked 2026-09-25

Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.

The question asked, verbatim: best business formation services for startups

Brands named, in the order the engine gave

1. Clerky recommended
   Clerky - What I'd recommend first for anything fundraising-bound.
2. Stripe recommended
   Stripe Atlas - $500 for a Delaware C-corp or LLC, and the best choice if you want to be operational fast with minimal thinking.
3. Stripe Atlas recommended
   Stripe Atlas - $500 for a Delaware C-corp or LLC, and the best choice if you want to be operational fast with minimal thinking.
4. AWS mentioned
   Includes registered agent and first-year franchise tax handling, 83(b) filing, and a pile of partner credits (AWS, Stripe fee waivers, etc.) that often exceed the fee.
5. Firstbase mentioned
   Firstbase - The one I'd point non-US founders to.
6. US mentioned
   Firstbase - The one I'd point non-US founders to.
7. Northwest Registered Agent mentioned
   Northwest Registered Agent - My default for LLCs, and honestly the one I'd use personally.
8. Bizee mentioned
   Bizee (formerly Incfile) - $0 formation plus state fees, so it wins year one on raw cost.
9. LegalZoom mentioned
   LegalZoom and ZenBusiness are fine and won't hurt you - ZenBusiness in particular is pleasant for a first-time founder who wants a domain, website, and formation in one flow.
10. ZenBusiness mentioned
    LegalZoom and ZenBusiness are fine and won't hurt you - ZenBusiness in particular is pleasant for a first-time founder who wants a domain, website, and formation in one flow.
11. Rho compared
    - Rho - Stripe Atlas vs.

Sources the engine cited

The answer, as recorded

The right answer forks hard on one question: are you raising venture capital, or building a business you'll own yourself? Those lead to completely different providers. ## If you're on the VC track (Delaware C-corp, equity splits, SAFEs) **1. Clerky** - What I'd recommend first for anything fundraising-bound. It's purpose-built for Delaware C-corps and startup lawyers actually respect the paperwork it generates: founder stock purchase agreements with vesting, 83(b) elections, option grants, board consents, SAFEs and convertible notes. Roughly $799 for the incorporation bundle. The reason it matters isn't incorporation itself - it's that the cap table and equity docs are clean two years later when a VC's counsel does diligence. Most cleanup bills I've seen trace back to sloppy founder equity docs, not the certificate of incorporation. **2. Stripe Atlas** - $500 for a Delaware C-corp or LLC, and the best choice if you want to be operational fast with minimal thinking. Includes registered agent and first-year franchise tax handling, 83(b) filing, and a pile of partner credits (AWS, Stripe fee waivers, etc.) that often exceed the fee. Tradeoff: it's a formation event, not a relationship - no ongoing compliance reminders or tax help, and Delaware only. **3. Firstbase** - The one I'd point non-US founders to. Delaware or Wyoming, ~$399 including state fees, and it's built around the parts that actually block international founders: EIN without an SSN, US bank account introductions, US mailing address, ongoing compliance. Doola is a reasonable substitute here if Firstbase's pricing doesn't fit. ## If you're bootstrapping (LLC, no outside investors) **4. Northwest Registered Agent** - My default for LLCs, and honestly the one I'd use personally. $39 plus state fees, includes a year of registered agent. They put their address on your public filing instead of your home address, they don't sell customer data, and their support is staffed by people who know the answer. $125/year after year one. No upsell maze. **5. Bizee (formerly Incfile)** - $0 formation plus state fees, so it wins year one on raw cost. Weaker on privacy and data practices, and the registered agent renewal pricing has been inconsistent across their plans - read the checkout page carefully. ## What I'd skip, and one thing worth paying for **LegalZoom and ZenBusiness** are fine and won't hurt you - ZenBusiness in particular is pleasant for a first-time founder who wants a domain, website, and formation in one flow. But you pay a brand premium for work Northwest does better and cheaper, and neither produces VC-grade equity documents. If you're taking money, don't use them for the cap table. **A startup lawyer.** If you have co-founders with unequal contributions, existing IP, an employer with an invention-assignment clause, or immigration considerations, spend the $2-5K on a flat-fee startup formation package. No platform prices co-founder disputes correctly, and that's the expensive failure mode. One caution across all of these: compare total first-year *and* renewal cost, not the headline price. The $0 offers recover it on registered agent renewals, compliance packages, and annual report filings. Sources: - [Startup Savant - Best Incorporation Services for Startups](https://startupsavant.com/best-incorporation-services-for-startups) - [Rho - Stripe Atlas vs. Clerky vs. LegalZoom: 2026 Incorporation Guide](https://www.rho.co/blog/stripe-atlas-vs-clerky) - [Rho - Best Stripe Atlas Alternatives for Founders (2026)](https://www.rho.co/blog/stripe-atlas-alternatives) - [Forbes Advisor - Best LLC Formation Services of 2026](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/best-llc-service/) - [LLC University - Northwest Registered Agent vs Incfile (Bizee)](https://www.llcuniversity.com/incfile-vs-northwest-registered-agent/) - [Startup Savant - Northwest Registered Agent vs. Bizee](https://startupsavant.com/northwest-registered-agent-vs-incfile) - [Quicksprout - Best Business Formation Services](https://www.quicksprout.com/best-business-formation-services/) One note on sourcing: several comparison pages in these results claim Clerky doesn't file your incorporation with Delaware and that you must do it yourself. That doesn't match how Clerky's incorporation product works - it handles the Delaware filing and registered agent - so I left that claim out. These roundup sites are heavily affiliate-funded, so verify current pricing directly on each provider's site before buying.

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Answer Watch records what one AI answer engine said on one date, nothing more. Each page names the engine and the model, carries the date the question was asked, and lists the brands that appeared in the answer in the order the engine gave them, with the sources it cited. It is a measurement, not a ranking, not a recommendation and not a claim about the world. Brands that did not appear in an answer are not named on any public page. Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.