Compare
SimpleClosure vs Starcycle vs Sunset
SimpleClosure, Starcycle, and Sunset all help close a company. They do not describe the same scope or the same price. SimpleClosure and Starcycle both mention company data, in different ways. Sunset's product page lists asset disposition and does not describe a product that licenses company data. Read each fee on that service's own site.
Three shutdown services, three scopes
SimpleClosure, Starcycle, and Sunset all help close a company; they do not describe the same scope or the same price.
SimpleClosure is a shutdown partner for founders. It builds a shutdown plan and manages legal filings, tax compliance, and execution. AssetHub is where a founder can sell or license source code, workspace data, and other startup assets to vetted buyers.
Starcycle handles the administrative paperwork of a company shutdown: a tailored action plan, key-date tracking, contract and subscription cancellation, document management, and state filings. It is not legal or tax advice. For legal or tax judgment, it works with a partner CPA or lawyer, or with yours.
Sunset manages a wind-down from start to finish: legal dissolution filings, final tax returns, capital redistribution to investors, asset disposition, state withdrawals, payroll closure, and ongoing compliance, with attorneys, CPAs, and a Client Success lead. It is not currently able to help companies with large outstanding debt.
Read those three descriptions as job lists, not as a ranking. One service can be the right filing partner and the wrong place to ask about records. Another can mention data and still not be the license you sign. Match the tasks you still have — state filings, investor distributions, payroll, contracts, leftover assets — to the tasks the service names. Then read the fee. A lower starting price is not a winner if the scope stops before the work you need.
None of these descriptions is a substitute for the state form, the tax return, or your lawyer's view of who can still sign. They are the services' own accounts of what they will do. If your company has large outstanding debt, Sunset says it is not currently able to help. Starcycle says an attorney decides between an assignment for the benefit of creditors and bankruptcy, and that Starcycle does not handle that work. SimpleClosure's terms put the fee and the scope in an order form. Start there if debt is the fact that dominates the close.
What each one says it does
SimpleClosure
SimpleClosure is built for founders and their partners.
SimpleClosure says it works at your speed. It says most customers dissolve within days or weeks, and that the timing depends on how quickly you provide documents and signatures. State processing time varies and can often be expedited for an additional state fee.
The homepage describes the work in three steps:
- Tell SimpleClosure about the company: structure, operations, and obligations. They build a shutdown plan.
- A dedicated team handles filings, communication, and compliance.
- You track each step in the dashboard until the shutdown is documented.
That is a managed shutdown: a plan, a team, filings, and a dashboard. It is not, by itself, a statement that every US state is included. Use the order form for the states and the entities in your engagement. AssetHub sits beside that filing. It is a different product, with its own page, and it is optional.
Starcycle
Starcycle takes founders closing a company, whether or not the company took outside investment. A self-serve path is for a single-member LLC or a straightforward corporation, in one state, with no investors and no active contracts. A white-glove path is for a Delaware C-corp, a multi-state entity, investors, or active contracts.
Starcycle does the administrative paperwork and works with partner CPAs and lawyers, or yours. If the company cannot pay its debts, an attorney decides between an assignment for the benefit of creditors and bankruptcy. Starcycle does not handle that work.
Starcycle describes the path this way:
- A short intake covers entity type, states, and what is still running.
- A straightforward case gets a quote and moves ahead. A complex case gets a dated action plan and a quote up front.
- On the white-glove path, letters and filings are drafted, then a person reviews and approves them before they are sent.
- The close is meant to leave no lingering franchise tax and no subscription still charging the card.
A self-serve case is a quote from a short intake. A white-glove case is a dated plan and a quote before the letters go out. Drafts are reviewed by a person before they are sent. Starcycle says this is administrative paperwork, not legal or tax advice. If you need a judgment about tax or about insolvency, that judgment sits with a lawyer or a CPA, either yours or a partner they name.
Sunset
Sunset provides legal, tax, and operational services for winding down venture-backed startups and other corporate entities.
Most wind-downs are completed in weeks, not months. The timeline depends on how many states the company is registered in, how many stakeholders are involved, and how complex the assets are.
Fees are set in the service agreement before work starts. Unless that agreement says otherwise, fees are quoted and payable in United States dollars, and they are non-refundable once services have commenced.
