Getting the right registered agent for your Texas Limited Liability Company (LLC) is critical.
In accordance with regulations put in place by the Secretary of State and the Business Organizations Code, a business entity must have a physical address in the state to receive legal documents and legal mail.
In order to accomplish this, a business in Texas must appoint and maintain a registered agent in Texas who will consent to serve as the point of contact for the business entity and receive any and all legal documents and legal mail on its behalf. Due to the critical importance of this position, you need to choose the right registered agent.
The right Texas Registered Agent will keep your personal details safe, allow you to receive all necessary correspondence and mail from state offices on behalf of your business entity, and help your company meet all of the legal requirements it needs to stay in good standing.
The wrong Texas Registered Agent will be costly in more ways than one. Not only can the wrong registered agent cost you more money than you should have to spend, they could set you up for lawsuits and leak your information to scammers and hackers.
We investigated over 64 different Texas registered agent services, narrowed them down to 12 and then reviewed each of them.
Here are our top picks for the best Texas registered agent:
1. Northwest Registered Agent – 9.08/10 (Best Customer Service Registered Agent)
Northwest Registered Agent earned the top spot on this list of best Texas registered agent services because they not only provide everything that you need from a registered agent, they also provide next- level customer service.
Pros
One of the biggest selling points that Northwest Registered Agent has is that it is a small company. They genuinely care about their clients, rather than just saying so for the purposes of advertisement.
Not only do they provide registered agent services, they provide LLC formation services. They’ll help you obtain your Certificate of Formation or help you make a Statement of Change as part of their LLC Formation services. You'll get the street address in the state of Texas that you need, and they also scan every document that they receive on your behalf and then forward them to you. They are the only registered agent in Texas on this list to do so with EVERY category of mail.They give you an online account in order to access every document as well. They also notify you about upcoming compliance form filing deadlines, and accept service of process and mail on behalf of your Texas LLC during business hours to keep you in good standing with the Texas Secretary of State.
It's easy to get through their sign-up process. They allow you to sign up for registered agent services in multiple states simultaneously because they are a national registered agent service, making this service ideal for any business entity that operates in different states, or any business that may grow.
The main reason that they are at the top of our list is their customer service. They take the time to listen to you so that they actually understand your problems and are able to help you fix the issues, rather than trying to rush you off the phone. They genuinely care about you and your issues, which is refreshing in the business world.
They charge $125 per year for their services, which is a decent price. It amounts to being only $25 more than the cheapest agent service on this list. It's well worth the $25 extra just for the customer service alone!
Cons
With Northwest Registered Agent, their biggest benefit is also their greatest downfall.
Their customer service is comprehensive. That's great when you have a problem and really need someone to listen to you and figure it out. But this can be a real problem because it takes a lot of time. One does not simply call Northwest Registered Agent's customer service team for a quick solution.
They ask a lot of questions and they want to know every minute detail about your problem before they even give you any sort of suggestion or answer. In most cases, it would be far faster to just Google your question.
This is generally a small problem, unless time is a factor. In that case, it becomes a big problem.
Overall
Northwest Registered Agent earned the top spot on our list because they offer a full array of services, they are the second cheapest registered agent on the list, their system is easy to get set up with and to use, and they provide comprehensive customer service support.
If you are looking for a registered agent with great customer support, and great prices, who can support your business as it grows, then check out Northwest Registered Agent here: Northwest Registered Agent.
2. Harbor Compliance – 7.92/10 (Top Registered Agent Service)
Harbor Compliance earned our number two spot on this list because they provide a full range of services at the overall cheapest price.
Pros
Like Northwest Registered Agent, Harbor Compliance is another full-service registered agent and LLC formation service.Their offerings include a street address in the state of Texas, mail forwarding, scanning your documents and putting them on an online portal for you to access with an online account, as well as accepting service of process on behalf of your Texas LLC during normal business hours, and sending compliance form filing alerts to keep you in good standing with the Texas Secretary of State. And they’ll help you with your Certificate of Formation for your LLC.
Signing up for their services is easy, and it's simple enough to sign up for registered agent services in multiple states with them. The computer system is relatively easy to use, although it could use a few tweaks to make it better.
The one place the Harbor Compliance really beats every other registered agent service on this list is their price. At only $99 per year, their fee is a solid $26 less than Northwest Registered Agent, as well as nearly $200 cheaper than some of the premium registered agent services on the list.
