Choosing the right registered agent is a vital decision that can affect your business’s success.
The right Illinois Registered Agent
Will do things like keeping your personal information off the public record, keep your important business information safe, and also help your Limited Liability Company ( LLC) meet all of its legal obligations, and not by only providing a name and address for you to file for your Illinois LLC.
The wrong Illinois Registered Agent
Can be costly in more ways than one. You Are likely to wind up paying more for their services than they’re worth. And if they’re careless with your business information, your business could be vulnerable to scammers and hackers. The wrong agent could also lead to you receiving personal lawsuits as well.
We investigated over 60 different Illinois registered agents, then ranked the top 12 and wrote detailed reviews of the top three. Here are our top picks for the best registered agent in Illinois.
1. Northwest Registered Agent – 9.08/10 (Our Top Pick)
Northwest Registered Agent earned the top position on our list of best Illinois registered agents. They offer value prices for the services they provide and their customer service is the best of any Illinois registered agent service we found.
Pros
They’re a small business but their service offerings are comparable with those of big registered agent services. They provide you with all the services that you need, plus a few extras lik scanning ALL of your mail and documents, and putting them on an online portal. They also give you compliance alerts.
Not only is it easy to sign up with Northwest Registered Agent, but it’s also pretty easy to set up their system. Once you’ve set it up, since they’re a national registered agent service, you can sign up for registered agent services in multiple states through their online portal.
Their best feature is their customer service. They actually take time to listen to your problem and offer advice that is easy-to-understand and efficient enough to fix the problem. And they do all of this for $125 per year, making it very reasonably priced for any LLC business in Illinois.
They even provide one of the best LLC services in Illinois.
Cons
Their customer service is very comprehensive and they pay a lot of attention to detail.
But, since they ask a lot of questions and go into great detail, it’s pretty much guaranteed that you won’t be off the phone with them quickly. It can be a lot quicker to Google your question than to call them in many cases.
Overall
Northwest Registered Agent made our number one spot because they offer registered agent services as well as LLC formation services and they have stellar customer service.
If you want the best registered agent you can get for your business, sign up for Northwest Registered Agent’s services here.
2. Harbor Compliance — 7.92/10 (Best Budget Registered Agent)
Harbor Compliance is in the #2 position on our list of best Illinois registered agent services because they offer the best price of any registered agent in Illinois.
Pros
Harbor Compliance is another full-service registered agent that offers LLC formation services with many of the same services as Northwest Registered Agent.
Both their signup and setup processes are easy to get through. Their system is pretty easy to navigate, but a few changes could be made in order to make it even easier.
The best part is they charge only $99 per year, which makes them the cheapest Illinois registered agent service on this list.
Cons
The drawback is that they’re not exceptional at anything.
They don’t offer any premium services, their system could be easier to navigate and their customer service isn’t on par with Northwest’s.
Overall
Harbor Compliance is a good option if you’re looking for a service that provides everything a registered agent should, and they do it at the lowest price of any Illinois registered agent on this list.
You can learn more about Harbor Compliance here.
3. LegalZoom — 6.59/10 (Best Premium Service)
LegalZoom is the best premium Illinois registered agent service we’ve reviewed so far.
Pros
LegalZoom does everything you need it to.
They even give you compliance filing deadline notifications. And, they also offer up to $1 million in identity theft protection.
Cons
Their rate is a pretty hefty $299 per year. Of course, you get identity theft protection with LegalZoom, but for those prices, it would be cheaper to find identity theft protection elsewhere.
LegalZoom is a big name that people recognize. However, registered agent services aren’t the only services they provide and their customer service team doesn’t know as much about them as they should, and their computer system is hard to use.
Overall
If you’re looking for a big-name, premium registered agent and if you’re already doing business with LegalZoom for other reasons, or if you’re concerned about getting identity theft protection for your Illinois LLC, LegalZoom is probably a good option for your business.
