MyCorporation Review: A Better LLC Formation Choice for 2024?

Lots of Services – At High Prices and With Questionable Practices

At first look, MyCorporation seems like a good fit for some LLC owners. The company offers useful paid “extras” to its LLC customers that many business people might enjoy, such as payroll services, unemployment insurance, and state tax assistance. Those nice features, however, come at a higher price than most new business owners could afford.

My research uncovered that you’ll pay too high a price even for MyCorporation’s base LLC formation services. There is no “free plus state fees” plan that so many other LLC formation service providers, including ZenBusiness, provide. Features that many others include in their packages, such as Registered Agent service or annual compliance assistance, cost extra with MyCorporation. MyCorporation outsources its Registered Agent services to a third party, which may add to your fees as well.

And while some of MyCorporation’s service fees are comparable to other providers, many will cost you much more. Add to that a practice of overcharging for state filing fees, and overall, MyCorporation just asks too high a price to pay for what it offers. Check out our list of 10 top-recommended LLC formation service providers to find more budget-friendly help in getting your LLC off the ground. Read on to find out why any of those are a better choice than MyCorporation.

The Features Can’t Justify the Fees

MyCorporation offers the same basic services as most every other LLC formation service. You can have your Articles of Organization completed and filed in 24 to 48 hours, receive a cache of sample business documents such as an Operating Agreement and meeting minutes, and gain access to an online document vault.

For paid add-ons, MyCorporation will outsource your Registered Agent service, obtain your Employer Identification Number (EIN), and assist with annual report filing. All are pretty standard fare for LLC formation service providers. Some of the paid service options could be worth the price if you purchased them as standalone services for your business. But even they can’t justify the high prices you’ll pay for the necessary basics you’ll need to launch your LLC.

State Income Tax Withholding, Sales Tax, and Unemployment Insurance ID Numbers

Some of MyCorporation’s unique service options are obtaining your state income tax ID, your state sales tax ID, and your state unemployment insurance ID numbers. These are separate services on an annual renewal subscription payment model.

With each service costing twice as much as MyCorporation’s Basic LLC formation package, however, it doesn’t seem like any of these services are worth it – especially since you consider that these are somewhat akin to your EIN. MyCorporation is simply applying for your identification number and accompanying account with the state. It isn’t actually doing any bookkeeping or filing of taxes for you.

Registered Agent and EIN

Your LLC will need a Registered Agent, and while it’s true that you can serve as your own Registered Agent, many choose not to. MyCorporation outsources its Registered Agent services to a company called, appropriately enough, Registered-Agent.com. The service is offered as a paid add-on during your checkout process.

For another additional fee, MyCorporation will obtain your EIN. You’ll need an EIN if you decide to hire any employees. Again, you can go about getting your EIN from the IRS for no charge should you choose to do so. For what MyCorporation charges, I would recommend DIYing this step, especially since you can complete the online application in about 5 minutes once your LLC is officially registered

App for iPhones and iPads

MyCorporation has an app to make accessing your client account quick and easy. You have to have an Apple device, however, as the app is only available from the Apple Store and isn’t accessible for Android devices. The good news is that the app is free to download and easily used on your iPad or iPhone.

Creative and Digital Services

MyCorporation offers a host of creative and digital services. On the creative side, you can create a logo, business cards, totes, pens, cups, tumblers, and even display banners for your company.Shirts, hats, and hoodies are also available to either market your business or outfit your employees.

The logo app is free to use, so you can unleash your inner graphic designer and play around to find the perfect one for your new LLC. If you get stumped, MyCorporation offers professional logo design services, as well.

On the digital services side of things, MyCorporation offers website design, email accounts, domains, and a business directory listing service. These are all standalone services, however, and can really add up. If you prioritize developing brand awareness, you can get a better and less expensive all-in-one service from Tailor Brands.

Payroll and eNotary Services

If you need help keeping track of your employee payroll, MyCorporation offers a payroll service. It is provided by a third-party partner who is never named on the MyCorporation website, however. Knowing the cost of the fees or the quality of the service is not possible without calling for a free payroll consultation with MyCorporation.

The eNotary service is a bit more straightforward. You upload your documents, connect with an eNotary, pay the fee, and you’re done. The entire process can take as little as 5 minutes. Compared to other online eNotary services, however, MyCorporation’s one-time fee is slightly higher than average.

MaintainMyBiz Subscription Service

MyCorporation offers a business compliance service called MaintainMyBiz. The company will take care of filing up to 4 required reports or documents, including any annual reports, meeting minutes, membership certificates, and certificates of good standing. You can choose from a list of 16 reports or documents and MyCorporation will take care of them for you.

Of course, this service comes with its own hefty fee. Some of our other top LLC formation service providers offer business compliance as part of their formation packages. You can check them out in our top 10 LLC providers article.

MyCorporation Is Easy to Use, Hard to Trust

When it comes to ease-of-use, MyCorporation could win a prize. What MyCorporation gains with a very easy-to-use website, including being mostly disability accessible, however, it loses by using a questionable fee-hiking practice. Its trophy would certainly be tarnished with a film of negative impressions.