Cons
The main complaint about Harbor Compliance is that while their services are good, none of their services are exceptional. You get all of the services you would expect from a full-service registered agent. But you won't get any premium services, like identity theft protection.Their system is relatively easy to use, but it could use some improvement. Although their customer service team will answer your questions, they do not do so as thoroughlyas Northwest Registered Agent does.
So, while they are a good option, they are not the best overall option.
Overall
Harbor Compliance is a good, full-service option that will provide you with everything you need from a registered agent, minus premium services – and they do it all for only $99 per year.
If adequate customer service is something you’re willing to trade in order to get cheaper prices, then check out Harbor Compliance here: Harbor Compliance.
3. LegalZoom – 6.59/10 (Best Premium RA)
If you're looking for a good premium service agent, LegalZoom is the way to go.
Pros
As a premium service, you'll get all of the services that a full-service registered agent must provide, as well as premium services. This means that you will get the street address in the state of Texas, mail forwarding, scanned documents with online access to them, service of process acceptance on behalf of your Texas LLC during normal business hours, and compliance form filing alerts to keep you in good standing with the Texas Secretary of State. In addition to these services, you also get up to $1 million in identity theft protection.
Cons
There are a couple of drawbacks with LegalZoom and they could be considered some fairly MAJOR drawbacks.
The first problem with LegalZoom is that they charge $299 per year for their services.That's three times what Harbor Compliance charges, and the only real difference in service is that LegalZoom offers identity theft protection. For that range of price difference you could easily get registered agent services from Harbor Compliance, then purchase identity theft protection elsewhere, and would still likely spend less than $299.
The next drawback is that registered agent services are not what LegalZoom specializes in. In fact it's just a small portion of their business, so it doesn't get the focus that it needs. In addition to this, their computer system isn't as easy to navigate as it could be and their customer service is nowhere near as good as Northwest's.
Overall
LegalZoom is a premium service that is more expensive than Harbor Compliance and Northwest Registered Agent.
They are a reputable business and a big name that most people in the business industry know. However, the prices they charge for their premium registered agent services don't justify the mere addition of identity theft protection.
If you're concerned about identity theft protection, you want a ’big name’ registered agent, or if you're already in business with LegalZoom then it's worthwhile to check them out here: LegalZoom.
4. ZenBusiness
ZenBusiness is a relatively new registered agent in Texas. They charge a fee of $99 per year, which makes them just as cheap as Harbor Compliance at first glance.They’ll provide a registered office and business address for your Texas business to use during regular business hours. However, compliance form deadline notifications to keep you in good standing with the Secretary of State are not included for this price. If you want notifications, you have to pay an extra $50 per month.Their customer service is not on par with that of Northwest Registered Agent either.
One of the perks of ZenBusiness is that they offer a year of free registered agent service whenever you sign up for their LLC formation services. This means that they’ll help you obtain your Certificate of Formation. However, between paying for the registered agent services and compliance form filing notifications, you end up paying too much for their services in the long run.
If you need a company to help you form your LLC as well as provide registered agent services cheaply, ZenBusiness is probably a good option for you. You can check them out here: ZenBusiness review.
5. IncFile Review
IncFile is another registered agent service for business entities that offers a bare-bones service for $119 per year. You’ll get a physical address in the state, but you won't get compliance form filing notifications from them at all.
They do offer a one year free registered agent service whenever you sign up for their LLC formation services. However, over time, they are not a cost-effective choice for your LLC.
You can check them out here: IncFile.
6. Rocket Lawyer Review
Rocket Lawyer is basically a cheap imitation of LegalZoom for business entities, and they’re not that much cheaper.They charge $149 per year. Registered agent services are not what they specialize in and are only a small section of their services. The registered agent services they do provide for an LLC are minimal. They’ll provide a registered office for your Texas business in order to keep the Secretary of State happy. But, their customer service is not as good as you would expect from a registered agent service.
You can learn more about Rocket Lawyer and what they can do for your Texas business here: Rocket Lawyer review.
7. SunDoc Filings Review
Sundoc Filings is a registered agent and LLC formation service. They charge $159 per year for their registered agent service. They will provide you with a business address in the state of Texas. But their registered agent service offerings for business entities can be described as minimal at best.
