12 Best Utah Registered Agent Services (2024 Review)

12/03/2024
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Getting the best registered agent in Utah is critical for any business.

The right Utah registered agent will keep you compliant with the Utah Division of Corporations, safeguard your personal data, and securely receive and forward important documents and legal notices.

The wrong Utah registered agent will mishandle critical paperwork, forget to notify you about filing deadlines or changing regulations, bust your budget, and cost you valuable time.

I’ve investigated 60+ registered agent services, assessed the top 12, and written in-depth reviews of the three best. Here are my picks for the best registered agent service in Utah:

1. Northwest Registered Agent — 9.13/10 (My Top Pick)

Northwest Registered Agent offers the best registered agent service in the state of Utah according to my rating system. They excel at every aspect of the registered agent business, provide phenomenal customer service and offer very competitive prices.

Pros

Northwest Registered Agent is a national registered agent that has mastered the essential responsibilities of a registered agent. Every company must have a physical address and they provide a physical Utah address for your business at which they will accept and forward any service of process or other legal documents you may receive. They also scan and upload these documents to your online account, providing you with near-instant access.

Northwest Registered Agent must also protect your personal data and personal assets and act as your point of contact for communications from the Division of Corporations. They advise you of any changing regulations that may affect your business and their website is user-friendly, saving you valuable time that you can spend working on other aspects of your business.

What truly elevates Northwest Registered Agent above their competition, however, is their outstanding customer service. Their service department is staffed with former lawyers and accountants and those who have significant business and entrepreneurship experience. They are the most knowledgeable team in the business, and can help with whatever issues may arise with your company. 

Despite such comprehensive service, Northwest Registered Agent keeps their prices on the low end of the spectrum. For $125 per state per year, they’re a great bargain.

Cons

The complicated questions you may have about changing regulations or what needs to be included in your annual report will be answered thoroughly and patiently, but sometimes you may have a very quick question that only needs a very quick answer. In these instances, the best service team in the game can be a little long-winded and you may be on the phone a bit longer than you intended.

In the grand scheme, it is a very minor complaint, and I’ll gladly trade this rare inconvenience for the peace of mind of having a trustworthy advisor when I have more difficult questions.

Overall

Northwest Registered Agent is the best choice for your registered agent service in Utah.

They genuinely care about your business and will be a tremendous help in keeping you in good standing with the State of Utah Division of Corporations. Northwest Registered Agent gives you all the tools necessary to succeed and their staff is so good they act more as small business advisors than customer service reps. 

Providing all of that at such a competitive price point makes them a great match for any Utah business entity that requires a registered agent. 

If you want to entrust your business to the best registered agent in Utah, head to Northwest Registered Agent. To change your registered agent, you'll need to file a Corporation Registration Information Change form with the Utah Division of Corporations & Commercial Code at a cost of $15.

2. Harbor Compliance — 7.92/10 (Best Budget Registered Agent)

Harbor Compliance is a reliable option if your budget is extremely tight and you don’t need the perks that Northwest Registered Agent provides.

Pros

Harbor Compliance offers the most affordable registered agent service on my list and they meet all the requirements of the Utah Division of Corporations. They offer limited liability company (LLC) formation services such as providing you with a physical address and receiving service of process or other legal notifications on your behalf during normal business hours. They forward the most important notices to you and upload them to your online portal, and they even give you a phone call if a document is particularly pressing.

They also offer compliance alerts and decent customer service. Their website allows for easy sign-up and is fairly user-friendly. 

Cons

Although they check all the boxes for what you need in a commercial registered agent service, Harbor Compliance doesn’t stand out in any particular aspect of their business. Customer service will get back to you in a reasonable amount of time, but won’t set any speed records. Their service team knows the basics, but isn’t great with more complicated questions.

Overall

In order to offer you a great price, it feels as though Harbor Compliance is content with offering a very basic level of service. They won’t do anything to impress you, but they won’t do anything to let you down either.

If your budget is so tight that you can’t afford the extra $30 for Northwest Registered Agent, then Harbor Compliance is a solid option for you.

