Compare
Where the market stops, the ladder keeps going
An honest comparison — including the cases where a cheaper provider is the right choice.
| Capability | Commodity formation (doola, Firstbase, Stripe Atlas) | ITIN & credit shops | Shelf-corp / signer shops | Keystone Bridge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. entity formation | Yes | Some | Aged shells | Yes |
| ITIN done-for-you | Limited / add-on | Yes | No | Yes |
| Real leased U.S. address (bank-ready) | No — mailbox only | No | Varies | Yes |
| Real U.S. credit that reports (own name) | Limited | Varies | Borrowed score | Yes — in your name |
| Buy-side acquisition advisory | No | No | No | Yes |
| Global residency & structure | No | No | No | Yes |
| Equity partnership to a real exit | No | No | No | Yes |
| Built to survive a bank looking closely | — | — | No | Yes |
We don't sell aged shelf corporations or nominee "credit partner" signers. Those borrow a false history or a stranger's credit — the kind of thing that collapses the moment it's examined. Everything we build is yours and real. Competitor capabilities summarized from publicly listed offerings as of mid-2026; scopes change, so verify current offerings with each provider. "Limited" reflects partial or add-on availability.
Commodity formation providers
doola · Firstbase · Stripe Atlas
Excellent at what they do: fast, cheap, software-driven entity formation at $300–$2,000. But the relationship ends at the filing. No ITIN done-for-you at depth, no genuine credit build, and nothing at all once you want to buy or scale a business. If all you need is an LLC, use them — genuinely. If the LLC is step one of a bigger plan, the ladder matters.
ITIN & credit shops
Fragmented specialists
Some are good at one piece — an ITIN filing, a handful of tradelines. The problems are sequence and incentives: credit built without an acquisition plan optimizes the wrong things, and many shops in this space sell guaranteed limits or aged shelf corporations, which range from misleading to fraudulent. We publish a module in our Academy on how to spot them.
Keystone Bridge
The connected ladder
Formation, ITIN, credit, acquisition, scaling, and equity partnership — one firm, one sequence, every price public. We're more expensive than a commodity filing because the deliverable is different: infrastructure built specifically so a non-resident can end up owning U.S. businesses. And where we're not the right fit, we say so on the first call.
Not sure which category you're in? The FAQ covers the common cases, or book a consultation — if a $300 formation service is all you need, we'll tell you so.