Choosing the best New Jersey registered agent is vital for business success.
The right New Jersey registered agent will keep your business assets safe and your personal information off the public record, while making sure your New Jersey limited liability company (LLC) meets its legal obligations.
The wrong New Jersey registered agent can be very costly, in more ways than one! The wrong New Jersey registered agent will charge more than their services are worth, can be careless with your information, and even leak it to hackers and scammers. They could cause legal problems for your New Jersey LLC and leave you vulnerable to personal lawsuits.
I investigated over 60 different New Jersey registered agent services, rated the top 12, and then wrote thorough reviews of the best 3. Here are my choices for the best New Jersey registered agent.
1. Northwest Registered Agent — 9.13/10 (My Top Pick)
Northwest Registered Agent is my top pick for the best New Jersey registered agent. They provide everything a registered agent must, plus some services that other resident agents on my list don’t. They make sure that your limited liability company (LLC) meets its legal obligations, and they provide the best customer service of any registered agent in New Jersey—not only in the state of New Jersey, but in the entire industry.
Pros
There are lots of reasons to like Northwest Registered Agent.
They provide you with all the registered agent services you need for your New Jersey LLC. Of course, they provide you with a street address in New Jersey, receive mail, legal documents, and service of process for your corporation during regular business hours. They scan ALL your mail (not just the legal documents) and put it on an online portal that you can access with an online account, which is unique.
They also give you compliance filing alerts to let you know when you need to file a document (like your annual report) or form to keep your company in good standing with the Secretary of State and Division of Revenue.
It’s easy to set up their system on your company computers so that everyone in the office will quickly learn how to navigate it. You can also sign up for registered agent service in multiple states from the same portal—a unique feature.
Additionally, they go to great lengths to keep your business information safe, while keeping your personal information off the public record.
However, the number one reason Northwest is my number one choice for the best New Jersey registered agent is their customer service.
In a time when more and more businesses outsource their customer service, it’s refreshing to find a company that cares about its customers and has US-based customer service. Their customer service is made up of former lawyers, business owners, and entrepreneurs who know the business. They use their experience to answer not only your questions about their registered agent service but also any business questions you may have. Their customer service is available at all normal business hours, every working day of the year.
They take the time to patiently listen to you and ask questions until they’re sure they understand your problem before they offer the advice or suggestions that you need.
They charge a fee of $125 per year, which is the second-lowest price on my list.
It’s pretty easy to see why they’re my top choice.
Cons
The biggest drawback to Northwest Registered Agent’s services is, oddly enough, also their best feature: their customer service.
Their customer service is very comprehensive and thorough. At the exploratory stage, they ask a ton of questions but don’t offer suggestions or advice to fix your problem.
This can be a real issue, however, when you’re pressed for time and want a quick answer. There were a couple of instances where I called them to get a quick answer to a quick question and literally didn’t have time to answer all the questions they asked me. You can’t fault them for thoroughness, but it is tiring.
In most situations, it’s actually quicker to just Google your question.
However, this is really only a small knock against Northwest Registered Agent, and it only comes up when you’re in a hurry for a resolution.
Overall
Northwest Registered Agent is the best New Jersey registered agent because they provide you with every registered service your LLC could possibly need, along with some luxury services that other agents don’t provide. They’ll help you meet your legal compliance filing deadlines, they have an excellent, easy-to-use computer system, and they only charge $125 per year.
When you also consider that their stellar support makes them industry leaders in customer service, they’re an easy choice for the number one spot on my list.
If you want the best registered agent service in New Jersey, sign up with Northwest Registered Agent today.
2. Harbor Compliance — 7.92/10 (Best Budget Registered Agent)
If you’re on a really tight budget and you’re happy to trade Northwest’s stellar customer service in order to save $26 per year, then Harbor Compliance is a good choice for your New Jersey registered agent.
Pros
Harbor Compliance gives you all the services that a registered agent in New Jersey must provide business entities. They give you a registered agent address in the state, accept mail, legal documents, and service of process for your business entity during normal business hours, and they scan the legal documents and put them on an online portal for you to access with an online account.
They also issue legal compliance filing alerts to remind you about any document (like your annual report) or form you need to file to keep your New Jersey LLC in good standing with the Secretary of State and the Division of Revenue.
