Firstbase
Track company-formation tasks and documents without filing or acting as an agent
A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Firstbase, track company-formation tasks and documents without filing or acting as an agent. The hard boundary is formation, registered agent, banking partners, tax workflows, mail, and support, plus expert judgment, compliance, and regulated services.
Build verification: not recorded. How we judge buildability
What you give up
- formation, registered agent, banking partners, tax workflows, mail, and support
- legal advice
- jurisdictional assurance
- filing and registered-agent network
- continuous regulatory monitoring and liability
Why people still pay
People still pay for Firstbase because the durable value is expert accountability and regulated execution; document generation alone cannot supply either. The recurring cost buys law changes, jurisdiction, template provenance, access, signatures, filings, deadlines, evidence, retention, security, and professional liability, not just the visible interface.
Your build guide
The stack, security requirements, and agent rules for a focused replacement.
Before you start
- self-hosted deployment
- PostgreSQL
- jurisdiction-specific templates supplied by the user or counsel
- secure backup
Use these project rules and optional skill references alongside the prompt. Review each skill before adding it to your agent; the AGENTS.md export includes the same guidance.
Project rule, data: Model tasks, projects, schedules, dependencies, and completion events; store source IDs and timestamps for each.
Project rule, behavior: Create versioned questionnaires, reusable fact fields, conditional sections, templates, and approval states.
Project rule, recovery: On invalid input or interrupted processing, keep the original record, show the failed step, and permit a safe retry.
Implementation plan
Phase 1, architecture and data
Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and a versioned Markdown template engine. Model tasks, projects, schedules, dependencies, and completion events; store source IDs and timestamps for each.
Phase 2, implement
Create versioned questionnaires, reusable fact fields, conditional sections, templates, and approval states.
Phase 3, implement
Show the source, jurisdiction, owner, reviewed date, and expiry date for every template.
Phase 4, review and output
Generate DOCX and PDF drafts with prominent draft and review-required labels. Keep an immutable audit log of answers, template version, generation time, downloads, and approvals.
Phase 5, recovery and acceptance
On invalid input or interrupted processing, keep the original record, show the failed step, and permit a safe retry. Verify this invariant with a saved fixture: An invalid input or interrupted operation must retain the source and show a recoverable state; exported records must reload with the same IDs. State the practical limit: formation, registered agent, banking partners, tax workflows, mail, and support.
Build me a focused legal documents, privacy compliance and business administration workflow for the personal core of Firstbase. Requirements: - Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and a versioned Markdown template engine. Model tasks, projects, schedules, dependencies, and completion events; store source IDs and timestamps for each. - Paid product context: Track company-formation tasks and documents without filing or acting as an agent. Build only this DIY scope: Track company-formation tasks and documents, fill clearly labeled templates from collected facts, track versions and approvals, and state that outputs require qualified review, without filing or acting as an agent. - Create versioned questionnaires, reusable fact fields, conditional sections, templates, and approval states. - Show the source, jurisdiction, owner, reviewed date, and expiry date for every template. - Generate DOCX and PDF drafts with prominent draft and review-required labels. Keep an immutable audit log of answers, template version, generation time, downloads, and approvals. Add role-based access, retention, export, encrypted backups, and a deadline calendar. - Use a local web page with input, progress, review, and export views. Required input or access: self-hosted deployment; jurisdiction-specific templates supplied by the user or counsel. - Recovery: On invalid input or interrupted processing, keep the original record, show the failed step, and permit a safe retry. - Acceptance: with one labelled sample, show the input, saved intermediate state, and exported result; verify this invariant: An invalid input or interrupted operation must retain the source and show a recoverable state; exported records must reload with the same IDs. - Out of scope: formation, registered agent, banking partners, tax workflows, mail, and support; legal advice. Keep this a personal, inspectable workflow. - Include a README with setup, a sample input, required keys or permissions, data location, and the supported scope.
$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter), copy the prompt or copy AGENTS.md · generated from this app's build plan
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Firstbase pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| start | — | — | $399 one-time company-formation packageGovernment and other pass-through charges may apply. |
| firstbase one | — | $199/workspace | $2,388 billed annually; formation, compliance, mail, agent, and operational services bundleAnnual-only despite the monthly-equivalent display. |
| accounting, $50k–$75k monthly-expense example | $599/workspace | $499.17/workspace | Bookkeeping price for the displayed $50,000–$75,000 monthly-expense bandAnnual bill is $5,990; actual price changes with the selected monthly-expense band. |
| mailroom basic | $35/workspace | $26.25/workspace | Business-address and mail handling; annual bill $315 |
| mailroom premium | $50/workspace | $29.17/workspace | Expanded mail handling; annual bill $350 |
| registered agent | — | $24.92 | $299/year per state |
| tax filing, c-corp or multi-member | — | $149.92 | $1,799 per annual filing |
| tax filing, non-us single-member | — | $74.92 | $899 per annual filing |
| r&d tax credit | — | — | 15% of the tax credit obtainedPercentage-based, so no fixed USD subscription price. |
| sales tax | — | — | Custom recurring price based on filing footprint and volumeQuote required. |
free tierno free tier
billingmix of one-time, monthly, annual, per-state, per-filing, and percentage-based charges
hidden costsState fees and taxes are extra; registered-agent service is priced per state; accounting scales with monthly expenses; catch-up bookkeeping can add cost; R&D service takes 15% of the credit.
pricing sources checked 2026-08-10 · pricing source ↗
Questions about Firstbase
Can you build your own Firstbase with AI?
A full replacement is not the recommended project. A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Firstbase, track company-formation tasks and documents without filing or acting as an agent. The hard boundary is formation, registered agent, banking partners, tax workflows, mail, and support, plus expert judgment, compliance, and regulated services.
What does the Firstbase build prompt cover?
The prompt starts with this scope: Track company-formation tasks and documents, fill clearly labeled templates from collected facts, track versions and approvals, and state that outputs require qualified review, without filing or acting as an agent. Full-product capabilities excluded from the comparison include: formation, registered agent, banking partners, tax workflows, mail, and support; legal advice; jurisdictional assurance. Follow the implementation plan and its prerequisites before expanding the build.
How do I use the prompt, AGENTS.md and agent skills?
Start with the Firstbase prerequisites and stack, then copy the prompt into your coding agent. Save the project rules as AGENTS.md in the project root. Linked skills are optional packages or source instructions for specific tasks; review their current contents and install only those matching the chosen stack. A skill does not supply API credentials or verify the finished app.
How long will this Firstbase project take?
The catalogue estimate is closest consolation build: one sitting for the limited scope. Setup, integration approvals, debugging, deployment and ongoing maintenance can add time. This is an estimate, not a delivery guarantee.
What would I give up by replacing Firstbase?
formation, registered agent, banking partners, tax workflows, mail, and support; legal advice; jurisdictional assurance; filing and registered-agent network; continuous regulatory monitoring and liability. People still pay for Firstbase because the durable value is expert accountability and regulated execution; document generation alone cannot supply either. The recurring cost buys law changes, jurisdiction, template provenance, access, signatures, filings, deadlines, evidence, retention, security, and professional liability, not just the visible interface.
What can I use instead of building Firstbase?
The prior-art section lists docassemble as starting points. Review their current scope, license and maintenance before adopting one.