By Justus Scout
There are many advantages to hiring the services of a registered agent if you are starting an LLC or corporation in California. Most important is that your privacy will never be compromised because their address will be the one that will be on all public records. All correspondence is handled discreetly by registered agents and they are always available to receive all important documents on your behalf, ensuring that you are always up-to-date with compliances, tax matters, etc.
Finding a registered agent service in California is not difficult, but we have made your task easier by providing you with a list that we consider to be the top registered agent services in the state.
ZenBusiness
Since 2015, ZenBusiness has offered its business formation services to new entrepreneurs. The team are all experienced entrepreneurs themselves and have an excellent understanding of the challenges faced by new business owners.
ZenBusinesss offers you an LLC business formation package that starts at $39 plus the state fees. This package includes the registered agent services to your LLC for a full year.
They have teamed up with us to developed a package especially aimed at existing business owners at $99 per year. There is also an upgrade package at $149 per year that offers complete coverage, including compliance notifications to you wherever applicable.
Their registered agent services will help you stay compliant, accept service of process notifications, and all your tax and legal documents.
Northwest
Northwest has a reputation as being the friendliest LLC service around and is known for its good phone and email support. Unlike most registered agents who only scan legal documents, Northwest scans all types of paperwork received, ensuring that a business never misses any important deadlines.
If you form your LLC or corporation with Northwest you pay $49 plus state fee, then they will act as your registered agents for free during the first year. Thereafter, they charge $125 per year.
Incfile
Incfile offers affordable but high-quality registered agent services. If you don’t want to do your incorporation with them, you will pay $119 yearly for their registered agent services. If you use Incfile for your incorporation, they offer you their registered agent services free for the first year. With your incorporation package, you also have access to a wide range of free information from their learning center, a secure user-friendly website, and the experience that comes from having served over 150,000 clients since 2004, when the began offering their services.
Harbor Compliance
Harbor Compliance charges $99 per year for their registered agent service but if you pay them up-front for several years, they do offer discounts. Besides offering same-day document scanning and delivery, they also have free compliance guides and whitepapers on their protected website.
Since the company was started in 2012, they have served over 10,000 clients, have a well-designed user-friendly dashboard, and are known for their excellent customer support.
Incorp
Incorp was created in 1998 and the industry leaders have served over 250,000 clients. Their registered agent fees for one year are $99, but if you pay for five years in advance you save $160.
Incorp also offers a whole range of other business formation and compliance services and has a user-friendly and secure website.
Rocket Lawyer
Rocket Lawyer has helped over 800,000 business formations and is backed by Google Ventures. Their website is not only secure but very informative. Even though they cost $149 per year they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. They have partnered with experienced legal professionals if you ever need this type of service. If you subscribe to the legal services plan for $49.95 a month, you will get a full year registered agent services for free, and consultations with business attorneys.
Legal Zoom
Even though at $159, legal Zoom is the priciest of all the options for registered agent services mentioned here, they have vast experience (served over 4 million clients in over 18 years) and offer many business services. If you already use their other services, they are a good option and they also have a secure and informative website.
