Quick answer
To compare registered agent services, work through five checks in order. First, confirm the arrangement meets the entity's state requirement. Second, find the ongoing yearly price, not the first-year price. Third, list what the fee bundles. Fourth, check which address will appear on the public filing. Fifth, match the provider's scale to the entity's footprint, one state or several. As of 2026-10-06, the published ongoing prices are 125 USD per year for Northwest Registered Agent, 159 USD per year for Harbor Compliance and 199 USD per year for ZenBusiness. Bizee includes one free year but does not publish its renewal price, and CSC quotes per engagement. A reader who is forming a new entity anyway should also weigh whether one provider covering formation and the agent role is worth more than the lowest standalone price.
What are the steps for comparing registered agent services?
The process below runs in a fixed order because each step narrows the field for the next. Skipping the first step can leave an entity without a working agent, and skipping the second can leave a reader comparing the wrong numbers. Each step is explained in its own section.
- Confirm what the state requires.
- Find the ongoing yearly price.
- List what the fee includes.
- Decide which address should be on the public filing.
- Match the provider to the number of states.
- Compare the options side by side.
- Ask the open questions in writing.
None of this needs a spreadsheet. A single page of notes, one column per provider, is enough.
Step 1: What does the state require?
Registered agent law is state law, and it differs from one state to the next. This page covers Texas and California. For any other state, the rule varies, and the filing office is where to confirm it.
In Texas, the Secretary of State's registered agent FAQs say an entity may not serve as its own registered agent. An officer, owner or employee may serve in an individual capacity, but the entity itself cannot be its own agent. The same guidance says that failing to maintain a registered agent may result in involuntary termination of a domestic entity, or revocation of a foreign entity's registration.
In California, the Secretary of State's service of process page states that a California entity cannot act as its own agent for service of process. The Secretary of State's business entities FAQs add that corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships are required by statute to designate an agent for service of process.
The practical result is that someone other than the entity itself must fill the role. That is either a named individual or a paid service. This page assumes a service is under consideration.
Step 2: What is the ongoing yearly price?
A registered agent is an annual service, so the number that matters is the cost in the second year and every year after. A first-year price is a promotion. The ongoing price is the cost of keeping the role filled.
Harbor Compliance shows why this matters. As of 2026-10-06 its registered agent service is 159 USD per year ongoing, with a promotional first year at 99 USD. The two and three year terms hold 99 USD per year before renewing at 159 USD, so comparing only the 99 USD figure compares the wrong number.
Bizee shows a different gap. Every package includes one free year of registered agent service, but the renewal price is not published on its pricing page. A free year is real value, yet it says nothing about the second year.
Where a price is not published, the honest move is to record it as unpublished and ask for it in writing. That applies to LegalZoom and Tailor Brands, whose pages used for this article do not state a registered agent price. It applies to CSC as well, which quotes enterprise service per engagement.
Step 3: What does the fee include?
Two providers can charge similar amounts and deliver very different things. The core of the service is the same: a named agent and an address on the filing. What differs is everything around it.
Northwest Registered Agent's 125 USD per year includes a free domain, website, business address, phone line and mail scanning, as of 2026-10-06. ZenBusiness's 199 USD per year sits inside a wider formation and compliance offering, where the registered agent service is sold as an add-on across the formation packages. A bundle is good value only if the extras replace things the entity would otherwise buy separately.
A useful test is to ask what would be paid for anyway. An entity that needs a business address and a phone line may find the bundle replaces other purchases. An entity that needs neither is paying for features it will not use, and a cheaper standalone agent fits better.
Step 4: Which address will be on the public filing?
The address matters because it is public. The California Secretary of State's business entities FAQs describe the Business Search as holding the most current filings of record, including the name and address of the agent for service of process. That is a matter of record, not an opinion, and it is the whole basis of the privacy argument.
An owner who serves as an individual agent, where the state allows it, puts a personal address on that record. A commercial agent's business address takes its place. For some owners that is the main reason to pay at all.
On this point Northwest Registered Agent deserves a serious hearing, since its whole proposition is privacy, and it is the name to reach for if keeping a home address off the record is the priority. Whether another state publishes the agent's address in the same way is a state-by-state question. The reader should check the filing office for any state not covered here.
Step 5: Does the entity operate in one state or several?
A single-state entity and a multi-state entity are different buyers. The first needs one agent in one place. The second needs coverage wherever it is registered, and the provider's structure then matters a great deal.
Harbor Compliance's registered agent price is one national figure rather than a per-state price, and CSC is built for enterprise and regulated multi-state filings. Those suit compliance-heavy operations. A small single-state business is unlikely to need that scale and may pay for capability that goes unused.
An entity registered in a second state carries a second set of obligations, as the Texas guidance on revocation of a foreign entity's registration makes clear. The U.S. Small Business Administration's guide to registering a business is a general starting point for the wider picture, and the state filing office has the specifics.
Step 6: How do the options compare, listed alphabetically?
The order below is alphabetical. It is not a ranking, and no preference is implied by position. All prices are as of 2026-10-06 and were read from each provider's own pricing page. Where a formation price is quoted plus state fees, the state fee is set by the state, is not the provider's price, and varies.
