The 10 Best LLC Services in New Jersey: Reviewed and Ranked

28/03/2024

It’s absolutely vital to choose the best LLC service to start your New Jersey business. 

The right LLC service will get your New Jersey business set up and operational in just a few days, filing all the important formation documents with the appropriate government agencies and acquiring all the necessary business licenses. 

The wrong LLC service can delay the launch of your New Jersey business for weeks or months, preventing business operations because it hasn’t filed formation documents and other necessary paperwork for New Jersey LLC formation. 

To make sure that you choose the best LLC service, I investigated and rated the 10 best limited liability company (LLC) services in New Jersey using a four-stage, five-factor process. Here are the results of my investigation to find the best LLC service in New Jersey:

1. Northwest Registered Agent: 9.45/10 (Best Overall LLC Service)

Northwest Registered Agent won my coveted #1 spot because it not only checks all the boxes when it comes to New Jersey LLC formation services, it has great prices, and it’s the only New Jersey LLC service to offer small business advice. 

Pros

Northwest Registered Agent has a lot of great features that New Jersey businesses can appreciate. 

It gives you all the LLC formation services you need to get your limited liability company (LLC) in New Jersey up and running. 

Northwest files all your formation documents, such as your Public Records Filing for New Business Entity, registration paperwork with the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, and your New Jersey certificate of formation.

It also provides free registered agent service for a year (including registered agent services and a business address in the state of New Jersey), issues compliance alerts to let you know about upcoming deadlines (to remind you to file annual reports and pay taxes), and has a straightforward and easy-to-use online dashboard so that you can manage and view your business documents. 

Northwest also offers a lot of extras in its LLC formation package. You’ll get a free accounting consultation to make sure your business’s payment processing system is properly configured, a free operating agreement template, and a 90-day trial of its VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service. 

You can also add additional services, such as an employer identification number or EIN, which is necessary to open a business bank account, hire employees, or qualify for certain business licenses, a New Jersey Certificate of Good Standing, and state-certified copies of your formation documents—all for additional fees. 

Northwest’s most valuable feature by far is its Corporate Guides. 

The Corporate Guides don’t provide typical customer support. They provide outstanding customer support in the form of a team of US-based professionals made up of former accountants, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and lawyers who are uniquely qualified to answer all your questions about the New Jersey LLC formation process, as well as how to run and manage your LLC in New Jersey. 

Northwest is the only New Jersey LLC formation service to offer this small business advice, and when you consider that other business advisory services charge as much as $5,000/day for this sort of service, it’s a huge bonus. 

The last reason Northwest is at the top of my list is its price. 

Northwest ordinarily charges $225 for its New Jersey LLC formation package, which is great. But I’ve negotiated a special price exclusively for BoostSuite readers. So if you sign up for Northwest’s New Jersey LLC formation services through my dedicated sign-up link, you automatically get an 82% discount, which makes the total price of this LLC formation service only $39 (plus state filing fees). 

Like I said, $225 for all of Northwest’s outstanding LLC formation services is already quite a deal, but with the 82% discount that makes its services a mere $39, choosing it as the best LLC service in New Jersey was a no-brainer. 

Cons

There’s only one drawback to Northwest Registered Agent’s services: it doesn’t offer any premium services to help you establish an online presence for your new business. Other LLC services offer website setup features as part of their premium packages (which are usually $299+), and they include things like a free year of business domain registration, web hosting, and Google advertising credits. Some companies even offer a free website builder.

However, Google provides every new business with $500 in advertising credits, domain name registration typically costs under $12, and you can usually find premium website builders (like Squarespace) for around $15/month. 

So, you can easily afford to buy these add-ons for your New Jersey business with all the money you’ll save using Northwest Registered Agent, and still have money left over. 

Overall

Northwest Registered Agent offers all the basic formation services that small businesses in New Jersey need. It also provides a US-based team of customer support representatives who have loads of experience with LLCs in New Jersey and can help guide you through any challenges you encounter during the formation process and beyond. 

If you’re looking for an excellent LLC formation service that will not only provide all the services you need but will also exceed your expectations, and you’d like to take advantage of the 82% discount I’ve negotiated for my readers, head over to Northwest Registered Agent today

2. ZenBusiness: 8.25/10 (Best Essentials LLC Service)

ZenBusiness has the best price on the market at $0, but due to the fact that it doesn’t supply small business advice or free registered agent service, it will eventually cost you far more. 

