Incfile vs Northwest Registered Agent

Incfile vs Northwest Registered Agent: Which is Better?

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By David Borgogni

Last Updated on January 11, 2023 by Ewen Finser

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In this Incfile vs Northwest Registered Agent entity formation service comparison, we are going to be taking an in-depth look at both of these services to see exactly what they offer.

We will also take a look at the pros and cons of each service so that you can make an informed decision on which one is best for you.

Before we jump into the main service provider review, let’s just take a look at the main differences between these two LLC formation and incorporation services so that if you are in a rush, you can take what you need and run.

Bottom Line Up Front Summary: I personally prefer the easier to use interface, more AFFORDABLE prices, and lower annual fees offered by Incfile here. That said, Northwest Registered Agent is still a fine option (particularly if they are running promso here) compared to other registered agent services.

Main Differences Between Incfile vs Northwest Registered Agent

The main differences between Incfile vs Northwest Registered Agent are:

  • Incfile registration packages start at $0 plus state fee, whereas Northwest Registered has a similar package that starts at $100 plus state fee
  • Incfile costs $119/year after the initial free first year, whereas Northwest Registered costs $125/year after the free first year
  • Incfile has a customer service that is a little slower to respond, whereas Northwest Registered has highly knowledgeable and responsive customer service which is managed in house
  • Incfile has over 10,000 reviews, whereas Northwest Registered only has around 100
  • Incfile is a very large company and has helped over 250,000 customers since they were founded in 2004, whereas Northwest Registered Agent is a small/medium-sized business that has served several thousand customers since it launched in 1998
Why I Start with Incfile

I've tried a LOT of registered agent services over the years... BUT I've found Incfile to the the Fastest, Cheapest, and most user-friendly.

Business Formation for as little as $0 + State Fee when you incorporate with Incfile.com.

Start with Incfile
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

So now that we’ve looked at the main differences between the two, let’s get to the good stuff: the main review. Starting and registering your business as a Limited Liability Company (LLC formation and LLC service maintenance) is an exciting time and a huge milestone in the life of your business.

There’s no doubt you will want to make sure things are done properly, so it’s well worth looking at using an LLC formation service to manage the process for you.

So why should you use an LLC formation and registered agent service rather than registering yourself? Good question, there are actually a few reasons for forming an LLC this way…

  • It’s not expensive, so it’s worth using an experienced company who has done this before to take the stress of starting a business and forming the legal entity out of your hands. It would be a lot more expensive to hire a lawyer or attorney to draw up the legal documents like formation documents and an operating agreement for you privately.
  • It’s quick and easy. As they will have done this many times before, they will have the process down to fine art, so you can be sure things will be done quickly and nothing will get forgotten.
  • Customer service is provided. If you run into any issues you can simply call the customer service team who will be on hand to help you out with any problems.

In the United States, it is law in all states for all businesses to have a registered agent. A registered agent is a responsible person designated to receive legal and official documents on behalf of a registered business.

Registered Agents must be located in the same state that the business is registered in (as identified in public records, even if different than the business owner), and these services are often provided by the same companies that offer incorporation services.

Although it can be possible for you to serve as your own registered agent, this is not usually advised, and it is recommended that a responsible third party is designated for this important role.

There are lots of benefits to using a third-party registered agent, including knowing that someone else is always available during office hours to accept important documents, so even if you are out of the office or on holiday, all of your official documents will be received and taken care of.

Using a registered agent also helps you keep on top of all of your filing requirements, giving you peace of mind by helping you avoid any late filing penalty fees. 

Finally, if you need to change your address, your registered agent’s address remains the same. This ensures continuity for your business over time, ideal for location independent businesses.

Registering your business as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) is an exciting time and a huge milestone in the life of your business. There’s no doubt you will want to make sure things are done properly, so it’s well worth looking at using an LLC service to manage the process for you.

In this Incfile vs Northwest Registered Agent comparison, we are going to be taking an in-depth look at both of these services to see exactly what they offer. We will also take a look at the pros and cons of each service so that you can make an informed decision on which one is best for you.

So why should you use an LLC formation service and registered agent service rather than registering yourself?

Good question, there are actually a few reasons…

  • It’s not expensive, so it’s worth using an experienced company who has done this before to take the stress out of your hands. It would be a lot more expensive to hire a lawyer or attorney to draw up the documents for you privately, like an operating agreement, etc…
  • It’s quick and easy. As they will have done this many times before, they will have the process time down to fine art, so you can be sure things will be done quickly and nothing will get forgotten.
  • Customer service is provided. Just like Incfile, if you run into any issues you can simply call the customer service team.

In the United States, it is law in all states for all businesses to have a registered agent. A registered agent is a responsible person designated to receive legal and official documents on behalf of a registered business. Registered Agents must be located in the same state that the business is registered in, and these services are often provided by the same companies that offer incorporation services.

