Firstbase Review: Is the One-Time Fee Worth It?

Firstbase is a solid choice if you are a non-US founder building something you intend to raise money into — a Delaware C-corp, a co-founder in another country, a cap table. It charges a one-time formation fee of roughly $399 plus the state fee, includes the EIN and the first year of registered agent, and hands you a clean dashboard. If you are a solo operator running a service business or a store, you will likely be better served by a cheaper filer or by a provider whose whole product is non-resident tax compliance.

Bottom line

• Best for: startup-shaped companies, especially Delaware C-corps with global founders and investor paperwork ahead.
• Weakest point: the one-time price is the formation only; the address, mail and agent renewals are separate annual costs.
• Skip it if: you want the cheapest LLC that simply exists, or your main pain is Form 5472 and bookkeeping.

What Firstbase actually sells

Firstbase positions itself as an incorporation stack for global founders rather than a filing service. The core product, usually called Start, covers the state formation filing, the EIN application, a registered agent for the first year, the operating agreement or bylaws, and a dashboard that stores your documents and post-formation tasks.

Around that sit add-ons: a US business address with mail scanning, agent renewal, and accounting or tax help delivered through partners rather than in-house staff.

The important structural difference from most competitors is the pricing shape. Firstbase charges once, up front, for the formation itself. Most non-resident-focused rivals charge an annual subscription. Neither model is dishonest, but they suit different readers, and mixing up which one you are buying is the most common mistake we see.

Pricing, in plain numbers

Treat these as the shape of the lineup rather than a quote, and confirm the current numbers on the pricing page before you pay.

So the honest all-in first-year picture for a Wyoming LLC is the formation fee plus $100 to the state plus whatever address service you need. Year two is cheaper than year one, which is the genuine advantage of the one-time model: you are not renewing a formation subscription you no longer use.

Our full US LLC cost guide for non-residents puts these against the alternatives.

See Firstbase’s current plans and what is included

Where Firstbase is genuinely better

Entity types beyond the simple LLC. Firstbase handles Delaware C-corps as a first-class product, and it understands the paperwork that follows — stock issuance, 83(b) context, multiple founders in multiple countries. Most low-cost LLC filers treat a C-corp as an afterthought. If there is any chance you will raise from US investors, this matters.

Co-founders in different countries. The onboarding assumes more than one human, which sounds trivial until you use a service that only supports a single owner cleanly.

A dashboard you will still use in year two. Documents, agent details, deadlines and add-ons live in one place. That is more useful than it sounds when a bank or a processor asks for your Certificate of Formation eighteen months later.

One-time pricing. If you dislike subscriptions on principle, this is the mainstream provider built for you. You pay to form, and after that you only pay for the services you actively want.

Where it falls short

The one-time fee is not the whole cost. The registered agent renews. The US address renews. Neither is optional for most non-residents. Budget for the recurring stack, not the headline.

Tax compliance is not the core product. A foreign-owned single-member LLC generally has to file Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year, with penalties starting at $25,000 for failure to file. Firstbase will point you at partners; it does not own that workflow the way a compliance-first provider does. If that filing is your main anxiety, buy from someone whose product is that filing. See US LLC taxes for non-residents for what is actually required.

The EIN timeline is out of anyone’s hands. With no SSN or ITIN on the application, the IRS online tool is unavailable and Form SS-4 goes in by fax or mail. Non-resident applicants commonly wait weeks, sometimes a couple of months. Firstbase files it; it cannot accelerate the IRS. Read how to get an EIN without an SSN so you know what a correctly completed SS-4 looks like.

Support is ticket-first. Email and dashboard messaging are the default channels. That is fine for a standard filing and frustrating when a state asks for something unusual or your passport name transliterates awkwardly. If phone support matters to you, look elsewhere.

It does not open your bank account. Firstbase makes introductions to fintech partners. The bank still makes its own decision, and applicants from some countries get declined regardless of how clean the formation was. Plan that step separately with our US business bank account guide.

Firstbase vs doola, honestly

These two get compared constantly because both target founders outside the US, and the difference is easy to state.

Firstbase is priced as a one-time formation with optional extras. doola is priced as an annual subscription that bundles formation, EIN, registered agent and a US address from around $297 a year, with higher tiers that add bookkeeping and the 5472 filing.

If your pain is “I need a company and then I want to be left alone,” Firstbase’s model costs less over three years. If your pain is “I don’t know what I’m supposed to file and I don’t want to learn,” doola’s higher tiers are doing more of the work. We put the two head to head in doola vs Firstbase, and the doola review covers that lineup in detail.

Firstbase vs Northwest

Different comparison, different answer. Northwest charges $39 plus the state fee to form, includes the first year of registered agent, and renews at around $125 a year. It is the cheapest credible path, it is privacy-first by default, and it answers the phone.

What Northwest does not give you is a startup-shaped stack or a polished founder dashboard, and its EIN service for applicants without an SSN is an expensive add-on.

So: simple LLC, tight budget, privacy priority, willing to handle your own EIN — Northwest. Startup, co-founders, C-corp, investor paperwork — Firstbase. Our Northwest vs ZenBusiness comparison covers the budget end of the market.

Who should buy Firstbase

• You are forming a Delaware C-corp, or you think you might convert to one.
• You have co-founders, and at least one of you is outside the US.
• You want one predictable up-front charge instead of a subscription.
• You are comfortable arranging tax filing separately, or you already have a CPA.

Start a Firstbase formation

Who should not

• Solo founder, one LLC, no investors, lowest possible cost — use a cheap filer plus a standalone registered agent.
• Your main worry is Form 5472, bookkeeping and the annual state report — buy a compliance-led provider instead.
• You need phone support in a language other than English, or you expect to need a lot of hand-holding.
• You want the bank account guaranteed. Nobody sells that, and any provider implying otherwise is overpromising.

FAQ

Is the Firstbase fee really one-time?

The formation charge is. The registered agent and the US address are recurring, and the state’s own annual fee — $60 minimum in Wyoming, $300 in Delaware — is recurring and unavoidable. So your company has an annual cost even though the formation did not.

Which state should I form in with Firstbase?

Wyoming for a simple LLC with no US presence, Delaware if investors will be involved. The $300 Delaware annual tax is real money for a company that does not need Delaware — see Wyoming vs Delaware.

Does Firstbase get me a faster EIN?

No, and neither does anyone else. The gating factor is IRS processing of a paper or faxed SS-4 when nobody on the application has an SSN or ITIN. A good provider’s value is filing it correctly the first time, because a rejection restarts the wait.

Can I use Firstbase if I already have an LLC?

You can buy registered agent, address and compliance services separately, and most founders switching providers do exactly that. You do not need to re-form the company to move your agent.

The call

Firstbase is the right answer for a specific reader: a global founder building something investor-shaped who wants a one-time charge and a dashboard that lasts. For that person it is well built and fairly priced.

For the solo non-resident whose real problem is the EIN, the annual report and Form 5472, the money is better spent on compliance than on incorporation polish. Read our annual compliance checklist before deciding where your budget goes, then check Firstbase’s current pricing if the startup path is yours.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm your specific situation with a CPA or attorney experienced with foreign-owned US entities.