The limited liability company is an increasingly popular business structure in America, with thousands of new LLCs being formed every day. The LLC is effectually a hybrid business type, occupying the space between the rigid formalities of a corporation, and the casual nature of a general partnership or sole proprietorship.
If you want to form an LLC in the United States, you will need to designate a registered agent. The role of the registered agent involves the usage of their address as your official business address, which means they’ll receive important document deliveries on your behalf, including court summons and other official correspondence from your state government.
There are many companies that offer online LLC formation and registered agent services online, and it’s sometimes difficult to determine which one has your best interests in mind. In this comparison, we’ll take a close look at LegalZoom and National Registered Agents, Inc. Which one is the better choice to form your new LLC and provide registered agent service?
30-Second Summary Of LegalZoom vs National Registered Agents, Inc.
When you discuss online incorporation services, the first name that comes to nearly everyone’s mind is LegalZoom. That’s because they’ve served millions of customers, and they also advertise heavily across several different mediums. LegalZoom’s pricing models are more costly than many of their competitors, and they do not include registered agent service with any of their LLC formation packages.
As for National Registered Agents, Inc. (NRAI), they’re a trusted registered agent service provider, operating offices in all 50 states. They have completed over one million service of process deliveries over the years, which is an impressive volume. NRAI is a subsidiary of the massive global compliance firm Wolters Kluwer.
Overall, there are many competing services that provide LLC formation and registered agent service at lower rates than these companies. If we had to choose one though, we’d take LegalZoom because they beat NRAI’s prices while also offering a wider variety of additional services.
We Recommend Zen Business
These LLC Services vs Other Options
LegalZoom ranks fourth in both our registered agent and LLC formation services guides. As for NRAI, they are our 18th-ranked service for registered agents, and they failed to make the cut for our guide to the top LLC formation services.
Our top overall pick is Zen Business, due to their incredible low prices and their outstanding customer feedback. If you want to see how they stack up to LegalZoom, check out our Zen Business vs LegalZoom comparison guide. To see our entire comprehensive guide to LLC formation services, this article runs down our top 14 options, including a spotlight on Zen Business.
Pricing & Additional Features
National Registered Agents, Inc.:
- LLC formation ($260) – They will form your new business entity for $260. This package includes the basics of LLC formation, but there are no additional features included.
- Registered agent ($417/year) – NRAI charges an annual fee of $417 per year to provide registered agent service in your company’s home state. For each additional state where you need registered agent service, they have a price point of $319 per year. Beyond the basics of registered agent service, NRAI also provides secure access to your business info, along with customized reporting tools, and your company’s service of process history.
Who should use their services? At these prices, we honestly do not recommend NRAI to any of our readers. There are so many companies offering similar services at lower price points that we’re not sure why anyone would choose NRAI.
LegalZoom:
- LLC formation (starts at $79) – LegalZoom starts with the essential elements of formation, including the full preparation of your articles of organization, and the filing of the completed documents with your state. LegalZoom also includes a banking authorization letter to help you open business checking and/or savings accounts.
- Registered agent ($299/year) – LegalZoom charges an annual fee of $299 to serve as your registered agent, although if you purchase business formation service from them, they’ll provide your first year for $159. In addition to the essentials of registered agent service, they also include a compliance calendar for annual reports and tax deadlines.
Who should use their services? If you prioritize using the most popular service with an incredible amount of brand power, LegalZoom should be a good fit. Just don’t expect them to blow you away with low prices or a vast array of features.
Total Price for LLC Formation + 1 Year Registered Agent
NRAI: $677 (plus state fee)
LegalZoom: $238 (plus state fee)
Customer Satisfaction
National Registered Agents, Inc: We were only able to track down one customer review of NRAI’s services. Obviously, we can’t do any analysis on customer feedback that doesn’t exist, other than to say that their clients simply do not bother to write reviews. Still, it’s better than a bunch of negative feedback.
LegalZoom: We were able to find over 1,400 reviews for LegalZoom’s services, with the three largest collections of feedback belonging to Sitejabber, Consumer Affairs, and the Better Business Bureau. While the 859 reviews on Sitejabber are more often positive than negative, the 395 reviews on Consumer Affairs are split about 50/50, and the 174 reviews on BBB are almost all negative.
Quality of Customer Service
National Registered Agents, Inc.: NRAI provides customer support via email or phone. We tested both options. When it comes to their email support, we received responses to our inquiries within 24 hours each time. While they didn’t exactly expand much on their replies, they did answer our questions. Their phone support is also quite efficient, as we only waited on hold for a little over one minute before being connected with one of their courteous and knowledgeable service reps.
LegalZoom: LegalZoom has a bit of a shaky reputation when it comes to customer support. In our experience, their phone support is quite good, as we’ve received thorough and accurate responses from their service reps whenever we’ve called them with questions or concerns.
On the other hand, we’ve also tested their email support, which is a different story entirely. We’ve actually waited over a full week to get a response to emails in the past, and when LegalZoom does respond to email inquiries, it’s often just a form email that doesn’t actually answer our questions.
Company Stats and Track Record
National Registered Agents, Inc.: National Registered Agents, Inc. opened for business in 1995, and since then they’ve completed over a million service of process deliveries. In 2011, NRAI merged with CT Corporation, which is itself a subsidiary of Wolters Kluwer. While that might sound a bit confusing, the point is that NRAI has the backing of two major brands in the business compliance world.
LegalZoom: Since they formed in 1999, LegalZoom has served around 3.6 million customers, which includes the formation of more than one million businesses. They also have tremendous brand power and corporate reach thanks to their extensive advertising efforts.
Final Scores and Our Recommendation
We Recommend Zen Business
National Registered Agents, Inc. (2.9/5): You could spend around 1/4 of NRAI’s fees to receive essentially the same service from some competing registered agent and LLC formation services. Even LegalZoom’s pricing ― while still significantly higher than most competitors ― is far more affordable.
LegalZoom (3.8/5): LegalZoom’s prices aren’t great, especially considering the rather minimal feature sets included in their packages, and they receive mixed feedback from their clients. They’re the right choice if you prioritize customer volume and brand power above value-per-dollar.
Our Favorite Legal Service – Zen Business (4.8/5): While we really appreciate some aspects of both LegalZoom and NRAI, Zen Business is actually our favorite LLC formation service. For just $39, they’ll provide the full formation process of your LLC, while also including a year of registered agent service. It’s one of the lowest price points in the industry for this combination of features, and you won’t have to sacrifice anything when it comes to features.