Clerky is a legal document platform for startups, run by startup attorneys, that incorporates Delaware C corporations and supports the paperwork that follows: fundraising, hiring, equity, and company maintenance. The case for Clerky is mostly about what happens in the two years after your company exists, so this review looks at both the incorporation and the document library.
Quick Highlights
Price: $819 Company Lifetime Package, or $427 for pay-per-use incorporation. Post-Incorporation Setup is $299 at the pay-per-use tier.
Entity types: Delaware C corporations, including public benefit corporations.
Best feature: Unlimited use of Clerky's standard fundraising, hiring, commercial, and maintenance documents on the lifetime package.
83(b): Pre-filled 83(b) election forms with filing instructions and automated reminders, plus an optional Managed 83(b) Election add-on.
Who runs it: Clerky is run by startup attorneys and states that it is not a law firm.
The short answer
Clerky costs $819 for its Company Lifetime Package or $427 for pay-per-use incorporation, and it incorporates Delaware C corporations, including public benefit corporations. The lifetime package includes Delaware incorporation, expedited filing fees, the first-year registered agent fee, and unlimited use of Clerky's standard fundraising, hiring, commercial, and maintenance documents. It is a strong fit for venture-track founders who expect to issue SAFEs, adopt a stock plan, and hire.
Best for: Clerky is best for founders who want startup legal paperwork from formation through fundraising and hiring. Rho is best for founders forming a Delaware C-corp who want their company formed and a business account opened in the same flow, subject to approval.
We assess formation options on price, what's included, and whether a business account can open in the same flow as formation.
What Clerky costs
Clerky prices two ways: one lifetime package, or pay per use. Clerky labels pay per use as best for most startups.
Company Lifetime Package: $819
The lifetime package includes:
Formation: Delaware incorporation, with expedited filing fees included.
Registered agent: The first-year Delaware registered agent fee.
Reminders: Annual report and franchise tax reminders.
Documents: Unlimited use of Clerky's standard fundraising, hiring, commercial, and maintenance products, excluding add-ons and third-party fees.
Clerky's comparison chart notes that the package includes $203 in Delaware expedited filing fees and a $125 first-year Delaware registered agent fee. The lifetime access is the core of the product: a document library you can keep using for years.
Pay per use
Clerky also sells each product individually:
Product | Price |
|---|---|
Incorporation | $427 |
Post-Incorporation Setup | $299 |
Stock Plan Adoption | $199 |
Foreign Qualification (CA and NY) | $125 plus third-party fees |
SAFEs | $9 each |
Convertible Notes | $19 each |
Fundraising Subscription | $99 for 6 months, unlimited issuances |
Stock options or restricted stock | $29 each |
Employee hiring | $19 each |
Consultant hiring | $19 each |
Advisor agreements | $9 each |
Board consents | $9 each |
Hiring subscriptions | $19/month for up to 12 hires per year, or $99/month for up to 100 |
Pay-per-use incorporation includes expedited filing service, first-year registered agent service, and annual report and franchise tax reminders. Post-Incorporation Setup ($299) adds the action of incorporator, bylaws, initial board consent, restricted stock purchase agreements, notices of stock issuance, pre-filled 83(b) election forms with filing instructions, and confidential information and invention assignment agreements. The $819 lifetime package covers both, plus the documents that come after.
Who Clerky is for
Clerky is run by startup attorneys who, in Clerky's words, worked at one of the top startup practices in Silicon Valley, and the product is built around paperwork that holds up in a financing.
The clearest fit is a venture-track Delaware C corporation that expects to raise. Clerky says more than 20,000 startups have incorporated through it. If your next twelve months include SAFEs, an option pool, and several hires, the lifetime package covers that paperwork.
Clerky incorporates Delaware C corporations, including public benefit corporations. Founders who want an LLC can compare providers that form them in our Clerky alternatives guide.
What Clerky gives you
The document library is the reason to choose Clerky, so here is what it contains, per Clerky's pricing page:
Formation: Incorporation; Post-Incorporation Setup (action of incorporator, bylaws, initial board consent, restricted stock purchase agreements, notices of stock issuance, pre-filled 83(b) election forms with filing instructions, and confidential information and invention assignment agreements); Foreign Qualification; Stock Plan Adoption.
Fundraising: SAFEs and convertible notes, each in valuation cap, discount, and valuation cap and discount variants.
Hiring: Offer letters, consulting agreements, advisor agreements, and confidential information and invention assignment agreements. On the equity side: restricted stock, regular stock options, and early-exercisable stock options.
Commercial: One-way and mutual NDAs.
Maintenance: Charter amendments for name changes and increases to authorized shares, plus board consents to add or remove directors and officers.
Is Clerky a law firm?
