Northwest Registered Agent vs LegalZoom
One of these charges you nothing to form an LLC. The other charges thirty-nine dollars. Two years in, the free one has cost you about four hundred and sixty dollars more.
The verdict
Northwest Registered Agent takes it, 4–2 on rounds.
LegalZoom wins the first invoice. Northwest wins every one after it — and it is the only one of the two that keeps your home address off the public record without charging you for it.
Choose Northwest Registered Agent if…
- • You'll run the business from home and want that address off public record
- • You're keeping this LLC more than one year
- • You want one price with nothing to decide at checkout
- • You need the filing submitted today
Choose LegalZoom if…
- • You want the lowest possible upfront cost and already have a registered agent
- • You want a brand with 33,000+ verified reviews behind it
- • You expect to buy trademarks or attorney time from the same vendor
Round by round
- Round 1Formation priceLegalZoom winsNorthwest Registered Agent7/10
$39 + state fee
one formation package, no tiers
- One price, nothing to choose at checkout
- Includes the operating agreement
- No free entry point
Source: northwestregisteredagent.com ↗
LegalZoom9/10$0 + state fee
Basic tier; Pro $249, Premium $299
- Nothing to pay beyond the state fee
- Three tiers if you want more
- Basic leaves out the operating agreement
- Upper tiers jump to $249–$299
Source: legalzoom.com ↗
LegalZoom wins the first invoice. Hold that thought.
- Round 2Registered agent costNorthwest Registered Agent winsNorthwest Registered Agent10/10
$125/year
first year free with formation; held 20 years; $100/yr per state at 5+ states
- First year included free
- Their own page: price unchanged in 20 years
- $100/yr per state once you hit 5 states
- Half of LegalZooms rate
- Still a recurring annual cost
Source: northwestregisteredagent.com ↗
LegalZoom3/10$249/year
auto-renews; not bundled with any formation tier
- Unlimited cloud document storage
- Compliance calendar reminders
- Highest rate among major providers
- Not included in any package
- Auto-renews annually
Source: legalzoom.com ↗
The free filing comes with the most expensive agent in the category.
- Round 3Address privacyNorthwest Registered Agent winsNorthwest Registered Agent10/10
Privacy by Default
"We list OUR business address on your public filings instead of yours... It is automatic"
- Included by default, no opt-in
- "We never sell your data. Ever."
- Their address on filings in every state
- Free mail scanning capped at 5 documents a year
Source: northwestregisteredagent.com ↗
LegalZoom3/10Offered via Virtual Mail
Offered
- Business address services sold separately
- Home address can land on public record
- Shares data with integration partners
One of them keeps your home address off the internet. The other sells your details onward.
- Round 4What customers actually sayLegalZoom winsNorthwest Registered Agent5/10
4.1 / 5
305 Trustpilot reviews, 29% one-star
- Praised for knowledgeable phone support
- No upsell pressure reported
- 4.7/5 from 1,861 Google reviews — a very different picture
- 29% one-star
- Slow billing and account fixes
- Small review base
Source: trustpilot.com ↗
LegalZoom9/104.6 / 5
33,394 Trustpilot reviews, 8% one-star
- Largest verified review base in the category
- Only 8% one-star
- Guided filing process praised
- Recurring complaints about upselling
Source: trustpilot.com ↗
The cheaper, more private one has the worse reviews. That's real, and I'm not going to hide it.
- Round 5What renews after year oneNorthwest Registered Agent winsNorthwest Registered Agent9/10
no hidden fees or per document charges
their own page, alongside a price unchanged for 20 years
- One published price
- No per-document charges
- $100/yr per state at 5+ states
- Still an annual renewal you must budget for
Source: northwestregisteredagent.com ↗
LegalZoom4/10auto-renews at $49/mo
30 days of attorney consults included, then billed monthly unless cancelled
- Real attorney access, not just documents
- Cancellable at any time
- Opt-out, not opt-in
- $588/yr if you forget
- Stacks on the $249 registered agent
Source: legalzoom.com ↗
One of them tells you the price. The other starts a subscription.
- Round 6What you get in the boxNorthwest Registered Agent winsNorthwest Registered Agent9/10
Free Identity Services
free domain, website, hosting, phone line, business email and brand protection, included
- Domain, website and hosting included
- Business email and phone line included
- Operating agreement prepared by their attorneys
- Narrower legal catalog than LegalZoom
- Free mail scanning stops at 5 docs/year
Source: northwestregisteredagent.com ↗
LegalZoom5/10Name check service
what the $0 Basic tier actually includes
- Huge catalog beyond formation
- Attorney consultations available
- Operating agreement not in Basic
- Most extras are separate line items
Source: legalzoom.com ↗
Free gets you filed. Thirty-nine dollars gets you running.
Which one is for you?
The home-based founder
The absolute-lowest-upfront filer
Anyone keeping the LLC more than a year
The buyer who wants one vendor for everything
Side by side
- Domain registration included
- Business email included
- Website and hosting included
- Annual report paperwork service is priced
- Corrects its own order mistake at no cost
- Other refunds may be available
- Business name check
- Articles of Organization filing
- Does not list LLC formation in this bundle
- Total varies by state
- Listed filing fees range widely
- No support hours listed
- No refund after documents are submitted
- No first-year registered agent service listed here
- Higher one-star share than Swyft Filings
- Filing fees are extra