Bizee: Bizee formation packages are Basic at 0 USD plus state fees, Standard at 199 USD and Premium at 299 USD. Every package includes one free year of registered agent service. The renewal price is not published on its pricing page. Best for: a reader forming a new entity who wants the first agent year bundled in and will get the renewal price confirmed in writing.
CSC: CSC is built for enterprise and regulated multi-state filings. Its registered agent service is quoted per engagement and the price is not published. Best for: large or regulated operations that expect a negotiated engagement.
Harbor Compliance: Harbor Compliance charges 159 USD per year ongoing, with a promotional first year at 99 USD. This is one national price rather than a per-state price. Best for: multi-state operations that want a single published figure.
LegalZoom: LegalZoom formation packages are Basic at 0 USD plus state fees, Managed Service at 249 USD and Expert Service at 999 USD. The registered agent price is not published on its LLC pricing page. Best for: a reader who wants a formation package from a large name and will confirm the agent price separately.
Northwest Registered Agent: Northwest Registered Agent charges 125 USD per year, including a free domain, website, business address, phone line and mail scanning. Best for: anyone whose priority is keeping a home address off the public record, and the lowest published ongoing price on this page.
Rocket Lawyer: Rocket Lawyer sells membership rather than a standalone agent service. Standard is 34.99 USD per month or 149 USD per year, Plus is 49.99 USD per month or 249 USD per year, and Pro is 64.99 USD per month or 349 USD per year. The first LLC registration is free with a membership, then 99 USD plus state fees. There is a 7-day free trial, and attorney consultations are 149 USD for 30 minutes or 249 USD for 60. Best for: a reader who wants legal documents and attorney access alongside formation.
Tailor Brands: Tailor Brands lists formation from 0 USD plus state fees. The individual tier prices are not published on its formation page, and no registered agent price appears there. Best for: a reader who wants to start from its formation flow and will confirm what the agent costs.
ZenBusiness: ZenBusiness publishes its registered agent price at 199 USD per year. The formation packages are Starter at 0 USD plus state fees, Pro at 199 USD and Premium at 299 USD, with Pro and Premium renewing at their annual prices. The EIN and operating agreement are included from Pro up and cost 99 USD each on Starter. Best for: a reader who is forming anyway and wants formation, EIN, operating agreement, registered agent service and compliance monitoring from one provider.
Where does ZenBusiness fit in this comparison?
ZenBusiness is not the cheapest agent. Northwest and Harbor Compliance both publish lower ongoing prices. A reader who needs only an agent at the lowest cost, or who runs a multi-state regulated operation, will be better served by one of those or by CSC.
Where ZenBusiness holds up is for the reader who is forming anyway. One provider covers the formation filing, EIN, operating agreement and registered agent service, with one renewal to track rather than two vendors. At 199 USD per year it also sits below the enterprise end of the market, where pricing is quoted rather than published, and it includes compliance monitoring.
No free registered agent year is claimed here for ZenBusiness. Introductory offers move and carry conditions, so the 199 USD figure should be treated as the ongoing price and any promotional terms confirmed on the day of purchase.
Does the comparison connect to the rest of the setup?
It does, because the agent is one early step among several. A new entity needs the formation filing, an EIN, a separate business account and then bookkeeping, in that order. The IRS says in Publication 583 that opening a business checking account is one of the first things to do, and that comes before choosing any software.
That sequence is why a single provider appeals to people who feel overwhelmed. ZenBusiness covers the first three steps and offers a free accounting consultation to customers who form with it. It also runs ZenBusiness accounting for the bookkeeping that follows.
For a reader at the start, the practical order is to form, get the EIN, open the account and then pick a bookkeeping tool. For an established entity that only needs an agent, none of this applies, and the decision comes down to price, privacy and renewal terms.
Step 7: What should be asked in writing, and what does leaving cost?
Before paying, put these questions to each shortlisted provider and keep the answers:
- What is the ongoing yearly price, as opposed to the first-year price?
- Is the renewal price published, and where?
- What exactly does the fee include?
- Which address will appear on the public filing?
- Does the entity operate in more than one state, and does the provider cover them?
- How are documents delivered, and how quickly?
The last question has no published answer on this page for any provider, which is why it belongs on the list. If the answer to the first two is "not published", that is information in itself. A provider that will not state an ongoing price publicly has not made the comparison easy.
It also helps to know the exit cost. In Texas, the Secretary of State's Form 401 instructions put the fee for changing the registered agent or registered office at 15 USD, which is a state fee separate from any provider charge. Other states set their own fees and forms.
Sources
- Texas Secretary of State, “Registered Agent FAQs”
- California Secretary of State, “Service of Process”
- California Secretary of State, “Business Entities FAQs”
- U.S. Small Business Administration, “Register Your Business”
- Internal Revenue Service, “Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records”
- Texas Secretary of State, “Form 401 Instructions, Change of Registered Agent or Office”
This is general information rather than legal, tax or accounting advice, and requirements vary and change.