Best Registered Agent Service

Daniella Perry Siegel
10 min readJul 29, 2020

Settling for a less-than-stellar registered agent service might mean missed notifications, or worse, trouble with local authorities! We wouldn’t want to cut corners on an LLC registered agent for these reasons.

This is why I went ahead and compared the following leading registered agent services — so you can make the right choice for your business.

1. Incfile

Incfile is one of the best platforms available for small businesses seeking a registered agent service to form a company.

What sets this option apart is its great registered agent services for LLC and free combination of features, which you can read more about in this in-depth Incfile review. Your first year with their registered agent services is also free of charge.

I tried to use its customer support for these reviews, and I was satisfied with the general and legal services they serve companies. I find the online business hours accessible for a registered agent service. I even assessed Incfile’s performance against LegalZoom, and found that it’s the better choice between the two.

Incfile registered agents also send email notifications so customers can check and track important incorporation documents. Note that the prices you’ll pay Incfile for forming an LLC or another service depends on the state where your business is set to serve customers.

2. Northwest Registered Agent

Many business owners regard Northwest Registered Agent to be one of the best registered agent service providers. Northwest provides high-quality registered agent service corporation packages that are simple to use, and are available at affordable prices per year(excluding state fees).

Northwest Registered Agent helps register your company and scans all your documents as your annual registered agent. Northwest is also known for its Corporate Guides, or their support agent services, plus their great features and available volume discount. Compared to many other options like LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer, it’s a good deal.

Northwest Registered Agent handles company formation at an affordable price, covering a year of registered agent service for free. Read my full review of Northwest Registered Agent for more details of their registered agent service.

3. Swyft Filings

While Swyft Filings is a relatively new company compared to top registered agent services that have been established for many years, they’ve carved out an enormous corporation market share despite massive business competition at this time.

It helps customers and businesses with the formation service process with a one-year free registered agent service. Check this full review of Swyft Filings to get a better knowledge of their professional registered agent services in different states.

Its registered agent services include attractive price points and offer additional value every year through special offers and online discounts. If your business is trying to save money every year, you’ll be able to pay for LLC formation service for an affordable price.

4. Rocket Lawyer

Rocket Lawyer’s registered agent services have modest pricing. They tailor legal contracts and important documents as per your personal needs. However, Rocket Lawyer offers a full year of registered agent services if you’re subscribed to their Accelerate legal services plan. They also facilitate LLC formation and host on-call legal advice sessions with lawyers if you need attorney help or if you have personal questions about your plan.

In my experience, Rocket Lawyer has stellar customer service and online reviews, especially if you’ll choose to match the registered agent with other services, like when you compare Rocket Lawyer to Legalzoom. Plus, they include a 100% satisfaction guarantee, which is the top highlight of many customer reviews too.

This company also includes a Document Defense mechanism that’s synchronized with the form builder. They’re also one of the best registered agent services that’s available in all 50 states, similar to Northwest Registered Agent.

5. LegalZoom

LegalZoom is a registered, online agent service provider that will serve as a one-stop-shop for your small-scale company’s legal requirements [1].

At LegalZoom, LLC registered agents help customers file the required business formation paperwork. Also, LegalZoom lets you choose and register a trademark for your corporation, get legal services, have a state compliance calendar, or apply for a patent if you want to attain copyright protection.

The registered agent services of LegalZoom evaluated in this review have a price per year (plus state fees) for you to make a cumulative decision based on your financial standing and incorporation requirements.

6. BizFilings

BizFillings offers some of the best packages of LLC formation that includes six months of free registered agent assistance. Its registered agent services also include the BizComply online monitoring tool for annual form compliance, in addition to a year-long report filing system and franchise tax.

After hours of testing their registered agent services, I’ve found that company formation is pretty streamlined and the website is straightforward for customers. Overall, their registered agents LLC do an acceptable job every year in the services industry. See this full assessment of BizFilings to find out more about their incorporation services and options.

7. Nolo.com

Nolo is a great platform for legal information. It includes a diverse range of products and provides free access to software, books, eBooks, and legal forms.

It uses its own product for the LLC formation process, which is a popular business structure set among small-scale businesses and companies. However, they don’t have an in-house product for nonprofits and corporations, but outsource business information to other networks.

Find out more about their top-notch registered agent services in my comprehensive Nolo.com review.

