Finding the right registered agent service for your Michigan LLC is crucial because it can mean the difference between the success or failure of your business.
The right Michigan registered agent will make sure that your business assets and information stay safe, while keeping your personal information off the public record and making sure that your Michigan limited liability company meets its legal obligations.
The wrong Michigan registered agent can be very costly. Not only will they charge more for their services than they’re worth, but they can also be careless with your business or personal information, which potentially leaves you and your business vulnerable to hackers and scammers. Not to mention the fact that if your registered agent doesn’t help your limited liability company meet its legal obligations, it could expose you to personal lawsuits.
I investigated over 60 different Michigan registered agent services, rated the best 12, and then wrote detailed reviews on the top three. These are my top choices for the best Michigan registered agents.
1. Northwest Registered Agent — 9.13/10 (My Top Pick)
Northwest Registered Agent is my #1 choice for the best registered agent in Michigan because they offer all the registered agent services that your Michigan LLC could possibly need, they rank the second-lowest in price on my list, and they have the best customer service out of any of the Michigan registered agent services I researched.
Pros
Northwest Registered Agent offers all the full-service options that your business entity needs to meet its legal obligations.
Through their registered office they provide you with a physical street address in Michigan as your company’s point of contact, and they accept mail, service of process, and legal documents on behalf of your Michigan business during business hours.
They also scan ALL your mail and documents and put them on an online portal for you to access through an online account (not just the legal documents, but everything).
They even provide one of the best LLC services in Michigan.
Northwest also sends out compliance alerts to let you know when you need to file important forms and documents (like your annual report) to keep your limited liability company in good standing with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and the Secretary of State.
It’s easy to sign up for their registered agent service, and the process is pretty painless. Their system allows you to sign up for all their registered agent and business services from the same portal, which is a unique feature.
They are a national registered agent service, which allows them to grow along with your limited liability company, even if you decide to expand to another state. And their online system is easy to use and navigate for those who don’t have a lot of technical know-how.
But the most impressive thing about Northwest Registered Agent is their customer service.
Northwest does everything they can to ensure a great customer service experience. This level of care is refreshing in a world in which most companies outsource their customer service and don’t actually care about the customer experience.
Their team is based in the United States and made up of former lawyers, business owners, and entrepreneurs. They have experience in the business field and can answer any business-related question you may have, not just regarding their Michigan registered agent service, but anything to do with running a business.
They’re the only Michigan registered agent to offer this level of customer support, so it was easy for me to give them the #1 spot on my list. You’ll definitely have questions when it comes to owning and managing your Michigan LLC, so high-quality customer support is a must!
Northwest’s fee is only $125 per year for their Michigan registered agent service, making them them the second-cheapest Michigan registered agent on my list. In fact, they’re only $26 more per year than the cheapest registered agent service on my list, and it’s well worth it for their services and customer support.
Cons
Interestingly enough, Northwest’s best feature can also be their most annoying one: their comprehensive approach to customer service.
Unfortunately, calling their customer support team is not a quick process. They ask a ton of questions and really listen to you before they even make suggestions or give advice. While that’s nice when you have the time to do that, it can be a real pain when you’re pressed for time.
Sometimes you don’t want to be on the phone with customer service indefinitely, either. In most instances, it’s quicker and more convenient to just Google the question you have.
This is really a small criticism against Northwest, and it really doesn’t come up that often. However, it can be really annoying if you’re in a hurry.
Overall
I’ve chosen Northwest Registered Agent as the best registered agent in Michigan because they provide all the services you need for your business in Michigan, and they set you up with a simple and user-friendly computer system. They have great rates for their services and the best customer support in the entire registered agent industry.
If you want a registered agent in Michigan that will not only ensure you comply with all legal requirements, but also provide small business support as your start your business journey, head to Northwest Registered Agent now.
2. Harbor Compliance — 7.45/10 (Best Budget Registered Agent)
Harbor Compliance earned second place on my list because they offer many of the same services that Northwest Registered Agent offers, and they charge a great rate.
Pros
Harbor Compliance is a full-service Michigan registered agent, much like Northwest Registered Agent.
This means that they provide you with a street address in Michigan, assist in drafting your Articles of Organization, and accept mail, legal notices, and service of process for your limited liability company during normal business hours. They scan and upload your legal documents onto an online portal that can be accessed with an online account, and provide compliance alert notifications to remind you when you need to file important files and documents (like annual reports) to keep your company in good standing with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and the Secretary of State.
