If you want to form an LLC in the USA, you need to designate a registered agent (also known as a statutory agent or resident agent).
The role of the registered agent involves the usage of their address as your official business address, and receiving important document deliveries on your behalf. This includes court summons and other official correspondence from your state government.
Other than being a requirement to operate a compliant business entity, there are many benefits of hiring a registered agent service, like the ability to keep your personal information out of the public record. In addition, having a registered agent makes it so that you don’t need to be available at your place of business during all standard business hours, and it also cuts down on the amount of junk mail you’ll receive.
This article will outline the 18 top national registered agent services available. Alternatively, if you’re looking to save time on research and want to get started asap, we’ll start this list by introducing you to the #1 best registered service out of all the options and why.
Editors Pick: #1 Best Registered Agent Service
While all 18 of the companies on this list are good registered agent service providers, Northwest Registered Agent is our favorite.
Not only do they charge half the price of industry giants like LegalZoom, CSC, and National Registered Agents, Inc — they have been refining their agent services for the last 20 years. Furthermore, Northwest Registered Agent has a far superior customer service resulting in a much better overall experience.
Get a Free Registered Agent
While Northwest does offer other business services as well, the focus of their company is on registered agent service, and it shows. There are dozens and dozens of companies providing this service these days, but Northwest is the only major national registered agent provider that locally scans every document they receive as your agent. Their competitors only scan the government docs they’re legally required to.
Any of these 18 online registered agent services are capable of providing consistent and reliable service for your business, but Northwest Registered Agent is the best of the bunch in our opinion.
Our List and Review: Top 18 Best Registered Agent Services
Keep reading for our reviews of all of the top online registered agent services.
#1) Northwest Registered Agent
$125/year
Northwest Registered Agent is always an excellent option for any business seeking reliable registered agent service.
In addition to their reasonable pricing, they have outstanding customer support, and they’re the only major national registered agent service that locally scans every document they receive as your agent. Most competitors only scan government forms that they’re legally required to, but Northwest goes the extra mile.
Pricing & Features
Northwest has a flat rate of $125 per year for registered agent service, although if you require service in five or more states, they’ll drop that rate to an even more affordable $100 price point.
Their local scanning is a great selling point, and they also include free online tools like annual report compliance reminders that can be quite helpful. Also, if you haven’t yet formed your LLC or corporation, Northwest will handle your formation for just $79, while including a full year of registered agent service for free.
Strengths
- All documents scanned locally
- Volume discounts for service in multiple states
- Outstanding customer support
- 12 months free registered agent service with any formation package
Weaknesses
- Cheaper options are available
Company Stats and Track Record
Northwest opened for business in 1998 and they’ve served around 2 million clients since then. They only have a few dozen customer reviews (which you can find on Google), but nearly all of them are positive. We were unable to find more than a small handful of critical reviews when it comes to Northwest’s services and reputation.
Customer Service Quality
Northwest is well-known for their Corporate Guides, which is what they call their support representatives. Each Northwest client is connected with one of these representatives, and you can contact that person directly if you ever have any questions or concerns. Their Corporate Guides are quite knowledgeable about a variety of issues that you may come across as a client, and in our opinion they are the best in the industry.
What We Think About Their Service
In our opinion, Northwest is the best of the best when it comes to registered agent service. They may not have the lowest price point available, but they more than make up for it with stellar customer support and great features.
#2) Zen Business
$99/year
Zen Business is a recent addition to the registered agent service industry, as they just opened in 2015. They’re trying to flip the online business services market on its head by offering inexpensive LLC and corporation formation services, while still including valuable features to help you get your business off the ground.
Registered agent service from Zen Business is affordably priced, and they receive excellent customer feedback. If you’d rather get involved with a young upstart company instead of a legacy service provider, give Zen Business a look.
Pricing & Features
Registered agent service from Zen Business costs $99 per year by itself. Aside from the basics of serving as your registered agent, this service does not include any additional features. However, if you still need to form your business as well, they have an excellent deal that includes your full business formation process and a year of registered agent service for $39. Visit their website to learn more.
Strengths
- Great pricing
- Outstanding customer reviews
- Registered agent included with formation packages
Weaknesses
- Not as established as other major companies
Company Stats and Track Record
Zen Business just opened their doors a few years ago, in 2015. Since then, they’ve helped thousands of customers, and they say that their goal for the next five years is to form one million LLCs and corporations. Client feedback is a big plus for Zen Business, as they have over 1,100 reviews available online, and almost all of them are positive. It’s difficult to find any negative reviews for Zen Business.
