DoolavsEntityEngine

Doola vs EntityEngine: Global Setup vs Governance

Doola gets a US company set up from anywhere. EntityEngine runs the governance record after it exists. doola is a back-office subscription built for non-US founders — formation, EIN, a US address, banking help, bookkeeping and tax filing. EntityEngine is a governance system for boards, decisions, documents and deadlines.

Why teams compare these

Where EntityEngine takes a different approach

A different stage of the same company

doola is strongest at the beginning — getting a US entity, an EIN and a bank account into existence from another country. EntityEngine picks up after that, when meetings, resolutions, minutes and documents start accumulating.

Governance is the whole product, not an add-on

Board directory, committees with their own quorum rules, meetings with built-in video, packets, voting, minutes and decision records are the core of EntityEngine rather than an extra tab on a formation subscription.

Decisions stay attached to the record

A resolution, the document it produced, the entity it touched and the deadline it created live in one system with provenance, so the follow-through is not reconstructed from email later.

AI over the operating record

doola's AI Co-Founder sits alongside its back-office stack. EntityMax answers across the organization record — governance history, documents, decisions and compliance dates.

What doola does well

The clearest on-ramp into US business for founders who are not in the US

doola was founded in 2020, went through Y Combinator, and has built its whole product around one genuinely hard problem: an entrepreneur in another country who wants a real US company, a real EIN and a real US bank account. That is a category EntityEngine does not serve at all.

  • EIN filing for founders with no SSN and no ITIN, with the non-resident timeline stated plainly on its own site — roughly four to six weeks for business documents versus one to two business days for US residents
  • LLC formation in any of the 50 states, with guidance on the S-Corp election, filing quoted at one to two business days and a money-back guarantee on formation errors caused by doola
  • Registered agent, a US business address and an operating agreement bundled into the $297/year Starter plan rather than sold as four separate line items
  • Guided help opening a US business bank account, including a Mercury relationship — the step that actually blocks most international founders
  • Real bookkeeping: transaction tracking and categorization, Stripe invoicing, multiple linked bank accounts, financial reports, and a dedicated bookkeeper on the top plan
  • Business tax filing by licensed professionals across Form 1120, Form 5472, Form 1065 with K-1s, Form 1120-S and Schedule C, plus 1099 filing and annual state report filing
  • Reach it claims across 175+ countries, with e-commerce analytics wired into Shopify and Amazon for sellers
Where teams outgrow the fit

The subscription covers the back office; the boardroom sits outside it

This is a scope choice, not a shortcoming. doola is built for a solo or small founding team running a US entity from abroad. Once there are directors, committees, votes and minutes, that work is not part of what doola sells.

  • doola's published product set covers formation, registered agent, address, bookkeeping, tax filing, banking guidance and analytics. Board meetings, committees, resolutions, minutes and board packets are not among them.
  • Bookkeeping runs on doola's own platform; no QuickBooks or Xero integration is listed, which is a switching cost if you already run accounting elsewhere.
  • Banking is a guided introduction rather than an account doola issues — it names Mercury and Relay as its partner paths, and approval sits with the bank.
  • The full stack is a meaningful annual commitment — $1,599/year for Tax and Compliance and $2,399/year for Business-in-a-Box at current promotional pricing, against $1,999 and $2,999 list — and renewals are at list price.
How EntityEngine approaches it

One record for the governance work that starts after incorporation

EntityEngine keeps the meeting, the vote it produced, the minutes that recorded it, the document it generated and the deadline it created in the same system, so nothing has to be reconciled across tools by hand.

  • Board member directory and committee management, with quorum rules configured per committee
  • Meeting management with Daily.co video built in, packet assembly, minutes, and digital voting and resolutions recorded with provenance
  • A document vault plus e-signature as a paid add-on, so signed governance documents land next to the decision that required them
  • Decision records and a compliance calendar with annual report deadline tracking and scheduled reminders running in production
  • EntityMax answers questions across governance, documents, decisions and compliance dates rather than a single filing or a single ledger
  • Delaware and Florida LLC formation is live end to end, so for those two paths the entity and its governance can start in the same system
How to choose

Which one fits your situation

Choose doola if

  • You are outside the United States and need an EIN without an SSN or ITIN, a US business address and a registered agent — doola does all three and EntityEngine does none of them.
  • You want bookkeeping and a licensed professional filing your business return, including the 5472 and 1120 combination that trips up foreign-owned single-member LLCs. EntityEngine offers no bookkeeping and no tax filing at all.
  • You want to form in a state EntityEngine does not cover yet — doola advertises LLC formation in any of the 50 states, with guidance on the S-Corp election, while EntityEngine self-serve formation is verified for Delaware and Florida LLCs.
  • You want a published price before you talk to anyone: $297/year Starter, $1,599/year Tax and Compliance, $2,399/year Business-in-a-Box, plus state fees. EntityEngine does not publish a rate card today.