8. InCorp Review
InCorp, similar to Harbor Compliance, charges $99 per year for registered agent services for your Texas LLC which is the cheapest rate.
The one major drawback is that their computer system is so difficult to navigate that it makes it a nightmare to manage. On top of that their customer service is merely adequate, which is not good enough for such a challenging system. That's why they're down so low on this list.
9. Swyft Filings Review
Swyft Filings is a full-service registered agent service and provides all the services that you would expect for a LLC or business entity, such as providing you with an office address in the state of Texas to receive legal mail and documents through. Unlike some of the other full-service registered agents on this list they actually offer compliance form filing notifications. But they charge $149 per year for the services, making them one of the more costly agents we reviewed and lowered their position on this list.
You can read a full breakdown of their products and services in my Swyft Filings review.
10. CSC Global Review
CSC Global is another premium registered agent service. They actually offer very little in terms of ’premium” service’. They’ll provide an address and an office in Texas. They will cover any state fees that you incur such as choosing to change your registered agent and switch the address for your Limited Liability Company, online business or business entity. But they charge $299 per year for this service. At that rate, you could appoint Northwest Registered Agent or Harbor Compliance as your registered agent, pay the state fees for change of registered agent yourself, and still not pay the full $299.
11. Registered Agents Inc. Review
Registered Agents Inc. provides the same sort of full-service registered agent services as Northwest Registered Agent. However, they charge $200 per year and they don't provide the level of customer service support that Northwest Registered Agent does.
12. Jumpstart Filings Review
Jumpstart Filings offers both registered agent and LLC formation services. But, at $150 per year for their services, they are a costly option.
Unlike some other LLC formation services on this list, Jumpstart Filings does not offer free registered agent services when you sign up.
Registered Agent Review Summary
Northwest Registered Agent won our top spot due to their full service registered agent service offerings and their outstanding customer service. They only charge $125 per year, which beats the price of some other registered agent services on this list by an astounding $174 per year!
They have an easy setup process and the computer system is easy enough to navigate.They’re also a great option in terms of keeping your information safe. And they offer compliance deadline alert notifications to ensure that your LLC meets its legal obligations.
You can sign up for Northwest Registered Agent here: Northwest Registered Agent.
Texas Registered Agent Reviews Methodology
Here is the system that we use to investigate and review Texas registered agents.
Why You Should Trust Us
The reason you should trust us is that the founder and owner of this business has spent an enormous amount of time investigating registered agent services and the registered agent industry.
He started out with two businesses that both needed a registered agent. After exhaustive research and eventually finding the best registered agent for both of his businesses, he was left with a ton of information and experience. After he made a decision to close down his businesses, he began looking for his next project and noticed that his friends and others started asking him for advice about registered agents. Since he already had the information and experience, he realized that he was the person best qualified to provide this advice not only to his friends but to anyone who needed a registered agent.
That advice grew into a business and now he's able to help random people on the Internet like you! I can help you get the right help at the start of your business: registered agent for LLC in Texas.
How We Selected the Best Registered Agent
We started out with over 60 registered agent services and then whittled them down to the top three with this process. This is what we did:
Stage 1: Reviews
The first stage was to read through mountains of online reviews. We found these reviews on Facebook, TrustPilot, the Better Business Bureau and other places on the internet where people had left reviews.There were actually so many reviews that the average person would become overwhelmed trying to read through and process them all. But the good news is that we did it for you!
In all honesty, there was no possible way to read through them ALL. So we read through the reviews that were more than just a paragraph or two and those which offered us an insight into the companies and their services. From this we were able to eliminate the companies that were obvious scams or had deceptive pricing practices.(More on that later.)
Stage 2: Website Analysis
After we eliminated several services in the first stage, the next stage was to investigate the websites of the services that were left.
In our investigation, we looked at things like what services or products they offered, how many different ways they listed to contact customer support on their website, their location, their company history, and any awards they had listed on their website.
This painted a picture of their sales pitch and what they advertise.
Stage 3: Speaking With Real Customers
It became clear pretty quickly that you don't get the full picture just from online reviews and browsing through your company's webpage. Talking to actual customers clues you in to what services a company actually provides, and not just what's advertised on their site.
We reached out to customers who had used our site to find registered agents as well as those who came to our site and already had signed up with registered agents. We asked them what services they wanted to receive, and what they thought of the services they had received.
