Stripe Atlas vs Firstbase vs Doola vs Bizee: Formation for Non-Residents (2026)

The formation fee is the smallest cost you'll pay. Bizee starts at $0 (plus state fee). Doola is $297. Firstbase is $399. Stripe Atlas is $500. But over three years — once you add registered agent renewals, state fees, and mandatory tax filings — you're looking at $2,000 to $6,400 depending on which service you pick and how much compliance you handle yourself. And the lowest sticker price hides the largest gap: Bizee has formed over 1 million entities since launching as Incfile in 2004, but its onboarding flow assumes a US-resident founder with an SSN — a structural mismatch for the cross-border founders who hold neither.

When I formed my first US entity for AirPop, I looked at the pricing page, paid the formation fee, and assumed I was done. I was not even close. Form 5472 prep, registered agent renewals, Delaware franchise tax — the first year's compliance costs exceeded the formation fee. That experience is why I now evaluate these services on three-year total cost, not the number they put in the hero banner.

If you're a non-resident founder comparing Stripe Atlas, Firstbase, Doola, and Bizee, this article breaks down every fee I could find — formation, renewals, state costs, and the compliance obligations none of them mention on their pricing pages. Three of these four are built with non-residents in mind; Bizee is the one that comes up in every formation search but is built for US residents, which makes it the clearest case study in why sticker price and structural fit are different questions. For the conceptual side (what they structure vs. what they leave to you), see the structural gap analysis.

Jett's verdict (cross-border founder formation choice, May 2026): I formed my own US LLC outside any of these four (older direct-with-state path), so I can't claim "I use service X". From the operational side I see in Global Solo and AirPop's network: Doola has been the most India- and Pakistan-friendly for non-US founders in 2025-2026, with EIN included and the strongest non-resident support; Firstbase is the cleanest tech-native experience and my default suggestion for founders who want a startup-style stack from day one; Stripe Atlas is the safest "Stripe will accept your account" path but the most expensive. Bizee is the cheapest entry point and has the longest track record, but it is built for US residents — I include it here because founders ask about it constantly, not because it fits the cross-border use case. The right pick depends more on your home country and Stripe-acceptance need than on price.

Quick comparison: formation price vs 3-year total cost

The cheapest formation fee (Bizee at $0) produces the lowest three-year sticker — but only because Bizee does not file Form 5472 or surface non-resident compliance at all, leaving the founder to arrange it independently without being told it exists (*Bizee 3-year total assumes an external CPA handles Form 5472 and tax filing). Among the services that actually cover non-resident compliance, the cheapest formation fee (Doola at $297) produces the highest three-year total cost ($6,474), while Firstbase lands lowest at ~$3,276. The full breakdown follows.

How much does Stripe Atlas, Firstbase, and Doola cost in year one?

Year one looks deceptively similar across all three — the difference is $203. All include EIN, a registered agent for the first year, and an operating agreement template. Where they diverge is what happens after formation.

Those headline prices are real. They're also incomplete. They cover the entity's birth — not the cost of keeping it alive. And Bizee's $0 line is the most incomplete of all: it buys the state filing and an EIN request, then leaves every non-resident-specific obligation — Form 5472, the SS-4 process for founders without an SSN, tax residency — entirely off the screen.

How much does a US LLC cost per year after formation?

This is where the sticker shock hits. Formation is a one-time event. But your LLC needs a registered agent, a state filing, and (if you're foreign-owned) a mandatory IRS return — every single year. Annual costs range from $117 (Wyoming, no tax filing) to $2,299+ (Delaware via Doola with full compliance). The biggest variable isn't the service — it's which state you picked.

Here's the thing nobody emphasizes enough: your state choice matters more than your formation service. Wyoming is $60/yr (Wyoming SOS). Delaware is $300/yr (DE Division of Corporations). Over three years, that's $720 — more than the formation fee itself. Atlas locks you into Delaware. Firstbase and Doola let you pick. See the Delaware vs Wyoming comparison for the full breakdown.

What is Form 5472 and what happens if you don't file it?

This is the one that keeps me up at night on behalf of founders who don't know about it. If you're a non-US person who owns a US LLC, you must file Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year. Miss it, and the IRS can hit you with a $25,000 penalty per form under IRC Section 6038A(d) — automatically, no warning letter first. None of the three services include this in their base price.

