A registered agent is the person or company who can be handed a lawsuit for the business. In most states the office that keeps the public company list is the Secretary of State. Florida uses the Division of Corporations. New York uses the Department of State. The agent takes the papers and gets them to the company. This page is how to compare the companies that sell that job. It is not a numbered ranking, and it is not a star rating.
What the best registered agent service has to do
Three jobs come first. Someone has to be at a street in the state where the company is registered. Someone has to be there during the hours that state wrote, so a process server can hand over the lawsuit. Then the papers have to reach you. A P.O. Box is a mailbox at the post office. It is not that street. A virtual office used alone is not that street either.
You can sit the job yourself when the state lets you. That choice is in Can I be my own registered agent? A paid company that already keeps the street is a commercial registered agent. What is a commercial registered agent? is that seat. The DIY, lawyer, or commercial page sets the three choices side by side. This page stays on the commercial cards.
The methodology page gives each company three letters. They can disagree. Year-1 / year-2 price is the bill after a first-year deal ends. SOS street and presence is whose street is on the public record, and whether an in-state office is there. Process and privacy is how court papers get to you, and whether your home stays off the agent line. A strong price letter and a weaker street letter can sit on the same company. That is the point of three letters.
The letters already on the scorecards
These four slips use the national letters and the prices already printed on this site. Northwest’s price letter is B+. Bizee’s is C+. LegalZoom and ZenBusiness are C. The slips follow that price letter. A tie keeps the order of the company list. Street and process stay their own letters. We do not fold the three letters into one score.
The dollars are the ones on each company’s own registered-agent page, read October 9, 2026, and written up on How much does a registered agent cost? The August 30, 2026 scorecards printed the same dollars. A state page can still print a different street letter. Read that page before you treat the national card as the card for your state.
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Northwest Registered Agent
- B+Price
- BStreet
- BProcess
Year 2: $125 a year. Five or more states is $100 a year per state on that same page.
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Bizee
- C+Price
- B-Street
- BProcess
Year 2: $149 a year for standalone service. Year 1 can be free when you form through Bizee.
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LegalZoom
- CPrice
- B-Street
- B-Process
Year 2: The page lists $249 a year. We do not print a second dollar. An August 30, 2026 footnote on the California scorecard said renewal is the purchase rate and can change.
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ZenBusiness
- CPrice
- B-Street
- B-Process
Year 2: $199 a year. Year 1 on that page is $99 plus state fees.
Northwest’s page says “$125 Per Year.” Bizee’s page lists standalone service at $149 a year and a free first year with formation. LegalZoom’s page says “Get registered agent services for $249/year.” ZenBusiness’s FAQ says the service “costs $99 plus state fees for the first year and renews at $199/year.” The price letter is about the lasting bill, which is why a free or cheap first year does not earn the higher letter.
On the Texas scorecard, ZenBusiness’s street letter is B, not the national B-. That page publishes an Austin street. The other three letters on these slips are the national cards. Open the state scorecard for the letters that apply where you file.
Year 2 is the price to compare
A free first year and a flat $125 are not two prices for the same year. Bizee lists a free first year with formation. ZenBusiness lists $99 plus state fees for year 1. Northwest publishes the same $125 in year 2. LegalZoom lists $249 a year and reserves the right to change the renewal. The shaded lasting price on the cost guide is the column to put side by side.
Doing it yourself is $0 to a company. You still pay with the street and the hours. A lawyer’s price is whatever the engagement letter says. This site does not publish an hourly rate.
The state on the filing changes the pick
The company prices are national. The rule at the door is not. Each state where the company is registered needs its own in-state agent. These eight pages are the rules that change the comparison. They are not a full list of states.
- Delaware will not take a virtual office alone 6 Del. C. § 18-104 says the agent keeps a Delaware street and may not do the job only through a virtual office or a mail-forwarding service. The Delaware scorecard also cites a $50 state fee when an LLC filing only changes the agent or the office. On September 2, 2026 the Division’s convenience list named Northwest Registered Agent Service, Inc. and Zenbusiness Inc. Bizee was not on that list. The list says the state does not regulate the agents on it. It is not a ranking. Confirm the live name on the entity search.