Pros

Obviously, the most appealing feature that ZenBusiness boasts is its $0 price tag. For just the cost of state fees, it will make sure that all the information on your paperwork is correct, make sure your business name is available to use, and file your formation documents. 

Its $199 Pro package comes with expedited filing (four to six days) and help writing your operating agreement, and its $299 Premium package comes with a website-building tool and an email address and domain name, as well as rush filing (one to two days). 

Another nice feature is that its customer service has extended weekday hours, and is also available on Sundays. 

Cons

Sure, you can get your LLC up and running for only $0 with ZenBusiness, but if you need anything beyond the bare minimum you’ll have to pay extra for it. 

Most LLCs require registered agent service, which is why it’s such a boon when you find an LLC service that offers a year of free registered agent service. But ZenBusiness doesn’t. It instead charges $199 per year for it. So you’ll pay full price for registered agent service your first year. 

ZenBusiness has a friendly and helpful customer service team that can answer your questions about the formation process and help you with password resets. But if you need small business or legal advice, they’re not up to the task. 

Overall

ZenBusiness is a solid choice that can get your LLC up and running for $0. It will make sure all the information on your documents is correct before filing them, and its US-based customer service team is available during extended weekday hours to answer your questions about the formation process. 

Ultimately, you’ll pay more if you need registered agent service. But it offers things like a 100% accuracy guarantee and worry-free compliance that provide peace of mind. 

If you want an LLC service without extravagant extras and want to learn more about ZenBusiness, check out their website

3. Harbor Compliance: 7.15/10 (Best Premium LLC Service)

Harbor Compliance earned the #2 spot on my list of the best New Jersey LLC formation services because it provides New Jersey business owners with dedicated account managers that handle your inquiries (as opposed to random customer service agents), but this feature comes at a cost. 

Pros

Harbor Compliance is a New Jersey LLC formation service that provides all the basics for your LLC in New Jersey. 

It ensures the business name you’ve chosen for your business is available, drafts and submits all of your formation documents, offers a free operating agreement template, helps you get an EIN, and supplies a year of free registered agent service, which usually costs $99 per year. 

Harbor Compliance’s standout feature is that you’ll get a personal guide to help your business entity through the formation process. 

Rather than calling customer support or sending an email to an anonymous help line, you reach out and contact your own personal Harbor Compliance representative. This person knows all about your LLC in New Jersey, your circumstances and the challenges you’re facing, and they use this information to give you advice tailored to your unique situation. 

Cons

The one drawback of Harbor Compliance’s services is that even though it provides great support, it isn’t cheap. 

Harbor Compliance charges $399 for its formation package, and $799 for its compliance package. This means that it charges almost twice as much as Northwest Registered Agent’s normal rate, and 10 times more than the deal I negotiated. 

Even though it’s great to have a personal guide to get you through the LLC formation process, is it really worth paying so much money to get it? You’ll have to make that decision for yourself. 

Overall

Though Harbor Compliance isn’t the best LLC formation service in New Jersey, it does cover all the basic services that New Jersey LLC owners need, and it also sets itself apart from other LLC formation services because it offers dedicated account managers. 

Though its $399 price tag is about 10 times more expensive than the deal I’ve negotiated with Northwest Registered Agent, Harbor Compliance is still a solid choice for LLC services. 

If you want the additional support that a dedicated account manager can provide and you don’t mind paying extra for it, check out Harbor Compliance’s website

4. Rocket Lawyer 

Many people are familiar with Rocket Lawyers’s online legal services because it’s a big company with a good reputation. But what you may not know is that it also provides a lot of great LLC services for large and small businesses in New Jersey. 

Rocket Lawyer provides one service that many other LLC services in New Jersey don’t: online legal services. You get a seven-day free trial of Rocket Lawyer’s legal services (regularly priced at $99) along with your LLC formation services. 

Rocket Lawyer has attorneys on its customer support team, which is a huge advantage because they have the knowledge and experience to answer any question you have not only about the formation process, but also about other legal issues you encounter with your New Jersey business. 

You won’t find any of the other services that Northwest Registered Agent offers among Rocket Lawyer’s product offerings. You won’t get registered agent services—unless you’re willing to pay an additional $149 per year for registered agent service. It also doesn’t provide compliance alerts to help remind you to file your annual reports or pay taxes, and it doesn’t provide VoIP services. 

