CorpNet review: three tiers, nine SKUs, and the 60-day free RA asterisk
Data last updated: Apr 21, 2026Overview
CorpNet was founded in 2009 by Philip and Nellie Akalp in Westlake Village, California, and is family-owned. That matters. The category is dominated by private-equity-backed volume shops, and CorpNet's pitch leans on personal service and lifetime phone support at the Complete tier. Trustpilot shows 4.9 stars across 1,205 reviews, which is the highest average rating among the mid-tier services we've covered (Bizee is 4.7 across 25,000+, Swyft Filings is 4.7 across 7,779).
The product is a standard three-tier formation package plus a deep catalog of post-formation services (DBA filings, annual reports, changes of registered agent, S-Corp elections, payroll tax registrations in all 50 states). CorpNet's angle, if you strip away the pricing complexity, is that they handle state-by-state compliance at scale for businesses that operate in multiple states. Small operators filing one LLC in one state can use them, but the business is built for accountants, bookkeepers, and multi-state clients who need ongoing help.
Where CorpNet fits, and where it doesn't
Good fit for CorpNet
You want a family-owned service with lifetime phone and email support, and the Complete tier at $269 is the one that bundles that. You're filing in multiple states and will use CorpNet's volume pricing on registered agent service (retail is $149/yr; it drops to $119 at 20 units, $99 at 51, and scales down from there). You're an accountant or bookkeeper forming LLCs for clients and want a single vendor that handles DBAs, annual reports, and state payroll registrations alongside formation. You value a 4.9 Trustpilot rating and are fine with a smaller review volume (1,205). You read the checkout footnotes and are not surprised by the 3 percent convenience fee.
Look elsewhere if
You want the cheapest $0 sticker (better match: Bizee Basic, which includes year-one RA). You want flat, transparent pricing with no convenience fees and no processing-speed SKU matrix (better match: Northwest). You assume the "free registered agent" on Basic means a full year (it's 60 days). You're a non-US founder (CorpNet does not market to international clients). You want live chat as a support option (CorpNet offers phone and email only, no chat). You want to compare all-in prices at a glance without doing math for the 3 percent fee.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $99 | Not included | $149/yr | LLC filing at $99 standard processing (Express $249, 24 Hour Rush $349), plus state fees and a 3 percent convenience fee. Includes company name availability check, preparation of Articles of Organization, and free compliance tool. Registered agent service is free for 60 days only, then $149 per year if continued. State fees, shipping, handling, and 3 percent convenience fee are all extra. |
| Deluxe | $219 | Included | $149/yr | LLC filing at $219 standard processing (Express $369, 24 Hour Rush $469), plus state fees and a 3 percent convenience fee. Includes Basic plus EIN and free first-year registered agent service. RA renews at $149 per year per state. |
| Complete | $269 | Included | $149/yr | LLC filing at $269 standard processing (Express $419, 24 Hour Rush $519), plus state fees and a 3 percent convenience fee. Includes Deluxe plus certified filed copy, custom operating agreement, custom kit and seal, electronic delivery of state documents, online document access, and lifetime phone and email customer support. RA renews at $149 per year per state. |
Pricing honesty
Three things to price correctly before you pick a tier. First, the 60-day free RA on Basic. CorpNet's Basic tier at $99 markets a free registered agent, but that free window lasts 60 days, after which RA costs $149 per year. Most competitors that advertise "free year-one RA" mean a full twelve months (Bizee, Northwest, Deluxe and Complete at CorpNet itself). Basic's short window is different and easy to miss if you skim.
Second, the 3 percent convenience fee. The pricing page footer discloses that state fees, shipping, handling, and a 3 percent convenience fee are all in addition to the tier price. On Complete at $269, the convenience fee alone is roughly $8; on Complete with 24 Hour Rush at $519, it's $15-ish. It's not enormous but it's real, and competitors typically don't layer it in this way.
