TheCorporation vs Firstbase
Concierge vs Infrastructure
Firstbase targets international founders incorporating US companies. They handle formation, provide a US business address with mail forwarding, and send basic compliance reminders. It's a concierge service — someone else does the paperwork for you. TheCorporation is the infrastructure layer: open source, version-controlled, agent-native. You own it. Agents do the work.
The Scope Difference
Firstbase:
Formation ──▶ Mailroom ──▶ Basic reminders ──▶ That's it
TheCorporation:
Formation ──▶ Cap table ──▶ Compliance ──▶ Filings ──▶ Tax
──▶ Contracts ──▶ Banking ──▶ AI agents ──▶ Ongoing
└─── every step is a git commit you own ───┘ Side by Side
| TheCorporation | Firstbase | |
|---|---|---|
| Formation price | Free | $399 |
| Annual price | $0 or $299/yr | $299/yr |
| Open source | Fully | Proprietary |
| Git-native | Every action | No |
| Self-hostable | Full platform | SaaS only |
| Data portability | git clone | Export request |
| Cap table | Full | No |
| Compliance filing | AI-automated | Reminders only |
| Registered agent | $200/yr add-on | Included |
| US mail address | Via RA add-on | Included |
| Document generation | Auto-generated | Templates only |
| AI agents | First-class | No |
| CLI / API | MCP + REST | No |
| Built for | Agent-native founders | Int'l founders |
When Firstbase Makes Sense
Firstbase is a reasonable choice if you're an international founder who needs a US mailing address and mail forwarding, and you prefer someone else handling formation paperwork entirely. The concierge model works for founders who aren't comfortable with self-service tools.
If you want more than a mailroom — cap table management, AI compliance agents, automated filings, version-controlled records, developer tools — TheCorporation does everything Firstbase does and far more. And it's open source.