Northwest Registered Agent vs. Incfile/Bizee

If you’re looking to start a registered business, then you might be considering using a business formation service like Northwest Registered Agent or Bizee (formerly Incfile). These business formation companies (and other companies like them) can be very helpful if you feel overwhelmed by all the business paperwork you’re facing.

But in the Bizee vs. Northwest Registered Agent matchup (or Northwest vs. Bizee for short), who comes out on top? Are there any alternatives you should consider instead? In this guide, we’ll review both Northwest Registered Agent and Bizee, comparing how these two options compete in terms of value, customer service, customer reviews, and more.

Let’s get started.

About Northwest Registered Agent and Bizee

Bizee and Northwest Registered Agent are two companies that can help you form and manage a business in the U.S. On the surface, the two brands might seem really similar, but each company has its own pros, cons, and company history.

Northwest Registered Agent, as their name implies, primarily focuses on offering registered agent services, but the brand also offers a variety of other services, including business formations. They first opened in 1998, and to this day, they’re proud to be a family-owned company with a long history in the industry.

Bizee is a little bit younger than Northwest Registered Agent; they were founded in 2004 under the name Incfile. Later, in 2023, they rebranded as Bizee to better match their (now) broader range of service offerings: while they originally only offered business formations, they now offer a variety of business services.

Key Facts About Bizee and Northwest Registered Agent

At first glance, Bizee and Northwest Registered Agent might seem to be really similar, but there are lots of distinctions to keep in mind. We’ll dive into the nitty-gritty details throughout this Bizee and Northwest Registered Agent review, but for now, let’s take a quick glance at these companies.

Northwest Registered Agent

• Good price for registered agent service in one state (and free first year if you use them to form your business entity)
• Offers bulk service for registered agent service in 52 jurisdictions, if needed
• Customer feedback is extremely polarized

Bizee

• Includes one year of free registered agent service if you use them to form your company
• Offers a free LLC formation package (plus state fees)
• Not accredited by the Better Business Bureau

Bizee vs. Northwest Registered Agent: Our Full Review

In our assessment of Northwest Registered Agent and Bizee, we evaluated each company on the basis of several different categories: business formation services, registered agent service, additional service offerings, customer feedback, and customer reviews.

Let’s take a closer look at those categories.

Business Formation Services

Both Bizee and Northwest Registered Agent can help you form a limited liability company, corporation, or nonprofit. But how much will it cost you? For most small business owners, that’s an important question to answer. In this section, we’ll compare the costs for starting an LLC with one of these companies (we’ll stick to LLCs since they’re the most popular structure for a lot of small businesses).

Bizee offers a variety of different packages for LLC formation services, so you can pick the one that best meets your needs. Here’s a quick rundown of their options:

• Basic ($0 plus state fees): Bizee checks if your name is available and then files your Articles of Organization with standard processing. You also get one year of free registered agent service, a month of free virtual address service, and a tax consultation.
• Standard ($199 plus state fees): You get the same services as the basic package, plus help creating an operating agreement, getting an employer identification number (EIN), and filing IRS Form 2553 if needed.
• Premium ($299 plus state fees): You get everything in the standard package as well as rush filing (2 days), business contract templates, a domain name, a business email address, and more.

Northwest Registered Agent takes a slightly different approach, as they only feature one main product, their LLC formation package. This service costs $39, but it includes filing of your formation documents. Northwest Registered Agent also throws in one year of free registered agent service with this package, too. The service also gives you access to a variety of free trials, including their business address service, a website builder, and more. They’ll also give you the opportunity to set up a domain name.

The trials in this bundle are pretty limited (the typical renewal period ranges between 90 days to a year). You’ll need to pay attention to these renewal periods and cancel any services you don’t intend to use continually; if you aren’t careful, you could end up spending a lot more than $39 after the trials run out.

Northwest Registered Agent packs a good value in their $39 price tag, but it’s hard to argue with Bizee’s free LLC formation (plus state fees). That’s why we offer the same package at ZenBusiness: we’ll form your LLC at no extra cost; you just pay state filing fees.

Registered Agent Service

Every registered business (such as an LLC or corporation) needs to designate a registered agent. A registered agent accepts service of process and other important state notices on behalf of a company. Technically, you might be able to serve as your own registered agent if you are a resident of the state, have a physical address there, and you’re present at that address during all normal business hours.

For most small business owners, those criteria are too restrictive to be sustainable. That’s why many opt to hire a registered agent service instead, and both Bizee and Northwest Registered Agent offer these services.

Both brands will give you one complimentary year of service if you use them as your LLC formation service provider. After that first year (or if you buy agent service as a standalone product), you’d pay $119 per year for Bizee’s service and $125 per year for service from Northwest Registered Agent. Northwest Registered Agent does offer a bundling discount if you hire them as your agent in five or more states, though. All in all, their price points are comparable.

