Northwest Registered Agent vs. Rocket Lawyer

Do Northwest and Rocket Lawyer offer good value?

Northwest Registered Agent and Rocket Lawyer are two of the most respected and popular LLC formation services available online today. They’re both capable and trustworthy, and either of them can form a compliant LLC. That said, there are some important differences between them.

To begin with, Northwest includes 12 months of registered agent service at no extra charge with any LLC formation package. Overall though, Rocket Lawyer has lower prices for LLC service and is a decent alternative to Northwest Registered Agent.

Do you need some more information before making your choice? Let’s get to the bottom of what sets these services apart from each other and the competition. But first, what do they have in common?

6 Things They Have in Common

1) Affordable: If you want to save some money compared to hiring a lawyer to draft and file your Articles of Organization, these service providers can help. Both Northwest Registered Agent and Rocket Lawyer can save you hundreds of dollars over an attorney’s fees. Furthermore, the LLC isn’t a complicated business structure, and you may not need the lawyer’s expertise anyway.

2) Customer Support: Saving money is one thing, but it’s not everything. If you don’t want to handle your own LLC formation process, these companies have customer service departments that can be a big help. If you ever have questions, you can call or email them to quickly receive an accurate answer.

3) Experience: Northwest Registered Agent and Rocket Lawyer have formed millions of LLCs, so you can trust them to get the job done right. Experience matters, and these service providers have plenty of it.

4) Efficiency: Do you need your LLC formed sooner rather than later? That’s not a problem for these providers. Rocket Lawyer and Northwest Registered Agent both have expedited services available that can speed up your formation from a matter of weeks down to just a few days in many states (for an additional fee, of course).

5) Positive Customer Reviews: We always prefer to read plenty of positive customer reviews before making a purchase, and both of these companies receive good reviews from their clients. It seems that the customer experience with either Northwest Registered Agent or Rocket Lawyer is usually a positive one.

6) Additional Services: LLC formations aren’t the only services offered by these companies. If you need other services like foreign qualifications or document prep, Northwest Registered Agent and Rocket Lawyer can help.

Side-by-Side Comparisons

Pricing

Northwest: At $225, their price point is high compared to many competitors. Still, the inclusion of a full year of their registered agent service is a good feature that makes their pricing more attractive. Once the first year is up, the registered agent service will renew at $125 per year.

Rocket Lawyer: Rocket Lawyer only offers one LLC formation service package. It costs $99 (+ state fee) and includes no features beyond the basics. However, it offers this package for free for new members to its $39.99/month legal services subscription.

Experience

Northwest: Northwest Registered Agent has been around since 1998, and since then, they’ve served 2+ million customers.

Rocket Lawyer: Rocket Lawyer has been in business since 2008, and they’ve served 25+ million customers since then, although it’s unclear how many of those are business clients as opposed to individual customers.

Customer Support

Northwest: Northwest offers phone and email support. We first tested their email support, and 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 and received similarly impressive service. The representative who answered the phone took the time to ask for details so that he could give us the most accurate answer.

Rocket Lawyer: Rocket Lawyer offers phone, chat, and email support, with operating hours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. We’re pleased with the responsiveness and helpfulness of their phone and email support. The chat feature is a bit convoluted in its presentation (it starts as more of a searchable FAQ before connecting you with a representative) but it does work once you figure it out.

Turnaround Times

Northwest: When you select your state from the dropdown menu of the application, an estimated turnaround time will display on the screen. Most states have expedited service available for an additional fee, so you’ll see two turnaround times on the order form.

Rocket Lawyer: If you’d like to get an estimate for turnaround times for your state of formation, click through the order form to the page where you decide whether or not to expedite your order. On this page, you can access estimates of the number of days required for both expedited and standard processing times. It would be nice to have these turnaround times listed in a more convenient spot, as opposed to several pages into the order form.

Customer Reviews

Northwest: Northwest Registered Agent doesn’t have a ton of customer feedback, but they do have around 800 reviews, and they’re mostly positive.

Rocket Lawyer: This company receives solid customer feedback. We found nearly 10,000 reviews on reputable third-party review sites, and the majority of them were positive.

Ease of Use

Northwest: The application process with Northwest is streamlined and easy to follow. You simply enter your personal info and business details and pay for the order. There aren’t any upsells, and Northwest only offers one LLC formation service package.

Rocket Lawyer: Ordering business formation with Rocket Lawyer can be easier or harder than other services, based on your perspective. They don’t have tiered packages as many of their competitors do. Instead, you walk through a handful of add-ons before checking out. Still, it only took us about 10 minutes to walk through the form, make our selections, and reach the checkout screen.

Additional Services

For the most part, Northwest Registered Agent and Rocket Lawyer have similar offerings when it comes to business services. They both offer registered agent services, LLC operating agreements, certified copies, and more. However, Rocket Lawyer has a collection of specialty and personal services that Northwest doesn’t provide.

For example, Rocket Lawyer can help you with some real estate services like drafting a lease agreement or quitclaim deed. In addition, they offer last will and testament service, divorce settlement agreements, child care authorization forms, and more.

Which is the best LLC company for you?

Northwest Registered Agent and Rocket Lawyer are two popular options for LLC formation service. They both have plenty of experience, and they can save you lots of money compared to hiring a lawyer to form your LLC.

We understand that some of you may still be undecided, so to finish this comparison, we’ll point out a few of the common reasons for choosing each service provider. Regardless of which service you end up using, we wish you the best of luck!

➥ Choose Northwest Registered Agent if:

Do you like the idea of having registered agent service included with your formation? Do you want their personalized customer support? Northwest could be worth a look.

➦ Choose Rocket Lawyer if:

Do you want to save some money? Are you interested in their legal services subscription? These are a couple of reasons to consider Rocket Lawyer.

🎉 Choose ZenBusiness if:

If you’d like to form your LLC with ZenBusiness, we’re here to help. We offer LLC formations starting at $0 (+ state fee), and we have more than 12,000 positive customer reviews available online. Form your LLC quickly and get more tools to start your dream business.