Clerky review: why it is not an LLC formation service
Data last updated: Apr 21, 2026Overview
Clerky was founded in 2011 by Darby Wong and Chris Field, both former startup attorneys at Orrick Herrington and Sutcliffe in Menlo Park. That pedigree matters to the target customer, because Clerky's product is essentially the paperwork a VC-backed Delaware C-corp needs in order to raise a seed round without embarrassing itself in due diligence. Bylaws, board consents, stock issuance, 83(b) filings, IP assignment, and post-incorporation cleanup are all Clerky's native territory.
It does not compete with Bizee, Northwest, or LegalZoom on LLCs, because it does not do LLCs. The only entity type on the Clerky signup flow is a Delaware C-corporation. Readers who compare formation services by price grid will see $427 and assume it belongs in the same shortlist as Bizee Premium or LegalZoom Pro, and the pricing number is misleading in that context. Different product category.
Where Clerky fits, and where it doesn't
Good fit for Clerky
You are incorporating a startup that plans to raise a priced seed round from a name-brand fund, and you want Delaware C-corp paperwork that your eventual lead investor's counsel will recognize. You have already decided you want a C-corp, not an LLC, because your cap table is going to have preferred stock, employee option grants, and SAFEs on it within the year. You want the same document templates that Orrick and Cooley would hand you, minus the billable hours. You are filing 83(b) elections inside the statutory 30-day window and want the mechanics handled correctly the first time.
Look elsewhere if
You are forming an LLC. Any LLC. Single-member, multi-member, Wyoming, Delaware, holding company, real estate, freelance consulting. Clerky cannot help; use Bizee for cheapest sticker, Northwest for privacy and flat pricing, or doola if you are a non-US founder who wants banking and ongoing compliance bundled. You are bootstrapping and will never raise a priced round; an LLC is almost certainly the cheaper, lower-maintenance choice. You want a cheap service to file the cheapest possible state paperwork; Clerky's $427 entry price is not aimed at you. You need mail scanning, a general compliance dashboard, or banking integrations packaged with formation (better match: Firstbase or Stripe Atlas).
Pricing tiers
All prices exclude state filing fees. State fees range from $35 in Montana to $500 in Massachusetts depending on where you form.
| Tier | Price | RA year 1 | RA renewal | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay Per Use (Delaware C-corp Incorporation) | $427 | Included | $125/yr | $427 one-time fee. IMPORTANT: Clerky does NOT offer LLC formation. This product is Delaware C-corporation formation only, aimed at YC-track startups expecting to raise institutional funding. Price includes $203 Delaware expedited filing fees and $125 first-year registered agent fee. Additional post-incorporation setup (bylaws, board consent, stock issuance, IP agreements) is a separate $299 add-on. |
| Company Lifetime Package | $819 | Included | $125/yr | $819 one-time fee. Delaware C-corp only, no LLC option. Includes Delaware incorporation (with $203 expedited filing fees and $125 first-year registered agent) plus unlimited use of Clerky fundraising, hiring, commercial, and maintenance products for the company's lifetime. Excludes third-party fees (foreign qualification, certain maintenance add-ons). |
Pricing honesty
Clerky publishes two prices. Pay Per Use is $427 for Delaware C-corp incorporation, including the $203 state filing with 24-hour expedite, first-year registered agent at $125, and the EIN application. Company Lifetime Package is $819 one-time and adds unlimited use of Clerky's fundraising, hiring, commercial, and maintenance product lines for as long as the company exists. Most startups that will use Clerky more than twice over two years are better off on Lifetime; the Pay Per Use flow pays again for each new document workflow (stock issuances, option grants, SAFEs).
Registered agent service renews at $125 per year after year one. That is in line with Northwest's flat $125 and well below LegalZoom's $249. The Delaware franchise tax (minimum $450 for C-corps using the authorized-shares method, often higher after a priced round) is not a Clerky line item and catches first-time founders off guard. Post-incorporation setup (bylaws, board consent, founder stock purchase agreements, 83(b)) is $299 on top of Pay Per Use, or included in Lifetime. If you are reading this and the word 83(b) is unfamiliar, you are not the target customer.