Although it can be possible for you to serve as your own registered agent, this is not usually advised, and it is recommended that a responsible third party is designated this important role.

There are lots of benefits to using a third-party registered agent, including knowing that someone else is always available during office hours to accept important documents, so even if you are out of the registered office or on holiday, all of your official documents will be received and taken care of.

Using a registered agent also helps you keep on top of all of your filing requirements, giving you peace of mind by helping you avoid any late filing penalty fees. 

Finally, even if you change your address, your registered agent’s address will remain the same the same ensuring continuity for your business.

This is a great option for anyone who travels or moves houses frequently!

Before we get stuck into the main review, let’s just take a look at the main differences between these two services to that if you are in a rush, you can take what you need and run.

Incfile Review 2021

inc file starting business

Incfile is a service that helps entrepreneurs form their businesses and specifically from an LLC or corporation.

Since it was founded in 2004, Incfile has helped over 250,000 entrepreneurs with the legal and formal aspects of incorporating their LLC or corporation.

They pride themselves on providing excellent value to their customers, as well as complete transparency, so you won’t be surprised by any hidden fees (state fee is transparent), and you will be aware of all the costs involved right from the start.

Let’s take a look at what’s included when you use the Incfile LLC service…

The Main Maintenance and Formation Services Offered by Incfile

  • Verify company name
  • Preparation and filing of articles
  • Next Business Day processing time
  • One year of Registered Agent service FREE (First year)
  • Lifetime company alerts
  • Online order status tracking
  • Free business tax consultation for clients
  • Lifetime customer support
  • Online access to all incorporation documents and paperwork

It’s easy for anyone to form an LLC (limited liability coporation) or incorporate a company (online incorporation service) with Incfile legal services, and the online order process makes things quick and simple, so anyone can confidently use the service.

To get started you simply select the type of business entity that best suits your business type (basically anything other than a sole proprietorship). You can choose from:

  • Form an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation)
  • Corporation
  • S-Corporation
  • Non-Profit

How Incfile Works

Here’s how it all works. Once you have selected the type of business entity you want your business to be, you can select the state you want to register your business in. The reason you have to select your state is that each state has its own registration fees, which will be added to your total bill.

Next, you can select one of the three packages that Incfile offers, and complete the online form. The form is easy to understand, and once everything has been completed and your payment has been made you can relax while Incfile takes care of the rest for you.

Once Incfile has received your order and your completed registration form, they will check your chosen company name against the database to check that it’s available.

Once the availability has been confirmed, Incfile will draft all the required documents and send them to the state for filing. After the articles have been filed with the state, they are sent back and you will be able to view them online within your Incfile account, it’s as easy as that!

What other services does Incfile offer?

inc authority services

As well as business formation service and LLC services, Incfile offers a number of other services to help you manage your company once it’s up and running:

  • Annual reporting
  • Foreign qualification (foreign LLC)
  • EIN (Employer Identification Number) / Tax ID number
  • Certificate of good standing
  • Chance of registered agent
  • Trademark name search
  • DBA/Fictitious business name
  • Registered agent
  • Amendment/ Name change
  • Dissolution
  • Corporate / LLC Formation Service Kit
  • Business license research
  • File Business Taxes
  • File S Corp Tax Election

These additional services mean that once you have set up your company, you are not left to manage the details on your own.

You can use Incfile for all of your business filing and reporting needs, and you will receive reminders of when everything needs to be done, so you can rest assured that nothing will get forgotten and you will never miss any deadlines or have late filing penalties to pay.

Registered Agent is provided free of charge for the first year and costs just $119 per year after that. A Registered Agent is required by law in every state.

The registered agent address is the address that is used for legal and Tax correspondence for your business. If you don’t have your own address that can be used for business purposes, then this is the perfect solution. Any correspondence you receive will be forwarded to your contact address, so you won’t need to give out your real address for business purposes.

If you ever need to make changes or amendments to your company name or details, Incfile can help with this, and if you ever need to dissolve the company, they also offer a dissolution service you can make sure everything is handled correctly.

The Benefits of using Incfile

  • They offer lifetime customer support,  so if you come across any issues you can contact the support team who will do their best to resolve it for you as soon as possible
  • Incfile has an A+ rating with BBB (Better Business Bureau) with an average of over 4.6 out of 5 stars for their reviews. Any complaints and queries on the BBB platform have been responded to quickly, so you can see that their customer service department is on the ball
  • Excellent customer reviews, with over 10,000 online reviews overall from happy customers
  • All plans with Incfile come with a free registered agent for the first year
  • Incfile provides lifetime company alerts so you will never miss a filing deadline
  • You have online access to all of your documents so you know they are safe, secure, and can never be lost or accidentally destroyed
  • Incfile is the most affordable LLC service currently available
  • They have lots of experience, with over 250,000 businesses formed since they were founded in 2004

The Downsides to using Incfile

Incfile doesn’t have many downsides, but one thing we will say is that although the customer service is excellent, the response times can be quite slow, with some queries taking around 24 hours to get a response.