8. Incorp

InCorp is a registered agent service provider known for its affordable prices and many service options. Based on experience and customer reviews, you’re able to reap remarkable discounts every year by pre-paying for registered agent LLC services. Normally, the charge is $99 per year of registered agent services, but that’s only for the first year if you need a long-term formation service.

InCorp’s Entity Management System for iOS is one benefit in helping you pay fees, manage your business, and access the legal documents you need. Their EntityWatch feature also provides your business with 24/7 safety against identity theft and public threat.

More features of their registered agent services are discussed in my Incorp full review.

9. Harvard Business Services

Harvard Business Services is an impeccable supplier of registered agent services. But unlike other incorporation services like Rocket Lawyer, this one doesn’t provide registered agent services in other states, except Delaware.

The one-year fee levied by Harvard Business Services is impressive, especially if you intend pre-paying multiple years instead of one year. They also offer same-day formation with an accelerated service if you need to form your business fast.

However, their registered agent service doesn’t cover extra features at this affordable price point, but it makes the service great for the money. For more details about the business services they offer, it’s best to check a further review of Harvard Business Services.

10. Incorporate.com

Formerly known as The Company Corporation, Incorporate.com is a registered agent that includes a Corporate Compliance Guarantee, which backs business formation services against registering any defects.

All LLC formation packages by Incorporate.com offer access to CSCNavigator, an online tool that facilitates safe document storage and helps you comply with regulations as you form your company. I tried to use the chat function on their online customer support and in my experience, I received the response I was looking for on the website.

Check out this Incorporate.com review and assessment for more info about this option.

What Is LLC Registered Agent?

An LLC registered agent is an entity that accepts important legal documents on your behalf. It’s a requirement by most states to appoint a registered agent resident in the state to receive compliance documents and government notices and forward them to you promptly. Your registered agent service must also include a physical address. P.O. Box addresses are not accepted to receive documents.

How To Choose The Best Registered Agent Service

Registered agent services is a top legal requirement for your company. It’s important in two scenarios: to receive timely government warnings of potentially damaging risks, and facilitate general service of process on your behalf.

Consider these important factors when looking for the best registered agent services provider:

Consider Value

In registered agent services, prices and the fee per year is important in relation to the value that you receive. While business owners might be tempted to go for the lowest price providers, the best registered agent services can provide add-on services you may be looking for, like legal advice, attorney sessions, forms, annual report filing, and other legal services you may need.

Assess Service Levels

At any pricing, you want a registered agent service to provide fast uploading of every document without hidden fees. Also, you can differentiate the best registered agent services from ordinary providers by evaluating software monitoring quality, the services it will include in each fee, and customer support.

You also want stellar customer service in top registered agent services, whether it provides such through email and other channels. The customer service business hours should provide a 100% satisfaction guarantee as well, like the one Rocket Lawyer offers. Overall, help must be available online so you can get the right answers to your questions.

Evaluate The Software

The best registered agent services should offer high-quality software, guaranteeing on-time transmission of information and documents each time. Always find a registered agent service option that is prompt and fast at their work, like sharing notices, filing compliance documents, and printing reports through smart website interfaces as well. Choose agent options and packages that may help save you money, such as Rocket Lawyer, Northwest, Incfile, Harbor Compliance, and LegalZoom.

Select A Professional Registered Agent Service

Hiring a top-rated registered agent service like Rocket Lawyer, LegalZoom, or Northwest means that business owners don’t have to worry about the list of state paperwork required in running their business each year. The best registered agent service manages sensitive documents and forms well and forwards them to you once they receive it. Important files like articles of organization will go to your registered agent services address, so your personal address isn’t on public record.

While this option is not on the list, this ZenBusiness review provides a full-service in one package that lifts the burden from the customer. Zen Business’ formation packages start at $0 per year plus state fees, with a full year of registered agent services and support for companies as well. Alternatively, Harbor Compliance is another top registered agent services company with positive reviews.

My Top Pick — Incfile

Overall, Incfile is the best registered agent service among the above options. I like it for its reasonable pricing (excluding the state fee), the excellent customer support that makes it a highly reliable platform for any kind of business, and its lifetimes of business alerts.

Aside from good prices on their other services, the full one-year free registered agent service of Incfile is a great deal for starting business owners.

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Daniella Perry Siegel

I’m Daniella. I love to try different stuff and share my feedback and my thoughts about them. Hope you enjoy my blog. Thank you!