Customer Service Quality
With Zen Business, customer support is available by phone, email, or web chat. Their representatives have always responded to our queries in a timely fashion, and they provide reliable, accurate information. Their customer support isn’t on the same level as Northwest’s, but it is trustworthy and effective.
What We Think About Their Service
Northwest is our favorite standalone registered agent service. However, if you still need to form your business entity as well, our top pick is Zen Business. They include a full year of registered agent with any business formation package, and they charge just $39 total for this combination. They truly are among the best in the business.
#3) Incfile
$119/year
Incfile offers a similar bundle to Zen Business, in that they will provide a full year of registered agent service if you purchase LLC formation or incorporation service from them. The difference? Incfile actually offers this combination of features for free, as long as you pay your own state fee. Visit their website to learn more.
They also have some of the best customer feedback in the industry, with thousands of positive reviews available across the internet.
Pricing & Features
Incfile’s registered agent service costs $119 per year. Aside from the basics of being your registered agent, they don’t include any additional features.
Strengths
- Excellent customer feedback
- 12 months registered agent included with business formation
- Free business formation package
Weaknesses
- Registered agent service includes no additional features
Company Stats and Track Record
Incfile has been around since 2004. Over the years, they’ve helped 250,000 clients form and maintain their businesses. In 2018, Entrepreneur Magazine named Incfile one of the 360 best entrepreneurial companies in the United States.
Customer Service Quality
Incfile offers customer support by phone or email. We have plenty of experience with both options, and we’re quite satisfied with the service we’ve received. Their response times are always fast, and their answers are accurate. Sometimes we wish they would expand on their responses a bit, but it’s a minor complaint.
What We Think of Their Service
Incfile is a great company for business formations, but their registered agent service seems to be a bit of an afterthought, and their customer service isn’t nearly as personalized as the support you’ll get from Northwest Registered Agent. They’re still a strong option, but they can’t quite crack our top two picks.
#4) LegalZoom
$299/year
LegalZoom is probably the most recognizable name in the online business services market, as they’ve served millions of customers and they have an enormous advertising budget. They offer a wide array of products and features that can make your life easier as an entrepreneur, including registered agent service.
Pricing & Features
LegalZoom charges an annual fee of $299 to serve as your registered agent. However, you can get your first year for $159 if you add this service onto a business formation package. In addition to the essentials of registered agent service, they also include a compliance calendar for annual reports and tax deadlines.
Strengths
- Unparalleled name recognition and client volume
- Wide variety of services available
Weaknesses
- High prices
- Mediocre customer reviews
- No registered agent included in formation packages
Company Stats and Track Record
LegalZoom was founded in 1999. Since then, they’ve served around 3.6 million customers, and formed over 1 million business entities. However, customer feedback is not a strength for them. They have plenty of reviews available, but they’re a mixed bag of positive and negative feedback.
Customer Service Quality
LegalZoom is somewhat inconsistent in this area. In our experience, their phone support is always solid. They have quick response times, and their representatives are knowledgeable. However, it’s a different story for their email support. We have experienced wait times exceeding one full week to hear back after emailing a question to LegalZoom, and when they finally responded, they only sent a form email that did not address our question.
What We Think About Their Service
LegalZoom is an incredibly popular service, with a customer volume that very few competitors can touch. However, their registered agent service is way too expensive, and they don’t include enough features to justify their price point.
#5) Rocket Lawyer
$149.99/year
Rocket Lawyer processes an even larger client load than LegalZoom does, as they’ve helped around 20 million customers since they opened in 2008. Registered agent is just one of many services provided by Rocket Lawyer. The centerpiece of their offerings is their legal services subscription, which provides access to qualified business attorneys and several other perks.
Rocket Lawyer receives strong customer feedback, indicating that most of their clients are pleased with their service, and they also offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
Pricing & Features
They charge an annual fee of $149.99 for registered agent. However, customers who subscribe to their legal services plan (for $39.99/month) receive 25% off that rate, along with many other perks. Rocket Lawyer’s registered agent service is quite basic, providing the essentials but little else.
