Northwest Registered Agent LLC Service Review

Since getting its start in 1998, Northwest Registered Agent has carved out a name for itself as a no-nonsense company providing online LLC formations and registered agent services nationwide. This Northwest Registered Agent LLC service review discusses all the details and should help you decide whether you’d like to use their services.

About Northwest Registered Agent

Northwest opened for business in 1998. Since then, they’ve helped around 2 million customers.

Overall, Northwest isn’t one of the industry giants, but they’re not a small mom-and-pop operation either. They’ve found a niche as a quality midsize service provider.

A fun fact about Northwest is that they were the first major nationwide registered agent service provider that locally scans every document they receive on your behalf. Some competitors only scan the government-issued forms they’re legally required to scan.

Pros and Cons of Northwest

Pros of Northwest Registered Agent

✔ Northwest Registered Agent keeps their customer support in-house with a team of professionally trained corporate guides. Every time we’ve called with questions about complicated state rules or forming an LLC, they’ve been able to answer our questions.

✔ They’re one of just a few LLC services that include a full year of registered agent service upon formation.

✔ As part of their company guidelines, Northwest Registered Agent won’t sell your information to other companies. They also run their own servers and write their own code. In short, they take your security and privacy seriously.

Cons of Northwest Registered Agent

✖ It’s possible to get a cheaper LLC filing service, especially considering that Northwest charges $225. For example, by hiring us at ZenBusiness, you can form an LLC for free (just pay your state’s fee).

Northwest Registered Agent LLC Pricing

With Northwest Registered Agent, customers have one filing option. If you’d like to examine the way they advertise this service, feel free to check out their website for all the details.

LLC Filing ($225 + State Fee)

➢ Name Availability Search: They will search your state’s official business database to make certain that your desired LLC name is still available and hasn’t already been claimed by another individual or business entity.

➢ Preparation and Filing of Your Articles of Organization: This document outlines your basic company information so that your state can officially form your new LLC. Northwest Registered Agent will prepare this document on your behalf, then file it with your state of formation.

➢ One Year of Registered Agent Service: Every LLC in the U.S. is required to designate a registered agent. The registered agent is in charge of receiving service of process and important legal documents on behalf of your LLC, then forwarding them to you. Northwest will serve as your registered agent for one year, after which you can renew your service for $125 per year, although you’re under no obligation to do so.

Deep Dive: Northwest LLC Formation Review

Overall Pricing and Value

For $225 (plus state fee), you can form your LLC and receive a year of their registered agent service. Once the first year is up, they’ll continue serving as your registered agent for $125 per year until you opt out.

Track Record

Northwest was founded in 1998 out of Spokane, Washington. They’ve found a niche in being a medium-sized business and boast a motto of “We’re Just Not Annoying.” Their primary goal is to simplify business formation and registered agent services while being transparent with their customers.

Since its founding, Northwest has helped form around 2 million businesses. They share on their site that they’re currently working with upwards of 200 new LLCs and corporations each day. While there aren’t too many reviews online for the company (around 800), most of the ones we found were positive and aligned with the mission and values promised by Northwest.

Customer Support

Northwest offers phone and email support. You can fill out a form on their site to send an email. While it took nearly 24 hours to receive an email back, the response was detailed, and the rep went beyond simply answering our question and checking off an email response.

We also called them. The representative who answered the phone took the time to ask for details so that he could give us the most accurate answer. Whereas some competitors in this industry outsource their customer support to large, anonymous call centers, we appreciate Northwest’s commitment to providing personalized customer service.

Ease of Placing an Order

The point of using an incorporation service is to save time and make the formation process as simple as possible. With some online LLC services, it can still feel like you’re basically filing on your own. But with Northwest, the process is quick and easy.

The application process with Northwest is streamlined and easy to follow. You simply enter your personal and business details and pay for the order.

Overall Turnaround Time

When you select your state from the dropdown menu of the application, an estimated turnaround time will display on the screen. Depending on your state, these could vary quite a bit ― in some states, their turnarounds are as quick as just a couple of business days, but in others, you’ll need to wait several weeks. Most states have expedited service available for an additional fee, so you’ll see two turnaround times on the order form.

Is Northwest Registered Agent right for you?

At the end of the day, there are more factors working in Northwest Registered Agent’s favor than there are working against them. They offer strong overall value and customer support.

Of course, they won’t be the perfect choice for every entrepreneur forming an LLC, so to wrap things up, here are a couple of scenarios where you perhaps should or shouldn’t use Northwest Registered Agent for LLC services.

✔ When to Use Northwest Registered Agent

If you’re looking for personalized customer support and registered agent service, Northwest Registered Agent is an option for you.

✖ When NOT to Use Northwest Registered Agent

Some of their competitors can offer similar features for much lower prices. For instance, while Northwest charges $225, we’ll form your LLC for free. There are also some services that have a higher volume of positive customer feedback than Northwest has. If these are priorities for you, you might want to look elsewhere.