You aren’t required to pay for Rocket Lawyer’s overly priced LLC services to gain access to its online legal services. All you have to do is go to the website and sign up for a free account and subscription to Rocket Lawyer’s legal services, which means you can sign up with Northwest Registered Agent and still get Rocket Lawyer’s online legal services.

Check out my Rocket Lawyer review here to learn more about the services the company offers.

5. Swyft Filings

Swyft Filings is new to the New Jersey LLC service industry, launching in 2012. 

It charges $49 (plus state filing fees) for its basic package, and that covers a lot. It’ll help you create and file your formation paperwork, give you an online portal to view and manage your documents, provide you with a 30-minute business tax consultation, and offer a year of free business domain name registration. 

But it doesn’t offer a free year of registered agent service the way Northwest Registered Agent does. Instead, Swyft Filings charges $149/year for registered agent service, which means it’ll cost you a lot more money than it’s worth in the long run. 

If you’d like to learn more about Swyft Filings, check out my Swyft Filings review

6. MyCompanyWorks

MyCompanyWorks is inconsistent when it comes to the quality of its services, to say the least. 

It charges $79 (plus state filing fees) for its basic package. For that price it’ll help you fill out and file your formation paperwork, provide you with an online portal to access your documents, and give you compliance alerts to remind you about things like annual reports. 

But there’s a downside to its services as well. 

It provides a free year of registered agent service, but you have to buy its premium package to get it, and it costs a hefty $279. When you consider that Northwest Registered Agent costs a mere $39 with my negotiated deal, and it includes a year of free registered agent service for that price, then it becomes apparent that MyCompanyWorks isn’t the bargain that it seems to be. 

7. Inc Authority

This is another business formation service that appears to provide budget services, but when you look closer at its offerings and prices, it’s clear that there’s nothing “budget” about it. 

Inc Authority will file your formation paperwork for free and help you establish your LLC in New Jersey, but if you want anything beyond an overly glorified filing service, you’re going to have to pay some steep prices. 

It has a basic package for $399 (plus state filing fees) that includes things like help filing for an EIN, an operating agreement, and a company seal. If you want a free year of registered agent service, you’ll have to spring for the premium package, which is a whopping $799. 

Even if you’re looking for a budget service and don’t have money to spend on getting your New Jersey LLC established, ZenBusiness is a better option. 

8. Incorporate Fast

Incorporate Fast is a business formation service that has a $99 (plus state filing fees) basic package, and as you’ll see, it’s one of many with this price. 

With its basic package, it’ll create and submit your formation paperwork, provide a free year of registered agent service, help you draft your operating agreement, and provide some customizable sample documents that could be helpful to establish your LLC in New Jersey. 

It doesn’t offer any other services, like online document storage or business tax assessment, but if you purchase the $199 package, it’ll help you get your EIN. 

The main difference between Incorporate Fast and the other services on this list is that it’ll process new business filings the same day it receives them. This means that if you’re in a hurry to get your NJ LLC established and you don’t mind paying more for the services (without receiving any additional services for the added cost), then you should check out Incorporate Fast. 

However, if you value an array of LLC formation services and features, then you should use Northwest Registered Agent instead. 

9. BizFilings

BizFilings is another business formation service that has a basic package for $99 (plus state filing fees). 

Some of the services in this package include filing your formation paperwork, a free year of registered agent service, and compliance alerts to remind you to file your annual report. BizFilings doesn’t offer any of the extra services that Northwest Registered Agent offers, like an online service portal to access your documents, business tax assessment, or help drafting your operating agreement, so the reality is that you’re paying more for less. 

10. LegalZoom

LegalZoom continues with the $99 (plus state fees) substandard basic packages. LegalZoom will file your formation paperwork and provide you with a banking resolution with its basic package, but that’s it. 

It also offers online legal services, much as Rocket Lawyer does, and it may be a good option if you’re already using its legal services or registered agent services and you simply want all of your business concerns handled by one company for convenience. But I can see no point to using LegalZoom simply for its LLC formation services. 

Other New Jersey LLC Services

There were seven other LLC service providers in New Jersey that I researched, but they were so underwhelming that I felt they didn’t deserve full reviews. Here’s a look at them all, in no particular order. 

