Checkout checklist for an LLC service

Seven things to find on the page or in the cart before you enter a card number, and where each one tends to hide.

What does the big number buy? A package price is for the paperwork the provider prepares. The state’s filing fee is separate and goes to the state.
Is the registered agent in it? Some packages include the agent for the first year only; others sell it separately from day one.
What does year two cost? Find the renewal price before you pay. If the page does not state it, treat the first-year price as an introduction.
Who files the annual report? Many states require one. Some providers charge a fee on top of the state’s to file it; some include it.
What are the mail limits? A number of free scans a year, then a per-piece fee, is common. Ask what counts as a piece.
Is the EIN included? Some providers charge for it. Ask what founders without an SSN or ITIN pay; Mainstay Filing charges a one-time $99 for that case.
How do you cancel? Look for auto-renewal wording and whether a filing already submitted can be refunded.

How Mainstay Filing answers them

$199 a year covers formation prepared and filed, the registered agent all year, the annual report prepared and filed, and the EIN application; the price is the same for every entity type and state.
It renews at $199 a year, with no rate that jumps at renewal and no new line items.
The first three government mailings a year are scanned free; after that a per-piece fee applies.
Founders with no SSN or ITIN pay a one-time $99 for the EIN.
Tell Mainstay Filing before renewal and it will not renew. A filing already submitted that year cannot be refunded.