Strengths
- 100% satisfaction guarantee
- Massive client volume
- Strong customer feedback
Weaknesses
- Unimpressive pricing for registered agent
- No additional features included
Company Stats and Track Record
Rocket Lawyer opened their doors in 2008, and they’ve served 20 million customers in those years — the largest client volume of any company in this guide. In fact, they’re the largest company operating in the business and legal services industry.
Customer Service Quality
Rocket Lawyer provides support by phone, email, or web chat. A major advantage they have in this area is their extended support hours. You can reach them from 9am to 9pm ET on weekdays. The quality of their support is quite good, as they respond quickly with accurate information, in our experience.
What We Think of Their Service
Rocket Lawyer’s prices are competitive, but not enough to earn a spot in our top three. Also, they only provide the basics of registered agent service with no additional features.
#6) InCorp
$99/year
InCorp is best known for their impressive pricing, which starts at just $99 per year. You can also receive significant discounts by paying for additional years of service in advance, which is a feature that no major competitor can match. They have plenty of experience and a large roster of active registered agent clients.
Pricing & Features
If you purchase one year’s worth of registered agent service from InCorp, they will charge you a flat rate of $99. However, if you prepay for future years of service, they’ll cut their rates as follows:
- 2 Years – $89.10/year
- 3 Years – $80.52/year
- 5 Years – $66.56/year
One unique feature of InCorp is their EntityWatch system, which provides real-time information regarding the status of your business entity, and also helps prevent corporate identity theft. They also provide access to a convenient compliance calendar.
Strengths
- Low prices with volume discounts
- 125,000+ active registered agent clients
- Customer support with long operating hours and bilingual service
- EntityWatch anti-identity theft program
Weaknesses
- Not many customer reviews online
- Unimpressive business formation service
Company Stats and Track Record
InCorp was founded in 1998, and with over 125,000 active registered agent clients, they’re the fourth-largest national registered agent service in America. We were only able to find about 100 customer reviews on third-party websites, but they’re mostly positive, indicating a high degree of client satisfaction.
Customer Service Quality
You can access InCorp’s customer support representatives via phone, email, or web-based chat. If you prefer support in Spanish, they have bilingual reps available during all standard operating hours, which at InCorp run from 9am to 9pm ET every weekday. No matter which method you prefer for contacting their support department, they have quick response times, and their representatives are friendly and helpful.
What We Think About Their Service
InCorp is an impressive registered agent service provider, with some of the lowest prices in the industry, especially if you’re willing to prepay additional years of service. However, the rest of their services are unimpressive (like their lackluster business formation package), so it’s hard to recommend them too strongly.
#7) Harbor Compliance
$99/year
Harbor Compliance offers affordable pricing for registered agent service. They also have positive customer feedback on several third-party review websites, volume discounts based on prepaying multiple years or purchasing service in multiple states, and a strong customer service reputation.
Pricing & Features
Their registered agent service is available for $99 per year. If you pay for more than one year in advance ― or purchase service in at least four states ― Harbor Compliance will provide a discount of up to 10%. Additionally, you’ll receive access to software that helps you track and file your annual reports, making it easy to remain compliant with your state government.
Strengths
- Volume discounts (multiple years and/or states)
- Annual report assistance
- Great customer feedback
- Helpful and professional customer service
- Large collection of white papers, webinars, and how-to guides
Weaknesses
- High prices for business formations and other services
- Not as much experience as some competitors
Company Stats and Track Record
Harbor Compliance is a relatively recent addition to the registered agent industry, as they’ve served 25,000+ organizations since opening in 2012. They have customer feedback available on Google, Facebook, and the Better Business Bureau. On all three sites, their reviews are almost universally positive. They don’t have as much as experience as many of the other companies discussed in this guide, but they have a solid reputation nonetheless.
Customer Service Quality
Similar to the way Northwest handles customer support, Harbor Compliance assigns a dedicated account manager (they call them Compliance Specialists) to oversee your registered agent service. These well-informed employees draw from their considerable knowledge base to help you navigate the nuances of business ownership and compliance. You can reach them via phone or email, or simply fill out the contact form on their website.
What We Think About Their Service
Harbor Compliance is a great registered agent service provider. However, most of their other services (like their business formation service starting at $399) are too expensive. Also, they don’t have as much experience as our top few options.