11. Incorporate.com

Incorporate.com also has a $99 basic package, but it offers very little for that price. It’ll assist you in filing your formation paperwork and give you an online document storage portal, but that’s it. You won’t get registered agent service or compliance alerts to remind you to file your annual report, so it’s really not worth it. 

12. CorpNet

CorpNet is especially disappointing. It charges $108 (plus state filing fees) for its basic package, and with that it’ll file your formation paperwork and provide you with compliance alerts to remind you to file your annual report. But if you’re looking for registered agent services, or an operating agreement, you’ll have to look elsewhere. 

13. MyCorporation

MyCorporation sets another trend of charging way too much for way too little. It’ll file your formation paperwork and help create your operating agreement, but that’s it. You won’t get registered agent services, compliance alerts, or any other quality of life improvements unless you pay through the nose in additional fees, and that’s a real shame for $133 (plus state filing fees). 

14. Direct Incorporation

Direct Incorporation provides the same services as MyCorporation, but also adds a banking resolution and will help you get your EIN. But these minimal services cost $147 (plus state fees) and you won’t even get resident agent services for that price! 

15. InCorp

InCorp has a basic package for $117 (plus state fees) and will file your formation paperwork and draft your operating agreement for that price. If you want anything else (like registered agent services), you’ll have to pay additional fees. 

If you’d like to know more about InCorp, you can check out my full review here

16. Nationwide Incorporations

Nationwide Incorporations offers the same services that MyCorporation offers in its basic package (filing your formation paperwork and creating your operating agreement). But it charges an exorbitant $200 for those services, and it doesn’t even include a New Jersey registered agent for that price. 

17. SunDoc Filings

SunDoc Filings has a $79 (plus state filing fees) basic package, and the only service included is filing your formation documents. If you pay for its $99 Key package, it’ll help you create your operating agreement, and for $279 it’ll help you apply for your EIN. So, essentially you could pay $279 and not get a New Jersey registered agent, or any of the other services that Northwest Registered Agent offers with its $39 basic package, so SunDoc Filings isn’t a good option. 

The Best LLC Service Review Summary

Of the 10 best LLC services in New Jersey, I found that Northwest Registered Agent is the best choice for most New Jersey businesses. 

It offers a $39 basic package that covers all the services you need to get your New Jersey LLC established with the state government and has great support from its Corporate Guides, whose advice can cost up to $5,000 if you hire a consulting firm instead. 

If you want to start your business in New Jersey and want all the basic LLC formation services, plus lots of extras, as well as great support and business advice, go check out Northwest Registered Agent.

Best LLC Service Review Methodology 

This is how I chose the best LLC services in New Jersey. 

Why You Should Trust Me

The reason you should trust me to provide you with New Jersey LLC formation service recommendations is that I have more knowledge and experience when it comes to business formation services than most anyone else, including some people who work for the services I’ve recommended. 

I started my journey when I had to use three different New Jersey LLC services to start my three businesses. Yes, I actually used three different services. Why? The first two didn’t cover all the services I needed. I’m not going to list them by name because they’ve both significantly improved their services since then, and I don’t want you to make a decision based on outdated information. 

The third business formation service I used, which is the one I used to start this website, has exceeded my expectations and provided me with more than I ever thought possible from an LLC service. It has definitely provided me with more value than what I had to pay for its services, which is why Northwest Registered Agent is my #1 recommendation. 

But my experience extends beyond the three services I used to start my businesses. I’ve also helped other people find the best formation services for their companies. Since I launched BoostSuite, I’ve helped over 1,000 business owners find the right business formation services for their businesses and I’ve extensively researched the formation industry to do so. 

How I Selected the Best LLC Service

I used a four-stage investigative process to find the Best LLC Service

Stage 1: Reviews

The first stage involved analyzing online reviews of the major LLC formation companies. There’s a long-standing tradition among the most popular business formation services of encouraging customers to leave online reviews and feedback, which has resulted in some of these companies accumulating more than 4,500 online reviews!

Analyzing these reviews gave me the information I needed to get a general overview of each business formation service’s quality and eliminate any that didn’t live up to basic service standards.

Stage 2: Website Analysis

After I’d removed the underperforming services from my list and developed a good overall picture of all the LLC service companies, I went to their websites. I logged on, read titles and headlines, and tried to learn a bit about each company based on its claims and advertising hype. 

This let me understand not only the services offered by each company but also how it viewed its position in the business formation market. 

