Our method
The grading rubric
Sources
The classes are written from the state's own documents, and each fact is sourced with the month we read it.
How a class is built
A class gives the answer up front, then teaches the assignments in order with the state's form and fee, and ends with costs, questions and sources. We reach the three-year number by adding the filing fee, the reports in years two and three and any minimum tax, and we skip costs with no set amount.
How services are scored
- Tuition across three years (30%). What a service bills over years one, two and three, built from its published first-year and renewal prices. All students pay the state the same fee, so the class shows it and the sort leaves it out.
- Homework the price does (34%). How much class homework the price completes: the formation or registration filing, the registered agent seat, the recurring state report and the EIN application.
- Year-two tuition (10%). The tuition from year two on and whether it changes.
- Fit with the state class (16%). How well the plan fits what the state class covers: report timing, the cost of a late filing, the agent address rule and whether a second state could be next.
- Fees a student can read (10%). Whether a student can read the whole fee before paying, with the state fee on its own line at the amount the state sets.
If two services come out within a few points, the class names the criterion that decided it and what the runner-up does best.
Marks are Formation Class's own editorial grades from these criteria, not customer ratings.
The services we consider
Mainstay Filing and each state's registered agent services are graded, and only where a published price exists.
What we avoid
The only grades here are our editorial ones; there are no customer ratings and no legal or tax advice.