Guide 36 · Comparisons

Sethhost vs Firstbase: one hosted bill vs a shelf of products, honestly compared

Firstbase sells the founder's stack the way a hardware store sells tools: each product priced, each product separate, a bundle if you want the shelf. Sethhost sells one membership with the tools already in it. Neither shape is dishonest — but the totals surprise founders who compare the $399 headline against the $79 one. Here are both stacks, priced in full.

On this page

1. The two offers, in their own numbers
2. Side by side
3. The honest year-one total
4. Who should choose which
5. Fairness notes
6. Reading is step one. The paperwork is the rest.

The two offers, in their own numbers

Sethhost's terms, first. Hosted is $79 per month with a 12-month initial term — $948 for the first term, formation included, then month-to-month. Inside the one bill: formation handling, the EIN workflow, registered agent service, a five-page website, a US number, a compliance calendar and the portal. The state filing fee is passed through at cost. Sethhost does not file your taxes; Form 5472 goes to your own CPA with the records kept ready.

Firstbase's terms, from its published pricing. Start is a one-time $399 to form an LLC or C corporation in Delaware or Wyoming, with EIN setup and founding documents. Agent — registered agent service, which incorporation requires — is $299 per year per state. Mailroom, the US address product, runs $315–$350 per year. Tax filing for a foreign-owned single-member LLC (the Form 5472 package) is a further product at $899 per year. Or the bundle: Firstbase One at $199 per month billed yearly — $2,388 — combining Mailroom Premium, Agent, Accounting and Tax Filing.

Side by side

Question	Sethhost	Firstbase
How you pay	One subscription, $79/mo; $948 first term incl. formation; state fee at cost	À la carte: $399 once, then per-product annual prices; or One at $2,388/yr; state fees extra
Where you can form	Any US state, on the verified fee for that state	Delaware and Wyoming
Registered agent	Included; Registered Agents Inc. is agent of record, named in the agreement	Agent product, $299/yr per state
US address / mail	Agent address for official mail; no mail service in memberships from Nov 2026	Mailroom product, $315–$350/yr
Tax filing	Not filed by Sethhost; your CPA, records provided	Product at $899/yr for the foreign-owned SMLLC package; inside One
Website + US number	Included	Not a Firstbase product
Accounting	Not included; books kept CPA-ready	Accounting product; inside One

The honest year-one total

Build the honest Firstbase year one for a non-resident who needs what incorporation actually requires: Start $399 + Agent $299 + Mailroom Basic $315 = $1,013 plus the state fee — more than Sethhost's $948 plus the state fee, before either side files a tax form. Add Firstbase's 5472 filing at $899 and the year is $1,912; take Firstbase One instead and it is $399 + $2,388. The $399 headline is real — it is simply the price of the first product on a shelf of four.

Sethhost's counter-weakness is just as real: no tax filing at any price, no accounting product, and a 12-month first term that Firstbase's one-time Start never asks for. A founder who wants a Delaware C corporation with equity paperwork is also in Firstbase's home territory — Start was built for it, and our own LLC vs corporation guide explains when that entity is the right one.

Who should choose which

• Choose Firstbase if you are forming in Delaware or Wyoming, you want to buy exactly the products you need and no more, and you value its accounting and tax-filing shelf being one login away.
• Choose Sethhost if your state is not Delaware or Wyoming, you want formation, agent, website, number and calendar on one monthly bill, and your tax filing sits with your own CPA by preference.
• Either way, price the whole stack for year one and year three before paying either company — the table above is built for exactly that, and our pricing page states Sethhost's side in full.

Fairness notes

Firstbase's prices here were read from its published pricing and corroborating November 2026 plan summaries; reviewers disagree on whether the first agent year is ever bundled into Start promotions, so this guide prices Agent as the separate annual product Firstbase's own pricing lists — if a promotion says otherwise at your checkout, the checkout governs. Prices change. What does not change is the shape of the comparison: a shelf against a membership, and the founder's job is to total the shelf before admiring its entry price.