3. LegalZoom — 6.59/10 (Best Premium Service)

LegalZoom offers a very basic registered agent service along with its incredibly wide array of other legal services for both businesses and individuals. 

Pros

LegalZoom is probably the most recognized name operating in the national commercial registered agent universe. Their reputation and longevity make them an attractive option, and they will help you establish your LLC and cover all the registered agent basics like LLC formation services, including a physical address in the state of Utah and receiving service of process notifications on your behalf.

The biggest advantage to using LegalZoom is that their Utah registered agent service includes a $1 million insurance policy that will cover you in the event of identity theft. This is not commonly offered by registered agents and could potentially save your business and personal assets should you fall victim to cybercriminals. 

They are also a large one-stop-shop if you would prefer to get your registered agent service at the same place you handle other legal issues.

Cons

LegalZoom is very expensive. They take advantage of their name recognition, reputation, and popularity to charge $299 per year, nearly triple the price of Harbor Compliance. 

Even if you take into account the value of their identity theft insurance, Legal Zoom is still expensive. Identity theft insurance can be purchased from any number of insurance providers for less than the difference in price between LegalZoom and a better registered agent service like Northwest Registered Agent.

You’re also dealing with a company that serves millions of customers and advises them regarding thousands of different legal scenarios. It can be difficult to find answers to specific registered agent questions amongst so much other information.

Overall

If you value reputation and identity theft insurance and don’t mind paying a premium price for a fairly basic service, LegalZoom is a good choice for you. 

4. ZenBusiness

ZenBusiness operates primarily as an LLC formation service, but they’ve begun offering registered agent service as a new part of their product mix. Their registered agent service is, in general, quite good but their pricing leaves something to be desired. 

ZenBusiness offers a basic package for $199 per year per state, which includes everything you’d expect from a top-tier registered agent service, with one important exception—functional customer support. Northwest Registered Agent offers similar services at a cheaper rate and their customer support is unmatched in the industry, as it stands, ZenBusiness doesn’t offer substantial value.

If you'd like to learn more about ZenBusiness and their services, please read my full ZenBusiness review

5. IncFile

IncFile promotes itself as an affordable registered agent service and provides the most basic of LLC formation services to match their budget price. They will receive service of process during normal business hours on regular business days and provide you with a registered office address.

They don’t do a whole lot more than that and they are still more expensive than Harbor Compliance. At $119 per year, they are only $10 cheaper than Northwest, which offers far more comprehensive service. 

6. Rocket Lawyer

Rocket Lawyer was conceived as a cheaper alternative to LegalZoom that offers the same large range of legal services. Their registered agent service is indeed significantly cheaper than that of LegalZoom but is still relatively expensive ($149) in comparison with the other companies on my list, and they don’t offer enough services or quality to justify the higher price tag.

Read my full Rocket Lawyer review to learn more about their online legal services and other offerings.

7. SunDoc Filings

It is hard to justify employing SunDoc Filings when they charge $159 per year for a very basic LLC formation service that doesn’t even include compliance alerts, even though they are a national registered agent. They fulfill the basic requirements of a registered agent as established by the state of Utah Division of Corporations, but don’t do much beyond that—certainly not enough to warrant such a high annual price tag.

8. InCorp

If not for a flawed online system, InCorp would be in consideration for my top budget choice.

They offer the same prices as Harbor Compliance with the same basic services, including mail forwarding, reception for service of process or other legal documents during business hours, and a registered office address in the state of Utah. The difference is their online system needs a serious overhaul. Logging on and accessing your documents feels more like a chore than a convenience.

9. Swyft Filings

Swyft Filings is another registered agent service that offers less for more. At $149 per year for little more than the mere essentials, their quality-to-price ratio leaves a lot to be desired. 

If for any reason you'd want to consider their services, I recommend reading my full Swyft Filings review first.

10. CSC Global

CSC Global falls into the category of premium registered agent services simply because they charge premium prices, not because they offer premium services. Their customer service falls short of the higher standard that their price should demand and they don’t even offer compliance alerts.