#8) MyCompanyWorks
$99/year
MyCompanyWorks has an annual fee of $99 for registered agent service. Aside from that, the most impressive aspect of MyCompanyWorks as a company is their tremendous customer feedback, as nearly all of their 2,500+ online reviews are positive.
Pricing & Features
MyCompanyWorks has a low rate of $99 per year for registered agent service, which is one of the lowest rates for any national registered agent provider. Their registered agent service doesn’t include any additional features.
Strengths
- Great customer reviews
- Solid pricing model
- 100% satisfaction guarantee
Weaknesses
- Registered agent only included with top-tier formation package
- Not much customer support availability
Company Stats and Track Record
Originally known as MyNewCompany, MyCompanyWorks opened back in 2001. To date, they’ve helped over 60,000 companies. In 2017, they were named to the Inc5000 rankings of the fastest-growing private companies in America.
Customer Service Quality
With MyCompanyWorks, you can access their customer support team by phone or email. With either of these options, you’ll receive prompt service and knowledgeable assistance from their representatives. However, they have one of the shortest windows for customer support availability in this industry, as they’re only available from 11am-7pm ET on weekdays.
What We Think of Their Service
They have great pricing for registered agent, but at the end of the day they simply don’t have the advanced features necessary to knock off Northwest, Zen Business, or Incfile.
#9) MyCorporation
$120/year
MyCorporation has been around for over 20 years, and they’ve served more than a million business clients. They receive solid customer reviews, and they also offer good support. While their LLC formation service offering has some flaws, we appreciate their registered agent service’s reasonable price point.
Pricing & Features
MyCorporation charges an annual fee of $120 for registered agent service, which does not include any additional features beyond the basics of registered agent.
Strengths
- Strong track record
- Competitive pricing
- Good customer feedback
Weaknesses
- Mediocre business formation service
- Lacking features compared to some competitors
Company Stats and Track Record
MyCorporation has served an impressive client volume, with over one million customers since they opened in 1998. Their CEO lists her Twitter handle (@deborahsweeney) on their website, which is a nice level of transparency for customers with questions or concerns.
Customer Service Quality
MyCorporation offers customer support by phone or email. We’re impressed by their quick response times with either option, as we’ve never waited long to hear back from them. Their reps are friendly and knowledgeable. Overall, we have no complaints about their support system.
What We Think of Their Service
Their prices are good but not great, and they don’t have the additional features necessary to challenge any of the three most popular services.
#10) Harvard Business Services
$50/year
Harvard Business Services is an excellent provider of registered agent service in the state of Delaware, although they do not provide service in any other state. They provide a full year of registered agent with all of their formation packages, and they also receive great customer reviews.
Pricing & Features
Their annual fee of $50 per year is highly impressive, especially when you consider that if you prepay multiple years, they’ll provide volume discounts (2 years for $90, 3 years for $125). Their registered agent service does not include any additional features, but at this price point, it doesn’t need to.
Strengths
- Unbeatable pricing
- Great customer reviews
- Lots of experience
Weaknesses
- Only provides services in the state of Delaware
Company Stats and Track Record
Harvard Business Services has been around since 1981, when their founder opened the business out of his own home. Over the years, they’ve grown considerably as a company, and they’ve formed over 190,000 businesses in Delaware.
Customer Service Quality
Harvard Business Services offers customer support via phone, email, chat, or Skype. With any of these four options, you’ll receive prompt assistance from knowledgeable representatives. They’ve always been able to answer our tough questions.
What We Think of Their Service
If they offered registered agent services in all 50 states rather than just Delaware, they would be one of the industry’s best options. As is, they’re an excellent choice for businesses in Delaware.
#11) Swyft Filings
$149/year
Swyft Filings has low price points for business formation service, but that unfortunately doesn’t carry over to their registered agent service, which is priced at $149/year.
They’re a recent addition to the business formation services industry, but they serve a high volume of clients. Their best selling point is their excellent customer feedback, with thousands of reviews and high average rating scores.
Pricing & Features
Swyft Filings charges a flat rate of $149 per year for registered agent service. This rate includes regular compliance reminders so that you never miss an important filing due date.
Strengths
- Outstanding customer reviews
- Low price points for business formations
Weaknesses
- Unimpressive registered agent pricing
- Not many features included
Company Stats and Track Record
Oddly enough, there simply is not much information about Swyft Filings online. We know that they were formed by a lawyer in 2012, and that they’ve helped form thousands of businesses, but that’s about it.