What you'll actually pay
Sticker prices on formation services rarely reflect what a real filer ends up paying. This is the honest math for Clerky across three common buying patterns. All figures exclude state fees, which are identical regardless of service.
| Scenario | Year 1 total | Year 2+ annual | 5-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just the basics Cheapest tier, skip the EIN and OA add-ons. Get your EIN from the IRS yourself. | $427 | $125/yr RA | $927 |
| Common buyer: EIN and operating agreement included Most new LLCs end up here. Adds $70 EIN and $99 OA where the service sells them as add-ons. | $427 | $125/yr RA | $927 |
| Standalone registered agent only You formed the LLC elsewhere and just want Clerky as your RA. | Not offered | Varies | Varies |
Feature summary
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
Attorney-designed document quality that stands up to institutional due diligence. Founders are former Orrick startup attorneys, so the product reflects what sophisticated investor counsel expects to see. Flat pricing with no per-tier feature gating. Expedited 24-hour Delaware filing is bundled, not a $50 upsell. Lifetime Package at $819 caps legal workflow costs for the life of the company, which is a rare pricing shape in the category. EIN support for non-US founders is handled in-house, including the paper SS-4 fax path that frustrates self-filers. Clerky supports international founders who specifically want a Delaware C-corp rather than an LLC.
Weaknesses
It is not an LLC service, which is the main reason most readers of this page are here. No state-choice flexibility; Delaware C-corp or nothing. No mail scanning, no banking partner integration, no operating agreement (because C-corps do not have one). No phone-hours transparency; the published phone number routes through business hours with no SLA on response. Trustpilot footprint is tiny, so the usual volume-as-validation play available with Bizee (25,000+ reviews) or Doola (2,000+) does not apply. Pay Per Use economics punish founders who iterate on cap table documents frequently; Lifetime is the honest choice if you expect any complexity at all.
Support quality
If you're paying for a formation service, support quality is half of what you're buying. The other half is convenience. A service that can't answer a Tuesday-afternoon filing question is harder to justify than one that picks up the phone.
Phone
Business hours; no explicit hours published on the contact page
Available
Live chat
Not offered
Clerky covers the basics but doesn't offer the full range. Good enough for most filers, but if you anticipate a lot of back-and-forth during filing, a service with live chat is worth considering.
Ratings and review volume
A 4.8 from 50 reviews is noise. A 4.7 from 25,000 is signal. Review volume matters as much as the star rating because formation services that actively solicit reviews push their rating up and the sample size way up, while services that don't solicit tend to have smaller samples skewed by motivated complaints.
No Trustpilot data published for this service.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Does Clerky form LLCs?
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How much does Clerky actually cost?
Pay Per Use is $427 one-time for Delaware C-corp formation, which covers the $203 state filing with 24-hour expedite and $125 of first-year registered agent service. The Company Lifetime Package is $819 one-time and adds unlimited use of Clerky's fundraising, hiring, and ongoing maintenance products for the company's lifetime. Registered agent renews at $125 per year from year two onward. Delaware's annual franchise tax (minimum $450 for a C-corp) is separate and billed by the state.
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Is Clerky worth it over a cheap LLC formation service?
Only if you actually want a Delaware C-corporation, which most small businesses do not. If you plan to raise a priced seed round from institutional investors, a C-corp with Clerky-grade paperwork is the right starting point. If you are bootstrapping a consulting practice, an e-commerce brand, or a real estate holding vehicle, an LLC through Bizee or Northwest is dramatically cheaper and better suited to your structure.
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What do you get for $819 with the Company Lifetime Package?
Delaware C-corp incorporation, first-year registered agent, EIN, and unlimited use of Clerky's fundraising, hiring, commercial, and maintenance document products for the lifetime of the company. That covers SAFE notes, priced round closings, option grants, board consents, employment offer letters, contractor agreements, and annual compliance filings. Third-party fees like Delaware franchise tax and registered agent renewals after year one are not included.