The form is required every year — even if your LLC earned $0, even if you did nothing with it all year. It reports "reportable transactions" between the LLC and its foreign owner: capital contributions, distributions, loans. Basically anything that moved between you and your LLC.

The founder who pays $297–500 for formation and assumes they're set up? They have $25,000 in penalty exposure from day one and most don't find out until Year 2.

Can non-residents get a US bank account through formation services?

All three services point you toward Mercury, but here's what none of their marketing tells you: getting approved is not guaranteed.

Mercury has tightened scrutiny on non-resident applications throughout 2025-2026. I've seen founders wait weeks for review, get asked for documentation they didn't know existed, or get flat-out rejected — especially brand-new entities with no revenue. Your formation service creates the entity. Mercury decides whether to bank it. Those are two different decisions made by two different companies.

Stripe Atlas still has an edge here — the Mercury application is baked into their formation flow, so the handoff is smoother. But even Atlas can't override Mercury's compliance team.

Two things worth knowing that aren't on any pricing page: some banking platforms reject applications from specific countries outright, and if you're operating cross-border, you probably need more than one bank anyway. I run a US account plus Wise Business for multi-currency — that setup has saved me more than once. See the banking comparison for details.

Who is each formation service actually built for?

These four services look similar on the surface but serve very different founders. Understanding who they're designed for explains why their pricing and features diverge the way they do.

Stripe Atlas is a startup tool first, formation service second. The C-Corp option, 83(b) election templates, stock issuance — that's VC-track DNA. The LLC option was bolted on later. Atlas works best when you're building on Stripe's payment infrastructure and might raise funding. The catch: Delaware only, no tax filing, and the slick onboarding creates a dangerous illusion that everything is handled. It isn't. See the structural gap analysis.

Firstbase sits in the middle — more hand-holding than Atlas, cheaper than Doola. They explicitly market to non-US founders, offer Wyoming (important for cost), and sell a tax filing add-on at $899/yr. If you can manage your own bookkeeping and just need someone to handle Form 5472 and annual filings, Firstbase hits a sweet spot.

Doola goes all-in on the "we'll handle everything" pitch. Their Total Compliance plan ($1,999/yr) bundles bookkeeping, tax filing, Form 5472, and registered agent. Great if you want a single vendor. The math, though: that $297 formation fee becomes $2,000+/yr the moment you add what non-residents actually need.

Bizee is the outlier — and the one founders ask about most because of the $0 headline. Bizee (founder-led and independently owned since 2004, formerly Incfile) has formed over 1 million entities, the longest track record of the four. But it is built for US residents, and three structural mismatches show up the moment a non-resident uses it. First, the EIN step assumes you have an SSN. There is no guided SS-4-by-fax path for founders without one, which is most cross-border applicants. Second, the onboarding never surfaces Form 5472, the $25,000-penalty filing that applies to foreign-owned LLCs from day one. Third, the registered-agent and state defaults assume a single US base of operations, not a founder operating from abroad. None of this makes Bizee a bad company — it makes Bizee a US-resident product that a non-resident can technically use but is, in practice, using off-label. The structure indicates the savings come from what Bizee does not do for you, not from doing the same work cheaper.

Which formation service has the best features for non-residents?

No single service covers everything a non-resident founder needs. Stripe Atlas lacks Wyoming, ITIN assistance, and Form 5472 filing. Bizee covers the fewest non-resident needs of the four — no ITIN help, no Form 5472, and an EIN flow that assumes an SSN — which is the trade-off behind its $0 price. Firstbase and Doola offer Wyoming, ITIN, and Form 5472 but at different price points — Firstbase at $899/yr for tax filing, Doola at $1,999/yr for full compliance. Key gaps across all four: none provide tax residency analysis, FBAR compliance, or permanent establishment risk assessment.

Non-resident founders have specific requirements that differ from domestic US founders. This comparison focuses on what matters when you are forming and operating a US LLC from outside the US.

In April 2026, Doola became the first US business formation service with a Model Context Protocol integration, allowing LLC formation to be initiated directly inside Claude or Replit through a single chat instruction rather than a multi-tab workflow. This compresses the operational friction of submitting a formation — fewer forms, no separate dashboard. It does not change the upstream structural decisions: entity type (LLC vs C-Corp), state of formation (Delaware vs Wyoming), single-member vs multi-member, and tax classification still need to be settled before any agent can usefully act. The AI removes the typing, not the thinking.