Learn more about LegalZoom here.
4. ZenBusiness
ZenBusiness is new to the registered agent business, and they offer the same services at the same price as Harbor Compliance ($99 per year). But, if you want them to give you important notifications about compliance filing deadlines, you are forced to pay an additional $50 per month.
They’re also an LLC formation service. In fact, they offer free registered agent services for a year when you sign up for their LLC formation services but you end up paying a lot more than necessary for them long-term.
You can check out ZenBusiness here.
If you want a full breakdown of their products and services, you can read about them all in my ZenBusiness review.
5. IncFile Review
IncFile is an Illinois registered agent service that provides you with the bare minimum services. However, they don’t offer any compliance alerts.
IncFile offers a free year of registered agent services when you sign up for their LLC formation services. However, you ultimately wind up paying too much for their services in the long run.
You can learn more about IncFile here.
6. Rocket Lawyer Review
Rocket Lawyer is an Illinois registered agent service that appears to be a (slightly) less expensive imitation of LegalZoom. They offer all of the standard services, but they charge $149 per year for them.
In saying that, Rocket Lawyer also offers a huge range of online legal services, including legal documents and attorney services. If you'd like to know more about those services, read my Rocket Lawyer review.
7. SunDoc Filings Review
Sundoc Filings is another Illinois registered agent service that charges too much for too few services. They charge you $159 per year for bare-bones services.
You can learn more about Sundoc Filings here.
8. InCorp Review
InCorp is an Illinois registered agent service, as well as an LLC formation service that will provide your Illinois business with the bare minimum in terms of services. They’ll provide you with a lot of the same services that Harbor Compliance and Northwest Registered Agent offer.
They also charge $99 per year for their registered agent service, which is the same as Harbor Compliance. But, their system is so hard to use that it’s not the value it seems like it is. And their customer service isn’t really enough when you’re dealing with such a difficult system.
You can check out InCorp here.
9. Swyft Filings Review
Swyft Filings offers you a lot of the services that you’d expect from a registered agent service. However, they charge $149 per year.
They do offer an LLC formation service so if you'd like to know more about that, read my Swyft Filings review.
10. CSC Global Review
CSC Global is a ‘premium’ registered agent service. They actually offer very little in terms of ‘“premium’ services.
The only premium feature they provide is covering any state fees or filing fees you incur. But, they charge $299 per year.
For more information about CSC Global, click here.
11. Registered Agents Inc. Review
Registered Agents Inc. provides the basic registered agent services that you need for your LLC,. However, they charge $200 for their services.
You can check out Registered Agents Inc. here.
12. Jumpstart Filings Review
Jumpstart Filings is a registered agent and LLC formation service in Illinois that offers very minimal services. They charge $150 per year. And the real downside is that they don’t even offer free registered agent services when you sign up for their LLC formation services.
Registered Agent Review Summary
Northwest Registered Agent is our top choice for the best registered agent in Illinois because they offer all of the services you could need, for only $125 per year, and they have excellent customer service as well.
Sign up for Northwest Registered Agent here: Northwest Registered Agent
Who Can Be A Registered Agent in Illinois?
Most registered agent requirements are standardized across the country. Here are some of the qualifications you’ll need to meet to be your own registered agent in Illinois:
- State Laws: Some states have specific requirements for registered agents. Check out the laws in Illinois to make sure that you qualify.
- 18+: You must be at least 18 years old.
- Physical address: You’re required to have a physical address, and PO box won’t do.
- Who you can designate: As long as they meet all of the requirements, you’re allowed to designate anyone of your choosing, or be your own registered agent.
Best Registered Agent Review Methodology
Here’s how we came to our conclusions:
Why You Should Trust Us
Our founder has spent more time dealing with and researching the registered agent industry than any other normal person probably has.
He started out trying to find a registered agent for his two companies. As he had closed both of his previous businesses, he found that he had the time to do research about the registered agents’ industry. In doing so, he became a real expert and consequently, decided to make this full-time venture.