CSC Global’s sales hook is the offer to cover the filing fees required to change your Utah registered agent. This will save you $176 if you want to make the switch to CSC Global, but you’ll give those savings right back to them and then some thanks to their $299 per year price tag. 

11. Registered Agents Inc.

As their name suggests, Registered Agents Inc. focuses on the registered agent business, which puts them in contrast to some of the other companies on my list. Unfortunately, this focus hasn’t pushed them to innovate or offer anything beyond the basics of any other Utah registered agent. They offer a very pedestrian service but charge a premium price of $200 per year for their registered agent services.

12. Jumpstart Filings

Jumpstart Filings is another entrant in the crowded field of Utah registered agent services that charges more than the bargain registered agents do but offer fewer services. They will receive service of process during regular business hours on regular business days and forward your incoming mail, of course, but that’s about it, and yet somehow they charge slightly more than Northwest.

Registered Agent Review Summary

I considered more than 60 companies that offer Utah registered agent service. Twelve of those companies deserved further consideration and I carefully reviewed each one. My research revealed that Northwest Registered Agent was hands down the best registered agent in Utah.

Northwest Registered Agent safeguards your identity, receives your legal notices, keeps you informed of regulatory changes, and provides you with compliance alerts. They also guide your LLC through whatever challenges you might face with the most knowledgeable customer service team in the registered agent business.

If you deserve a commercial registered agent service that charges you a great rate and goes above and beyond to help your business entity succeed, visit Northwest Registered Agent.

Best Registered Agent Review Methodology 

This is how I selected the best registered agent.

Why You Should Trust Me

There are not many people around who know the registered agent universe as well as I do.

I built my first two companies from the ground up by doing exhaustive research regarding every phase of my business, but initially, I treated the selection of a registered agent as little more than an afterthought. After I realized the great disparity between the best registered agents and the worst registered agents, however, I started to take the decision more seriously. The best registered agent in Utah can become a valuable asset to your LLC. The worst can put your business in jeopardy.

It just didn’t make sense to spend so much time on every other aspect of my businesses then not put in the effort when it came to choosing my registered agent. 

My first step was to look through marketing materials from registered agents operating in Utah to determine which agents were offering valuable services and which were just offering lip service. Although it seems like such a simple business, registered agents actually offer a wide array of services, and I went through every promotion to see who was offering what.

From there I dove headlong into online reviews from a number of sites. When I found an issue that was raised consistently in reviews, I called the registered agent services directly and confronted them about it.

It was an incredibly time-consuming process, but the more I talked to other Utah business owners, the more I realized that they had the same questions about Utah registered agent services that I had. I began to share my research with them. When I realized how grateful everyone was that I had done this work so they didn’t have to, I decided to publish my findings on this website.

This site has already helped thousands, and I hope you, too, will benefit from my research.

How I Selected the Best Registered Agent

Stage 1: Reviews

After identifying how many registered agents operate in the state of Utah, I used online reviews to determine which agents deserved serious consideration. I went to the Better Business Bureau, Google Business, TrustPilot, and Facebook, among others.

Online reviews don’t always offer a complete picture. On some sites, reviews can be manipulated by the registered agent services themselves, and individual reviewers are often simply the most vocal consumers, not the most informed or the most experienced. But in the case of Utah registered agent services, online reviews led me to investigate a very common complaint. There are a lot of registered agents out there who engage in a deceptive pricing strategy: they advertise one rate but charge you another. 

I found more than 50 Utah registered agents that applied this strategy. They’d advertise rates as low as $39 but would charge you substantially more over the course of the year. It’s a patently dishonest way to lure in members of the Utah small business community, and I eliminated any registered agent who used this strategy.

Stage 2: Website Analysis

Only 12 agents remained after my Stage 1 analysis, so I was able to take a really in-depth look at these more reputable registered agents. I went through all their websites and talked to their customer service teams to find out exactly what was included with their service. Registered agents in Utah offer 24 different service options including standard offerings, such as an address in the state, and more unusual offerings, such as LegalZoom’s insurance policy.

I took these 24 options and added them to a spreadsheet with my 12 remaining Utah commercial registered agent services. If a company offered a particular service, I simply checked the corresponding box under that specific agent. It was a great way to visualize which registered agent services offered the widest range of services.

