Clerky vs Firstbase (2026): which incorporation service?
Clerky vs Firstbase in 2026: the honest call on diligence-ready paperwork, what actually renews, SAFE support, and what switching later really costs you.
The honest answer in 2026: buy Clerky if you expect a priced round and want paperwork that survives investor diligence without a re-papering exercise first. Buy Firstbase if the point is to have a company that exists this week, with registered agent, mail, tax, and bookkeeping bundled behind one renewal. That is the clerky vs firstbase decision in one line, and the rest of this page is the evidence for it.
Clerky is startup legal paperwork software with one obsession: diligence-readiness. Its formation set covers Delaware C-corp incorporation, an action of incorporator, bylaws, an initial board consent, restricted stock purchase agreements, notices of stock issuance, pre-filled 83(b) elections with filing instructions and reminders, and IP assignment agreements, per Clerky's product list for startups. Formation is $427 one time, or $819 for a Company Lifetime Package covering included legal products for the life of the startup, per Clerky's pricing page.
Firstbase sells the opposite thing: operational convenience. Start is $399 one time, Agent Autopilot is $299 annually per state, Mailroom Premium is $350 annually, and Firstbase One is $2,388 billed yearly, per Firstbase's pricing page. Firstbase reports more than 30,000 companies incorporated across 191 countries on its homepage, and Agent Autopilot absorbs the recurring state annual reports, franchise-tax filings, and beneficial-ownership work founders forget about, per the Firstbase Agent page.
The clerky vs firstbase pricing gap at formation is $28, which is not a decision. The axis that matters is what happens the first time equity goes to someone who is not a founder. Clerky's fundraising products generate SAFEs and convertible notes with valuation-cap, discount, and MFN variants, plus board consents, a financing checklist, and signature escrow with attorney-reviewer workflows, per Clerky's product list. Firstbase's post-formation toolkit assigns equity, files 83(b) paperwork, and creates a Carta cap table, but its Start materials do not identify an in-platform SAFE, convertible-note, or employee-option workflow.
This page is for founders choosing once, and for the larger group who already chose and now want to know what moving costs. The short version on that: it is not an export, it is a legal review. Below is where the trade-off gets specific.
At a glance
Strengths · weaknesses for each tool- $427 one-time formation, or $819 for a Company Lifetime Package covering included legal products for the life of the startup.
- Formation set includes bylaws, initial board consent, restricted stock purchase agreements, and notices of stock issuance.
- Pre-filled 83(b) elections ship with filing instructions and reminders, which is the deadline founders most often miss.
- Fundraising products generate SAFEs and convertible notes with valuation-cap, discount, and MFN variants.
- Signature escrow plus attorney-reviewer and observer workflows keep outside counsel inside the same document flow.
- Delaware incorporation is typically processed within 1 to 3 business days.
- No mailroom, tax, accounting, or bundled annual compliance service in the published product set.
- Clerky states plainly that it is not a law firm and does not automatically replace your lawyer.
- Bringing in a company formed elsewhere requires a startup attorney to review the existing paperwork first.
- Pay Per Use splits formation, post-incorporation, fundraising, hiring, and maintenance into separate charges.
- $399 one-time Start, and the displayed formation offer may reduce the upfront charge to state fees only.
- Agent Autopilot at $299 annually per state covers state annual reports, franchise-tax filings, and foreign qualification.
- Mailroom Premium at $350 annually gives the company a principal business address.
- Firstbase One bundles agent, mailroom, tax, and accounting at $2,388 billed yearly.
- More than 30,000 companies incorporated across 191 countries, with real depth for founders outside the US.
- Post-incorporation package includes bylaws, board resolutions, stock purchase agreement, and a technology-assignment agreement.
- Published Start materials do not identify an in-platform SAFE, convertible-note, or employee-option workflow.
- Its financing guide explains priced and unpriced rounds without promising Firstbase generates those documents.
- Firstbase is not a law firm, and using its attorney directory does not itself create an attorney-client relationship.
- Recurring costs stack: agent, mailroom, and One all renew annually on top of the one-time formation fee.