On top of all of this, they keep your business information safe and your personal information off the public record.
Their system is easy to set up, and it’s easy enough for everyone in your office to use.
Their best feature, however, is their fee. They charge a fee of $99 per year for their New Jersey registered agent service.
Cons
While every New Jersey registered agent service they provide is adequate, none of their services are exceptional.
They provide all the services your New Jersey LLC could need, but they don’t provide any services that feel luxurious or “extra.” Their customer service is adequate, but their customer service quality doesn’t come close to Northwest Registered Agent’s.
So, they’re GOOD at most things. But they’re not GREAT at anything.
Overall
Harbor Compliance is the second-best New Jersey registered agent on my list because they provide your LLC with all the services it needs to meet its legal obligations and their fee is only $99 per year, which means they have the best price for any registered agent in New Jersey.
If you’re more concerned about lower fees than excellent service, then you can read more about Harbor Compliance here: Harbor Compliance.
3. LegalZoom — 6.59/10 (Best Premium Service)
LegalZoom made my number three spot of the best New Jersey registered agent services and they also have my recommendation for the best premium registered agent service in New Jersey.
Pros
If you need to appoint a registered agent and you want a company with a big, reputable name, LegalZoom is the New Jersey registered agent for you. They’ve been in this business than I have, and it’s pretty likely that they’ll be around for many more years.
They provide your LLC with a physical street address in the state of New Jersey, accept mail and service of process for your business entity, and scan your documents and put them on an online portal for you. They also send you compliance filing alerts to remind you about each form and document your LLC needs to file to remain in good standing with the Division of Revenue. In addition to these services, they provide up to $1 million of identity theft protection for your business entity.
They’ll keep your business information safe while keeping your personal information off the public record, which is very important to most business entities.
Cons
There are a few drawbacks to LegalZoom.
First, their fee is high. They charge $299 per year, which is easily twice as much as Northwest’s fee. The difference in the two prices ($175) is more than it would cost to purchase identity theft protection elsewhere if you needed this.
Second, New Jersey registered agent service is only a small portion of LegalZoom’s business. They specialize in templates for legal documents. This means that their registered agent service is not a priority, and it’s definitely not optimized.
Their system is really hard to use and navigate, and it’s sure to give everyone in the office a headache. For such a difficult system, their customer service is not adequate to satisfy your needs.
Overall
LegalZoom is a big name in the business world, and they’re quite reputable. Their fee for registered agent service in New Jersey is more expensive than using another New Jersey registered agent service and purchasing identity theft protection services separately.
Really, LegalZoom’s services aren’t worth what they charge for them unless you’re already doing business with them for something else. In that instance, it may be convenient to use their New Jersey registered agent service as well.
If for some reason you’d like to pay more for a registered agent than their services are really worth, you can read more about LegalZoom here.
4. ZenBusiness
ZenBusiness is a relatively new registered agent in New Jersey.
ZenBusiness is an LLC formation service that offers everything you want from a registered agent, but for some reason, charges a premium price for their basic services.
The their Pro Package is $199 per state, per year and includes everything included by Northwest Registered Agent, with two notable exceptions—they don't offer a free year of their registered agent service after signing up and their customer support is not as good as Northwest's.
This is probably because their primary focus is on LLC formation services, rather than registered agent services, so they haven’t fully optimized their offering. But regardless of the reason, they’re still more expensive than Northwest Registered Agent.
If you want a more detailed breakdown of their services, read my ZenBusiness review.
5. IncFile
IncFile is another registered agent in New Jersey that also offers LLC formation services. So, you’ll get all the services you’d expect to get from an agent. Their registered office provides your business entity in New Jersey with a street address in the state, as well as accepting mail and service of process for your LLC. They also give you compliance filing alerts to let you know when you need to file each legal form and document for your business.
They offer free registered agent services for a year when you sign up for their LLC formation service. However, after the year expires, they charge $119 in fees for their registered agent services.
If for some reason you’d like to learn more about IncFile and its excessive fees for minimal services, you can do so here.
6. Rocket Lawyer
Rocket Lawyer is a cheaper knockoff of LegalZoom that isn’t that much cheaper.
