Best Registered Agent Services in Texas

The importance of a Texas registered agent cannot be overstated. To run a compliant business, you must always have a Texas-based registered agent who will manage communication between your company and the state.

It may not seem that complicated at a first glance, but a Texas statutory agent must always be available and handle every piece of paperwork extremely carefully, including court documents, hence why this job is sometimes referred to as registered agent for service of process. If you miss vital filings or fail to respond to court summons, the future of your company will be put at risk.

Luckily, Texas’ thriving small business sector means you have plenty of options when it comes to resident agents. Most of them are offered by LLC formation companies, so you don’t have to go on an extended Texas business registered agent search. The best agencies make this service available as a standalone feature. In this article, we will look at the most popular Texas resident agents available today.

Best Registered Agent Service in Texas

One thing you can know for sure when looking for a statutory agent for starting an LLC in Texas is that your exact location hardly matters.

Whether you are starting a small business in a more remote location or opening a new branch of your company in a metropolitan area, you will always be able to get your agent and your documents sorted.

For one, it’s possible to appoint yourself as your own resident agent in Texas. That also extends to other non-professionals whom you feel you can trust, such as your family or close friends.
Plenty of entrepreneurs in Texas, especially small business owners, choose this method for its cost-efficiency. You can find more on the Texas Secretary of State registered agent page, as well as their FAQ page.

Registered agent in Houston, Texas

Apart from the major national registered agents that operate in Houston, the city offers local options.

Some of these professionals predominantly work as independent tax consultants, but they do provide statutory agent services on demand.
One standout local incorporation company based in the Woodlands is IncorporateMax. Their registered agent service is priced at only $49 per year.

Registered agent in Dallas, Texas

In Dallas area, you can also hire both national services and local firms to be your resident agent. Some of the best Dallas-based business service providers include:

• Simon | Paschal PLLC - $99 per year;
• Angel Landfair, CPA;
• Macatax Income Tax Services, Inc.

Registered agent in Austin, Texas

Austin is by far the most accommodating Texan city in terms of local statutory agent choices. Here are a few notable firms and independent professionals in this area:

• Resident Agent LLC - $97 per year;
• Texan Registered Agent LLC - $35 per year
• Lone Star Registered Agent LLC - $50 per year;
• Lawyer's Aid Service, Inc.

1. Northwest Registered Agent — 4.6/5

If we talk about national providers that operate throughout the US and in Texas specifically, our top pick is Northwest Registered Agent. Although it’s not the most budget option—Northwest charges $125 per year for their work—the company outpaces other popular Texas registered agent services in terms of client support and overall expertise.

Pros

• Clear service rates: Unlike certain competitors, NW Registered Agent are upfront with their service charges. They clearly outline available pricing options without requiring you to sign up or fill out your personal information. They also show the exact order total for Texas, including add-ons and service fees, should those apply in your case;
• Customized support: One of Northwest’s strongest selling points is their approach to customer support. Whereas a good number of service providers choose to outsource their client care, NW has its own team of experts and assigns a personal assistant to each customer. When you have your personal customer support officer, any issue is likely to be resolved much faster;
• Fast processing: Instant service is inarguably a point of pride for Northwest. Naturally, you can never guarantee immediate processing—especially during periods of increased workload, both internally and at the Texas Secretary of State office—but Northwest are known for their speedy and personal approach to reviewing and handling orders. This is especially accurate when it comes to their registered representatives—Northwest will reach out after processing your order, after which a statutory agent will be appointed to your business;
• One year of free agent for service of process with formation: Aspiring business owners can actually save up on their first year of registered agent if they choose to form their company with Northwest. If you choose to purchase Northwest’s formation package, a statutory rep will be appointed to you for free for the first 12 months of operation. After the first year, the rate will be standard—$125 per year;
• Locally-scanned documents: Although some registered agent services and formation companies do specific document scans, they tend to cover only very basic paperwork. Northwest goes further than that by scanning every physical document they receive on your behalf and emailing it to you.