Stage 3: Speaking With Real Customers

After I understood how each company positioned themselves in the market, the next stage was to find out how well it actually lived up to its claims. You can get a lot of this information from online reviews, but the reality is that most people won’t even leave an online review unless they’ve either had a really good or an overwhelmingly bad experience with a company, which means they tend to be skewed to the extremes. 

I decided to reach out to real customers who could provide me with firsthand experiences and tell me about the quality of the services they received. This feedback gave me a better understanding of how customers view working with the companies. 

To do this, I reached out to friends I knew to have used business formation service, and also contacted people I’d made recommendations to, and also talked to website visitors to get both the positives and negatives of their service experiences. 

This feedback gave me a better understanding of what customers deal with from each provider, and it advanced my search for the best LLC services in New Jersey. 

Stage 4: Speaking With Their Sales Teams

The last stage of my investigation was to talk to their sales and customer service teams, pushing them for answers about pointed questions. 

I collected all the information and feedback I’d uncovered throughout my investigation and through my talks with actual customers and I asked their sales and customer service teams about the criticisms that customers voiced. 

This last stage let me observe how each company reacted to criticism and negative feedback. 


Rating Factors

After my four-stage investigative process, each company was rated according to five different criteria. 

Factor 1: Offerings

The first factor I looked at was the services each company offered. 

Some LLC services are little more than filing services to file your formation paperwork, and they won’t offer anything more unless you pay extra for it. Then there are other services that will provide you with additional features, like New Jersey registered agent services, accountant consultations, an online portal to access your business documents, and help drafting your operating agreement. 

This great disparity in the services offered by business formation services in New Jersey is why I chose to look at this factor first. 

Factor 2: Price

The second factor I considered was the price of each formation service. Some packages start at $0 (plus filing fees), while others won’t do business with you for less than $399. 

I combined both the wide range of services offered with the cost of those services to find out the cost per service, and this became the second factor I used to rate each service. 

Factor 3: Ease of Sign-Up

The third rating factor was how simple it was to sign up with each company. 

Some business formation services have confusing, glitchy, and outdated systems that look like they were developed in the late 90s by a high school coding class. Others have user-friendly, sleek, and intuitive systems that make it easy to get your New Jersey LLC started. 

I rated each business based on the sign-up systems of each one and found out which ones were the easiest to use. 

Factor 4: Ease of Use

Unfortunately, design and operation issues don’t usually end with the sign-up process, but will usually carry over into the onboarding process, as well. 

Some LLC formation services will provide you with forms that come pre-filled with all the necessary information, requiring only a signature from you. Other services just give you generic blank forms (even though they already have all the information the forms ask for) and require you to write in the same information in multiple sections of the forms. 

No one wants to waste time on tedious paperwork, so I rated each business according to how simple it was to use each service.

Factor 5: Customer Service

The last rating factor I considered was each company’s customer service. There was a big difference in the quality of customer service that each company provided. 

Some LLC services set up their customer support teams in foreign countries, staffing them with poorly trained locals who have no experience in doing business in the United States. 

Then there are services like Northwest Registered Agent, which provides you with a US-based customer support team made up of former lawyers, accountants, small business owners, and entrepreneurs. They all have experience in the challenges that small businesses in New Jersey face and can help you find the best solution for your own LLC. 

I chose to rate each New Jersey LLC service on its customer service because of this wide gap in service quality. 

In Conclusion

Northwest provides all the services you need, including formation documents, an online document portal, and a year of free New Jersey registered agent service. It also throws in additional services, like a free accounting consultation to make sure your payment processing system is set up properly, an operating agreement template, and a free trial of its VoIP service.

But its standout feature is its Corporate Guides. 

Northwest has a US-based customer support team that can answer any questions you have about the LLC formation process and any question you have about starting and running your business. This is because they have experience in owning businesses and advising business owners because they’re all former accountants, lawyers, small business owners, and entrepreneurs. 

Northwest doesn’t offer any premium services to help you set up your online presence, but the 82% discount (which makes its services a mere $39 plus state fees) exclusively for BoostSuite readers means you’ll have a lot of money left over in savings to afford a premium website builder. 

If you’re ready to set up your LLC in New Jersey, then head over to Northwest Registered Agent today. And if you’d like more New Jersey registered agent information, read my article about the best registered agent services here.


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