Which service fits also depends on where you are filing from — the EIN path, banking access, and home-country reporting differ sharply by country. We maintain country-specific formation stacks for India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, Canada, Turkey, and the UK, each mapping the formation, banking, and compliance steps in sequence for that jurisdiction.

What costs do formation services NOT cover?

No matter which service you use, there's a layer of obligations that none of them touch — at any price point. These run $500 to $5,000+/yr depending on your situation, and they're where the real complexity lives.

Tax residency analysis. You live in Portugal, you have a Wyoming LLC. How does Portugal treat that income? No formation service will tell you. This requires a professional who understands both jurisdictions. See the tax residency guide.

FBAR and FATCA. If you're a US person with foreign accounts over $10,000 at any point during the year (not year-end — any point), you must file FBAR. Non-US persons with US entities may trigger FATCA reporting in their home country. Neither is on any formation service's radar. See the FBAR threshold trap.

Permanent establishment risk. If you're running your US LLC from a desk in Berlin, you may have created tax obligations in Germany. Article 5 of the OECD Model Tax Convention covers this. Your formation service won't flag it. See PE risk analysis.

Transfer pricing. Running a US LLC and a foreign entity? The transactions between them need documentation. Not optional. See transfer pricing for solo founders.

I'm not calling these formation service failures — they're just outside the scope of what formation services do. But founders need to know about them because the bill arrives whether you planned for it or not. The compliance checklist maps all of these.

What is the total 3-year cost of a US LLC through each service?

This is the table I wish I'd had when I started. Forget the formation fee — here's what you'll actually spend over three years, including the compliance costs that no pricing page shows.

Two ironies sit in this table. Doola's $297 formation fee leads to the highest three-year total ($6,474) — because it bundles the compliance non-residents actually need. And Bizee's $0 formation fee produces the lowest sticker (~$1,900–3,400), because it bundles none of it and never tells you that you're now responsible for a $25,000-penalty filing. Atlas at $500 sits in between: cheapest among the services that at least integrate banking, but only if you already have a CPA. The pattern across all four is the same — the cheaper the headline, the more compliance work has quietly moved onto your desk.

And again: Wyoming saves $720 over three years. That single decision — available only through Firstbase and Doola — has more financial impact than which formation service you pick.

How does Stripe Atlas compare to Doola?

Stripe Atlas ($500 formation) costs ~$3,100-4,600 over three years with an external CPA. Doola ($297 formation) costs ~$6,474 over three years with its Total Compliance plan. Atlas is cheaper long-term but requires the founder to manage compliance independently. Doola is more expensive but bundles Form 5472, bookkeeping, and tax filing. Atlas is Delaware-only; Doola offers Wyoming.

These two platforms sit at opposite ends of the non-resident founder spectrum.

The trade-off is control vs. convenience. Atlas costs less over time but requires the founder to manage compliance independently. Doola costs more but bundles Form 5472, bookkeeping, and tax filing into a single annual fee. A founder with an existing CPA relationship saves money with Atlas. A founder starting from scratch with no tax advisor pays a premium with Doola but eliminates the risk of missing a filing deadline.

How does Firstbase compare to Doola?

Firstbase ($399 formation) costs ~$3,276 over three years with tax filing. Doola ($297 formation) costs ~$6,474 over three years with Total Compliance. The key difference: Firstbase charges $899/yr for tax filing (including Form 5472) while Doola charges $1,999/yr but bundles bookkeeping. Over three years, the price gap is ~$3,200. Founders who maintain their own books save with Firstbase.

Both target non-US founders and offer Wyoming. The difference is in scope and price.

Firstbase occupies the middle ground. Its tax filing add-on ($899/yr) covers Form 5472 at less than half the cost of Doola's Total Compliance tier. The trade-off: Firstbase does not bundle bookkeeping, so founders who need that handled will either add it separately or choose Doola's all-in-one approach. For founders who can maintain their own books (or use Xero or QuickBooks directly), Firstbase delivers the compliance coverage at a lower total cost.

How do you choose between Stripe Atlas, Firstbase, Doola, and Bizee?

