Our methodology

Who researches this

Lanzamo is researched and reviewed by the Lanzamo Editorial Team — a small, independent group of researchers and operators who have navigated U.S. company formation from outside the United States. We are not a law firm, a formation service, or a sales team, and we don’t employ commissioned salespeople. Our only job is to get the facts right and explain them plainly.

Where our facts come from

We build from primary sources, not from recycling other blogs:

• State Secretary of State fee schedules and business-filing pages for formation and annual fees.
• IRS publications and forms (for EIN/Form SS-4, Form 5472, and tax rules).
• FinCEN guidance for Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting.
• The official policies and public pricing pages of the services we compare.

Every guide and data page is dated, and where a figure changes often (like state fees), we tell you to confirm the current number with the official source before you act.

How we evaluate formation services

When we rank services like doola, Northwest, or Firstbase for non-residents, we score them on what actually matters to a founder who isn’t in the U.S. — not on who pays us the most:

• Does it handle the no-SSN EIN? Can a founder with no SSN or ITIN actually get an EIN through it, and is that path clear?
• Is the pricing honest? Real all-in cost, including registered agent and renewals — not a teaser “$0” that balloons at checkout.
• Does it address Form 5472? The mandatory $25,000-penalty filing for foreign-owned LLCs is where many services leave you exposed.
• Privacy, support, and track record for international founders specifically.

We say plainly when a popular service is the wrong fit for a non-resident, and we’ll tell you when the smartest move is to file it yourself for free.

Independence

We earn affiliate commissions when you start a service through some of our links — and that never decides our rankings or what our tools calculate. The reasoning behind every recommendation is shown next to it, and the commercial relationship is disclosed right there. See how we make money and our editorial standards.

Keeping it current

• Our 50-state fee dataset is reviewed on a regular cycle and date-stamped.
• Time-sensitive topics (like BOI rules, which changed in 2025) are revisited when the law moves.
• Spotted something out of date or wrong? Email info@lanzamo.com — corrections are the most useful note you can send us, and we fix them fast.