Choose EntityEngine if

  • Your company already exists and the work now is board meetings, committees, votes, resolutions and minutes — the layer doola does not sell.
  • You need a durable record with provenance: decisions linked to the documents and entity they touch, with audit history, rather than a folder of PDFs.
  • Your compliance problem is knowing what is due and being reminded, across an annual calendar tied to the same record as the governance work.
  • You want to ask questions across the whole organization record — governance, documents, decisions and deadlines — instead of only across the books.

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

FeatureEntityEnginedoola
Getting a US Entity Set Up
US Entity Formation FilingDelaware & Florida LLCSelf-serve chargeable formation is verified for Delaware and Florida LLCs onlyLLC, 50 statesLLC formation advertised in any of the 50 states, with guidance on the S-Corp election, filed in 1–2 business days
EIN for Founders Without an SSNNot something EntityEngine does todayCore to doola; 4–6 weeks on average for non-US residents
US Business AddressNot offeredVirtual business address included from the Starter plan
Registered AgentBetaIn beta with unproven fulfillment — we do not claim to be your registered agent$297/year standalone, included free with formation, same-day document scans
Operating AgreementStandard Delaware operating agreement generation is not working in production todayIncluded in the Starter plan
US Bank Account GuidanceNot offeredGuided application help, including a Mercury relationship
Money & Tax
BookkeepingEntityEngine does not do bookkeepingTransaction tracking, categorization, reports, multiple linked bank accounts
Business Tax FilingEntityEngine does not file taxesForms 1120, 5472, 1065 with K-1s, 1120-S, Schedule C and 1099s
Invoicing & Getting PaidInvoices with Stripe integration
E-commerce & Ad AnalyticsShopify and Amazon integrations, ad campaign performance
Sales Tax RegistrationVia partnerFree Numeral sales tax registration on Business-in-a-Box
Board & Governance
Board Member DirectoryNot part of the back-office stack doola sells
Committee ManagementQuorum rules configured per committee
Meeting ManagementDaily.co video built into the meeting record
Board Packet BuilderAssembly onlyPackets assemble; the in-app PDF reader and annotation are not enabled yet
Minutes
Digital Voting & ResolutionsRecords carry provenance and audit history
Decision RecordsDecisions stay linked to the entity and documents they touch
Document VaultExternal and public share links are not enabled in production todayScanned mail storageSecure storage for documents scanned by the registered agent service
E-SignatureAdd-onPriced separately from the base plandoola's published product set covers formation, agent, address, books, tax and analytics
Compliance & Records
Annual Report FilingTracking and remindersEntityEngine tracks the deadline and reminds you; it does not file the reportFiled for youAnnual state report filing included from Tax and Compliance
Compliance Calendar & RemindersScheduled reminders run in productionDeadline notificationsTimely notifications for annual reports via registered agent service
AI AssistantEntityMax over the org recordAnswers across governance, documents, decisions and compliance datesAI Co-FounderIncluded from the Starter plan
Cap Table & EquityBuilt but not enabled in production — a signup today does not get itNot part of doola
Public APINo public API todayFormation API (partners)A company formation API is offered for partners; no general customer API is listed
Pricing & Access
Published Price ListPackaging is discussed directlyFour tiers published with figures on the pricing page
Self-Serve SignupCreate an account without scheduling a demoBuy a plan online; 30-day free trial on Pulse bookkeeping
Pricing Approach

doola publishes a rate card. EntityEngine does not.

doola lists four subscriptions on its pricing page: Starter at $297/year plus state fees, Pulse bookkeeping at $300/year with a 30-day trial, Tax and Compliance at $1,599/year (from $1,999) and Business-in-a-Box at $2,399/year (from $2,999) or $329/month, both plus state fees. EntityEngine has no public price list today and discusses packaging directly. On transparency, doola is ahead and we will not pretend otherwise.

EntityEnginePackaged engines, self-serve start

EntityEngine packages by engine and scale rather than by seat count alone, and lets a team create an account without scheduling a demo first. There is no public rate card today.