The choice depends on three variables: whether the founder plans to raise VC (Atlas for C-Corp), whether the founder has an existing CPA (Atlas, Firstbase, or Bizee if yes, Doola if no), and whether cost minimization or convenience is the priority (Firstbase for cost, Doola for convenience). Bizee is the cheapest entry but the only one of the four not built for non-residents, so it fits a narrow case: a US-resident founder, or a non-resident who already has a cross-border CPA and knowingly handles every compliance step Bizee leaves out. Wyoming vs Delaware is a separate decision worth $240/yr that Firstbase, Doola, and Bizee all offer.

The formation service choice depends on the founder's specific situation:

Choose Stripe Atlas if:

• You plan to raise venture capital (C-Corp with stock issuance and 83(b) included)
• You will primarily use Stripe for payment processing
• You already have a CPA or tax advisor who handles Form 5472 and annual filing
• Delaware entity is preferred or required for VC reasons

Choose Firstbase if:

• You want Wyoming LLC to minimize state fees
• You need Form 5472 and tax filing handled but want to control costs
• You are comfortable managing some compliance independently
• You prefer a middle-ground between DIY and full service

Choose Doola if:

• You are a non-US founder who wants everything handled in one place
• You do not have an existing CPA relationship
• You are willing to pay a premium for comprehensive ongoing compliance
• Bookkeeping and tax filing bundled together is worth the cost

Consider Bizee if:

• You are a US resident (the product is built for you), or a non-resident who already has a cross-border CPA
• You want the lowest possible formation sticker ($0 + state fee) and will handle Form 5472 and all non-resident compliance yourself
• You understand the EIN flow assumes an SSN and have a plan for the SS-4 process if you do not have one
• You value the longest track record (1M+ entities since 2004) over bundled non-resident support

Consider DIY formation if:

• You already have a CPA who specializes in non-resident US tax
• You are comfortable filing with a state directly and applying for an EIN via IRS
• The structural walkthrough in the US LLC formation guide covers your needs
• You want to save $297–500 on formation and allocate that to professional tax advice instead

What does the formation fee actually buy — and what does it not?

$297-500 buys you an entity: a name, an EIN, a registered agent, a state filing. That's real. What it doesn't buy is a structure — the tax position, compliance calendar, and documentation that connects your new LLC to your actual cross-border life.

I learned this the hard way. The formation was the easy 20 minutes. The next 18 months of figuring out what I owed, to whom, and by when — that was the real work. And that work isn't part of any formation package at any price point.

If you want to understand where the gaps are in your specific situation, the free risk check takes about 5 minutes. The META framework explains the four dimensions we assess, and the first-year decision map gives you a sequence for addressing them.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Stripe Atlas cost in total for year one?

Stripe Atlas charges $500 for formation, which includes a Delaware C-Corp or LLC, EIN, registered agent (year one), Mercury account setup, operating agreement, and stock issuance templates (C-Corp). The $500 covers entity creation only. It does not include state franchise tax ($300/yr for Delaware LLC), tax filing, bookkeeping, or Form 5472 compliance — which are additional costs the founder must arrange independently.

What is the cheapest way to form a US LLC as a non-resident?

DIY formation is the cheapest option — filing directly with Wyoming costs $100 (filing fee) plus ~$100-200/yr for a registered agent. Doola starts at $297, Firstbase at $399, and Stripe Atlas at $500. However, the formation fee is the smallest component of total cost. Annual state fees ($60-300/yr), registered agent renewal ($100-200/yr), and mandatory Form 5472 filing ($500-2,000 via CPA) make the ongoing cost $700-2,500/yr regardless of how the entity was formed.

What is Form 5472 and why does it matter?

Form 5472 is an IRS information return required annually from every foreign-owned single-member LLC, filed with a pro forma Form 1120. It reports "reportable transactions" between the LLC and its foreign owner, including capital contributions, distributions, and loans. The penalty for failure to file is $25,000 per form. This obligation exists from day one, regardless of revenue, and none of the three formation services include it in their base pricing.

Should I form my LLC in Delaware or Wyoming?

For non-resident solo founders with no US employees, Wyoming is typically less expensive — $60/yr in state fees versus $300/yr for Delaware. Over three years, that is a $720 difference. Delaware's advantage is its specialized Court of Chancery for complex corporate disputes, which is relevant for VC-backed C-Corps with multiple shareholders but largely irrelevant for single-member LLCs.

