doola vs Firstbase vs Northwest: The Honest LLC Verdict
In the doola vs Firstbase vs Northwest decision, the honest split is this: Northwest is cheapest and most private if you’re happy to assemble the pieces yourself; Firstbase is the done-for-you option that bundles an EIN without an SSN; doola is a yearly subscription that packages ongoing compliance. Same US LLC at the end — three very different ways to pay for it.
Every doola vs Firstbase comparison online skips the same thing: what actually happens when a non-resident forms the company. I’ve done it three times. So this puts the two best-known non-resident platforms next to the lean specialist I actually use, and tells you which one fits which founder — not which one pays me most.
The lean, private option
Formation from $39 plus the state fee, then $125 a year. What all three of my Wyoming LLCs run on.
Table of contents
doola vs Firstbase vs Northwest: the 30-second verdict
Here’s the whole comparison on one screen. Prices are 2026 figures for a Wyoming LLC and should be confirmed at checkout — every provider changes them.
| Northwest | Firstbase | doola | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Pay per service | One-time + add-ons | Yearly subscription |
| Formation | $39 + state fee | $399 (state fee incl.) | ~$297/yr + state fee |
| EIN without SSN | Yes (add-on or DIY) | Yes (included) | Yes (included) |
| Registered agent | $125/yr | ~$99+/yr | Bundled |
| Ongoing cost | Lowest | Medium | Highest (renews) |
| Tax filing (5472) | Bring your own CPA | ~$899/yr add-on | Higher tiers |
| Best for | Cost + privacy | Done-for-you | All-in-one subscription |
Read down the “pricing model” row first — it explains everything else. In the doola vs Firstbase contrast specifically, doola bills you every year while Firstbase charges once and sells you the rest. Northwest sits outside both: it charges only for what you actually buy.
What actually matters for a non-resident
Formation price is the number everyone quotes and the one that matters least. As a non-resident, four other things decide the real cost and hassle.
EIN without an SSN. This is the genuine blocker. You cannot open a US bank account without an EIN, and without a Social Security Number you can’t file the online form — it goes by fax on Form SS-4. All three handle this, but the way they handle it differs: Firstbase and doola bundle it into the price, while with Northwest it’s a paid add-on or a job you do yourself. Our EIN without an SSN guide walks the DIY route.
Ongoing cost, not sticker price. A one-time fee looks cheap next to a subscription until year three. The question isn’t what you pay to form the company — it’s what you still pay in year two and year three to keep it alive.
Form 5472. A foreign-owned single-member US LLC must file Form 5472 with a pro-forma 1120 every year there’s a reportable transaction, and the penalty for missing it starts at $25,000 — see the IRS Form 5472 page. Whether your provider handles this, and at what price, matters more than the formation fee.
How much you want to do yourself. This is the real axis of the doola vs Firstbase vs Northwest choice. Some founders want a single dashboard that does everything and will pay for it. Others want the lowest possible bill and are fine filing a form by fax. Neither is wrong — but picking the wrong one for your temperament is how you overpay.
doola in detail
Formation, EIN and compliance in one plan
A yearly subscription built for non-residents who’d rather not manage add-ons.
doola is a subscription platform aimed squarely at non-resident founders. Its Starter plan runs around $297 a year, with your state filing fee paid on top, and it bundles formation, a registered agent, and an EIN into that yearly price. Higher tiers fold in bookkeeping and US tax filing, so the pitch is a single recurring bill that grows with you.
The strength is packaging. If you want formation, compliance and taxes handled by one team on one subscription, doola is built for exactly that, and it never asks you to be a US resident. The trade-off is the model itself: it renews every year at the full rate, so over time it’s the most expensive of the three at the entry tier. The EIN is included but, by most accounts, lands on the slower side — plan for several weeks rather than days if you need it for Stripe or a bank.
In the doola vs Firstbase question, doola is the one to pick if you actively want a subscription that carries your bookkeeping and tax filing too, and you’d rather pay yearly than juggle one-time fees plus add-ons.
Firstbase in detail
One-time fee, EIN without SSN included
State fees baked in, EIN handled, Wyoming or Delaware — the polished option.
Firstbase takes the opposite approach to doola. Its Start product is a one-time $399 that forms a Delaware or Wyoming LLC (or C-Corp), includes the state filing fee, and — the part non-residents care about — includes an expedited EIN with no SSN or ITIN required. That EIN inclusion is the real reason people pay the higher headline price.
What the $399 doesn’t cover is the recurring stack: the registered agent (Agent™) starts around $99 a year, a premium US address runs roughly $35–$50 a month, and a foreign-owned single-member tax filing that handles Form 5472 is about $899 a year. Add those and the “cheap one-time fee” becomes a real annual spend. It also steers you toward Mercury for banking, which is fine if you’re approved and a dead end if you’re not.
Firstbase is the strongest pick if you want the whole thing done for you in one polished dashboard and you’ll pay for that convenience. Its genuine edge over the lean route is that the EIN-without-SSN and formation come bundled, so there’s no fax form to file yourself and nothing to assemble.
Northwest in detail
Northwest is the one I actually use, so I’ll be specific rather than generic. It isn’t an all-in-one non-resident platform — it’s a registered agent and formation specialist that happens to work cleanly for foreigners. Formation is $39 plus the state fee, the first year of registered agent is included, and it’s $125 a year after that. There’s no bundled tax filing and no forced subscription.
