You are Googling "company registration India" and every result is a landing page that says "Register your Pvt Ltd for ₹999!" with a big green button. You click it. You pay. And then you wait. Three weeks. Five follow-ups. One missed ROC filing. A panicked call to a CA who charges you ₹15,000 to clean up the mess.
This article is not a sales pitch for either platform. It is a side-by-side comparison of Vakilsearch (now Zolvit) and pvtltd.co, written by people who have seen the aftermath of cheap incorporation services — and who believe you deserve to know what you are actually buying before you pay.
What Vakilsearch offers
Vakilsearch has been operating since 2012 and claims to incorporate over 1,500 companies per month. Their starting price is ₹999 + government fees (currently ₹1,000–₹7,000 depending on authorised capital), with a 7–10 business day turnaround.
The ₹999 package typically includes name reservation (SPICe+ Part A), DSC procurement for one director, MOA and AOA drafting from a standard template, SPICe+ Part B filing, and delivery of the incorporation certificate with CIN, PAN, and TAN.
What it does not include — and what most founders discover only after paying — is post-incorporation compliance setup. You get a company. You do not get a company that is ready to operate. The first board meeting minutes, the registered office verification (INC-22), the auditor appointment (ADT-1 within 30 days), the commencement of business declaration (INC-20A within 180 days), opening a current account, GST registration if applicable — all of these are either separate paid add-ons or left for the founder to figure out.
What the reviews actually say
Vakilsearch carries a 2.3/5 rating on SmartCustomer (28 reviews) and a 2.5/5 on ComplaintsBoard. The recurring complaints follow a pattern:
Delays. Multiple customers report that sole proprietorship registration — a process that should take 1–2 weeks — remained pending after 3 months. Others report company incorporation taking over 50 days. The ₹999 price works because the volume is high; the service quality suffers because each case gets minimal individual attention.
Communication drops after payment. The most common complaint is radio silence after the initial payment. Follow-ups go unanswered. Assigned professionals change without notice. Status updates require the customer to chase.
Template-driven compliance. The MOA and AOA are generated from templates. For a standard trading company, this works. For a tech startup with multiple founders, ESOP plans, or foreign directors, a template MOA creates problems downstream — the objects clause is too narrow, the share transfer restrictions are boilerplate, and the authorised capital is set at the minimum without considering future fundraising needs.
None of this means Vakilsearch is a scam. It is a high-volume platform optimised for speed and cost. But the product you receive is a company on paper — not a company that is compliant, well-structured, or ready for its first investor conversation.
What pvtltd.co does differently
pvtltd.co does not sell incorporation packages. The site exists to give founders the information they need to make an informed decision about their company structure — and then connect them with a qualified professional who will do the work properly.
The difference is philosophical: Vakilsearch is a transaction platform. pvtltd.co is an information platform. Here is what that means in practice:
No ₹999 bait. pvtltd.co does not advertise a low incorporation price because the actual cost of doing incorporation correctly — with a properly drafted MOA, compliant board minutes, INC-22, ADT-1, and INC-20A filed on time — is not ₹999. It is ₹8,000–₹15,000 depending on complexity, plus government fees. Advertising ₹999 and then charging ₹12,000 in add-ons is not transparency. It is funnel design.
Content over conversion. Every article on pvtltd.co explains the law, cites the section, and tells you what actually happens in practice. The article on Section 62 pre-emptive rights explains not just the rule but the commercial damage of getting it wrong. The article on director disqualification under Section 164 lists the exact MCA21 triggers that will get a director's DIN deactivated. This is the kind of information that a ₹999 incorporation package does not tell you — because telling you might slow down the sale.
Post-incorporation reality. pvtltd.co publishes detailed guides on every post-incorporation compliance requirement: annual return filing (MGT-7/MGT-7A), financial statement filing (AOC-4), auditor appointment and rotation, board meeting frequency (Section 173), and the specific penalties (Section 92(5), Section 137(3)) for missing these deadlines. The goal is that by the time a founder incorporates their company, they already know what they are signing up for — not just for day one, but for year one, year three, and beyond.
The comparison table
When Vakilsearch is the right choice
If you are incorporating a simple trading company with one director, no immediate plans to raise capital, and no foreign shareholders, Vakilsearch will get you a certificate of incorporation quickly and cheaply. For a sole proprietor who needs a basic LLP or OPC registered without customisation, the volume-driven model works fine.
When pvtltd.co is the right starting point
If you are a tech startup with multiple co-founders, if you plan to raise angel or VC funding within 18 months, if you have NRI or foreign directors, if you need ESOP provisions in your articles, or if you simply want to understand what you are signing before you sign it — start with pvtltd.co. Read the guides. Understand the compliance calendar. Then hire a CA or CS who will draft your documents properly, not from a template.
The cheapest incorporation is not the one with the lowest sticker price. It is the one that does not cost you ₹2 lakh in rectification fees when your first investor's lawyer finds the problems.
The bottom line
Vakilsearch solves a logistics problem: getting a company registered quickly. pvtltd.co solves a knowledge problem: understanding what having a company actually means. They are not competitors — they serve different needs at different stages of a founder's journey.
But if you are reading this article, you are probably the kind of founder who wants to understand before you commit. That is the right instinct. The Companies Act has 470 sections, and the ones that bite — Section 164 (director disqualification), Section 62 (share allotment rules), Section 447 (fraud) — do not care whether you paid ₹999 or ₹15,000 for your incorporation.
Know the rules first. Then register. Not the other way around.
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