  • Choose the engines you use: governance, documents, compliance, formation
  • E-signature is a separate add-on rather than bundled into a base price
  • Each plan covers one entity; additional entities mean additional plans
  • Self-serve signup, so a first look does not require a scheduled demo
  • No published price list today — packaging is a direct conversation
Talk about packaging →
DoolaPublished annual subscriptions

doola posts its tiers publicly. Starter is $297/year plus state fees and includes formation filing, EIN, operating agreement, registered agent, a virtual business address and AI Co-Founder access. Pulse bookkeeping is $300/year. Tax and Compliance is $1,599/year plus state fees and adds annual state report filing, IRS business filings and licensed tax professional consultation. Business-in-a-Box is $2,399/year, or $329/month, and adds monthly and quarterly closings.

  • Starter $297/year + state fees — formation, EIN, registered agent, address
  • Pulse $300/year — bookkeeping software with a 30-day free trial
  • Tax and Compliance $1,599/year + state fees (list $1,999)
  • Business-in-a-Box $2,399/year or $329/month + state fees (list $2,999)
  • Promotional pricing on the top tiers; renewals are at list price
See how Doola prices →

The two products are not priced against each other so much as sold to different moments. doola prices a back office by the year; EntityEngine prices a governance system by the engines you use. If a posted price before a conversation is what you need, doola gives you one today.

In depth

Doola vs EntityEngine: a deeper look

doola is the right answer when the company does not exist yet

If you are in Lagos, Lisbon or Lahore and you want a US LLC with an EIN and a working bank account, that is a specific and genuinely difficult problem, and doola has spent since 2020 building around it. EntityEngine has nothing to offer there.

  • The EIN path without an SSN or ITIN runs through a slower IRS process, and doola states the non-resident timeline openly rather than burying it.
  • Registered agent, US address and operating agreement arrive in one $297/year plan instead of four separate purchases.
  • Bank account guidance is the step that most often stalls an international founder, and it is inside the product rather than left as an exercise.

Where the back office ends and the governance record begins

Once a company has directors, a committee or two, and votes that need to be recorded, that work has a different shape than bookkeeping. It is not a ledger question; it is a question of who decided what, when, on what record, and what it obligated the company to do next.

  • doola sells formation, agent, address, books, tax and analytics. Board meetings, packets, resolutions and minutes are outside that set.
  • EntityEngine keeps the meeting, the vote, the minutes, the document and the deadline in one record so the follow-through is not reassembled from email.
  • The two are compatible in practice: doola can stand up the entity and keep the books while EntityEngine carries the governance record.

What EntityEngine can and cannot do today

EntityEngine is a younger product and the boundaries matter more than the pitch. Being direct about them is more useful than a table where one vendor comes out ahead on every row.

  • Live today: board directory, committees, meetings with video, packet assembly, minutes, voting and resolutions, decision records, a document vault, e-signature as a paid add-on, EntityMax, annual report deadline tracking and a compliance calendar.
  • Not offered at all: bookkeeping, tax filing, EIN acquisition, a US business address and bank account guidance. If those are what you need, doola does them and EntityEngine does not.
  • Limited or unavailable: self-serve formation is verified for Delaware and Florida LLCs, each plan covers one entity, registered agent is beta, business license intelligence is beta, cap table and SAFE conversion are built but not enabled in production, and 409A valuations are not offered or brokered at all.
  • No certification claim: EntityEngine is designed for SOC 2 readiness and holds no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification. We will not claim otherwise.
FAQ

Doola vs EntityEngine: FAQ

When is doola the better choice?
Whenever the hard part is getting into the US system from outside it. doola files LLC formations in any of the 50 states, obtains an EIN for founders with no SSN or ITIN, supplies a registered agent and a US business address, guides you through opening a US bank account, keeps your books and has licensed professionals file your business return. EntityEngine does none of that. If that list is your problem, doola is the answer and this page should not talk you out of it.
Does EntityEngine do bookkeeping or file taxes?
No, and not partially. EntityEngine has no bookkeeping and no tax filing. doola handles Form 1120, Form 5472, Form 1065 with K-1s, Form 1120-S, Schedule C and 1099s, and offers a dedicated bookkeeper on its top plan. If you need those, you need doola or an accountant, either alongside EntityEngine or instead of it.
Can EntityEngine get me an EIN or a US bank account?
No. EntityEngine does not obtain EINs, does not provide a US business address, and does not broker bank accounts. Those are central to what doola sells and simply are not part of EntityEngine today.
What does EntityEngine do that doola does not?
The governance layer. Board member directory, committee management with per-committee quorum rules, meetings with built-in video, board packet assembly, minutes, digital voting and resolutions recorded with provenance, decision records linked to the entity and documents they touch, a document vault, e-signature as a paid add-on, and EntityMax answering across that whole record. None of that appears in the product set doola publishes.
How do the two compare on price?
doola publishes its tiers and EntityEngine does not, which is a point for doola. doola lists Starter at $297/year plus state fees, Pulse bookkeeping at $300/year, Tax and Compliance at $1,599/year plus state fees against a $1,999 list price, and Business-in-a-Box at $2,399/year or $329/month plus state fees against a $2,999 list. Renewals go to list price. EntityEngine has no public rate card today and discusses packaging directly, though you can create an account without scheduling a demo first.
Can I use both?
Yes, and for many international founders that is the sensible arrangement. doola forms the entity, holds the registered agent and address, keeps the books and files the return; EntityEngine carries the board, the decisions, the documents and the compliance calendar. They overlap very little.
Does EntityEngine form companies in every state like doola?
No. doola advertises LLC formation in any of the 50 states, with guidance on the S-Corp election. EntityEngine self-serve chargeable formation is verified for Delaware and Florida LLCs, other states and entity types are not confirmed, and each plan covers a single entity. If your state is not one of those two, doola has the broader coverage.