Stage 3: Speaking with Real Customers

It is one thing to offer a lot of options, but I also wanted to know how well each agent executed their offerings. Online reviews can give you some sense of that, but I wanted to speak directly with people who had used each Utah registered agent service. 

Luckily, I already had contacts in the Utah business community with whom I had shared my registered agent research. I was able to reach out to them with very specific questions and get their honest feedback.

Now that I have started publishing my rankings on this site, I’ve heard from even more customers. I am using these readers’ experiences to constantly update and strengthen my rankings.

Stage 4: Speaking with Their Sales Team

In the final step, I wanted to speak directly to the companies. At this point I knew a lot about each registered agent’s strengths and weaknesses, so I could address these points directly with them.

Of course, you have to take anything out of a salesperson’s mouth with a grain of salt, but talking to multiple people at each registered agent service gave me a good sense of a company’s culture. I was also able to determine which Utah registered agents were truly committed to addressing consumer complaints, how open they were to customer feedback, and how dedicated they were to continually improving their product.


Rating Factors

Here is the method I used to determine the best registered agent for your Utah limited liability company.

Factor 1: Offerings

Registered agent services offer a number of benefits. Of the registered agent services I surveyed, I found 24 different offerings. That’s a surprising variety for what seems like such a straightforward business. 

Every registered agent in Utah offers a street address for your LLC, of course. They all receive service of process and other legal documents during business hours, and they all attempt to protect your personal details. A registered agent in Utah will scan your documents, share them with you online, and notify you when they are available.

The better agents also offer compliance alerts and cheap LLC services as part of their base package and will also help with LLC formation, give you advice on filing annual reports, and go above and beyond to keep you in good standing with the Utah Secretary of State. Designated registered agent services give you the flexibility to focus on your business instead of keeping track of deadlines and being available during business hours.

I went through every registered agent’s website and talked to their sales team to determine exactly who offered what.

Factor 2: Value

Your budget is always an enormous concern when you’re starting an LLC or any other business entity. Value is therefore an obvious factor to consider, especially in the registered agent universe, where pricing and what you get for your money are incredibly varied and often not exactly straightforward.

I came across a number of Utah registered agents that advertised a price as low as $39 but didn’t disclose that this price merely covered sign-up and didn’t include actual ongoing registered agent services. Other registered agents, such as ZenBusiness, charge one rate for a base level of services and offer add-ons such as compliance alerts for an additional fee.

When I combined my price calculations with which registered agent services offered the most services, I could get a real sense of which companies offered the best value.

Factor 3: Ease of Sign-up

Once you’ve done your homework and made your final decision, actually signing up for your registered agent service should be a very simple process. Unfortunately, it isn’t so easy with some companies.

Your time is your number one resource in the early stages of establishing your business, so a complicated sign-up process can be a real setback. It also doesn’t bode well for your relationship with your registered agent going forward.

I signed up with all 12 of the registered agent services on my list to see how easy the process was.

Factor 4: Ease of Use

After completing the sign-up process, I tested each Utah registered agent’s system. I tried to complete small tasks and find quick access to my documents and personal data. I noted whenever I got bogged down. 

Again, when you’re starting your business, time is money, and if simple tasks take twice as long as they should, that’s a serious issue.

Factor 5: Customer Service

Customer service isn’t something you necessarily think of when you are first signing up with a registered agent service. It is hard to imagine a scenario in which you’d need them. When things do go awry, as they always do at one time or another, a bad customer service team can make things ten times worse. 

I contacted the customer service teams at each Utah registered agent service on my list and tested them with different questions. I then ranked them based on how efficient, knowledgeable, and courteous they were. 

The Best Utah Registered Agent Results Summary

I started with more than 60 Utah registered agent services, narrowed that down to my top 12, and ranked them according to the above factors. These are my picks for the best registered agent services operating in Utah.

Best Overall Registered Agent—Northwest Registered Agent (9.13/10)

After my extensive analysis, Northwest Registered Agent is my selection for the best Utah registered agent by a pretty wide margin. 