Incfile Pricing

incfile price plans

Incfile has three packages available. So we can compare pricing between the two companies fairly, I have selected the state of New York for both companies, so if you enter your own state on the website the price will vary.

The three packages available are Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The Silver package is the most basic package option, and there are no fees to pay for this package apart from the state fees, making this a very affordable option for anyone on a budget.

The Silver package includes:

  • Preparation and filing the articles of your organization (articles of organization)
  • Unlimited name availability searches
  • Registered Agent services for one year
  • Setup of business banking account with Bank of America ($450 value)
  • Statement and resignation of the organizer
  • Unlimited phone and email support
  • Online order status tracking
  • Business tax consultation
  • Next business day processing time
  • Lifetime company alerts via email and SMS
  • Online access to Business Incorporation Documents
  • Electronic mail delivery

Next up is the Gold package, which includes everything from the Silver Package, as well as:

  • Employer Identification Number/ Tax ID
  • Preparation and filing of IRS form 2553
  • Operating Agreement
  • Corporation Bylaws
  • Corporation Organizational Meeting Minutes
  • Banking resolution
  • Gold Business formation Service kit
  • Express shipping for mail delivery

And last but not least, is the Platinum Package. This package includes everything from the Silver and Gold Packages, as well as:

  • Business contract templates
  • The free domain name and email services
  • Platinum business formation kit
  • Expedited state filing time

If you would like to try Incfile and see what they have to offer, you can visit their website here.

Why I Start with Incfile

I've tried a LOT of registered agent services over the years... BUT I've found Incfile to the the Fastest, Cheapest, and most user-friendly.

Business Formation for as little as $0 + State Fee when you incorporate with Incfile.com.

Start with Incfile
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Northwest Registered Agent Review 2021

northwest registered agent

Northwest Registered Agent is an LLC service provider that also offers a number of other business services, including virtual office services, Registered Agent services, Tax services, and more.

Northwest has been trading since 1998, and they pride themselves on their excellent customer service and ease of use. Their slogan is “We’re just not annoying” and they do their best to live up to this by providing full transparency for all the services they offer, and even promise to never increase their pricing once you have signed up with them.

Let’s take a look at the core services Northwest Registered Agent offers:

The Main Services Offered by Northwest Registered Agent

  • New Company Formation Service
  • Registered Agent Service Providers
  • Change of Registered Agent
  • Annual Report Filing Service
  • Mail forwarding and scanning service
  • Virtual office and office leasing

Besides company formation, Northwest provides a Registered Agent service that allows you to use the Registered Agent address for your business rather than your personal address. Northwest also offers an annual filing service, so that you can easily stay on top of all of the legal requirements of your business and stay in good standing with your state.

There is also a mail forwarding and scanning service, so you don’t need to worry about giving out your personal address for business purposes, as all of your mail can be forwarded or scanned and emailed to you.

The Virtual Office service provides you with an address, a phone number, same-day digital scanning, and even an office lease and unique suite number for your virtual office.

How Northwest Registered Agent Works

start an LLC

If you would like to form an LLC using Northwest Registered Agent, it’s very easy to get started. 

Firstly you will need to select the type of business you want to start. 

You can choose from:

  • LLC Formation (limited liability company)
  • Corporation (C-corp or S-corp)
  • Nonprofit Corporation

You will then need to select the state you want to register in, and this will add the filing fee for your state to your total. Next, you can select your business name, check if it’s available, and fill in the details of your business, and you can choose whether you want to use your own address or a Registered Agent address from Northwest as your business address.

After Northwest Registered Agent has confirmed the availability of your business name, they will draw up all the required legal documents and send them to your state for filing. Once they have been filed with the state they are sent back to Northwest, and you can view copies online whenever you need to.

What other services does Northwest Registered Agent offer?

As well as Incorporation services, Northwest Registered Agent offers a number of other useful services beyond LLC formation to help you manage your business. These services include:

  • Federal IRS registration
  • S Corp Tax Election
  • Corporate Book and Seal
  • Customized Operating Agreement
  • Customized Corporate Bylaws
  • Business Licence Registration
  • Multi-State Registration
  • BOC-3 Blanket Agent Service
  • Non-US Resident Company Formation

All these services help you to take your business to the next level, offering the highest level of professionalism and quality.

