ZenBusiness reviews its own products and services and compares them to others in the industry.
ZenBusiness reviews and compares Northwest Registered Agent and Incorporate.com. Both companies can help you form and manage a business, but limited or poor customer feedback might have you looking for alternatives.
Starts at $0 + state fees and only takes 5-10 minutes“Northwest Registered Agent” is the registered trademark of Northwest Registered Agent, LLC “Incorporate.com” is a registered trademark of Corporation Service Company
Last Updated: September 29, 2025
*Mr. Cuban may receive financial compensation for his support.
If you’re looking to start a business, then you might be considering using a business formation service like Northwest Registered Agent or Incorporate.com. These business formation companies (and other companies like them) can be very helpful if you feel overwhelmed by all the business paperwork.
But in the Northwest Registered Agent vs. Incorporate.com matchup, who comes out on top? Are there any alternatives you should consider instead? In this guide, we’ll review both Northwest Registered Agent and Incorporate.com, comparing how these two options compete in terms of value, customer service, customer reviews, and more.
Let’s get started.
At first glance, Northwest Registered Agent and Incorporate.com may seem alike — both assist entrepreneurs with forming and managing businesses. That said, both brands have different pros, cons, and company histories.
Northwest Registered Agent is best known for its registered agent services, though it also provides business formation and related offerings. Founded in 1998, the company remains family-owned and highlights its long-standing presence and hands-on approach within the industry.
Incorporate.com, on the other hand, has one of the longest histories in the space, tracing its roots back to 1899 in Wilmington, Delaware. Now operating as a registered trademark of the Corporation Service Company (CSC), the business has undergone several rebrands over the years, previously operating as the Company Corporation. Over its long history, Incorporate.com has assisted with the formation of more than 750,000 businesses.
Northwest Registered Agent and Incorporate.com have a fair bit of common ground as two reputable companies in the business formation services sector. We’ll dive into the distinctions between them throughout this guide, but here’s a quick glance at these companies.
In our assessment of Northwest Registered Agent and Incorporate.com, we evaluated each company on the basis of several different categories: business formation services, registered agent service, additional service offerings, customer feedback, and customer support.
Let’s take a closer look at those categories.
Both Northwest Registered Agent and Incorporate.com 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 how much it costs to start an LLC formation with either of these brands. While the LLC structure won’t be right for every business, it is a very popular choice for a new business structure. As a result, an LLC is a good comparison point for a guide like this.
Incorporate.com offers a few different packages bundling different services to accompany your LLC formation service. Here’s a quick look at their options:
In contrast, Northwest Registered Agent doesn’t offer different packages for LLC formation service. Instead, they offer one primary LLC service: you pay $39 (plus state fees), and they’ll file your LLC formation paperwork for you. This “package” also comes with one year of free registered agent service. In addition, the bundle includes access to several trial offers, such as their business address service, a website builder, and the option to set up a domain name.
That said, these trial offers are temporary — most renew within 90 days to a year. It’s important to keep track of the renewal dates and cancel any services you don’t plan to continue using, as costs can add up quickly once the trial periods expire.
While the Starter package from Incorporate.com isn’t terribly expensive, they do charge higher prices than some competitors. Meanwhile, Northwest Registered Agent charges a fair price for their service, and it’s nice perk that they include one free year of registered agent service. But if you want a free LLC service, you won’t find it with these brands. ZenBusiness does offer a free LLC package: just pay your state filing fees, and we’ll form your LLC on your behalf.
All registered business entities, such as LLCs and corporations, are required to designate a registered agent. This individual or company is responsible for receiving service of process and other official state correspondence on behalf of the business. While it’s possible to act as your own registered agent, there are strict requirements: you must reside in the state, maintain a physical street address there, and remain available at that location during regular business hours.
For most business owners, maintaining those conditions over time isn’t practical. That’s why many turn to professional registered agent services. Both Incorporate.com and Northwest Registered Agent offer this service to handle the responsibility for their customers.
Northwest Registered Agent charges $125 per year for this service, and they add registered agent service free for one year if you use their LLC formation services. Meanwhile, if you choose Incorporate.com as your registered agent company, you’ll pay $235 per year plus some additional fees (which may include state fees and change of registered agent fees, depending on the state).
Formation and registered agent services aren’t the only offerings from Incorporate.com and Northwest Registered Agent — both companies provide additional products for business owners who want to handle multiple needs through one provider. We won’t detail every single service here (this Incorporate.com vs. Northwest Registered Agent review page would be too long if we did), but we can give you a clear idea of what’s available.
Northwest Registered Agent is primarily recognized for its registered agent service, but their catalog extends further. They can assist with annual report filings, EIN applications, and S corporation elections. They also provide online business tools, such as a website builder, web hosting, SSL certificates, and domain registration. Other service options include mail forwarding, virtual office addresses in certain states, and trademark registration support.
Incorporate.com also has a variety of services in its lineup, including corporate kits and company seals, LLC operating agreements, EIN acquisition, S corporation elections, and annual report filing. They also provide a business license compliance package to help entrepreneurs research which business licenses may apply to their company. While Incorporate.com and Northwest Registered Agent cover a solid set of business services, their catalogs aren’t quite as broad as some competitors.
When we evaluate service providers, we rely on third-party platforms like Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau to get a more objective view of customer experiences. With that in mind, we looked at reviews for both Northwest Registered Agent and Incorporate.com.
As of September 2025, Northwest Registered Agent doesn’t have a large footprint on Trustpilot, with over 130 reviews. The ratings they do have are sharply divided: about 49% are five stars, while 40% are one star. This indicates that while many customers report positive experiences, a significant number do not. Negative feedback often points to confusing pricing, being billed for unwanted services, and unsatisfactory interactions with customer support.