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Who actually uses Clerky?
Y Combinator-backed founders and other startups on a fundraising track are the core customer. Clerky's founders are ex-Orrick startup attorneys and the product is tuned for the exact paperwork institutional lead investors expect to see in a seed or Series A due diligence folder. If your company will never raise a priced round, you are paying for legal polish you will not use.
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Can non-US founders use Clerky?
Yes, but only if you want a Delaware C-corporation, not an LLC. Clerky handles the non-US EIN path in-house, including the paper SS-4 fax process the IRS requires when the founder does not have a US Social Security Number. For non-US founders who want an LLC specifically, doola, Firstbase, and Stripe Atlas are better fits.
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Does Clerky include a registered agent?
Yes. First-year Delaware registered agent service is bundled into both pricing tiers at $125. Renewal pricing from year two onward is $125 per year, which lines up with Northwest's flat rate and undercuts LegalZoom's $249. Clerky does not sell standalone registered agent service to companies it did not incorporate.
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What is the difference between a Delaware C-corp and a Delaware LLC?
A C-corp is the default entity for venture-backed startups because it supports preferred stock, employee stock option plans, and the tax treatment institutional investors expect. An LLC is simpler to run, has pass-through taxation by default, and fits almost every small business that is not raising priced rounds. If you are unsure which you need, you almost certainly want an LLC. Clerky only does the former; Bizee, Northwest, and doola do the latter.
Compare Clerky to another formation service
Side-by-side pricing, features, support, and ratings against every other service we cover.
Sources
- Pricing: www.clerky.com/pricing · verified April 21, 2026
Clerky pricing page shows two formation options: Pay Per Use at $427 one-time and Company Lifetime Package at $819 one-time. Both are Delaware C-corp incorporation. Clerky does not offer LLC formation. This is editorially important: readers comparing Clerky to Bizee or ZenBusiness should be aware it is not the same product category. - Registered agent renewal usd: www.clerky.com/pricing · verified April 21, 2026
First-year Delaware registered agent fee of $125 is bundled with both formation packages. Renewal pricing beyond year one is not explicitly published on the pricing page; $125/yr is used as the reasonable standing estimate based on year one. - Registered agent only: www.clerky.com/formation · verified April 21, 2026
Registered agent is bundled inside Clerky formation, not sold as a standalone SKU. - Features: www.clerky.com/formation · verified April 21, 2026
Formation product includes post-incorporation setup (bylaws, stock issuance, IP agreements) and an EIN Application workflow including support for non-US founders via pre-filled IRS forms and in-house fax submission. No LLC-style operating agreement (C-corp uses bylaws). No general mail scanning or banking partner integration (corporate bank account opening supported via partner banks as informational guidance). - Free filing tier: www.clerky.com/pricing · verified April 21, 2026
Entry price is $427 one-time; there is no $0 formation tier. This is intentional per Clerky positioning for fundraising-track startups. - Support: www.clerky.com/ · verified April 21, 2026
Contact info on the site lists email support@clerky.com and phone 650-440-5449. Area code 650 maps to the San Francisco Peninsula, consistent with the founders' Orrick Menlo Park background. No live chat. - Headquarters: www.clerky.com/ · verified April 21, 2026
Business address listed as 440 N. Barranca Ave. #1881, Covina, CA 91723 (Clerky is a bonded legal document assistant registered in Santa Clara County, LDA258). - Founded: www.ycombinator.com/companies/clerky · verified April 21, 2026
Y Combinator company profile and third-party sources (Tracxn, press coverage) place Clerky's founding in 2011 by Darby Wong (CEO) and Chris Field, both former startup attorneys at Orrick Herrington and Sutcliffe. - Ratings: www.trustpilot.com/review/clerky.com · verified April 21, 2026
Clerky has a limited Trustpilot footprint (well under 100 reviews). Per playbook policy, rating and review count are left null because the sample is not representative. The Trustpilot URL is kept for reference.