Their honest responses let us know how well each registered agent served their businesses.
Stage 4: Speaking With Their Sales Team
The last stage of our investigation was to call each registered agent sales team. We gathered up all of the negative feedback, customer complaints, and scathing reviews that we had collected and asked the sales team directly about them.
This stage was incredibly insightful. Although some companies did tell us that they had used the feedback to fix the issues with the services and grow, there were others who told us things like the customers were just ‘crazy’ and that we shouldn't listen to them.
This stage really separated the wheat from the chaff, and we are 100% confident about the choices on our list because of it.
Rating Factors
The 12 registered agents on our list were rated using these factors.
Factor 1: Offerings
The first and arguably the most important factor on our rating scale was service offerings. If a registered agent does not provide the services that you need, any other factor is nearly irrelevant. If they don't do what you need them to do, why hire them?
Some of the factors that we looked at were whether the agent allowed you to access your documents online, as opposed to simply forwarding them to you, if they gave you compliance notifications or just gave you your calendar, and whether they just gave you a general guarantee about security or if they actually offered identity theft protection services.
The companies with the best range of services shot to the top of the list, while those with very little to offer plummeted to the bottom.
Factor 2: Price
Our second factor was price. It's easy for the average person to get confused by this when doing their own research, simply because the price between two different registered agents offering the same services tends to vary so widely.
One of the things we found in our investigation was that there are three different price options for registered agents: budget, full-service and premium.
Budget services tend to range between $39 and $59 per year, full-service agents range between $99 and $129per year, and premium services start at $299 per year.
The services with the best offerings for the lowest price rose to the top of the list, while those who offered very little in terms of service for expensive prices went to the bottom.
There were budget services we left off our list. Many of them had deceptive pricing. For example, while they offered a fee of $39 per year, the services that they offered could even be considered bare-bones. In order to get the minimum services that you would expect from a registered agent, you would have had to pay additional fees that equaled those of some premium agents, without even getting premium services for the additional fees.
Factor 3: Ease of Signup
Our third factor was how easy it was to sign up with the services. It can be a real headache to find a registered agent that provides the services you want at a price you can afford, only to have the setup process take you weeks and require loads of paperwork to complete.
In order to make sure that your business isn't held up by a lengthy setup process, we tested how easy it was to get set up with each company.
If the company had a simple, streamlined, automated process they got a higher rank on our list. If the company required the blood of your firstborn child, fingerprint analysis, and piles of files to be sent to a PO Box on the other side of the planet, or something equally as absurd, they went straight to the bottom of the list.
Factor 4: Ease of Use
Getting set up with the system should be the easy part, but often isn’t. That's because some registered agents have systems that are a nightmare to navigate.
That's why our fourth factor was the ease-of-use of their computer systems. Those Texas registered agents with easy-to-use interfaces that were also user-friendly and easy to learn went to the top of the list, while those with outdated, slow, confusing systems went to the bottom of the list.
Factor 5: Customer Service
Unfortunately, no matter how easy it is to use a computer system, you WILL eventually need to call customer service and ask a question. Often, a customer service response can mean the difference between a problem being solved quickly and being left with the feeling of a positive contact, or being stuck with the same issue for hours or days and being completely frustrated with the entire service.
Those Texas registered agents with customer service teams who responded quickly, were friendly and knowledgeable, and answered questions in an efficient way are higher up on our list.
In Conclusion
As a Texas resident, appointing the right Texas registered agent for your business is of vital importance. The right agent will help your business meet all of its compliance deadlines, provide your Limited Liability Company with an address in the state, fill out an agent form, help you with Form 401 and assist you with any franchise tax, as well as any filing fee you may incur in order to keep you in good standing with the Texas Secretary of State, and keep your information safe from public record.
We reviewed over 60 Texas registered agent companies in the state. Our investigation showed that Northwest Registered Agent was the best registered agent Texas had to offer.
They provide you with all of the services that a registered agent must provide, including an office address in Texas, mail forwarding, accepting your service of process, and making sure to notify you about upcoming compliance deadlines. They will keep your information safe, and they have the best customer service in the entire industry. On top of all that, they have offices in all 50 states, so they can provide you with registered agent services as your Texas LLC grows.
So if you need a registered agent, go check out Northwest Registered Agent here: Northwest Registered Agent.