Getting Started With MyCorporation

Starting your journey with MyCorporation is about as easy as it comes. A short scroll down the homepage will bring you to a couple of drop-down menus. Choose your business entity type and the state in which you want to register, and you’re finished with Step 1 of the sign-up process.

Step 2 will ask you to choose your option from one of four LLC formation services packages, as well as any add-on services you might want. In Step 3, you’ll create your customer account by entering your name, email address, and password, or deciding to continue as a guest. (If you choose to create an account, there will be a short delay while you retrieve your verification email.) Next, you’re on to giving your personal and business info.

This will take a few screens to get through before asking you to confirm all your information. Once that’s done, you’ll have the option to pay with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or PayPal. The entire process takes just a matter of minutes. In this respect, MyCorporation lives up to its promises of making things easy for you.

Overpricing State Filing Fees

I discovered a disturbing practice used by MyCorporation while investigating its checkout process. MyCorporation inflates the states’ individual LLC registration filing fees. I checked out multiple states’ listings and found every one of them isinflated by MyCorporation.

The most egregious of these inflated fees are those charged for Arizona. MyCorporation charges you eight times more than the state government. There’s a possibility that MyCorporation is adding on to the base fee for the state’s required “publishing” – announcing your new business in a local newspaper. Even in that case, the fee is less than the markup fee, even at its highest, and is waived if your business is located in certain counties.

Some of our top LLC formation service providers charge Arizona’s expedited fee as listed in the fee schedule, while others simply charge the base fee.

Website’s Accessibility Is an Asset

One good thing about MyCorporation’s website is that it’s mostly disability accessible. I say “mostly” because there’s a bit of room for improvement, but overall, it’s highly accessible. While that in itself isn’t a rarity in the LLC formation service world, it does stand out because MyCorporation offers both telephone and email support if you have trouble using its site. That’s something you seldom find in any industry, and I have to give some credit for making their services as accessible and available as possible.

Another thing to credit MyCorporation for is its Spanish language accessibility. The entire site, as well as sales and support services, are available in Spanish. It’s not really “advertised” or made visible anywhere on the site, however, so I had to contact support to find out.

Overpriced and Underwhelming

Even without inflated fees, MyCorporation’s fees are overpriced, considering what you get for the money. Especially considering you can get simple filing of your LLC formation paperwork and receive some perks alongside with other providers’ “free plus state fees” plans. For example, ZenBusiness offers its financial tracking program Money Essentials, with its free plus fees package.

There’s none of that with MyCorporation’s four packages. There’s no free plus fees plan, and the entry-level package only includes filing your paperwork, a business name availability check, and an online document storage library. Need an annual report service? You have to upgrade to the Standard plan. A Registered Agent? That’ll mean upgrading to the Deluxe package. And you’ll have to upgrade one more time to the Premium plan to receive the MaintainMyBiz compliance program. Or you can choose to add-on each service as a paid extra.

Speaking of paid extras, you can choose an expedited filing option. MyCorporation charges a flat fee, but for some states, there’s an extra, usually inflated, state fee added on. Having done these LLC formation service reviews for a while now, I’ve grown familiar with many of the states’ fees and other providers’ practices regarding them. Undoubtedly, this is the most confusing and complicated way of handling expedited fees.

In one case, a state’s fee is more than the base fee, but there’s no extra fees charged. In another case, however, the state’s fees aren’t half of the additional costs you’ll have to pay. So, while you may have some idea of what it will cost you to decrease your filing time before you start, MyCorporation’s pricing inconsistencies might cause you to re-budget, and not always in a good way.

Overall, MyCorporation asks too much for what it gives back. There are many other more budget-friendly choices for LLC formation services out there.

Limited Times, Impersonal Service

MyCorporation offers phone and email support and an online learning center. Phone support is only available Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. US Pacific time. Unlike other vendors, email support doesn’t promise or guarantee a period of time in which to respond to your request.

The phone agent answered my questions in a professional but almost curt manner. Perhaps it was because I called late in the day, or perhaps it was because my answer could be found in the website’s FAQs. Or maybe it was just an “off” day for her? Whatever it was, her answer was correct, but I had the impression I was annoying her by asking it.

My email response was a single line, as well, so perhaps it’s company policy to keep it short and sweet? It took 48 hours for my email to get an answer, but I did send it over the weekend, during off hours. I purposely did that just to see what a weekend warrior might experience since many LLC side hustlers mainly work evenings and weekends in their small businesses.

The learning center and FAQs are pretty standard fare, with the same types of information you can find on most LLC formation service sites. They contain a nice mixture of articles and videos and incorporate a handy search function so you can find just the info you’re looking for. What’s missing when compared to other LLC services are the printables that so many others offer. All in all, though, it’s a useful resource.

Overall, my experience with MyCorporation was a positive one, if not a warm and fuzzy, friendly one.