Swyft Filings is a web-based legal service that can help you form your small business entity quickly and easily, as well as file the required documents to state and federal agencies. Instead of having to hire expensive legal help or go it alone when setting up your business entity, Swyft Filings can be a happy-medium for small business owners who need guidance on a budget.
In this Swyft Filings review, we’ll take a look at what this service offers, how much it costs, pros, cons, and top alternatives to consider.
Swyft Filings was designed to make it easier to submit business filings for current and would-be small business owners. Once you’ve decided which business entity you want to structure your business as, Swyft Filings helps you navigate the complexities of registering your new business—all without paying a premium for a lawyer. They can help you register your:
Getting a business filed isn’t all Swyft Filings offers, however. The platform also has solutions for common business-related documentation, including:
Swyft Filings also offers tools to help you manage your business, including registered agent services, a corporate bylaws creator, sales tax ID registration, and more.
No Swyft Filings review would be complete without talking about pricing. Swift Filings pricing depends on which services you need. They offer three plan tiers so you can bundle multiple services into one price; however, you can add services à la carte as well.
It’s worth noting that each plan comes with a 100% money-back guarantee, as well as a dedicated account to access your documents, and lifetime customer support. Here’s a rundown of each of the three plans and what they offer.
For $49 (plus state fees, which vary), you’ll receive:
This plan costs $149 (plus state fees) and includes everything in the Basic plan plus:
Finally, the highest-level Swyft Filings plan builds on the previous two plans and, for $299 plus state taxes, gives you:
As we mentioned, you can also add services à la carte if you want a more custom plan. Here is Swift Filings pricing for some of these individual options:
There is a lot to love about Swyft Filings, especially if you want to incorporate your business quickly, easily, or merely want to reduce the amount of legwork you have to do on your own. However, there are also other solutions on the market offering similar services, so is Swyft Filings right for you? Consider these advantages:
Swyft Filings customer reviews give the company strong marks for their user experience. The platform’s dashboard makes it easy to see which documents have been filed, where other forms are in the submission process, and where your nascent business is in general toward getting its legal and organizational ducks in a row.
Another bonus for Swyft Filings is their à la carte pricing. Other Swyft Filings competitors do not offer the same range of services as individual options, opting to roll them into one package at a higher price. If you only need a few of these services, going with Swyft Filings may end up saving you a significant amount of money.
Swyft Filings gets good grades for several reasons, but it’s by no means without flaw. Here are some disadvantages to consider as well:
Customer service isn’t typically a highlight of most Swyft Filings reviews. Getting in touch with the company’s support team can be a challenge, which doesn’t bode well for the company’s talk about having round-the-clock support. If you’re looking for help filing business documents and may need a bit of coaching, Swyft Filings may not be the perfect fit. Plus, the purchase and checkout process can be difficult to navigate without encountering several upsells, which makes the customer experience less than ideal.
In addition, Swyft Filings’ packages do not include registered agent service. For those who aren’t familiar, a registered agent is a third party who receives legal notices, including process notices, documents from your Secretary of State, and other official government notifications (including tax-related information). This add-on service costs $149, whereas Swyft Filings’ competitors include this service as part of their package prices.
Some of the services Swyft Filings provides can be handled somewhat easily by most business owners. Filing for an EIN, for example, only takes a few moments, requires minimal paperwork, and is completely free. However, for Swyft Filings to handle this will cost you $70. If convenience is paramount for you, having Swyft Filings handle this work may be the best decision. Otherwise, you can save yourself a few bucks by doing it yourself.
Last but not least is the way in which Swyft Filings offers some of their included features, such as the 30-minute consultation with a tax professional and a free domain registration. Both of these features are handled by third-party businesses, neither of which are listed on the site before purchasing a plan. If you want to make the most of your privacy, it may be worth getting these services elsewhere directly.
Swyft Filings is an all-around solid option for registering a new business, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other viable Swyft Filings competitors and alternatives out there to consider. Business filing companies proliferate, which means you’re not far from finding the right one for your individual business needs.
Here are a few Swyft Filings competitors and alternatives to consider:
A cost-effective alternative to Swyft Filings is IncFile, which costs only $49 to get rolling (plus state filing fees). This is comparable to Swyft Filings pricing and even includes registered agent services for free within your company’s first year of service with IncFile. This is a significant savings advantage versus Swyft Filings, which does not provide a free registered agent service for any amount of time.
The IncFile services can also help businesses with compliance concerns. The platform makes it easy to file annual business reports, amend or change your business’s name, and to obtain a certificate of good standing as well.
Next, LegalZoom is a bit different than Swyft Filings and IncFile, as they offer a more robust set of tools tailored to handle a wider variety of needs than just filing new and repeat business documents. In addition to the services provided by both IncFile and Swyft Filings, LegalZoom also offers more advanced tools, such as customizable legal forms that can be set up to handle your specific legal needs for your business.
Additionally, LegalZoom offers intellectual property filings by connecting you with a legal professional, which can be helpful if your business will need additional help protecting its unique set of products or resources. Better still, you can use LegalZoom to connect with an attorney once a month for an additional fee.
Swyft Filings makes it easy to take care of the paperwork (and hassle) of setting up your new small business. The service is relatively inexpensive, easy to use, and covers all your basic needs to help you get down to business on, well, building your business. There are other services out there that offer the same features and more, but for different costs—and with different features that you may not entirely need. We recommend comparing a few options before deciding which is best for your business.
Christine Aebischer is an editor at Fundera.
Prior to Fundera, Christine was an editor at the financial planning startup LearnVest and its parent company, Northwestern Mutual. There she wrote and edited on topics such as debt, budgeting, insurance, taxes, investing, and retirement. She has written for print and online on topics ranging from personal finance to luxury real estate.