A registered agent comparison, set out in two halves
What each registered agent service includes, what it charges once the first year is over, and how the alternatives to Northwest Registered Agent differ from it, state by state. Every comparison puts the two halves next to each other and leaves the choice with you.
The two halves
A comparison needs something to compare against. This site takes Northwest Registered Agent as its fixed point and sets the other services beside it, one question at a time, so you can see where they agree and where they part.
What the service includes, how it handles official mail and service of process, what it asks you to pay at renewal and what it leaves to you. Taken from the provider's own pages and dated, so you can check it yourself.
The same headings, in the same order, for each alternative: what is included, what is extra, how the price changes after the first year and which states are covered. Where a service does something differently, the page says how.
Neither half is the answer by default. A business owner who wants a long-standing provider and one who wants extras bundled in are asking different questions, and the comparisons are written so each can find their own answer in the same table.
The job itself
Before comparing services it helps to be clear about the job. The role is set by state law, and it is the same whichever service you pick.
If your business is sued, the papers are delivered to your registered agent, who passes them to you. Missing them can mean a case goes ahead without you.
The state sends annual report reminders, tax notices and other official mail to the agent's address on file, not necessarily to your own.
The agent needs a real street address in the state where your business is registered. A post office box does not meet the rule.
Someone has to be present at that address during normal business hours to accept documents in person. This is the part most people hand to a service.
How it is organised
The site is arranged by the kind of question you are asking. Each kind sits on one side of the seam, and the sides alternate, so no kind of question is given the stronger position.
Two registered agent services on one page, with what each includes, what it charges once any first-year rate ends, and what it leaves to you.
The services people weigh against Northwest Registered Agent, set out side by side so the differences are visible without a verdict laid over them.
Each state sets its own rules for who can serve, where the address must be and how a change of agent is filed. The state decides, so the state page comes first.
The extras that separate one service from the next: how official mail reaches you, whether documents are scanned, whether you are reminded about annual reports, and whose address appears on the public record.
What it means to name yourself, what it puts on the public record, and the days when you would need to be at that address.
Ground rules
The same four rules apply to every page, whichever half a service sits on.
Where one service suits a situation better, the page says so in words and gives the reason. Nothing is reduced to a number.
A price is taken from the provider's own pricing page and carries the date it was read. The ongoing price is kept apart from any introductory rate.
What a registered agent must do comes from the state that holds your filing, and the comparisons point back to the state's own guidance.
The known name and the alternatives get the same space, the same type size and the same questions. The design is a comparison, not a recommendation.
Before you choose
Choosing a registered agent is a short decision once these are answered. The order matters more than the service.
Every state that registers an LLC or a corporation expects a registered agent with a street address in that state. Start with what your state says, before any service.
Naming yourself is allowed in most states if you have an address there. The trade is that the address becomes public and someone has to be there during business hours.
Mail forwarding, document scanning, annual report reminders and keeping your home address off the record are the usual differences. Decide which matter to you first.
Some services charge less in the first year and more at renewal. Compare what you would pay in the second year as well as the first.
Moving to another service usually means filing a change of registered agent with the state. Read what your state asks for before you switch.
Who publishes this
Agent Service Compare is a reference on registered agent services for people forming and running an LLC or a corporation. It describes services side by side and does not act as a registered agent itself.