Sunset's product page names attorneys, CPAs, and a Client Success lead on the wind-down. The scope, timeline, and terms of a particular company sit in a service agreement or a statement of work, not in a single public rate. Book a call if you want a quote for your situation. The product page also says Sunset is not currently able to help companies with large outstanding debt, and that it will still talk through the situation and point you elsewhere when it is not the fit.
Price, as each site states it
Each price in the table is the sentence on that service's own site. A number from a call belongs in the comparison only when the site says the same thing.
| Service | What they say about price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| SimpleClosure | If the services require payment, you pay a fee. SimpleClosure says the description of the services and the fees are set out in the registration information, a separate agreement, or an order form. | Terms of Service |
| SimpleClosure AssetHub | AssetHub participation is voluntary. A transfer of digital assets is governed by a separate agreement or order form. An evaluation is not a promise to buy. | Terms of Service and the AssetHub page |
| Starcycle | Pricing starts at $399, and state filing fees are paid at the state's own rate. Companies with investors, several states, or active contracts get a quote for the white-glove tier. | Compare shutdown services |
| Sunset | Sunset charges a single, flat fee that covers the entire wind-down, including legal, tax, and operations. There are no hidden costs or hourly billing surprises. Book a call to get a quote based on your situation. | Product page |
SimpleClosure's public sentence is that the fee lives in the registration, a separate agreement, or an order form. That is a real price rule. It is not a missing cell, and it is not a claim that the work is free. You will see the number when you are the company on that form. Do not borrow Starcycle's $399 or a blog range and paste it onto SimpleClosure.
Starcycle's $399 is a starting price. State filing fees are extra, at the state's own rate. Investors, several states, or active contracts move you to a quoted white-glove tier. Sunset's sentence is a single flat fee for legal, tax, and operations, with no hourly billing, and a quote from a call. Those three sentences can all be true at once. They are not three bids on the same scope.
Who it is for, and where it works
Who the service names, and where it says it works, is part of the fit. Do not extend a sentence past the states or the company types it actually names.
SimpleClosure says it is built for founders and their partners. Its homepage describes a shutdown plan, legal filings, tax compliance, and execution. It does not say "all 50 states" on that homepage. Ask which states of registration are in your plan, including foreign qualifications, before you assume the dashboard covers every withdrawal.
Starcycle works with U.S. LLCs and corporations, and with a sole proprietor when there is an LLC. Key-date tracking covers all 50 states, and a multi-state plan includes withdrawals from states other than the home state. Starcycle also says it only helps US companies shut down. A non-US parent is outside that sentence. A US subsidiary can still be in scope if the entity itself is a US LLC or corporation. The good-standing check across all 50 states is a search for registrations you forgot, not a claim that every company is registered everywhere.
Sunset's privacy policy says Sunset is based in the United States. Sunset provides legal, tax, and operational services for winding down venture-backed startups and other corporate entities. "Venture-backed startups and other corporate entities" is the who. It is not a list of 50 states. Sunset is based in the United States. Where your charter was filed is still the filing that has to match the engagement.
The order of a close, whoever files it, is in how to wind down a company. Employees, taxes, and records come before the certificate. A service can run those steps. It does not erase them.
Who touches company data
SimpleClosure, Starcycle, and Sunset do not make the same claim about company data. Use the sentence each one actually writes.
AssetHub helps startups monetize SourceCode and WorkspaceData with vetted AI buyers. SourceCode is the software the team built. WorkspaceData is operational data from how the team worked, including communications, documents, and tickets. Every dataset is processed for personal information before it is licensed to a buyer.
AssetHub is SimpleClosure's data product. It is not Starcycle's product and it is not Sunset's product. Workspace data, in SimpleClosure's words, includes communications, documents, and tickets, processed for personal information before a license. Source code is the software the team built. If you use AssetHub, you are choosing a sale or a license of those assets under a separate agreement. That choice is voluntary. An evaluation is not a promise that a buyer will take the assets.
Starcycle says it can identify assets that still have value during a shutdown, including equipment, credits, intellectual property, data, and other operational assets, and match them to a buyer or partner. It describes that work as part of the same timeline as the filings, through a network of partners.
Starcycle's sentence is about identifying leftover value and matching it to a buyer or partner, on the same timeline as the filings. Data is one item in a list that also includes equipment, credits, and intellectual property. Starcycle does not give that work a separate price on the services page. Do not treat the $399 starting price as a data-license fee, and do not treat the partner network as AssetHub.