Third, the processing-speed matrix. Each tier has three prices: standard, Express (+$150), and 24 Hour Rush (+$250). Basic with 24 Hour Rush hits $349 before convenience fee, which is above Deluxe standard at $219 and within $20 of Complete standard at $269. If you want fast turnaround, you almost always come out ahead buying a higher tier at standard speed rather than Basic at 24 Hour Rush. The Rush premium doesn't save money. Compared to Northwest's $100 regular flat rate with operating agreement included, CorpNet's Deluxe at $219 plus convenience fee is the comparable package (EIN included, year-one RA included) but without the operating agreement, which Complete adds at $269. The tier-plus-speed matrix makes apples-to-apples comparisons annoying, which is the point.
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 CorpNet 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. | $99 | $149/yr RA | $695 |
| 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. | $268 | $149/yr RA | $864 |
| Standalone registered agent only You formed the LLC elsewhere and just want CorpNet as your RA. | $149 | $149/yr | $745 |
Feature summary
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
Trustpilot rating of 4.9 across 1,205 reviews is the highest in the mid-tier category. Family-owned since 2009 with the same founders (Philip and Nellie Akalp), which is rare in a category where most brands have changed hands. Lifetime phone and email support at the Complete tier is genuinely unusual. Deep catalog of post-formation compliance services (DBA, annual reports, S-Corp election, state payroll tax registration in all 50 states) makes them useful for accountants and bookkeepers with multi-entity clients. Volume pricing on registered agent service scales from $149 to $49 per year depending on unit count. Deluxe and Complete both include year-one RA and an EIN. Phone support 7am-5pm Pacific is solid for a small company.
Weaknesses
Basic's free registered agent lasts 60 days, not a full year, then renews at $149. Pricing page applies a 3 percent convenience fee on top of listed prices, which isn't the norm in the category. Two different toll-free numbers (1-888-449-2638 on the contact page and 1-866-813-0637 in the top nav) create mild confusion. No live chat. No international founder program. No banking partner integration. No mail scanning (both Northwest and Firstbase offer it). Three tiers multiplied by three processing speeds equals nine prices on one page, which makes quick comparison against flat-price services like Northwest harder than it should be. Complete at $269 is the only tier that includes a custom operating agreement; Basic and Deluxe don't.
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
Monday-Friday 7am-5pm PT
Available
Live chat
Not offered
CorpNet 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.
Mid-volume sample with a solid rating. Not as statistically strong as services with 10,000+ reviews, but 1,205 reviews is enough to treat the rating as real rather than noise.
Frequently Asked Questions
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How much does CorpNet actually cost?
Three tiers, three speeds, nine prices. Standard-speed stickers are $99 Basic, $219 Deluxe, $269 Complete, with Express adding $150 and 24 Hour Rush adding $250 at any tier. State fees, shipping, handling, and a 3 percent convenience fee are all on top of those numbers. Deluxe and Complete bundle year-one registered agent service; Basic's free RA runs only 60 days, then renews at $149 per year per state.
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Is CorpNet's free registered agent really free for a year?
On Deluxe and Complete, yes, the first year of registered agent service is included. On Basic, the free window is only 60 days, after which RA costs $149 per year. That Basic 60-day window is shorter than what most competitors offer when they advertise a free RA, so it's a detail worth checking before signing up. Bizee and Northwest both include a full twelve months at their base tiers.
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What's the 3 percent convenience fee?
CorpNet adds a 3 percent convenience fee on top of every listed price at checkout. The disclosure is in the pricing page footer: state fees, shipping, handling, and the 3 percent fee are all additional. On Deluxe at $219 it's roughly $7 extra; on Complete 24 Hour Rush at $519 it's closer to $16. It's not huge, but it's real, and most competitors don't split out a separate convenience line item.
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How much is CorpNet's registered agent service?
Retail is $149 per year per state. Volume pricing kicks in for customers maintaining RA service across many states: $119/yr for 20-50 units, $99/yr for 51-150, $89/yr for 151-500, $59/yr for 501-1,000, and $49/yr for 1,001+. For a single-state filer at retail, $149/yr is higher than Bizee's $119 and Northwest's $125 flat price-locked rate.