Incorporate.com, on the other hand, has an even weaker showing when it comes to customer reviews (as of September 2025). We couldn’t locate any feedback on the BBB website, though they are an accredited business with an A+ rating. Their Trustpilot profile only contains two reviews — both of which are one-star ratings. For a company with such a long history, the lack of reviews is surprising. The couple reviews that do exist cite rude or unhelpful customer service as the main complaint.
If you’re hoping to work with an incorporation services brand that has a long history of positive customer reviews, you won’t find it with Northwest Registered Agent or Incorporate.com. In contrast, ZenBusiness is BBB accredited (with an A+ rating), and we’ve got a 4.8/5 star average across 25,235 on Trustpilot.
If you run into questions about your paperwork or your business, it’s important to know you can rely on timely and helpful customer support. That’s why we also reviewed the support channels offered by these providers.
Northwest Registered Agent offers support by phone and through an email contact form on its website. The drawback is that they don’t list official support hours, so it’s not always clear when you’ll be able to reach someone. In our test during normal business hours, we did get thorough responses, including an email reply within one business day. Still, customer reviews paint a mixed picture — many negative comments describe unresponsive or unhelpful representatives, which suggests the experience isn’t always consistent.
Incorporate.com, meanwhile, provides three support options: phone, live chat, and a contact form. They also don’t have support hours mentioned on their website. Our recent experience with their channels was mixed. When we tried live chat, we waited more than 40 minutes without ever being connected to an agent. By contrast, submitting a question through the contact form earned us an email reply within an hour.
The limited third-party reviews available for Incorporate.com echo this inconsistency, with some customers citing difficulties getting useful assistance. Our own experience suggests that these complaints may not be unusual.
Want to use an LLC formation company with truly excellent customer support? You won’t find it with these brands. Check out ZenBusiness instead.
Both Northwest Registered Agent and Incorporate.com can help you with the basic business formation process and beyond, but are they the right choice for your company? You might be drawn to the fact that Northwest Registered Agent includes a free year of registered agent service in their package, or maybe you want the business license research package included in the high-tier “Works” package from Incorporate.com.
Perhaps the mixed or missing feedback for Northwest Registered Agent and Incorporate.com has you looking into alternatives. If that’s you, check out ZenBusiness. To help you get started, 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 25,235 Trustpilot reviews, we’ve got a 4.8/5 average score. We pride ourselves on providing truly excellent customer support whenever you need it.
Here at ZenBusiness, we’re dedicated to 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.
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Northwest Registered Agent doesn’t currently promote a variety of packages. Instead, they offer one LLC service for $39 plus state fees. That said, you can add on services as needed, so in a way, you can build your own package.
Incorporate.com and Northwest Registered Agent don’t help with steps like New York’s publication requirements. ZenBusiness does, though. If you need help with NY publication requirements, check out our New York publication service for more information.
Northwest Registered Agent keeps the upsells to a minimum during the business formation process. Yes, you’ll find a few throughout the order form, but they aren’t as obtrusive as some brands. Incorporate.com does include several upsells through the LLC formation process, too.
With either brand, take the time to read and understand the terms, conditions, and renewal periods for any services you opt into so you have a good idea of what you’ll spend. That way, you won’t be surprised by unexpected costs.
Would you like to take a look at a few other options? Check out our comparisons of Northwest Registered Agent to other LLC services:
Northwest Registered Agent does allow refunds, but the policy is pretty restrictive. Any charges older than 90 days are considered final, and even within that period, refunds aren’t automatic — they’re reviewed on a case-by-case basis and may be prorated. State filing fees are non-refundable, and the company makes it clear that granting one refund doesn’t guarantee future requests will be approved.
Incorporate.com’s website does acknowledge that they sometimes offer refunds. You can cancel an order and get a refund (minus a service fee) if you request the cancellation before Incorporate.com has submitted your paperwork to a government agency. If you request a refund after the forms are filed, Incorporate.com will decide whether or not to give you one. State filing fees are always non-refundable. The wording of their refund policy sounds like these refunds are uncommon, however.
Want a better refund policy? Here at ZenBusiness, we give you a 100% satisfaction guarantee with a 60-day window for refund requests, with no processing fees.
Incorporate.com doesn’t publish any promised formation speeds, so their formation speeds are based on the formation speeds of your state. Northwest Registered Agent is the same way, so these two brands should have similar processing speeds.
You absolutely can form an LLC on your own. Using LLC services can be really helpful, though. Services like ZenBusiness, Northwest Registered Agent, and Incorporate.com can all take some of the paperwork off your plate. These services can also help you navigate your state’s business compliance rules and regulations, which might be trickier than you expect.
Incorporate.com’s biggest advantage is its incredibly long history in the industry. For Northwest Registered Agent, cost is a big advantage: their $39 LLC formation package is affordable, and it includes a year of free registered agent service.
Northwest registered agent charges $125 per year for registered agent service, and their annual report service costs $100 plus state fees. Incorporate.com charges $235 annually for their registered agent service. Their annual report service costs $165 plus state fees.
Northwest Registered Agent Comparisons
Disclaimer: The content on this page is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or accounting advice. If you have specific questions about any of these topics, seek the counsel of a licensed professional.
Written by ZenBusiness Editorial Team
The ZenBusiness Editorial Team has more than 20 years of combined small business publishing experience and has helped over 850,000 entrepreneurs launch and grow their companies. Our writers and business formation experts are dedicated to providing accurate, practical, and trustworthy guidance so business owners can make confident decisions.
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