The Benefits of using Northwest Registered Agent

  • Northwest Registered Agent is known for its amazing customer support. They are very quick to respond to any queries, and they handle everything in-house with their team of specially trained corporate guides, so you can be sure that whoever you are speaking to will be able to quickly resolve any issues you may have.
  • Although Northwest Registered Agent isn’t the cheapest LLC formation service, they are still competitively priced for a service that will save you a lot of time and stress.
  • Northwest offers 1 year free Registered Agent service when you use their LLC formation services and they also offer competitor price matching for renewals.
  • Northwest Registered Agent guarantees that they won’t ever sell your details to third parties like a lot of other services do.
  • Northwest Registered Agent is very secure and takes your privacy seriously. If fact, they have their own servers and write all their own code, so you can be sure you are in safe hands.

The Downsides to using Northwest Registered Agent

Although Northwest Registered Agent’s reviews are generally very good, there are not very many reviews of the company online compared to other companies such as Incfile.

This isn’t a bad thing in itself, but it doesn’t give as clear of a picture of the overall customer experience as a company with thousands of reviews. Northwest Registered Agent is also slightly more expensive than some of its competitors, which may be an issue for anyone on a very tight budget.

Northwest Registered Agent Pricing

Until recently, Northwest offered three different packages to choose from, but now they have created one all-inclusive Incorporation service which includes everything you need to form your business with no hidden fees.

The Incorporation service costs $225 ($100 filing fee and $125 registered agent fee) plus State Fees. This price includes:

  • Full address use
  • Same business day filing
  • Registered agent service
  • Membership/Stock Certificates and Resolutions
  • Complete data privacy
  • Local office scanning of your documents
  • Online account to monitor your business
  • Annual report compliance
  • Custom drafted articles
  • 1 year of free registered agent service

If you would like to try Northwest Registered Agent, you can visit their website here.

Incfile vs Northwest Registered Agent Comparison – Which Service is Better?

Why I Start with Incfile

I've tried a LOT of registered agent services over the years... BUT I've found Incfile to the the Fastest, Cheapest, and most user-friendly.

Business Formation for as little as $0 + State Fee when you incorporate with Incfile.com.

Start with Incfile
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

After comparing Incfile and Northwest Registered Agent, it’s clear to see that these two companies are very similar, in fact, either of these would be a great choice, so in this case, it’s hard to pick a winner, but…

Overall I feel that Incfile is the overall winner, and there are a few reasons why. Firstly, Incfile is just plain more affordable for basic setups. Second, their customer service is second to none, and since they handle everything in house, you can rest assured that whoever you speak to on the phone will be fully trained and able to help you with your query without passing you around the helpdesk team (a problem we’ve seen with several other companies).

When it comes to Registered Agents, Incfile does not farm this out to other companies, but instead, handle everything with their own in-house team. They maintain their own offices in all 50 states, so you know that any mail you get sent via your registered agent has come straight from them to you, rather than to a central hub.

However, Northwest Registered Agent can still be a great option for you. You can get your company set up quickly and easily, with only the state fees to pay (not the service providers), but do remember there may be some extra services you need to include in the future.

Be be sure to check exactly what you will need before signing up to a free plan, as there are sometimes hidden costs along the way. Northwest Registered Agent are a large company with thousands of positive reviews from happy customers, so although we haven’t chosen them as our overall winner today, they are still a great choice.

If you would like to try Northwest Registered Agent, you can visit their website here to see what they have to offer and how they can help your business, and if you would like to take advantage of Incfile’s low fees, visit their website here.

Bottom Line Up Front Summary: I personally prefer the easier to use interface, more AFFORDABLE prices, and lower annual fees offered by Incfile here. That said, Northwest Registered Agent is still a fine option (particularly if they are running promso here) compared to other registered agent services.

FAQs

Question: How do I cancel IncFile?

Answer” To cancel your subscription with IncFile, you just have to send an email to their official direction: support@incfile.com and follow the instructions provided by the support team.

Question: Where is Incfile located?

Answer: The company was founded in 2014 in Houston, Texas, and since that moment it has helped thousands of entrepreneurs around the world.

Question: Does Northwest Registered Agent offer total corporation services to companies? 

Answer: Even though Northwest Registered Agent will not solve all your needs, it definitely has a lot of answers for your business. The main services offered by this company includes legal forms for your state, state resources in your corporation service account and all the instructions you need, multiple reports and due dates tracking, scanning of your “service of process” and documents in real-time without any additional fee.

Question: Which LLC Formation Service Is Faster?

Answer: Northwest and IncFile both have LLC filing and LLC service processing times based on the capabilities of your formation state. It really depends on the time your state processes orders. A toss-up since Northwest might be a day or two faster in some states, and IncFile may have a slight advantage in others.

Why I Start with Incfile

I've tried a LOT of registered agent services over the years... BUT I've found Incfile to the the Fastest, Cheapest, and most user-friendly.

Business Formation for as little as $0 + State Fee when you incorporate with Incfile.com.

Start with Incfile
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Further Reading on Registered Agent Service Providers

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