No, and Clerky says so directly. Its footer reads: "Clerky, Inc. is not an attorney or a law firm, and can only provide self-help services at your specific direction." Clerky is run by startup attorneys, which explains its focus on documents that match what investor counsel expects.
How Clerky handles the 83(b) election
An 83(b) election must reach the IRS within 30 days of your stock being issued, so it is worth knowing how each provider supports it.
Clerky provides pre-filled 83(b) election forms with filing instructions and automated reminders, which it describes as best-practice 83(b) election support. Founders who want Clerky to handle the mailing can add the Managed 83(b) Election add-on, which uses USPS Certified Mail with a postmarked receipt, Priority Mail, tracking, delivery alerts, a return receipt request, a request for an IRS-stamped copy, and a year of physical evidence storage.
Stripe Atlas includes 83(b) election filing in its $500 package, and Rho includes 83(b) election support for Delaware C-corps.
Comparing more options? See our full roundup of the best Clerky alternatives.
How fast is Clerky?
Clerky files your certificate of incorporation with Delaware on an expedited basis, and its home page says filings are typically processed by the Delaware Secretary of State within 1 to 3 business days. Post-incorporation setup moves as fast as you can collect signatures.
For non-US founders, Clerky offers an EIN application that is completely online, with no fax machine needed.
Clerky highlights
Run by startup attorneys, with a document library for fundraising, hiring, equity, and company maintenance.
A lifetime package with unlimited use of standard fundraising, hiring, commercial, and maintenance documents for one fee.
Deep post-incorporation coverage, from bylaws to option grants and charter amendments.
Online EIN application for non-US founders, with no fax machine needed.
Optional Managed 83(b) Election add-on for founders who want the mailing handled.
Things to know before you buy
Entity type: Clerky incorporates Delaware C corporations, including public benefit corporations.
Pricing tiers: Pay-per-use incorporation is $427, and Post-Incorporation Setup is a separate $299; the $819 lifetime package includes both.
83(b) mailing: Included forms and instructions are standard; the Managed 83(b) Election add-on is optional.
Foreign qualification: Clerky handles California and New York directly and offers partner discounts starting at $160 for other states.
Clerky vs the alternatives
Clerky | Stripe Atlas | Rho | |
|---|---|---|---|
Headline price | $819 lifetime, or $427 incorporation | $500 | C-corp $400; LLC $349 all in, state filing fee included |
Entity types | DE C corp, including PBCs | DE C corp, LLC, subsidiary | DE C-corp, LLC |
Registered agent year 1 | Included | Included, then $100/yr | Covered for year one (C-corp) |
83(b) | Pre-filled forms and instructions; Managed 83(b) Election add-on | 83(b) election filing included | 83(b) election support (C-corp) |
Post-incorporation docs | Lifetime library on the $819 package | Templates | Attorney-reviewed C-corp formation documents |
For the wider field, see our best incorporation services for startups guide and the Stripe Atlas vs Clerky vs LegalZoom comparison.
Where Rho fits
Rho forms Delaware C-corps for $400. For a C-corp, every formation document is reviewed by a licensed attorney, the registered agent is covered for year one, your EIN application is filed for you, and you get 83(b) election support. C-corp filings take about 24 hours, with the clock starting the next business day after you submit. Rho also forms LLCs for $349 all in, state filing fee included.
When you incorporate a Delaware C-corp with Rho, your business account opens in the same flow, subject to approval: banking, invoicing, cards, and bill pay, all live the moment your account is approved. For the C-corp flow, account opening requires at least one US-based owner or officer, a US operating address, and a business in an eligible industry.
Best for: Best for founders forming a Delaware C-corp who want their company formed and a business account opened in the same flow, subject to approval. Learn more at Rho Incorporation.
Is Clerky worth $819?
For a venture-track Delaware C corporation, the lifetime package is built for the next two years: if you will issue SAFEs, adopt a stock plan, hire, and amend your charter, it covers that standard paperwork for one fee.
If you mainly need the formation itself, compare Clerky's $427 pay-per-use incorporation with the other options above, and decide early how you want to handle your 83(b) election.
Related incorporation guides
The full ranking: See our roundup of the best incorporation services for startups, scored on price, speed, and what comes after filing.
Beyond Clerky: See the 7 best Clerky alternatives for options that form LLCs or open a business account alongside formation.
The three-way matchup: Our Stripe Atlas vs Clerky vs LegalZoom comparison covers the classic head-to-head.
The process: Our step-by-step guide to incorporating a startup runs from entity choice through your 83(b) election.
The real cost: Our guide to how much it costs to incorporate breaks down first-year totals for three founder profiles.
Ready to incorporate? Rho Incorporation forms Delaware C-corps for $400, and when you incorporate a Delaware C-corp with Rho, your business account opens in the same flow, subject to approval. Rho also forms LLCs for $349 all in, state filing fee included.
