If you're managing a handful of LLCs across multiple states, the difference between the right and wrong compliance platform could mean hours saved each week or endless administrative headaches. Bizee (formerly Incfile) and Discern both provide registered agent services and entity formation, but they serve dramatically different markets with distinct approaches to compliance management.
Bizee has helped over 1 million small business owners since its founding, building its reputation on affordable formation packages starting at $0 plus state fees. The platform excels at guiding first-time entrepreneurs through business formation with extensive educational resources and straightforward compliance reminders. Their customer service receives consistently high marks, with thousands of positive reviews highlighting the platform's accessibility for first-time business owners navigating LLC formation.
Discern focuses on automation-first compliance management designed for multi-entity organizations where manual processes create operational bottlenecks and what customers describe as "existential dread of not knowing" compliance status. The platform was built by technologists and compliance experts specifically to address the challenges faced by venture capital firms, fund managers, and growing companies juggling dozens or hundreds of entities across multiple jurisdictions.
This comparison examines pricing structures, automation capabilities, target markets, and use cases to help determine which platform aligns with your business needs and compliance requirements. The right choice depends less on which platform is objectively "better" and more on matching capabilities to your specific operational context and growth plans.
The following table breaks down core features and pricing across both platforms. Note that Discern's subscription model includes annual report filing while Bizee charges separately for this service, which significantly affects total cost of ownership for businesses maintaining multiple state registrations over time.
Cost example for 10-state operation: Discern's subscription model costs $35/year for registered agent coverage with annual reports included. Bizee charges $1,190/year for registered agent services after the first year, plus $990/year for annual report filings, totaling approximately $2,180 annually. However, Bizee's lower formation costs can offset this for businesses forming new entities frequently.
The cost calculation shifts significantly based on your specific situation. For a business forming five new LLCs over five years while maintaining registered agent service, Bizee's $0 formation packages create substantial upfront savings. For a business with 20 existing entities requiring ongoing compliance management, Discern's all-inclusive subscription delivers better long-term value. Understanding your growth trajectory helps determine which pricing model aligns with your needs.
Pricing philosophy: Bizee uses formation services as a customer acquisition strategy, offering $0 formation packages with first-year registered agent service included, then generating revenue through renewals and add-on services. This approach works well for cost-conscious small businesses forming one or two entities. Their Standard package at $199 and Premium package at $299 include additional features like EIN filing, operating agreement templates, and business tax consultations. Discern's subscription model at $3.50 per state per year becomes more economical as entity count increases, particularly when annual report filing is factored into total cost of ownership. The subscription approach provides predictable costs that scale linearly rather than exponentially with business growth.
Delaware franchise tax handling: Discern automates Delaware franchise tax calculations using both available methods (Authorized Shares and Assumed Par Value Capital), automatically selecting whichever produces the lowest tax liability. The platform can calculate and file Delaware franchise tax on your behalf, which is particularly valuable for corporations with complex cap tables or high authorized share counts. Bizee provides educational guidance on franchise tax requirements and offers filing assistance as a service, but users typically provide the financial data and make method selections themselves. This distinction matters significantly for Delaware corporations, where improper method selection can result in overpaying by thousands of dollars annually.
Automation depth: Discern's automation extends to data-driven decision making, pulling information from cap tables, financial records, and state databases to pre-populate forms and optimize filings. Most customers complete filings in under 3 minutes using the centralized data model. The platform conducts pre-onboarding audits to identify and resolve historical compliance issues before migration, ensuring entities start in good standing. Bizee automates workflow processes like reminders, document forwarding, and form generation, but relies more heavily on user-provided information and manual review processes. Their compliance alerts notify you when filings are due, giving you the option to handle them yourself or pay Bizee to file on your behalf.