Customer Service Quality
With Swyft Filings, you can access their customer service team by phone, email, or chat. They live up to the “Swyft” part of their name by always responding quickly to our queries, and their friendly and helpful support reps are always able to assist us with whatever we might need.
What We Think of Their Service
Even with their positive customer feedback, Swyft Filings just doesn’t include enough appealing features to overcome their uninspiring price point for registered agent service.
#12) BizFilings
$164/year
BizFilings has plenty of experience, with over 500,000 business filings since they were founded in 1996. All of their LLC formation packages include six months of registered agent. BizFilings isn’t our first choice for registered agent service, but they do enough things right that they’re worth your consideration.
Pricing & Features
BizFilings provides registered agent service for $164 per year, and they offer six months for free if you purchase any of their LLC formation packages. They also include their BizComply online compliance monitoring tool, as well as franchise tax and annual report filing alerts.
Strengths
- Tons of experience
- 6 months registered agent included with formation packages
- Extended customer support hours
Weaknesses
- Not much customer feedback
- Unimpressive pricing
Company Stats and Track Record
BizFilings has helped form over 500,000 businesses since they opened their doors in 1996. These days, BizFilings is owned by Wolters Kluwer, one of the world’s leading compliance and information services companies.
Customer Service Quality
BizFilings offers customer support via phone or email. They have some of the industry’s longest availability hours, as you can contact them from 7am to 9pm ET every weekday. Their support is always timely, and their representatives have always been able to answer our questions.
What We Think of Their Service
When there are better services undercutting your prices by this much, you’re not going to crack the top three of any ranking system. BizFilings does an acceptable job with registered agent service, but there’s nothing exceptional about it.
#13) Legalinc
$129/year
Legalinc just recently joined the registered agent service industry, as they opened for business in 2012. This Texas-based company is rather unique in the way they provide this service, as they’re a fully automated, entirely digital registered agent service.
In addition to standard registered agent service, Legalinc also offers independent director service for large real estate transactions, and specialty representation services for businesses that are required to acquire specialized registered agent service due to federal or state statutes.
Pricing & Features
Legalinc provides registered agent service for $129 per year. Their registered agent service is fully automated, which makes them an effective middleman in the process ― for business services providers looking for a backend registered agent service, Legalinc makes for a solid option.
Strengths
- Specialty services available for large clients
- Tech-savvy services
- Automated service reduces waste
Weaknesses
- Messy, confusing website design
- Overly complex ordering system
- Not much customer feedback
Company Stats and Track Record
There isn’t much information available about this company. The “About” page on their website doesn’t tell us much, aside from some general statements about their purpose, and a few pictures of key employees. By looking at their LinkedIn page, we discovered that they opened in 2012 in Frisco, Texas, and that they currently have 37 employees.
Customer Service Quality
Legalinc offers customer support by phone, email, or chat. Regardless of which option you choose, their response times are fast in our experience. Legalinc’s representatives are polite and helpful. Overall, we have no complaints about the effectiveness of their customer support department.
What We Think About Their Service
Legalinc’s prices are decent, but not good enough to topple any of the top three. Furthermore, there’s not much info available about their track record, and their website is a bit of a mess.
#14) Nationwide Incorporators
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Nationwide Incorporators’ claim to fame is that every document they prepare is either drafted or reviewed by an experienced business attorney. While their registered agent service isn’t available online and operates on a variable pricing model, their “Attorney-Powered” slogan is more than just a catchphrase.
Pricing & Features
Nationwide Incorporators does not publish pricing models for their registered agent service online. Instead, if you would like to get a quote, you’ll need to call them. Their registered agent service does not include any additional features.
Strengths
- All documents drafted or reviewed by a business lawyer
- $295 for $395 voucher available on Yelp
Weaknesses
- Unclear pricing model for registered agent
- Registered agent not available online
- Registered agent not included with formation packages
Company Stats and Track Record
Nationwide Incorporators has been around since 1997. Company founder Mike Ross has more than 40 years of experience working as a certified business attorney. They don’t have a massive client volume like some of their competitors do, but Nationwide Incorporators reminds visitors to their website that you shouldn’t “confuse volume with quality.”