Additional Services

It’s not uncommon for small business owners to seek help with additional tasks; after all, there’s more to managing a business than just filing the startup paperwork! Both Bizee and Northwest Registered Agent offer a variety of additional services. We won’t give an exhaustive list of these services (this Bizee vs. Northwest Registered Agent guide would be too long if we did), but we can give you a general idea of what to expect.

While registered agent service is one of their primary offerings, Northwest Registered Agent can also help you file your annual report, get an employer identification number (EIN), and elect S corporation status. They also provide a few products to help you establish your business identity online, including services for web hosting and website building, SSL security, and domain name registration. They also offer mail forwarding and virtual office addresses. You can even get their help with trademark registration.

Bizee also provides a nice variety of business tools, including services for getting an EIN (sometimes called a federal tax ID number, S corporation tax election, annual report filing, trademark registration, and more. They can even help you draft certain legal documents like an LLC operating agreement or a banking resolution (which you might use when setting up a business bank account). Bizee also provides a business license service; they’ll help you determine what licenses and permits your unique business needs to stay compliant.

Northwest Registered Agent and Bizee don’t have massive service libraries, but they both provide a variety of helpful services.

Customer Reviews

When we’re assessing a company, we like to look at third-party review sites like Trustpilot or the Better Business Bureau; we find that these are great sources to get an unbiased view at what customers are saying. So we took a look at some of the reviews for Bizee and Northwest Registered Agent.

Northwest Registered Agent has a very poor showing on Trustpilot (currently, they only have 130 at the time of this writing). And to make matters worse, the reviews they do have are extremely polarized: 47% of them are 5-star reviews, but a whopping 41% are one-star clunkers. While not everyone has a poor experience with Northwest Registered Agent, a good number of customers do. In particular, negative reviewers frequently mention confusing pricing structures, billing for unwanted services, and unhelpful customer support representatives.

Bizee has a better reputation on Trustpilot; currently, they’ve got a 4.6/5 star average across more than 22,000 reviews (at the time of this writing). Positive customer reviews celebrate how easy it is to use the platform and that the startup process is quick. That said, negative reviews mention issues getting problems corrected when they found an error was made on their business filing; a few even lamented that their customer service representative was rude.

Unfortunately, if you value the Better Business Bureau’s stamp of approval, you’ll find Bizee lacking; they aren’t BBB accredited. In fact, their business profile gets an F rating from the BBB because of the unanswered customer complaints they have on the platform.

While Bizee has a stronger reputation than Northwest Registered Agent on third-party sites, it’s clear both brands have room for improvement in this category. In contrast, ZenBusiness has a great reputation on third-party sites; not only do we have BBB accreditation, but we’ve also got a 4.8/5 star average across more than 24,367 Trustpilot reviews.

Customer Support

Odds are, a time will come when you need help. Maybe you’ll have a question about your business, or you’ll need assistance changing one of the services you’re subscribed to. When that happens, you want to be confident that you’ll get prompt, helpful support from a customer service provider. That’s why we’ve taken the time to evaluate the customer support these brands provide.

Northwest Registered Agent offers phone support, email support, and a contact form on their website. They don’t post any customer support hours on their website, though, so it’s tough to know the best time to contact them. When we reached out with questions during regular business hours, we received detailed answers, even getting an email response within one business day.

But if customer reviews are any indication, it’s safe to say that not everyone has a positive experience with the brand’s customer support channels. Northwest Registered Agent’s negative reviews frequently say that their customer support rep was unhelpful (or worse, nonexistent) when they asked for assistance.

Meanwhile, Bizee has the same channels for support: email, phone, or their website contact form. They, however, do post their support availability hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT on weekdays. It is a little disappointing that they don’t offer support on the weekends, especially if your business is a weekend side hustle. That said, when we reached out with questions during those posted hours, we got a prompt response within one business day (via their contact form).

Bizee’s customer reviews usually mention that the customer support team was helpful. In the few negative reviews that Bizee does have, some customers mention that their support representative wasn’t as helpful, especially if they were trying to cancel an unwanted service.

Which LLC formation service is best?

You might choose Northwest Registered Agent or Bizee if you want an affordable LLC formation service with free registered agent service for a year. But Bizee’s lack of BBB accreditation or Northwest Registered Agent’s mixed customer feedback might have you looking for alternatives.

If you aren’t sold on these incorporation services, check out ZenBusiness. Like Bizee, we offer a free package for basic LLC formation (just pay your state fees). We can also provide you with registered agent service at a great value ($99 for your first year and $199/year afterwards). Plus, we’re BBB accredited, and our customer feedback is fantastic: out of 24,367 Trustpilot reviews, we’ve got a 4.8/5 average score. We pride ourselves on providing excellent customer service whenever you need it.

We can help!

Here at ZenBusiness, we pride ourselves on providing reliable services for a variety of small business needs at a great value. Whether you need registered agent service for a good price, help starting your LLC, a Money Pro app for managing your business finances, or something else, we’ve got your back. We’ll help handle the red tape for you so you can focus on what you love: running your business.