Cons

• More expensive: Despite being so upfront about their service fees, add-ons, and overall prices, Northwest still can’t exactly be called the most affordable resident agent option of the lot. Some of its direct competitors offer resident agent subscription for as low as $50 a year, though the industry’s average tends to lean more into $80-$100 per year.

Overall

The general consensus for Northwest is that they are by far the most reliable statutory agent available in 2022. It’s true that they are not exactly cheap but are also more transparent about their add-ons, pricing policy, and their registration process.

Their Google rating is currently 4.6 out of 5 stars based on 400+ user reviews, indicating high levels of customer satisfaction.

Northwest guarantees personal data protection, meaning you can be sure your information won’t be sold off to data brokers. They also boast over 15 years of experience with an excellent reputation among business experts.

2. Harbor Compliance — 4.3/5

Harbor Compliance may not be as extensively promoted in Texas as other national business solutions services, but they are by far one of the most accommodating providers when it comes to agents for service of process. Not only are Harbor’s prices lower than those of the more popular services, but the company also offers discounts depending on your subscription type.

Pros

• Affordable rates: Although they are not ranked that high in the pricing category for formation services, Harbor is actually one of the most accessible services if you want a standalone registered agent subscription. One year of their Texas statutory rep costs $99 which is an acceptable industry average;
• Discounts for long-term customers: What makes Harbor’s subscription model more compelling is that they discount Texas registered agent by 5-10% for multiple year purchases;
• Online database: With Harbor’s agent for service of process, you will also be able to access your documents online. The office will scan your documents and upload them to your personal account.

Cons

• Low review numbers: The trouble with assessing Harbor customer satisfaction is the distinct lack of reviews compared to other services. Despite their experience, Harbor has amassed only a few dozens of user reviews across online review platforms;
• Convoluted registration process: Harbor isn’t really alone in this, as it has become standard practice for agencies to take new users on a whole journey of signing up and creating a profile before they could get some of the more vital information about the product. That being said, Harbor is actually not the worst in this regard.

Overall

Harbor Compliance positions itself as a software support service for business solutions. Their website could be pretty difficult to navigate, but luckily their registered agent information and subscription is easily accessible and very straightforward. Compared to other services in the same price category, Harbor also doesn’t push as many upsells. Their general approach to privacy policy and customer help has earned them the highest A+ rating with BBB, and a good portion of Google reviews attest to Harbor’s overall competence.

3. ZenBusiness — 3.6/5

At this point, very few formation services can rival ZenBusiness in terms of industry recognition. And while they are worth the hype as a formation service, they can’t exactly be called the best overall choice as a standalone registered agent. That said, ZenBusiness is still a good option thanks to its low annual rates.

Pros

• Affordable rates: In this regard, ZenBusiness works a marvel for small businesses. They only ask for $99 per year for their Texas registered agent, making it easier to plan your company’s budget;
• Texas business address: By appointing a stautory rept to your entity, ZenBusiness issues a business address for the state of Texas (street address, not a P.O. box), as well as a viable registered office;
• Free registered agent with business formation: Most ZenBusiness customers start from scratch, so they are able to get a resident agent entirely for free for the first 12 months of usage, while only paying $39-$49 for the formation itself.

Cons

• Additional charges: While ZenBusiness does provide you with the basics, they do charge you extra for other vital services. For instance, you will need to pay an additional $50 per month to get compliance notifications;
• Inconvenient registration process: ZenBusiness has recently updated their registered agent order forms with a virtual chat, presumably to be more user-friendly. However, they achieved the exact opposite. When you choose to order a resident agent from them, the website doesn’t redirect you to the actual option selection and instead takes you to a questionnaire page where you must first “chat” to a virtual assistant, making the entire process unnecessarily convoluted and invasive.

