Sketched out
The choice is smaller than it looks, and it is not about paperwork.
Both routes end with the same entity registered in the same state. What you are really choosing is how much of the process you want to own — now, and every year after.
On the napkin
Four questions that settle it
Nothing is published yet. These are the questions the write-ups work through, in roughly this order, because answering the first one usually removes one of the routes.
Is your home address going on the record?
If that matters to you, it decides more than anything else here — and it is about the registered agent, not the filing.
Will you remember the annual report?
The filing is once. The report is forever, and forgetting it is what actually costs people money.
Is anything about your setup unusual?
Multiple owners, outside investment, a regulated activity. None of that is what a formation service is for.
What is an afternoon worth to you?
That is the honest size of the DIY route in most states. If the answer is "less than the service fee", the sketch is finished.
Nothing is circled. The write-ups argue particular cases; the drawing is only here to show what the argument is about.
House rules
How this site handles the question
No house answer
Neither route is presented as the sensible default. Where one fits a case better, the reasoning is on the page.
Not legal advice
What a state requires is a matter of record. Whether a structure suits you is a question for someone qualified to look at it.
Nothing is scored
No ratings, no stars, no tier boards. There is no number that settles this.
Affiliate links are disclosed
Some links earn a commission. It never decides which route a page recommends, and it is stated wherever it applies.