They will provide you with the registered agent services your business in New Jersey must have, like a street address in the state, a registered office, an agent to accept service of process and mail for your business, and compliance alerts that will remind you to file each form and document for your corporation.
They charge $149 in fees for their registered agent services, which are just one of the services the business offers. They hardly focus on their registered agent services, and their customer service is nowhere near the level that you would expect from a service that you have appointed in order to keep your corporation free from legal issues.
Even though they're not a great option for your New Jersey registered agent, Rocket Lawyer also offers a wide range of online legal services. If you'd like to know more about these, check out my Rocket Lawyer review.
7. SunDoc Filings
SunDoc Filings is another registered agent in New Jersey that offers minimal services that your corporation must have, like a street address in the state and receiving service of process. The problem is that they charge a whopping $159 per year for the bare minimum.
If you’d actually like to learn more about SunDoc, you can do that here:
8. InCorp
InCorp offers both registered agent and LLC formation services, like many other services on this list. So, they receive service of process on your behalf, provide you with an address in New Jersey, which your business needs in order to avoid any legal troubles, and they send compliance filing alerts to remind you each time that you need to file an important form or document for your corporation , just like many of the other services that Northwest and Harbor Compliance provide.
InCorp charges the same $99 per year fee that Harbor Compliance does, as well. So, by all outward appearances, they seem like a good company to go with.
However, their online system is so hard to use that it would be a logistical nightmare to teach everyone in the office how to use it. Plus, their customer service isn’t good enough to justify such a disappointing computer system.
If you really want to deal with a confusing, hard-to-navigate computer system, look into InCorp here.
9. Swyft Filings
Swyft Filings will provide your LLC with the services it must have to avoid legal woes, like an address in the state of New Jersey, as well as compliance alerts and accepting service of process. The drawback is that they charge $149 per year for their services.
If you'd like a detailed breakdown of their services, check out my Swyft Filings review.
10. CSC Global
CSC Global is another of the “premium” resident agents in the state. They provide your LLC with the services it needs, like an address in the state, service of process on your behalf, and other full-service offerings.
But the reason I’ve somewhat jokingly called it a “premium” service is that the only “premium” service they provide is that they cover any state fees or filing fee you may incur when you file to change your registered agent in New Jersey. However, they charge $299 per year for their services, and you don’t even get identity theft protection for that price. You could easily pay Northwest’s fee, any filing fee you’re charged when you file to change your New Jersey registered agent, and still have money left over to purchase identity theft protection for that price.
If paying more for services than they’re worth sounds good to you, you can check out CSC Global here.
11. Registered Agents Inc.
Registered Agents Inc. provides the same general services for your LLC that Northwest does, like an address in the state, mail forwarding, and compliance alerts. The drawback becomes more obvious when you really take a close look at their prices and compare them to other agents in New Jersey on my list.
They charge $200 for the same services that Northwest provides for $75 less.
12. Jumpstart Filings
Jumpstart Filings is an LLC formation and registered agent service that will provide the same general, full-service agent options that Northwest provides, like an address in New Jersey, mail forwarding, and compliance alerts.
They charge $150 per year, which is pretty expensive when compared with other services in New Jersey. And while they provide LLC formation services, as well, they don’t offer free registered agent services when you sign up for them, like some others on this list do.
Registered Agent Review Summary
My #1 pick for the best New Jersey registered agent is Northwest Registered Agent. They offer all the services you need for your corporation, and they do it for only $125 per year.
Their customer service is based in the United States and is made up of former lawyers, entrepreneurs, and business owners. They will patiently listen to your issue and then make helpful suggestions. On top of that, they will not only answer your questions about their registered agent service, but they’ll also enthusiastically answer any business question you may have.
Registering for their services is painless, and their online system is easy to use.
So, whether you want to change to a new registered agent in the state of New Jersey, or you’re looking for your first agent, Northwest Registered Agent is absolutely the best registered agent service you can get.
You can sign up for their industry-leading services here: Northwest Registered Agent.
Best Registered Agent Review Methodology
Here is how I worked out the best registered agent in the state of New Jersey.
Why You Should Trust Me
I’ve spent more time dealing with and researching New Jersey registered agents than most normal, sane people have (even reresident agents).
It all started when I was researching resident agents for my two businesses: a cafe and a healthcare website. Eventually, I closed these two businesses and began to look for a new business venture.