Sunset's product page lists asset disposition with the legal filings, tax returns, investor distributions, state withdrawals, and payroll closure. It does not describe a separate product that licenses company data.
Asset disposition on Sunset's list is part of the wind-down, next to filings, tax returns, investor distributions, state withdrawals, and payroll closure. It is not a named license of workspace data to AI buyers. If you want that license, it is a different contract with a different counterparty. Sign it while you still control the tools. The wind-down can continue after that signature. The signature does not dissolve the company.
The difference between selling records and licensing them is in selling vs licensing company data.
Another option beside a shutdown filing
A shutdown filing and a license of records answer different questions. The filing ends the entity's duties with the state, the tax authority, and the people you still owe. The license pays for a de-identified copy and leaves ownership of the records with the company. The cost of that license to the company is $0. You get a yes or no within 3 days. Personal details, passwords, and legal files stay out. The license does not file the dissolution, and the dissolution does not create the license.
Up to $150K · $0 cost · 3 days
Read SimpleClosure vs Vetrix for the shutdown and AssetHub next to a license. Read Starcycle vs Vetrix for the filing price next to a license. For other ways to close, read SimpleClosure alternatives. If you are already in the close, read how a wind-down proceeds. The wider set of exits is in compare exit options for a company.
Related
- Compare
Exit options compared: sell, broker, shut down, or license records.
- Winding down
Order of operations to wind down a company, from approval through taxes and dissolution.
- Acquire.com vs Acquisition.com
How the Acquire.com marketplace differs from Acquisition.com.
- Selling vs licensing data
What changes if a company sells records instead of licensing a de-identified copy.
- Asset sale, acqui-hire, or license
Asset sale, acqui-hire, and a data license compared for a company that is winding down.
- SimpleClosure vs Vetrix
SimpleClosure runs a company shutdown and AssetHub. Licensing records is a separate choice.
- Starcycle vs Vetrix
Starcycle files a US company shutdown. Licensing records is a separate choice.
- SimpleClosure alternatives
Startup shutdown services and a separate option to license records.
- Closing
What to do with company data while the company is closing, before tools are canceled.
Questions about these shutdown services
Does SimpleClosure, Starcycle, or Sunset publish a shutdown price?
Each one says something different. Starcycle says pricing starts at $399, and state filing fees are extra, at the state's own rate. A white-glove case is quoted. Sunset says it charges a single flat fee for legal, tax, and operations, with no hourly billing, and that you book a call for a quote. SimpleClosure says the fee is in the registration information, a separate agreement, or an order form. Those are three price rules, not one shared rate card.
Which of the three describes a product that licenses or sells company data?
SimpleClosure's AssetHub says a founder can sell or license source code, workspace data, and other startup assets to vetted buyers. Workspace data includes communications, documents, and tickets, processed for personal information before a license. Starcycle says it can match leftover assets, including data, to a buyer or partner during the shutdown. Sunset's product page lists asset disposition with the filings and does not describe a separate product that licenses company data.
Do all three say they cover every US state?
No. Starcycle says key-date tracking covers all 50 states, that it works with US LLCs and corporations, and that it only helps US companies shut down. SimpleClosure's homepage says it is built for founders and their partners and does not say it covers every US state. Sunset says it winds down venture-backed startups and other corporate entities, and that it is based in the United States. It does not say it covers every state. Ask which states your charter and registrations actually use.
Is the comparison a ranking of the best shutdown service?
No. The price table puts each service's own words about cost next to the others. It does not pick a winner, and a lower starting number is not a better fit. Match the scope you need — filings, investor distributions, payroll, contracts, leftover assets — to the tasks that service names. Then read the fee that service states. A shutdown and a license of records are still separate contracts, even when one service also mentions data.
Sources
- SimpleClosure. SimpleClosure.
- SimpleClosure. Terms of Service.
- SimpleClosure. Sell Your Startup Assets.
- SimpleClosure. Your corporate dissolution handled quickly by experts.
- Starcycle. Business Shutdown Services.
- Starcycle. Compare shutdown services.
- Sunset. Product.
- Sunset. Terms of Service.
- Sunset. Privacy Policy.