Signing up for their Michigan registered agent service is simple, and their computer system is pretty easy to use. Their most appealing feature is their price. They charge a mere $99 per year for their Michigan registered agent service, which makes them the registered agent with the best price on my list.
Cons
Their biggest drawback isn’t going to be obvious to the average person upon a cursory investigation of their services. It is this: while their services are good, none of them are exceptional.
What do I mean by this?
While they offer a good range of full-service offerings, they don’t offer any premium services and, while their customer service team will generally get the job done, they’re nowhere near as patient and polite as Northwest’s team.
So, as you can see, Harbor Compliance’s services are good, but none of them are great.
Overall
Harbor Compliance will tick all the boxes in terms of meeting the legal requirements for a Michigan registered agent service, and they charge the lowest fee of any Michigan registered agent on my list. But you definitely won’t get any fancy or luxurious services from them.
If you’re happy to sacrifice excellent service and customer support in order to save $26 per year, you can read more about Harbor Compliance here.
3. LegalZoom — 6.59/10 (Best Premium Service)
If you’re looking for a Michigan registered agent service that provides premium services, LegalZoom is the best option I found. They are the best premium service in a sea of inadequate and impractical premium service options.
Pros
LegalZoom is a premium registered agent service that also provides Michigan LLC formation services to help draft your Articles of Organization. They’ve built a big name in the business world by providing other services, like legal document templates.
This means that you’ll get the full services that other agents on this list provide, along with premium services. They provide your company with a physical address in the state of Michigan, accept mail and service of process for your limited liability company during normal business hours, and issue compliance alert notifications to let you know when you need to file important forms and documents (like your annual report) to help your company avoid legal repercussions from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
On top of all that, they also offer your business in Michigan up to $1 million in identity theft protection.
Cons
There are a few drawbacks with LegalZoom.
The first is their fee. They charge $299 per year for their Michigan registered agent service, which is nearly twice as much as Northwest Registered Agent. While they do offer identity theft protection, you could easily use the $175 difference between their price and Northwest’s in order to purchase both registered agent service from Northwest and protection from an outside service and STILL have money left over.
The second is a problem you have when you appoint a commercial registered agent in Michigan. Their registered agent services only make up a very tiny portion of their services. So, they don’t pay very much attention to their registered agent services, meaning that their registered agent customer service staff arent well trained or experienced in this field.
The third drawback is that their online system is pretty clunky and difficult to navigate. If you couple that with less-than-adequate customer service, you can imagine the pain in the neck their services will cause.
Overall
LegalZoom is a big name in the business world, and this lends a certain amount of esteem to their registered agent service to some people. This allows them to charge more for their services than what they’re really worth.
Their services really aren’t worth looking into unless you already transact business with LegalZoom for something else. In that case, it might be convenient to also purchase their Michigan registered agent services.
If you’re more concerned about a registered agent’s name than their services or prices, then you can learn more about LegalZoom here.
4. ZenBusiness
ZenBusiness is a new name in the registered agent game. Not only do they offer Michigan registered agent services, but they also help with Michigan LLC formation. They will help draft your Articles of Organization with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
They provide your LLC with a name and address in the state of Michigan and accept mail and service of process for your company, provide access to an Employer Identification Number (for tax filing purposes), provide a compliance alert system coupled with mandatory document filing which ensures your annual report is filed on time, and an online document filing system—all of which they do for a fee of $199 per year.
However, considering they don't provide registered agent services for free for one year when you sign up for their Michigan LLC formation service, and their customer service doesn't offer much to write home about, their services are more expensive than they’re worth in the long run.
If you want a detailed breakdown of their services, read my ZenBusiness review.
5. IncFile
IncFile is another registered agent in Michigan that only offers the absolute minimum in terms of services a registered agent must provide.
They let your company use the agent’s name and address, receive mail on regular business days, and accept service of process and notices from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and the Secretary of State for your company.
However, if you want compliance alerts to tell you when you need to file important files and documents for your Michigan business, you’ll have to look for a different registered agent.
And, just like ZenBusiness, they offer one year of free registered agent service when you sign up for their LLC formation service. But, at $119 per year with no compliance alerts, that price is too expensive in the long run.
If you’re okay with not getting compliance notifications that are vital to maintaining your business’s legal standing with various state departments and don’t mind paying more for their limited services than they’re worth, you can read more about IncFile here.
