Atlas has formed more than 100,000 startups and is the Silicon Valley standard. The "$500 one-time" covers formation (state fees and first-year agent included); from there, annual compliance — tax filing, Franchise Tax, agent — is on you.
We wrote this comparison without marketing fluff. There are cases where Atlas is the best option — we list them. And there are cases where Aiden saves you thousands of euros and hours of admin. You decide.
Aiden includes formation, assisted banking application, Aiden Books, the advisor and the dashboard in the subscription. Atlas hands you the LLC and you assemble the rest: Form 5472 requires a preparer (external, or Aiden Tax Filing from €299/year).
Atlas hands you the LLC and from there you're on your own. Aiden calculates and files your Franchise Tax and annual report every year, alerts you to deadlines and offers Aiden Tax Filing for Form 5472 (the penalty for not filing it is $25,000). You pay the official fees yourself, but nothing slips through the cracks.
Atlas is email in English with a 1-3 day response time. Aiden has a human, Spanish-speaking advisor on WhatsApp with a <2h SLA. When a tax issue is urgent, this changes everything.
Atlas has no AI in the dashboard. Lunnar knows your tax data, your deadlines, your calendar, and answers with context. Generic ChatGPT will never have that information.
What each one offers, marked in green. No bias.
| Feature | Aiden PRO Delaware | Stripe Atlas |
|---|---|---|
| Initial setup | $299 (one-time) | $500 one-time |
| Monthly price | $99/month | — (one-time) |
| Delaware formation | ||
| EIN obtained | ||
| Registered agent | incluido siempre | included year 1, $100/year from year 2 |
| Assisted Mercury application | ||
| Form 5472 (penalty $25,000) | Aiden Tax Filing | External CPA |
| Federal and state tax filing | Aiden Tax Filing | External CPA |
| Managed DE Franchise Tax | ||
| Aiden Books · invoices and documents | ||
| Annual accounts | ||
| Dedicated human advisor | generic email | |
| Spanish-speaking support | ||
| Priority WhatsApp · <2h SLA | ||
| iOS + Android mobile app | ||
| Lunnar · AI assistant with your data | ||
| Teams · multi-user with permissions | ||
| Cooley LLP legal templates | ||
| $50,000 in partner perks | ||
| Brand recognition with tier-1 US VCs | media | alta |
We're not going to tell you Aiden always wins. There are cases where it doesn't.
Cases where it would be honest to recommend the competition.
YC, a16z, Sequoia and most top VCs recognize the Cooley LLP legal templates Atlas uses. If your clear goal is to raise a Series A in the US within the next 12 months, that familiarity can matter.
If you already pay an American accountant for other reasons, you've already solved the most expensive part: Form 5472, Franchise Tax and tax filing. Aiden's included bookkeeping would be redundant for you.
Atlas has impressive perks: $50k in AWS, discounts on Notion, Linear, Slack. If your business model relies heavily on those services, the credits alone can cover the cost difference.
Cases where the difference is real and measurable.
Language changes everything. When you have an urgent tax question, writing in Spanish on WhatsApp and getting a reply in 2 hours versus an email in English that takes 3 days is the difference between sleeping soundly and not sleeping at all.
The IRS penalty for not filing Form 5472 is $25,000. Atlas doesn't file it. Aiden does. This point alone justifies the price difference.
Atlas + CPA + bookkeeping software + tax filing service + registered agent renewals. Aiden is 1 dashboard, 1 invoice, 1 advisor.
Lunnar knows YOUR data: your Franchise Tax, your Form 5472 deadline, your tax calendar. Atlas has no AI in the dashboard. Generic ChatGPT will never have that information.
If at some point you decide to move to a UK Limited (cheaper, no Franchise Tax, better for European clients), Aiden handles it for you. Atlas is Delaware-only.
What follows is not a client testimonial: it is a hypothetical example built from situations we solve every day.
A common situation: incorporating with a US platform looks cheap on day one, but the following year the Franchise Tax, the CPA for Form 5472 and the registered agent renewal all show up, each with its own provider and invoice. With Aiden, ongoing compliance management and your Spanish-speaking advisor come in a single fee, and Form 5472 is handled by Aiden Tax Filing, contracted separately only if you need it.
Yes, without closing the company. We change the registered agent (a standard 7-14 day process), take over compliance for the current year, and from the following month everything is Aiden. The LLC stays the same, with its EIN and history intact.
Correct. Atlas has Cooley LLP templates, instantly recognizable to top VCs. Aiden uses its own legal templates, reviewed by US lawyers. If your immediate priority is raising a Series A with a tier-1 fund that knows Cooley's documents, Atlas has the edge there. For everything else (compliance, bookkeeping, banking, tax filing), Aiden is more complete.
No. Atlas has impressive perks: $50k in AWS credits, discounts on Notion, Linear, Slack and more. Aiden does not compete on that dimension. Instead it invests the cost in a dedicated human advisor, Aiden Books included and a team that manages your obligations.
Mercury is assisted application with both. The technical integration is similar. But Mercury has tightened its requirements for non-residents in 2025-2026, so approval isn't guaranteed either way — it depends on your profile, your business model and your documentation. Aiden has a direct relationship with several fintechs (Mercury, Wise, Brex) and can point you to the one that best fits your situation.
Atlas includes $50k in partner perks that Aiden doesn't replicate. Atlas has greater brand recognition with American VCs. Atlas uses Cooley templates. Those three points are the only areas where Atlas is objectively superior. In everything else (TCO, compliance, language, human advisor, bookkeeping, AI), Aiden is more complete.
Because the penalty for not filing it is $25,000, and a huge number of founders using Atlas don't even know it exists until they get an IRS notice. Atlas forms the LLC and steps away from tax compliance. Aiden sorts it out for you every year through Aiden Tax Filing (a specialised service contracted separately) and reminds you of the deadline so you never miss it.
Migrating from Stripe Atlas to Aiden takes 7–14 days. Sin cerrar tu sociedad, sin perder histórico, sin papeleo en tu lado.
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