Sources, accessed 2026-08-12

Every Doola price and capability on this page comes from a page we fetched and read. Where we could not verify a claim, we say so instead of asserting it.

  1. doola — Pricinghttps://www.doola.com/pricing/All published tiers and figures: Starter $297/year plus state fees (formation filing, EIN, operating agreement, AI Co-Founder access, registered agent, virtual business address, email support); Pulse $300/year with a 30-day free trial for bookkeeping; Tax and Compliance $1,599/year plus state fees, reduced from a $1,999 list price it renews at, adding annual state report filing, licensed tax professional consultation, IRS business filings and e-commerce analytics; Business-in-a-Box $2,399/year or $329/month plus state fees, reduced from $2,999, adding monthly and quarterly closings, a dedicated bookkeeper and free Numeral sales tax registration. Also the formation money-back guarantee wording.
  2. doola — Homepagehttps://www.doola.com/The published product set: LLC formation filed in 1–2 business days, EIN, operating agreements, registered agent, US business address, bookkeeping with transaction tracking and invoicing and multi-bank linking, federal and state tax filing, quarterly tax calculator, CPA consultation, sales tax setup, e-commerce and ad analytics with Shopify and Amazon integrations, AI Co-Founder, and US bank account guidance via a Mercury relationship. Also the 175+ countries figure. Board meetings, committees, resolutions, minutes and board packets do not appear anywhere in this product set, which is the basis for the governance rows.
  3. doola — Formationhttps://www.doola.com/formation/Company formation offered "in Any of The 50 States", with a separate "LLC or S-Corp? We'll Help You Decide" section rather than a combined 50-state S-Corp claim; Starter plan contents; formation filed in 1–2 business days; and the stated timeline for business documents of 1–2 business days for US residents versus 4–6 weeks on average for non-US residents, plus 3–5 business days for bank account setup.
  4. doola — Bookkeepinghttps://www.doola.com/bookkeeping/Bookkeeping feature detail: transaction tracking and categorization, invoicing with Stripe integration, financial health reports, multi-bank linking, Shopify and Amazon integrations, and a dedicated bookkeeper tier with unlimited transactions and monthly and quarterly closings. Also the basis for the integration point: the page describes doola's own bookkeeping platform and makes no reference to QuickBooks or Xero.
  5. doola — Tax Filinghttps://www.doola.com/tax-filing/The specific IRS forms doola handles — Form 1120, Form 5472, Form 1065 with K-1s, Form 1120-S, Schedule C and Form 1099 — and that licensed professionals handle filing and year-round advisory on the top plan.
  6. doola — Registered Agenthttps://www.doola.com/products/registered-agent/Registered agent priced at $297 per year standalone and free when bundled with formation, with same-day scans of local documents, secure storage of scanned documents, address privacy, and notifications for annual reports.
  7. doola — About Ushttps://www.doola.com/about/Founded in 2020 by Arjun Mahadevan, Y Combinator S20; the "AI Business-in-a-Box" all-in-one back-office positioning covering formation, registered agent, EIN, business banking, bookkeeping, tax filing and analytics; a company formation API offered to partners; the 175+ countries figure as claimed by doola; investors including Y Combinator, HubSpot, Nexus Venture Partners and Hustle Fund.
  8. doola — How to Open an LLC for Non-US Residentshttps://www.doola.com/blog/llc-for-non-us-residents/The non-resident EIN mechanic: Form SS-4 by mail or fax without an SSN, with a stated IRS turnaround of 8–11 weeks from submission, and the banking options recommended for non-residents including Mercury and Relay.

See EntityEngine for yourself

If you are a founder outside the US who needs an EIN without an SSN, a US bank account and a CPA filing your return, doola is built for exactly that and EntityEngine is not. If your company already exists and the hard part is running the board, the record and the deadlines, start here.