It was during this time that I discovered, through talking to friends and business owners, that I had more knowledge about New Jersey registered agents and more time to research them than most people do. I started giving them advice about New Jersey registered agents, and that grew into this website, which allows me to help more people find the best registered agent for their business.
How I Selected the Best Registered Agent
I used a four-stage investigative process to sift through over 60 different New Jersey registered agent businesses and determine which ones would make my list of the best registered agents for your New Jersey LLC.
Stage 1: Reviews
You’d be surprised how much you can learn about a New Jersey registered agent’s service quality through online reviews. I sorted through thousands of online reviews on TrustPilot, the Better Business Bureau, Facebook, and other online venues where people leave reviews.
Honestly, it wasn’t humanly possible to read through them all because it would have taken years. But I did read through the ones that were more than a paragraph or two and provided me with the details I needed to form an idea about the agent’s service quality.
This stage weeded out the obvious scams and the ones who used deceptive pricing practices. (More on that later . . .)
Stage 2: Website Analysis
The next thing I did was a comprehensive study of each New Jersey registered agent’s website. This gave me an idea what services they offer, how they present themselves, and what sort of promises they give people.
Some of the things I looked for were: their location (they had to have an office in the state of New Jersey), the services they listed, any awards they had won and listed on their site, their company history, and how many different methods they listed to contact their customer service.
Stage 3: Speaking with Real Customers
After learning everything about each agent online, I tracked down real customers and asked them about their experience and how satisfied they were with the agent’s services.
I did this by reaching out to customers who came to my site looking for a new registered agent and used my recommendations, as well as those who already had a registered agent and were looking for a change.
The information I gathered from them was invaluable in order to sort the high-quality agents from the rest.
Stage 4: Speaking with Their Sales Teams
The next step was to get the agent’s sales team on the phone. I gathered all the negative reviews, problems, and comments that I’d found throughout my investigation, and I asked the sales teams very pointed questions about them.
This was a very enlightening stage of the investigation. Some of the companies would state that they had seen these comments and used the feedback in order to fix the problem so that it wasn’t an issue anymore. Other companies actually told me that I shouldn’t listen to that one crazy customer’s complaints.
This stage really separated the wheat from the chaff.
Rating Factors
After my four-stage investigative process, I was left with 12 agents, down from over 60. Here’s how I rated them:
Factor 1: Offerings
The first factor I considered was what services each agent provided. Of course, there are certain services that define whether or not it’s even a legal New Jersey registered agent service by law. The registered agent is generally required to be available at its physical office during all regular business hours.
For instance, because an LLC must have a street address to receive official mail and service of process from state offices, that’s pretty much a prerequisite for registered agent services.
Aside from that, if an agent doesn’t provide the services you need for your business, nothing else really matters, does it?
Some of the things I looked at were whether they scan your mail and documents and allow you access to them online or simply provide mail forwarding, if they provide compliance alerts or just give you a calendar, if they provide identity theft protection or just give you a vague promise about keeping your information safe, and if they also provide a cheap LLC service or even the best LLC service.
Factor 2: Value
Another important factor is value. Unfortunately, agents who provide the exact same services vary widely in prices for those services, which makes it really hard for the average person to determine what a good price actually is.
During the course of my investigation, I found that there are three different price levels for New Jersey registered agents in the state: budget, full service, and premium.
Budget services typically cost around $39–$59 per year, full-service offerings will ordinarily cost between $99–$129 per year, and premium services start at $299 per year.
While budget services sound like a cost-efficient option, they really aren’t. They provide really minimal services that you can’t really get by on. In order to get the services you’d expect them to provide (like compliance alerts), you have to pay additional fees that add up more than some premium services. (And they won’t even offer you any premium services for the price!)
For this reason, I didn’t allow any budget services on my list. Their deceptive pricing is unethical, and any service that uses unethical pricing doesn’t deserve to be on my list. At $99, Harbor Compliance is as “budget” as I'll go, and while they're easy on YOUR budget, they are not a “budget” agent.
Factor 3: Ease of Sign-up
It can be a total turn-off to find an agent that offers the services you need at a great price only to find that the process to sign up takes days.