Does Stripe Atlas guarantee a Mercury account?

Stripe Atlas integrates Mercury account opening into its formation flow, which historically provided a streamlined approval process. However, Mercury has increased scrutiny on non-resident applications throughout 2025-2026. Founders report extended review periods, additional documentation requests, and outright rejections — particularly for newly formed entities with no revenue history. Formation through Atlas does not guarantee banking approval.

Bizee is the cheapest option — is it the right choice for non-residents?

Bizee's Basic package is $0 plus the state fee, the lowest sticker of the four, and the company has formed over 1 million entities since 2004 (it was Incfile before the 2023 rebrand). The structural question for a non-resident is what the low price excludes. Bizee does not file Form 5472, does not assist with an ITIN, and its EIN flow assumes the applicant has an SSN. For a US-resident founder, none of that matters and Bizee is a reasonable, well-established choice. For a non-resident, the $0 entry means you are taking on Form 5472 (a $25,000-penalty filing), the EIN SS-4 process, and the rest of cross-border compliance yourself, and Bizee's onboarding will not flag that those obligations exist. It can be the cheapest route if you already have a cross-border CPA and know exactly what you are handling. It is the riskiest route if you assumed $0 meant you were done.

Key Takeaways

• Stripe Atlas ($500) is Delaware-only and includes no tax filing. Firstbase ($399), Doola ($297), and Bizee ($0) all offer Wyoming, which saves $240/yr in state fees.
• Form 5472 is required for every foreign-owned single-member LLC. The penalty for not filing is $25,000. None of the four services include it in their base price, and Bizee does not offer it at any tier or even surface that it exists.
• Total three-year cost ranges from ~$1,900 (Bizee, DIY compliance) to ~$6,400 (Doola Total Compliance) — but Bizee's low figure reflects compliance it leaves entirely to you. Among services that cover non-resident compliance, Firstbase is the lowest at ~$3,276.
• Three of the four (Firstbase, Doola, and partly Atlas) are built with non-residents in mind. Bizee is built for US residents — usable off-label by non-residents, but its EIN flow assumes an SSN and its onboarding surfaces no cross-border steps.
• All four services create an entity. None of them create a structure. Tax residency analysis, FBAR compliance, PE risk assessment, and transfer pricing documentation are the founder's responsibility regardless of provider.
• The most impactful cost decision is not which service to use — it is whether to form in Delaware ($300/yr) or Wyoming ($60/yr).

Related Reading

• Stripe Atlas vs Firstbase vs DIY: What They Structure and What They Don't
• Delaware vs Wyoming LLC: What Non-Residents Actually Need to Know
• How to Form a US LLC as a Non-Resident (2026)
• Mercury vs Wise vs Relay: Best Banking 2026
• FBAR for Digital Nomads: The $10K Threshold Trap
• Digital Nomad Tax Residency Guide 2026
• Entity Decision Framework for Cross-Border Founders
• Stripe vs Paddle vs Lemon Squeezy: Payment Processing Fees 2026
• Wise vs Payoneer vs Mercury: Multi-Currency Comparison 2026
• Deel vs Oyster vs Remote: EOR Comparison 2026

References

• Stripe Atlas — Formation service pricing and features (accessed February 2026)
• Firstbase — LLC and C-Corp formation for US and non-US founders
• Doola — Business formation and compliance for non-US founders
• Bizee — LLC and business formation (formerly Incfile); founder-led since 2004, 1M+ entities formed (accessed May 2026)
• IRS: Form 5472 — Information Return of a 25% Foreign-Owned US Corporation
• IRS: Form 1120 — US Corporation Income Tax Return
• IRS: EIN Application — Employer Identification Number
• Delaware Division of Corporations — Annual franchise tax and filing requirements
• Wyoming Secretary of State — Annual report requirements and fees
• FinCEN: FBAR Filing — Foreign bank account reporting requirements
• IRS: FATCA — Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
• OECD: Tax Treaties — Model tax conventions and permanent establishment definitions (Article 5)
• US Census Bureau: Business Formation Statistics — New business application data
• Mercury — US business banking platform
• Wise Business — Multi-currency business account
• Relay — US business banking for small businesses

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Disclosure

*Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.