What each one is built for
Stripe Atlas
Fast, cheap, and strong on the operational side: incorporation, EIN, and a bank account, including for founders with no US presence. Built to get a company existing and transacting quickly.
Clerky
Built by lawyers for the venture path, and noticeably more careful about the paperwork: founder stock, 83(b) support, and documents that hold up when an investor reads them. Slower and more deliberate by design.
A startup lawyer
Judgement about your specific situation, plus documents that do not exist as templates. Costs more, and is worth it only when your circumstances actually need it.
Where all of them stop
These are the situations founders bring to us after using a tool. Not because the tool failed, but because none of them are template problems.
Where the tools genuinely win
We would rather tell you this than have you pay us for something you did not need.
What each costs
The honest summary: a tool plus a missed 83(b) election costs far more than a lawyer. A tool plus a clean, simple setup costs far less. The variable is your situation, not the provider.
Formation tools
low hundreds
A few hundred dollars for formation, plus state fees and ongoing registered agent and compliance charges. Check current pricing with each provider, it moves.
Fellow, formation and founder equity package
from $2,900
Formation, founder stock, 83(b) support, IP assignment, QSBS setup and board consents, as one fixed fee.
Cleaning up afterwards
quoted
Usually cheaper than founders expect, and always more expensive than doing it right the first time. Quoted before we start.
Questions founders ask
We already incorporated through a tool. Do we have to start again?
Almost never. It is normally a cleanup: issue stock properly, get IP assigned, produce the consents nobody signed, and check whether the 83(b) window is still open.
Will investors care which one we used?
They care about the documents, not the logo on them. Clean paperwork from a tool is fine. Missing paperwork from a law firm is not.
Can we use a tool and a lawyer?
Yes, and plenty of founders do. Incorporate with a tool, then have the founder equity, IP and anything unusual handled properly. We are happy to work that way.
What is the single most common mistake you see?
Unfiled 83(b) elections, by a wide margin. The tool prepares it, the founder means to send it, the 30 days pass. There is no remedy.