6. Rocket Lawyer
Rocket Lawyer is an agent service in Michigan that’s essentially a cheaper imitation of LegalZoom that isn’t that much cheaper. Of course, registered agent services make up only a small portion of their business, much like LegalZoom.
They provide your business in Michigan with an address in the state and accept mail and legal documents on your behalf. But they charge $149 per year for their services, which aren’t as ample as one would expect for that price, and their customer service is definitely not on par with that price point either.
Even though their registered agent service is not leading this list, Rocket Lawyer do offer a large range of online legal services, including legal documents and attorney services. For a full breakdown of these services, read my Rocket Lawyer review.
7. SunDoc Filings
SunDoc Filings is another example of an agent service in Michigan that provides only the services that a registered agent must. As a registered office, they provide assistance in drafting your Articles of Organization, provide your corporation with an address in the state of Michigan, and accept mail and legal documents on your behalf.
If you’re okay with paying $159 per year for minimal services, you can learn about SunDoc Filings here.
8. InCorp
InCorp is a Michigan resident agent service and LLC formation service that will help your Michigan corporation file its Articles of Organization. Their full-service options include an address in the state of Michigan, accepting mail and documents on behalf of your LLC, and compliance alerts to keep your limited liability company in good standing with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and the Secretary of State.
They posed an interesting review conundrum, however.
While they charge $99 per year, the same as Harbor Compliance, their services are lackluster. Their online system is a clunky, complicated nightmare to navigate, and while their customer service is passable, it really isn’t adequate to support their difficult online system.
You’re better off choosing Harbor Compliance as your Michigan resident agent, but if for some reason you want to deal with InCorp’s computer system, you can learn more about them here: InCorp.
9. Swyft Filings
Swyft Filings is another Michigan resident agent service that offers minimal services at expensive prices. They charge $149 for very basic services that are, quite frankly, inadequate for any Michigan corporation.
If you want a full breakdown of their services, read my Swyft Filings review.
10. CSC Global
CSC Global is a premium resident agent service. While they offer the full-service options that you’d expect them to, like an address in the state of Michigan, accepting mail on behalf of your business, and compliance alerts, they offer very little in terms of premium services.
They do offer to cover any state fees you incur when you file for a change of registered agent. They charge $299 per year, so you could easily appoint Northwest Registered Agent as your resident agent service and cover the state fees yourself, and still won’t pay as much as the $174 difference between Northwest’s and CSC’s fees.
11. Registered Agents Inc.
Registered Agents Inc. is a resident agent service in Michigan that offers the same full-service options as Northwest. So, they provide an address in the state, assistance in drafting your Articles of Organization, accept mail on behalf of your business, and give you compliance notifications to tell you when you need to file important forms and documents for your Michigan LLC. But, they charge $200 per year, which is $75 more per year than Northwest’s fee, and they don’t provide the same level of service.
12. Jumpstart Filings
Jumpstart Filings is another resident agent in the state that also provides Michigan LLC formation services. The problem is that they charge $150 per year. They don’t even provide your business with a year of free registered agent service when you sign up for their LLC formation services, like other agents on my list.
Registered Agent Review Summary
Northwest Registered Agent is my top choice for the best registered agent in Michigan because they offer all the services your business in Michigan needs, and they do it for a great price.
On top of that, they have an outstanding customer service team, made up of former lawyers, entrepreneurs, and business owners that patiently answer any questions you have. They don’t just answer questions about their services, either. They have the experience needed to answer any business-related question you may have.
They also have a simple registration process, and their online system is super easy. They do their best to keep your personal information off of the public record. So, there are a lot of reasons to love Northwest Registered Agent.
If you want a registered agent service that will ensure you remain in good standing, while providing a level of business support that normally costs thousands of dollars a year, head to Northwest Registered Agent now.
Best Registered Agent Review Methodology
Here is how I identified the best registered agent on the market.
Why You Should Trust Me
I’ve spent more time researching the Michigan registered agent industry than probably any other sane person. I might even know more about the industry than some people who actually work for registered agents.
It all started when I was looking for a Michigan registered agent for my two businesses: a cafe and a health website. After selling both businesses, I began looking for my next business venture. It didn’t take long to find out, through talking to other business owners and friends, that I not only knew more about registered agents than most people, but I also had more time to research them.