Our founder hired only the best writers and under his mentorship and our own hard work in researching each company and its business services, we too have become experts. So, we have both the experience and the knowledge to make recommendations.
This became a successful online company, and now we’re helping people like you find the best registered agent services.
How We Selected The Best Registered Agent
We started with over 60 registered agent business services in Illinois and then weeded out the worst of the bunch, which left us with only 12. Here’s how we did it:
Stage 1: Reviews
We scoured the internet and found reviews on TrustPilot, Facebook, the Better Business Bureau, and other sites.
We didn’t actually read all of them, simply because that would have taken years. So, we read the reviews that were more than a couple of paragraphs long and also provided lots of details. This gave us a lot of information about how each registered agent treated clients and the level and quality of service each company got from them.
Stage 2: Website Analysis
This gave us a few bits of information about how each agent presented themselves, and what level of service they would potentially provide.
Some of the things we looked for were the range of services that each registered agent offered, how many methods to contact customer support they provided, awards they’d won and displayed, their business history, and of course their business location.
Stage 3: Speaking With Real Customers
To do this, we reached out to customers who had used our site to find an agent, as well as those who had already had an agent in the state when they came to our site.
We asked them what level of service the agents in the state provided their business with, and how satisfied they were. By doing this, we learned how each agent business in the state operates.
Stage 4: Speaking With Their Sales Teams
You can tell a lot about a company by the way its sales team handles questions and feedback. So we rounded up all of the negative feedback, comments and complaints about each business and asked their sales team about them. Then we recorded and gauged their reactions.
This stage really separated the wheat from the chaff, and by the end of this process we were equipped to start rating the 12 agents we were left with.
Rating Factors
Here are the factors we used to rate the 12 agents on our list:
Factor 1: Offerings
This was the first factor we considered because it’s important.
We took into account whether the business scans your mail, whether they put it on an online portal that you can access from your office, whether they offer compliance filing deadline alerts, and finally whether they offer identity theft protection.
Factor 2: Price
Another important factor in rating each business was the price. Unfortunately, pricing varies widely from agent to agent, and the average person can be quite confused when trying to find a price to value ratio.
We found that registered agents tend to have 3 different price ranges: budget, full-service and premium. Budget services run around $39-$59 per year, full-service agents typically cost $99-129 per year, and premium services start at $299 per year.
Budget services look like a good idea on paper, but they’re deceptive. In order to get services, like compliance alerts, you’ll have to pay extra fees. These extra fees can add up to be more than some of the premium services charge, and you’re not even getting premium services for the price!
For that reason, we left budget services off of the list.
Factor 3: Ease of Signup
We actually signed up for services from each of the agents on this list to see how easy it was to get through their signup process.
Those with automated, streamlined processes earned higher positions on the list, while those who required you to fill out form after form and had drastically long waiting periods got lower positions.
Factor 4: Ease of Use
Those agents whose computer systems had great layouts and were user-friendly (even for those who aren’t tech-savvy) were in the top half of the list, while those with complex, hard-to-use and navigate systems were placed in the bottom half of the list.
Factor 5: Customer Service
No matter how easy a computer system is to use, the client is going to have a question that needs to be answered at some point, so having good customer service is a non-negotiable for registered agents.
For that reason, the agents with the quickest response, who answered questions in an efficient and friendly manner and were able to fix the problem took precedence on our list.
In Conclusion
Whether you’ve never had a registered agent, or are looking to change agents, Northwest Registered Agent is the best registered agent you’ll find in Illinois.
We investigated over 64 different agents, and then rated them and Northwest Registered Agent earned our top spot.
They offer all of the services you need from a registered agent at a fair price, their computer system is easy to use, and their customer service is very comprehensive.
You can sign up with Northwest Registered Agent here:
And if you’re interested in starting a new business, read How to Start an Illinois LLC.