Customer Service Quality
Customer support is an advantage for Nationwide Incorporators. You can reach their support reps via phone or email. When we’ve called them, we’ve found that Mike Ross often answers the phone himself. We certainly don’t know of any other companies in this industry that have experienced business attorneys answering the phone.
What We Think About Their Service
It’s hard to praise Nationwide Incorporators too highly when they don’t make their registered agent service pricing available online.
#15) Incorporate.com
$235/year
Incorporate.com is one of the oldest companies in the business services industry, as they opened for business well over a century ago, in 1899. Unfortunately, their registered agent service is expensive, costing twice as much as many competitors without adding enough valuable features to make their price point worthwhile.
Pricing & Features
Incorporate.com charges $235 per year for registered agent service, with no volume discounts available. As for additional features, they do include access to their online compliance dashboard that helps you keep track of important filing due dates.
Strengths
- Many years of experience
- Compliance dashboard included with registered agent
Weaknesses
- High price points
- Poor customer feedback reputation
Company Stats and Track Record
Incorporate.com is one of the oldest companies in this industry, as they were founded way back in 1899. Since then, they’ve helped over 750,000 clients. They’ve changed their name several times through the years — from Corporation Service Company to The Company Corporation to Incorporate.com — but the company has stayed the same at its core.
Customer Service Quality
Incorporate.com offers customer support via phone, email, or web-based chat. With any of these three options, we’ve always received accurate advice from well-trained representatives. Their support agents expand on their answers nicely, giving comprehensive responses to our questions.
What We Think About Their Service
Their prices are high, and Incorporate.com doesn’t have good customer reviews either, making them an unappealing option for registered agent service, especially with so many high-quality competitors in this market.
#16) CT
$319/year
CT is one of the oldest and most trusted companies in the online business services industry. They’ve been in business since the 19th century, and they’re the largest registered agent service company in the world today, with several hundred thousand customers. However, all of that experience comes at a cost, as their registered agent service has one of the highest price tags in the industry.
Pricing & Features
CT charges a flat rate of $319 per year for registered agent service. This also includes access to their online portal, which includes a variety of compliance assistance tools.
Strengths
- #1 largest registered agent service provider
- Most experience in this industry
- Worldwide business services provider
- Solid customer support
Weaknesses
- High pricing model
- Not many customer reviews
Company Stats and Track Record
CT Corporation has been around since 1892. Today, they’re the largest active registered agent service provider in the world, with roughly three times as many clients as any other registered agent. CT also has 800+ employees located in 46 cities, so it’s clear that they operate on a massive scale.
Customer Service Quality
You can reach CT’s customer support department by phone, email, or chat. CT is known for their excellent customer service, and we’re happy to report that this is our experience with them as well. They have a few different phone numbers to choose from, based on what type of support you need. If you’d prefer, you can also fill out a form on their website to schedule a call with one of their reps. They have quick response times, and their agents definitely know what they’re talking about.
What We Think About Their Service
CT’s pricing is far too high, and they don’t provide nearly enough advanced features to justify their $319 annual fee.
#17) CSC
$381/year
CSC is one of the oldest and largest compliance service providers in the world, and today they operate all across North America, Europe, and Asia. CSC serves 90% of all Fortune 500 companies with their wide-ranging business solutions, one of which is their registered agent service. However, their prices certainly reflect this level of experience, as they have the one of the most expensive registered agent services we’ve ever seen.
Pricing & Features
CSC has an extremely high price point for registered agent service, at $381 per year. Along with the basics of registered agent, CSC has a thorough record-keeping and compliance reminder tool that keeps track of your business documents, and also sends you email alerts when it’s time to file your annual report, franchise tax payments, business license renewals, and more.
Strengths
- Award-winning service
- Amazing longevity
- Large roster of Fortune 500 clients
- Registered agent includes record-keeping and compliance tool
Weaknesses
- High prices
- Website doesn’t include much pricing info
- Hardly any customer reviews online
Company Stats and Track Record
According to their website, CSC provides services to 90% of all Fortune 500 companies, nearly 10,000 law firms, and more than 3,000 financial institutions. They have won so many awards over the years that they have an entire page of their site dedicated to displaying some of these awards.
Customer Service Quality
CSC says that you can access their support department via phone or email, but when we emailed them, they actually called back instead of replying to our email. Overall, if you call them, you’ll receive solid support from friendly and knowledgeable reps, but we don’t recommend their email system.