Multi-entity capabilities: Discern supports organizations with 250+ entities through segregated payment management, allowing different bank accounts or credit cards for each entity. This matters for fund managers maintaining strict separation between portfolio companies, where commingling payments creates audit and compliance complications. Customers report eliminating 400+ annual invoices through the platform's consolidated billing system. Bizee handles multiple entities through its dashboard system but lacks enterprise-grade features like segregated payment processing or consolidated compliance calendars across hundreds of entities. For businesses with fewer than ten entities, this distinction may not significantly impact operations. For fund managers coordinating compliance across 150+ bank accounts tied to different entities, the segregated payment feature alone justifies platform selection.
Discern works well for:
Bizee works well for:
Managing entity compliance complexity increases exponentially as your business grows from a single state LLC to multi-entity, multi-jurisdiction operations. What starts as manageable annual filing requirements can quickly evolve into operational bottlenecks that consume disproportionate time and resources while creating constant uncertainty about compliance status across your portfolio. The administrative burden of tracking different filing schedules, fee structures, and compliance requirements across states becomes a full-time job for organizations managing more than a handful of entities.
The choice between Bizee and Discern often reflects where you are in this growth trajectory. Bizee excels at making business formation accessible and affordable for entrepreneurs taking their first steps, with free formation packages, educational resources, and responsive customer support that guides new business owners through unfamiliar territory. The platform's strengths lie in helping individuals launch their first LLC or corporation with minimal friction and cost.
Discern transforms compliance from an administrative burden into automated background processes for organizations operating at scale. By consolidating registered agent services, annual report filing, and Delaware franchise tax automation into a single platform, Discern addresses the specific pain points of multi-entity management: scattered deadlines, fragmented invoicing, and the constant worry of missed filings that could affect business operations or liability protection.
Ready to see how Discern handles entity management for organizations like yours? Book a demo to explore automated annual reports, Delaware franchise tax filing, and multi-state registered agent services from a single platform.
Can Bizee handle complex multi-entity structures like holding companies?
Bizee focuses on forming individual entities (LLCs, corporations, nonprofits) and general compliance support, and does not currently market dedicated services or structured guidance specifically for parent-subsidiary structures, Series LLCs, or complex multiple-entity configurations. The platform can form and maintain separate entities, but ongoing compliance management across dozens of entities becomes administratively intensive compared to Discern's centralized automation designed for exactly these scenarios. Organizations with complex GP/LP structures or parent-subsidiary relationships find particular value in Discern's entity hierarchy tracking.
Does Discern offer the educational resources that Bizee provides?
Discern focuses on compliance execution rather than entrepreneurship education. While the platform includes guidance on filing requirements and regulatory changes through its resources section, it doesn't offer the extensive "how to start your business" content and industry-specific guides that characterize Bizee's approach. Businesses using Discern typically have established legal and financial advisors for strategic guidance, and the platform integrates with their existing compliance workflows rather than replacing foundational business education.
How do the platforms handle switching existing entities?
Both services can onboard existing entities. Discern conducts comprehensive pre-onboarding audits to identify and resolve historical compliance issues, ensuring good standing before migration. This audit process catches problems like missed annual reports or expired registrations that could affect business operations or legal standing. Bizee offers change-of-agent filing services, typically charging $49 plus state fees per jurisdiction, with straightforward migration for entities already in good standing.
What happens if I outgrow my current platform?
Companies often start with Bizee for initial formation and switch to Discern as entity count increases. The crossover point typically occurs around 5-10 entities across multiple states, where Discern's subscription model and automation features begin providing greater value than per-transaction pricing. Discern's onboarding process handles the transition seamlessly, filing change-of-agent forms in every state where you operate and ensuring no compliance gaps during the migration.
How do Delaware franchise tax savings compare between platforms?
Discern's automated calculation and method optimization can produce significant savings for corporations with complex cap tables or high gross assets. The platform automatically compares the Authorized Shares method against the Assumed Par Value Capital method and selects whichever results in lower tax liability. This automated optimization can save significant amounts for corporations with high authorized share counts. Bizee provides the same filing capability but requires users to research methods and make optimization decisions manually, potentially leaving savings unrealized for corporations unfamiliar with Delaware's unique franchise tax structure.
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