Feature-by-feature
What each tool ships, at the tier most founders buy| Feature | Clerky | Firstbase |
|---|---|---|
| Formation price (one-time) | Yes: $427 Pay Per Use Post-incorporation, fundraising, hiring, and maintenance are charged separately. | Yes: $399 Start Displayed offer may reduce the upfront charge to state fees only. |
| Bundled option | Yes: $819 Company Lifetime Package One-time, covers included legal products for the startup's life. | Yes: $2,388 Firstbase One, billed yearly Recurring, not a one-time purchase. |
| What renews annually | Yes: No conventional subscription for the legal package Maintenance is a separate Pay Per Use charge. | Yes: Agent $299/yr per state, Mailroom $350/yr State fees and taxes remain separate. |
| Incorporation document package | Yes: Action of incorporator, bylaws, board consent, IP assignment Plus restricted stock purchase agreements and notices of stock issuance. | Yes: Certificate of formation, bylaws, board resolutions, stock certificate Plus technology-assignment and indemnification documents. |
| Founder stock and 83(b) | Yes: Pre-filled 83(b) with instructions and reminders Paired with restricted stock purchase agreements. | Yes: Assign equity, file 83(b), create a Carta cap table Handled through the post-formation toolkit. |
| SAFEs and convertible notes | Yes: Generated, with cap, discount, and MFN variants Includes board consents and a financing checklist. | No: Not identified as an in-platform workflow Its financing guide explains the concepts rather than generating the documents. |
| Employee option grants | Yes: Hiring products are a separate Pay Per Use category Priced apart from formation. | No: Not described in published Start materials Cap table lives in Carta. |
| Signature escrow and attorney review | Yes: Signature escrow, attorney-reviewer and observer roles Counsel works inside the same flow. | No: Not described in published Start materials Attorney directory is a referral list, not a review workflow. |
| Registered agent and annual compliance | Yes: Maintenance charged separately No bundled compliance service in the product set. | Yes: Agent Autopilot Annual reports, franchise tax, compliance reminders, payroll-tax and beneficial-ownership filings. |
| Mail, tax, and accounting | No: Not part of the published product set Clerky stays inside legal documents. | Yes: Mailroom, tax, and accounting under One 1,500+ tax returns facilitated in 2024 and $500M+ in transactions categorized. |
| Scale and traction claims | Yes: 20,000+ startups incorporated, $5B+ raised Fundraising products cite 1,000+ top seed investors. | Yes: 30,000+ companies across 191 countries, $3B+ raised 15,000+ companies on Agent, 10,000+ on Mailroom. |
| Moving an existing entity in | No: Attorney review required first Non-Delaware entities may need a lawyer-led conversion or Delaware C-corp flip. | Yes: Formation-first product Not positioned as a destination for companies formed elsewhere. |
Verdict
Which tool wins for which jobPick Clerky if you expect outside money
As an incorporation service for YC applicants and other accelerator-track founders, Clerky's advantage is the document set waiting on the other side of formation. Delaware incorporation is typically processed within 1 to 3 business days and more than 20,000 startups have incorporated through it, per Clerky's homepage. Clerky says startups using its fundraising products have raised more than $5 billion from over 1,000 top seed investors, per its product list.
Do not buy Clerky for the formation filing. Buy it for the pre-filled 83(b) elections with reminders and the signature escrow you will use at your first SAFE.
Pick Firstbase if the admin is the real problem
An honest Firstbase incorporation review has to separate the formation from everything that renews after it. The formation is ordinary: certificate of formation, stock purchase agreement, written consent of incorporator, board resolutions, bylaws, common-stock certificate, and a technology-assignment agreement, per Firstbase's incorporation help center. The renewals are the product. Firstbase One reports 1,500+ tax returns facilitated in 2024, 10,000+ businesses using Mailroom as their principal address, and more than $500 million in transactions categorized through Accounting.
If you are outside the US and need an address, an agent, and a tax filer more than you need a SAFE generator, this is the correct purchase.
Neither one replaces your lawyer
Both vendors say so in writing, and founders keep ignoring it. Clerky describes its documents as attorney-compatible managed forms monitored against regulations, case law, and industry practice, while expressly stating it is not a law firm and does not automatically replace your lawyer, per Clerky's legal quality page. Firstbase's terms state it is not a law firm and that using its attorney directory does not itself create an attorney-client relationship.
Get counsel for anything off the standard path: unusual vesting, advisor equity, side letters, a foreign parent. Templates are good at the median case and silent about yours.
The migration question nobody answers
Do not assume you can move to Clerky after equity is out the door. Clerky says a startup attorney must first review the existing legal paperwork, address problems, and decide which Clerky products the company is ready to use, and that non-Delaware entities may require a lawyer-led conversion or an affiliated Delaware C-corp flip, per Clerky's help center on existing entities.
That makes the entity type, not the vendor, the expensive decision. Form a Delaware C-corp on day one with whichever product you buy, and a later move is paperwork instead of surgery.
If you are still deciding what to file rather than who to file it with, the Causo Hub guide to Delaware C-corp setup covers the sequence both of these products assume you already understand.
Skip the tool-stack debate.
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