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Does CorpNet include an EIN and operating agreement?
Deluxe and Complete include the EIN. Only Complete includes a custom operating agreement; Basic and Deluxe do not. If you need both an EIN and an operating agreement, Complete at $269 is the tier that bundles them, which is similar in price to Bizee Standard ($199) and Swyft Standard ($169 on promo). The difference is that CorpNet bundles lifetime phone and email support at Complete.
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How long does CorpNet take to form an LLC?
Standard processing speed varies by tier and state. Express cuts several business days off the timeline for +$150, and 24 Hour Rush turns filing around in one business day for +$250. State approval after CorpNet submits is separate. If you need speed, buying a higher-tier package at standard processing is usually cheaper than staying on Basic and paying for 24 Hour Rush.
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Is CorpNet's 4.9 Trustpilot rating legitimate?
Yes, verified on CorpNet's Trustpilot page at 4.9 stars across 1,205 reviews. The sample size is smaller than Bizee's 25,000+ but larger than Northwest's 217. A smaller verified sample at 4.9 reflects consistently satisfied customers at a service that doesn't solicit reviews as aggressively as the volume shops.
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Is CorpNet better than Bizee or Northwest?
Depends on what you're optimizing. Bizee wins on cheapest sticker and largest Trustpilot volume. Northwest wins on flat pricing, operating agreement included on the base tier, and a written RA price lock. CorpNet wins when you want a family-owned service with lifetime support (Complete tier) or when you're an accountant filing in multiple states and will use the volume RA pricing. For a single-state single-LLC filer, Bizee or Northwest usually edges CorpNet on total cost once the convenience fee and 60-day Basic RA window are factored in.
Compare CorpNet to another formation service
Side-by-side pricing, features, support, and ratings against every other service we cover.
Sources
- Pricing: www.corpnet.com/about/pricing/ · verified April 21, 2026
Pricing page lists three LLC packages with standard/express/24-hour rush columns. LLC row: Basic $99/$249/$349, Deluxe $219/$369/$469, Complete $269/$419/$519. Footer note: 'Prices do not include state fees, shipping and handling, or our 3 percent convenience fee.' - Features: www.corpnet.com/about/pricing/ · verified April 21, 2026
Basic includes name check, Articles prep, compliance tool, and 60-day free RA. Deluxe adds EIN and free first-year RA. Complete adds certified copy, custom operating agreement, custom kit and seal, and lifetime customer support. - Registered agent only: www.corpnet.com/start-business/registered-agent/ · verified April 21, 2026
Registered agent landing page quotes $149/year retail with volume-tiered discounts starting at 20 units. - Features: www.corpnet.com/about/pricing/ · verified April 21, 2026
Online formation confirmed, phone signup also available. Pricing page lists annual report filing ($99), EIN filing ($69 online), DBA, change of RA, and many other post-formation services. No banking partner, mail scanning, or dedicated non-US founder program surfaced on public pages. - Support: www.corpnet.com/contact/ · verified April 21, 2026
Toll-free 1-888-449-2638 and local 805-449-2638. Monday-Friday 7am-5pm PT. Email info@corpnet.com, sales@corpnet.com, customerservice@corpnet.com. No live chat surfaced on contact page. Homepage top nav also shows 1.866.813.0637. - Founded: www.corpnet.com/about/ · verified April 21, 2026
About page states 'Founded in 2009, CorpNet is a family-owned, Westlake Village, California business run by serial entrepreneurs Philip and Nellie Akalp.' - Headquarters: www.corpnet.com/contact/ · verified April 21, 2026
Contact page lists 'CorpNet, Incorporated, 31416 Agoura Rd. Suite 118, Westlake Village, CA 91361.' - Ratings: www.trustpilot.com/review/www.corpnet.com · verified April 21, 2026
Trustpilot profile shows 4.9 out of 5 stars across 1,205 total reviews as of 2026-04-21.