So, that realization and the advice that I gave to those people turned into this site. Now I give advice about registered agents to every random internet person who comes to my site seeking it, and I’m able to help more people—like you!
How I Selected the Best Registered Agent
I started with a list of over 60 different registered agents in the state of Michigan. I put them through a four-stage investigative process. Here’s what I looked into:
Stage 1: Reviews
You’d be surprised how much you can learn about a company via online reviews. For that reason, I looked at reviews from sites like TrustPilot, the Better Business Bureau, Facebook, and more.
Truthfully, I didn’t read every last online review for each Michigan registered agent in the state of Michigan because that would have taken years. What I did instead was read the reviews that were more than a paragraph or two long and divulged enough information for me to get a good idea of what sort of service the agent provides.
This actually weeded out a lot of companies that were all-out scams or used dubious pricing practices. (More on that later!)
Stage 2: Website Analysis
The next thing I did was inspect each Michigan registered agent’s business website.
Some of the things I looked for were the services the agent offers and advertises, company history, the variety of contact methods for contacting their customer service (phone, email, chat), their location (of course, they had to have an office in the state of Michigan), and any awards they have won and listed on their site.
This gave me a better understanding of how each company presents itself and the promises it makes to customers.
Stage 3: Speaking with Real Customers
Of course you can find out a lot from reading online reviews and combing through company websites, but you find out more from talking to actual customers.
I reached out to customers who had come to my site looking for a Michigan registered agent for the first time, as well as those who wanted to change their registered agent, and had used my reviews in order to choose one. I asked them questions such as what services they were provided and how satisfied they were with them.
This feedback gave me valuable information about the customer experience, which couldn’t be truly determined by the promises made by the agent on their site.
Stage 4: Speaking with Their Sales Team
Another good way to learn about any Michigan registered agent is to speak with their sales team.
I took all the negative feedback, comments, and issues I had found with each agent and I asked their sales team direct questions concerning them. Their answers were really telling.
Some of them told me that they’d used the feedback to fix the problem, so it was no longer an issue. Others had the audacity to tell me that I shouldn’t listen to that one “crazy” customer’s comments.
This was enough to let me know which companies used feedback to grow and provide better services for their customers and which ones pretended there were no problems and blamed their customers for any issues that arose.
Rating Factors
After my four-stage investigation process of over 60 registered agents, I whittled the list down to 12. Here is the system I used to rate each agent in order to come up with my top three registered offices for your Michigan LLC.
Factor 1: Offerings
The services that a Michigan registered agent provides are arguably the most important factor when choosing a registered agent. If they don’t offer the services your business in Michigan needs, a low price, easy system, and everything else are irrelevant.
Of course, as a Michigan LLC, you must have a physical address, so that’s one of the things that a Michigan registered agent must provide. But if they only accept mail on your behalf and then forward it to you without notifying you about it’s contents, it’s possible that you could be sent service of process, be unaware of its arrival, and then have a default judgment made against your company.
So, some of the things I looked at were whether they scanned documents and put them onto an online portal for you to access or simply forwarded it, if they give you compliance alerts or just a calendar with deadlines noted on it, whether they also offer a cheap LLC service or even the best LLC service, and whether they provide identity theft protection, or just give you some vague promise about keeping your information safe.
The agent with the best service offerings made it to the top of my list.
Factor 2: Price
Price is a pretty important factor as well. Unfortunately, if you look at several different agents that offer the same services, you’ll notice that their fees vary greatly. This can make it really difficult for the average person to determine what a good price for registered agent service actually is.
During my research, I found three different pricing tiers for registered agents: budget, full-service, and premium.
Budget services usually run $39–$59 per year, full-service options average $99–$129 per year, and premium services start at $299 per year.
While budget services seem like a great, cost-efficient option, they really aren’t. They generally only provide the bare minimum services that a Michigan registered agent is required to provide. Then, if you want any services to actually make your life easier, like compliance alerts, you have to pay extra fees that add up to more per year than some premium services charge—and you won’t even get any premium services for the extra expense!
Because of these deceptive pricing practices, you’ll notice that there aren’t any budget agents on my list. I’m not an advocate of these unethical prices and I feel there’s no place for them on my list.
Factor 3: Ease of Sign-up
Finding an agent that provides all the services your business needs at a great price, only to discover that their sign-up process is overly complicated and time-consuming, can be a real setback.