What We Think About Their Service
CSC has a thoroughly impressive track record, and their compliance tool is a nice bonus, but that doesn’t make their $381 annual fee any more appealing.
#18) National Registered Agents, Inc.
$405/year
National Registered Agents, Inc. (NRAI) is a widely trusted registered agent service provider. They have completed over one million service of process deliveries over the years, which is an impressive volume. However, their pricing is terrible ― they’re the only registered agent company we’re aware of that charges over $400 per year for their services.
Pricing & Features
National Registered Agents, Inc. charges $405 per year to provide registered agent service in your company’s home state. For each additional state, they have an annual fee of $319. NRAI also provides secure access to your business info, along with customized reporting tools, and your company’s service of process history.
Strengths
- Tons of experience
- High client volume
- Good customer support
Weaknesses
- Sky-high pricing
- No customer reviews available
Company Stats and Track Record
NRAI was founded in 1995, and they’ve completed more than a million service of process deliveries since then. Today, NRAI is part of the CT Corporation, as a subsidiary of Wolters Kluwer. This means that their services are backed by two of the biggest brands in this entire industry.
Customer Service Quality
We have experience with NRAI’s customer support through email and phone. They respond quickly either way, as they answered our emails within 24 hours, and we’ve never waited on hold for more than a minute or two via phone. Their representatives are very knowledgeable, and have never had any trouble answering our questions.
What We Think About Their Service
They charge over $400 per year, whereas there are competitors in this guide that have annual fees under $100. There are better options, in our opinion.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, it’s clear to us why Northwest Registered Agent is the best option for registered agent service. They don’t have the absolute lowest price in the industry, but it’s very reasonable. They have outstanding customer support, and they locally scan every document they receive as your agent.
Northwest doesn’t have the highest customer volume in this guide. However, compared to the most popular registered agent services like LegalZoom, Northwest provides far more value for your dollar, and a much better overall customer experience.
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How Do Online Registered Agent Services Work?
With any of the registered agent services discussed in this guide, you’ll need to provide them with some essential information about yourself and your business. You will also need to designate which state you need service for, and pay the service fees. From there, you can sit back and relax.
Whenever your agent receives government documents on your behalf, they will alert you of the delivery and immediately forward you the forms. Once per year, you will need to renew your registered agent service. Aside from that, there aren’t many requirements to keep this service going.
How to Designate Yourself as Your Registered Agent
Designating yourself as your company’s registered agent is a simple process. First, you’ll need to fill out your own information when asked to provide registered agent info in your articles of organization.
Of course, you’re only eligible to do so if you have a physical street address within the same state your business operates in. Just enter your own name and address in this space, and you’re ready to go.
Once your business is formed, you’ll need to be present and available to receive document deliveries every weekday during standard business hours. If you’re not present, you run the risk of missing a service of process delivery. This could result in a lawsuit progressing against your business without your knowledge.
If your business is already formed, and you want to replace your current registered agent with yourself, the process looks a little bit different. In this scenario, you’ll need to file what’s usually called a “statement of change of registered agent” form. Just like with forming a new business, you’ll need to enter your own name and address on this form to become your own registered agent.
Keep in mind that we do not typically advise that you serve as your own registered agent. In addition to needing to be present at your listed location during all standard business hours, serving as your own agent means that your address will become part of the public record.
You’re also likely to receive much more junk mail than you ever have before. Especially considering how low-cost many of these services like Northwest and Zen Business are, we strongly recommend hiring one instead of being your own agent.
Want to see what the registered agent requirements are for your state? Check out our guides.
Additional Registered Agent Reading
Do you need some more information about registered agents? You’re in the right place! We have tons of resources available on this site regarding many different aspects of registered agents.
We will mention though that most of the issues covered in the following articles are things you’ll never have to worry about if you simply hire a registered agent service instead of trying to DIY this important requirement.
- What Is a Registered Agent?
- Is There an Age Requirement for Being a Registered Agent?
- 6 Registered Agent Myths You Need to Know About
- Incorporation Rocket: Top Rated Registered Agent Services
- What Is the Model Registered Agents Act?
- Can I Be My Own Registered Agent?
- 5 Risks of Being Your Own Registered Agent
- Do I Need a Registered Agent?
- Should You Hire a Registered Agent or DIY?
- How to Change a Registered Agent