The EIN is where you make a choice. Northwest will handle the non-resident EIN filing for you as a paid add-on — I paid $200 for that on my first company — or you file Form SS-4 by fax yourself for free. Either way it works without an SSN; mine came back in about two weeks. What Northwest does better than either platform is privacy and ongoing cost: your home address stays off the public record, and at $125 a year it’s the cheapest to keep alive by a wide margin.
The honest limit: Northwest won’t hand you a bookkeeping dashboard or file your 5472. You bring your own accountant for that. If you want the lean, private, low-cost path and you’re comfortable owning a couple of steps yourself, it’s the best value of the three. If you want everything done for you, it isn’t trying to be that.
The lean, private path I use
$39 formation plus the state fee, $125 a year after that, address kept off the public record.
Choose which, and when
Choose Northwest if your priority is the lowest ongoing cost and maximum privacy, and you’re fine either paying a one-off $200 for the EIN or filing the fax form yourself. This is most first-time non-resident founders on a budget — and it’s what I did, three times.
Choose Firstbase if you want the formation and the EIN-without-SSN done for you in one clean flow, you prefer a one-time fee, and you’ll add the registered agent and tax filing as you need them. Best for founders who value zero friction over the lowest bill.
Choose doola if you want a single yearly subscription that carries formation, compliance and eventually bookkeeping and taxes, and you’d rather never think about add-ons. Best for founders who want one recurring invoice and full hand-holding.
One more thing worth saying out loud: there is no single “best” here, and any article that crowns one winner for everyone is selling you something. A venture-backed founder who wants investor-ready books will value doola’s subscription in a way a bootstrapped freelancer never would. A founder who hates admin will happily pay Firstbase to make it disappear. And a cost-focused solo operator will run Northwest for a decade and never feel they missed out. The doola vs Firstbase vs Northwest answer changes with the founder, not the feature list.
Notice none of that is decided by formation price. The doola vs Firstbase vs Northwest choice is really about how you want to pay and how much you want to do — see our best state guide and the US LLC for non-residents pillar for the decisions that sit underneath it.
The banking reality none of them fully solve
Here’s the part the doola vs Firstbase marketing pages gloss over: none of the three actually opens your bank account. They prefill an application and hand you to a partner — almost always Mercury — and approval is between you and the bank. Firstbase names Mercury on its Start page; doola integrates with fintech partners too; Northwest doesn’t touch banking at all, which some founders prefer because it leaves them free to apply wherever they like.
That distinction matters more than it sounds. If a provider steers you to one bank and that bank declines you — which happens to founders from some countries more than others — a “banking included” pitch is worth nothing, and you’re applying elsewhere from scratch. The formation service can’t override a bank’s own risk rules.
For what it’s worth, my own account came through cleanly. Once the EIN letter arrived, Mercury approved my Wyoming LLC in 48 to 72 hours on three documents: the Articles of Organization, the EIN letter, and my passport. No US phone number, no in-person visit. But I applied directly rather than through any formation platform’s funnel, and I’d do the same again — it keeps the bank relationship separate from the formation vendor, so switching one never disturbs the other. The full process is in our US business bank account guide.
So when you weigh doola vs Firstbase vs Northwest on “banking,” read it as convenience of the hand-off, not a guarantee. The EIN is the thing that unlocks the account, and all three get you that. Where you actually bank is a separate decision you keep control of.
The real cost over three years
Sticker prices lie because they only describe day one. Here’s a rough three-year total for a Wyoming LLC at each provider’s entry configuration, EIN included, before optional extras like a premium address or bookkeeping. Confirm current figures before you buy.
| Northwest | Firstbase | doola | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | ~$343 (with EIN service) | ~$498 | ~$401 |
| Year 2 | $125 | ~$99 | ~$297 |
| Year 3 | $125 | ~$99 | ~$297 |
| 3-year total | ~$593 | ~$696 | ~$995 |
Figures exclude the Wyoming annual report (a low state minimum) and any tax-filing service, which you’d add to all three. The shape is what matters: Northwest stays cheapest because you only pay for the agent after year one, Firstbase’s one-time fee amortises into the middle, and doola’s subscription keeps billing at the full rate. If you add doola’s or Firstbase’s tax-filing tiers, both climb steeply — that’s where the all-in-one convenience gets paid for.
Frequently asked questions
doola vs Firstbase: which is cheaper?
At the entry tier, Firstbase is usually cheaper over three years because its formation fee is one-time while doola renews its subscription every year. But once you add tax filing or bookkeeping, the two converge — and both sit above Northwest’s lean $125-a-year path.
Do all three give an EIN without an SSN?
Yes. doola and Firstbase bundle the non-resident EIN into their price. Northwest offers it as a paid add-on or you file Form SS-4 by fax yourself for free. None require a Social Security Number.
Which is best for a non-resident on a budget?
Northwest, clearly, on ongoing cost — around $125 a year to keep the LLC alive versus a renewing subscription or stacked add-ons. The trade-off is that you handle a couple of steps, like the EIN, yourself or as a one-off add-on.
Does doola or Firstbase handle Form 5472?
Both offer it, at a price. Firstbase’s foreign-owned tax filing is roughly $899 a year; doola folds tax filing into its higher subscription tiers. Northwest doesn’t file it — you bring your own accountant, which can be cheaper or dearer depending on who you use.
Can I switch providers later?
Yes. Your LLC belongs to you, not the formation service. You can change your registered agent or move your bookkeeping elsewhere at any time. Switching agents is a simple state filing, so you’re not locked in by your first choice.
Which one do you actually use?
Northwest, for all three of my Wyoming LLCs. I chose it for the low ongoing cost and privacy, filed one EIN through their $200 service and would do the fax route myself next time. That’s a real preference, not a ranking sold to the highest bidder.