An agent’s ease of sign-up was the third factor I considered, in order to save you some time and hassle.
The companies with quick, streamlined sign-up processes earned higher positions on my list than those whose sign-up processes are slow and require mountains of paperwork.
Factor 4: Ease of Use
A registered agent’s online system can make or break your opinion of their services. If it’s a clunky, slow, antiquated system that’s a nightmare to navigate, it can be a real problem for everyone in the office that has to deal with it.
That’s why ease of use was the fourth factor I considered.
The agents whose online systems were user-friendly and easy to navigate earned higher spots on my list than those who had systems that were hard to navigate and overly complex.
Factor 5: Customer Service
No matter how simple and user-friendly an online system is, you’ll eventually have a question either about it or about some other aspect of your registered agent service. The level of customer service that your Michigan registered agent service provides can mean either getting back to your workday with your problem solved or sitting on the phone for hours and never really getting any resolution.
Your registered agent in Michigan provides you with services that are intended to keep you and your business out of legal hot water, so online issues aren’t the only reason that customer service is important. For that reason, customer service was the fifth factor I considered.
The agent with the best customer support earned the #1 position on my list, and those who were found to be lacking in the customer service department found themselves in lower positions.
The Best Michigan Registered Agent Results Summary
After running the 12 agents left on my list through my rating system, I determined that Northwest Registered Agent is the best choice.
Best Overall Registered Agent — Northwest Registered Agent (9.13/10)
Northwest Registered Agent earned their place as my top choice because they offer great, full-service registered agent services at a fair price, and they provide industry-leading customer service.
You don’t just get the all-important address and compliance alerts when you sign up for Northwest’s registered agent service.
They also scan ALL your mail and legal documents and put them on an online portal for you to access (not just the legal documents), which is a pretty unique and helpful feature. And when you call their customer service, you can ask them questions about any aspect of business ownership, not just about their services, and they’ll answer them based on their knowledge and experience.
In addition to their other great services, they also have offices in all 50 states, and you can sign up for registered agent services in multiple states easily from their online portal. This means that as your business grows, Northwest can still meet your registered agent service needs and grow with your business, no matter how big it gets.
And with more than 3,000 positive reviews, Northwest Registered Agent has a proven track record of delivering value to their customers.
If you want a registered agent in Michigan that will not only ensure you fulfill all your legal obligations but also help guide you through the challenges and barriers that come with starting a new business, sign up with Northwest Registered Agent now.
If you're interested in starting an LLC, read my guide to the best LLC Services in Michigan.
Best Budget Registered Agent — Harbor Compliance (7.92/10)
Harbor Compliance is a good choice if you’re looking for a low-cost, full-service agent.
They provide most of the services that Northwest Registered Agent does, and they do it for only $99 per year.
They won’t scan ALL your mail, their customer service doesn’t answer business questions, and their team isn’t as polite and patient as Northwest’s. But you will get the basic services you’d expect from an agent, and they will adequately answer any question regarding their services.
And even though it's one of the cheapest services, there are hundreds of positive Harbor Compliance reviews online to prove what I'm telling you.
If you’re willing to trade better services and outstanding customer support in favor of saving $26 per year, you can learn more about Harbor Compliance here.
Best Premium Registered Agent — LegalZoom (6.59/10)
LegalZoom is a good option if you’re looking for a premium agent service. They offer all the full-service options that Northwest provides, as well as up to $1 million in identity theft protection. They’ll also cover any costs you incur from changing from your current agent to their services.
They charge $299 per year for this identity theft protection, which is $175 more per year than Northwest. You could hire Northwest, then pay for identity theft protection through another company and still pay less than the difference in their prices. But if you’re already in business with LegalZoom for something else, it might be worth it to you to pay that much for the convenience of using multiple services provided by the same company.
If you’re willing to pay more than is necessary for identity theft protection, read more about LegalZoom.
In Conclusion
Finding the best registered agent in Michigan can be crucial to your business because it can mean the difference between its success or failure.
I started with a list of over 60 different registered agent services, which I ran through a four-stage investigative process, and then a five-factor rating system to determine which position on my list each service would claim.
I concluded that Northwest Registered Agent is the best registered agent in Michigan. They offer all the services you need from a registered agent, plus some extras that other companies don’t provide. Their computer system is easy to use and their customer service is the best in the industry.
If you want the best value registered agent service on the market with industry-leading support, sign up for Northwest Registered Agent here.