The New Jersey registered agent with the quickest, most automated and streamlined sign-up process is at the top of the list, while the agents with complex, time-consuming sign-ups fell lower down the list.
Factor 4: Ease of Use
The next factor that I considered was how easy the computer system is to use. It can cause a big problem for your IT department if no one in the entire company other than them knows how to use the registered agent’s online system.
So, for that reason, the fourth factor I considered was the online system’s ease of use. The agents with the simplest systems earned higher positions on the list, while the complicated, ancient, slow systems fell to lower positions.
Factor 5: Customer Service
It doesn’t matter how user-friendly the online system is, you or someone in your office will eventually have a question about it. This makes a registered agent’s customer service incredibly important.
The level of service you get when you call customer service can either make or break your whole workday. You could potentially be on hold for hours and still not get an adequate answer to your questions. So, for this reason, customer service was the fifth factor I used to rate the New Jersey registered agents on my list.
The agent with the best customer service earned the #1 spot on my list, while those with lackluster service found themselves in lower positions.
The Best New Jersey Registered Agent Results Summary
After rating the twelve resident agents using my five-factor rating process, it was pretty apparent that Northwest Registered Agent must be put at the top of my list.
Best Overall Registered Agent — Northwest Registered Agent (9.13/10)
There are a lot of reasons that Northwest Registered Agent is my top choice for the best New Jersey registered agent. They have a great price for their services, and they have the best customer service in the industry.
Their full-service options include a street address in the state, service of process, scanning of ALL your mail and documents (not just the legal documents, which is a unique feature that most resident agents don’t provide), compliance notifications, and your business information kept safe and your personal information off the public record.
The cherry on top is that their US-based support team of former accountants, lawyers, small business owners, and entrepreneurs can help you with not only your registered agent issues but will also use their past experiences to guide you through any small business challenges you face on your journey. Their customer service is available at all normal business hours, every working day of the week.
The quality of this support has been proven by more than 3,000 positive Northwest Registered Agent reviews, so you can be sure you'll experience the same level of guidance.
Whether you feel you need to change your registered agent service, or you’re looking for a registered agent for the first time, you can get the best registered agent services on the market here: Northwest Registered Agent.
Best Budget Registered Agent — Harbor Compliance (7.92/10)
Harbor Compliance is a good option if you’re looking for a full-service agent that costs less than Northwest Registered Agent.
They charge $99 per year for the same services that Northwest Registered Agent provides, including scanning documents and mail and accepting service of process on your behalf.
Their customer service is adequate, but they’re nowhere near as patient as Northwest’s team. And while they’ll answer any questions about your New Jersey registered agent service, they won’t answer any business question you have, like Northwest’s customer service team does.
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 feel confident that you can skimp on excellent customer service in order to save a few bucks, you can read about Harbor Compliance here: Harbor Compliance.
Best Premium Registered Agent — LegalZoom (6.59/10)
If you’re looking for a premium New Jersey registered agent option, LegalZoom is probably the best choice, since they’re a big name in the business world.
They offer the same full-service offerings that Northwest Registered Agent offers, with the addition of up to $1 million in identity theft protection for your business. They’ll also cover any fee you get charged when you change to their service from another registered agent.
They charge $299 per year, which means they’re $175 more than Northwest Registered Agent. But if you’re really worried about identity theft protection and are already doing business with LegalZoom, it might be worth it to you to pay the difference.
If you want to pay $175 more for identity theft protection that could easily be purchased cheaper elsewhere, you can read more about LegalZoom here.
In Conclusion
Appointing the right New Jersey registered agent can be absolutely vital to your business’s future. The right agent can protect your business assets, keep your personal information off the record, and help your business meet its legal obligations.
I investigated over 60 different New Jersey registered agents, then narrowed them down to 12, and reviewed the top 3 in-depth. I used a four-stage investigation process, and then a five-factor system to rate them.
This process led to me choose Northwest Registered Agent as the best registered agent service in New Jersey. Their customer service team is able to answer any registered agent or business question you may have. And their online computer system is easy to navigate, and adding registered agent services for multiple states through the same portal is easy, as well, allowing your registered agent service to grow along with your business.
If you want the best registered agent service you can get for your business, you can sign up for Northwest registered agent here: Northwest Registered Agent.