- Wyoming wants a person at a physical street W.S. 17-28-101 wants a physical Wyoming street and a person present there. The Secretary of State FAQ, as quoted on the Wyoming scorecard, says a post office box, a virtual address, and a UPS or FedEx store do not qualify. The national company price does not go up because the street has to be real.
- Nevada’s ten-company register is the agent’s duty NRS 77.320 says an agent who serves ten or more companies must register as a commercial registered agent. The Nevada scorecard says that register does not change the yearly price on your bill. The same page cites a $60 state fee for a statement of change.
- California publishes an individual agent’s street Corporations Code § 17701.13 says an LLC keeps an office and an agent in the state. The Secretary of State FAQ says an individual agent’s name and physical street are public. The California scorecard is where these commercial prices were first written down, on August 30, 2026.
- Texas wants an employee at the door Business Organizations Code § 5.201 says the office is a street where papers can be handed to a person. It may not be only a mailbox service or a telephone answering service. If the agent is an organization, an employee must be there during normal business hours. The Texas scorecard says no company publishes a different Texas price.
- Florida posts two daily windows Florida Statutes § 48.091 says the office stays open from at least 10 a.m. to 12 noon and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays that are not legal holidays. The Florida scorecard is that clock. The company fee does not rise to buy those hours.
- New York already names the Secretary of State Limited Liability Company Law § 301 says the Secretary of State is the agent. § 302 says the company may also name a registered agent. Hiring one is optional. The New York scorecard is the longer version, including a $40 fee to hand court papers to the Department of State. That $40 is not the yearly company fee.
- Washington lists a commercial agent by a filing RCW 23.95.420 is a commercial listing statement, not a ten-company count. The Washington scorecard says the official fee table prices a change of registered agent at no fee. A P.O. Box or a private mailbox is not the street.
Questions that are not the same as best
- Is a free first year the best registered agent service? No. Year 2 is the price that stays. A free opening year can still carry a C+ on price while a flat $125 carries a B+. Read the renewal line on the company page, then read checkout. A number on a marketing page can still change in the cart.
- Does one company cover every state? No. The company may sell service in many states. The filing still needs an agent at a street in each state where the company is registered. Delaware, Wyoming, and New York do not share one door.
- Can I skip the company? Sometimes. The state has to let a person, or the company itself, sit the job, and you have to keep the hours and the public street. Start with Can I be my own registered agent? If you already have an agent and want a new name on the form, the order is in How to change a registered agent on an LLC.
Sources
- Process Score methodology. Three letters: year-1 versus year-2 price, the state street, and how court papers reach you. The letters can disagree. They are not a star rating.
- How much does a registered agent cost? Company pages read October 9, 2026. Northwest “$125 Per Year,” and $100 a year per state at five or more states. Bizee standalone service at $149 a year, with a free first year shown with formation. LegalZoom “$249/year.” ZenBusiness FAQ: “$99 plus state fees for the first year and renews at $199/year.”
- California scorecard, prices retrieved August 30, 2026. The same dollars. A footnote said LegalZoom auto-renews at the purchase rate, the renewal rate is subject to change, and that purchase price is for first-time customers. We do not print a different year-2 dollar.
- Texas scorecard. ZenBusiness’s street letter on that page is B. The national street letter is B-. No company publishes a separate Texas price.
- 6 Del. C. § 18-104 and the Delaware scorecard. A Delaware street. The agent may not act only through a virtual office or a mail-forwarding service. A $50 LLC fee to change only the agent or the office. Convenience list retrieved September 2, 2026.
- W.S. 17-28-101 and the Wyoming Secretary of State registered-agent FAQ, as quoted on the Wyoming scorecard.
- NRS 77.320, as set out on the Nevada scorecard. Commercial registration at ten companies. A $60 statement of change.
- Cal. Corp. Code § 17701.13 and the California Secretary of State Business Entities FAQ.
- Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 5.201, as set out on the Texas scorecard.
- Fla. Stat. § 48.091, as set out on the Florida scorecard.
- N.Y. Ltd. Liab. Co. Law § 301 and § 302, as set out on the New York scorecard. The Secretary of State is the agent. A hired agent is optional.
- RCW 23.95.420, as set out on the Washington scorecard. A commercial listing. The official fee table prices a change of agent at no fee.