Are you overpaying for your registered agent?
Enter what you pay now. See what each company would cost instead, what it takes to switch in your state, and what you save.
You pay $249 a year to LegalZoom, so $747 over 3 years. Switching to Northwest would cost $375 over the same 3 years, with nothing to pay to switch: you save $372.
Prices are each company's standard agent rate for one state; first-year offers that we could not confirm in a checkout are not counted. "To switch" is what you pay to move: the company's own fee, plus the state's fee unless the company pays it.
How to switch without a gap
- Sign up with the new agent first. Your LLC must have an agent on file every day, so the new one starts before the old one stops.
- File the change with California. The form is the Statement of Information (Form LLC-12); there is no state fee to file it online. Northwest files it for you. How to change your agent in California
- Then cancel the old service before it renews. LegalZoom may ask for proof you have named a new agent. How to cancel LegalZoom
Why the price creeps up
A free or cheap first year renews at the standard rate. Agent service is the same legal job whoever does it: accept legal papers and state mail for the LLC and pass them on. What differs is the price, how mail reaches you, and how easy the company is to leave.
Related
- How much a registered agent costsFirst-year and renewal prices, company by company, with the sources.
- Signs you are overpayingRenewal jumps, add-on fees and what a fair price looks like.
- LLC cost calculatorForming a new LLC? State fees plus each formation company.
- How to change your registered agentThe filing, step by step, for every state.
Questions
Is switching agents risky?
Not if you do it in order: new agent first, then the state filing, then cancel the old one. The risk is a gap with no agent on file, which can mean missed legal papers.
I just renewed. Should I wait?
Check whether your current agent refunds the unused part of a year. If it does not, switching shortly before your renewal date keeps the year you paid for.
Does the state charge to change agents?
Of the 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico, 42 charge a fee to file the change, from $5 to $100, and 10 charge nothing to file it online. LegalZoom and Northwest file it for you and pay the fee.
Sources and method
Agent prices were read on each company's own pricing page. Who files the change and who pays the state fee come from our services comparison, read on each company's site. State fees for changing an agent come from each state's own fee schedule, the same figures as our change-of-agent guides. Totals are for one state; card fees some states add online are not counted.