They offer a great array of services and execute them all well. They offer all the basics, like a registered Utah office address, and they’ll receive your legal documents, such as a service of process. Then they'll scan, upload, and forward them to you in a very timely fashion. 

On top of that, their standard service includes extras that may be unavailable or cost you additional fees if you go with other registered agent services, compliance alerts being a prime example. Despite this, Northwest's price is still on the low end of the spectrum and considerably cheaper than companies like LegalZoom. 

Northwest has also invested considerable capital in hiring and retaining the best customer service team in the registered agent business. They have enough experience to help guide you through any difficulties your Utah business may face.

It all adds up to tremendous value for your business. It's also worth noting that there are over 3,000 positive Northwest Registered Agent reviews online, so I'm not the only one with a positive experience with them.

If you want to partner with the best registered agent in Utah, go to Northwest Registered Agent

Best Budget Registered Agent—Harbor Compliance (7.92/10)

If you’re more of a budget consumer, and would rather save $26 per year than have world-class customer support, Harbor Compliance may be a good choice. 

They are reliable. They’ll give you a registered office and keep your personal name and address off the public record. They can be trusted to receive and forward any legal documents your business may receive during regular business hours. They will give you compliance alerts so you don’t miss deadlines for your annual reports or other filings. 

They don’t offer anything particularly special, but they’re a dependable registered agent. Utah business owners could do a lot worse.

There's a lot more to Harbor Compliance's service than I tell you about here. Read my full Harbor Compliance review for more details on their service and offerings.

If you prioritize your budget over all else, visit Harbor Compliance.

Best Premium Registered Agent—Legal Zoom (6.59/10)

LegalZoom is a famous name that offers a pretty unremarkable registered agent service for an eye-popping price ($299/year). They might make sense for your business in Utah if you value the fact that you can go to one website for everything from divorce papers to Articles of Incorporation or a Certificate of Organization for your business. 

As far as a national registered agent service goes, LegalZoom has the basics covered. Your business will get an address which will serve as your point of contact with the Secretary of State for all correspondence regarding filing deadlines or state fees. LegalZoom will also accept service of process, forward your mail, and handle the other basic responsibilities of a registered agent.

One unique aspect of LegalZoom’s registered agent service is that they offer a free insurance policy covering you in the event of identity theft. It’s a valuable add-on and one not offered by other registered agent services. It doesn’t justify LegalZoom’s price, but it does offer some peace of mind.

If you value a prominent name and identity theft insurance over your budget and more comprehensive registered agent service, head to LegalZoom.

In Conclusion

Researching and hiring a registered agent might not rank very high on your to-do list as you put in long hours establishing your young company. The truth is, however, that it’s a decision that can have very long-lasting effects on your company’s future.

Hiring a good Utah registered agent can prevent you from making critical filing mistakes, protect your personal assets, and keep you in good standing with the Utah Division of Corporations. Don’t put your company in the wrong hands. Your registered agent must be someone you can trust to take care of the details so you can concentrate on the more enjoyable aspects of running your business in Utah.

After my exhaustive search, I’ve definitely concluded that the right Utah registered agent is Northwest Registered Agent. I examined more than 60 agents, thoroughly analyzed the top 12 by subjecting them to my four-stage review process, and Northwest beat the competition hands down.

Northwest Registered Agent offers all the basics:

  • A Utah address to receive service of process or other critical documents
  • Mail forwarding, document scanning, and uploading
  • An online account that offers instant access to these documents
  • A user-friendly online system
  • Help with other documents, such as your Articles of Incorporation
  • Compliance alerts to remind you of the due date for your annual reports or other important filings

All these services are supported by the best customer service team in the business. They are an impressively knowledgeable bunch made up of former accountants, entrepreneurs, lawyers, and small business owners. They will make sure your company stays on the right path.

If you want the peace of mind of knowing that you entrusted your business to the best registered agent in Utah, go to Northwest Registered Agent now. Be advised that if you want to change your registered agent, you'll need to file a Corporation Registration Information Change form or the limited liability company Registration Information Change form with the Utah Division of Corporations & Commercial Code.


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