Overall

ZenBusiness is at its best when it’s used as a formation service. Their business formation bundle is one of the cheapest in the industry, plus it gets you a whole year of free statutory agent subscription. After the free trial is up, their rates are also pretty low, so it could work long-term without any need to update Texas registered agent. That said, ZenBusiness loses quite a few points due to accessibility issues—the convoluted website design and registration process feels almost purposefully obstructive.

4. IncFile — 3/5

This formation service is often cited as the best free option on the market for Texas entity registration. However, if you only need a registered agent, IncFile’s rates are also more than reasonable, especially compared to other industry leaders.

Pros

• Free business formations: Probably IncFile’s strongest feature, their free business creation services could be the best option for Texas startups that work with limited budgets. Unlike most providers, IncFile doesn’t have service fees for their basic formation plan. The only thing you will need to pay to get your own Texas LLC started is the state’s actual filing fee;
• Free registered agent with a formation bundle: IncFile is a great company for newcomers, as you can get the first year of their resident agent completely for free if you choose to form your business with them. After that, IncFile only charges $119 per year.

Cons

• Limited services: For $119 a year, IncFile’s agent for service of process doesn’t exactly seem extensive. While they will assign you a Texas street address, they do not support any compliance alerts, unlike other companies on the list;
• Not a practical long-term solution: If you don’t use them for business formation, IncFile as a standalone registered agent won’t exactly be cost-effective for the relatively sparse features it provides.

Overall

IncFile could be a very tempting money-saving solution for small businesses, but only as long as you use their formation services to begin with. Buying their Texas registered agent service separately might be a cheaper option for you compared to other industry leaders, but only as a short-term solution since IncFile isn’t as extensive in their statutory rep support as other providers.

5. LegalZoom — 2.6/5

LegalZoom is by far the most expensive provider on this list, as well as one of the most overpriced options on the market as a whole. Their high rates don’t negate the fact that LegalZoom is a well-established brand with years of experience to back it up.

Pros

• Useful features: street address, mail forwarding, scanned documents, online database, compliance alerts;
• Extensive experience: Having initially launched in 2000 in Delaware, LegalZoom has worked with thousands of businesses and corporations over the past two decades. It’s safe to say they had a huge part in shaping the modern formation market.

Cons

• High service rates: They ask for a whopping $299 per year without fully justifying such high pricing. You can get a better quality of service with Northwest for almost half the price;
• Registered agent is a standalone service only: Unlike other formation services, LegalZoom does not offer any discounts for bundle purchases. This means you can only get their Texas registered agent as a separate feature—a baffling choice given that their formation packages are also overpriced and don’t even provide this essential service;
• Middling customer reviews: For all their popularity and extensive feedback, LegalZoom’s actual user reviews lean heavily towards average-to-low scores. Customers are often frustrated with the company’s quality of support and obscure service charges.

Overall

We can’t really recommend LegalZoom as the go-to choice for a resident agent in Texas due to its pricing and less than convenient package design. However, as a premium service, they remain one of the industry favorites for all types of business solutions, including their statutory agent. So if you don’t mind paying $299 per year for the brand name alone, then by all means go for it.

We also recommend to consider the local Texas Company Texan Registered Agent.

Registered Agent Review General Conclusions

Currently, you will have better chances of getting a quality Texas registered agent with one of the business formation services rather than as a standalone service with freelance attorney, accountant, or another independent agency.

While there are plenty of law, tax, and accounting firms in major Texas cities that can provide statutory agent services, it will likely end up costing you hundreds of dollars more than getting the same features with one of the national formation services.

Moreover, quite a few companies that handle business solutions offer discounts, bundle bargains with Texas articles of organization, certificate of formation, DBA registration, and other cost-effective options regardless of your location in the state of Texas.

Benefits of Using a Texas Registered Agent Service

Running a business is undoubtedly a costly venture, leading many owners to cut down costs wherever they can. One of the popular ways to reduce costs is by handling resident agent duties personally.

It should be said that while being your own agent can be a good way to balance your initial budget, it might end up costing much more in penalties and other fees than you would have originally paid for the professional agent.

If you choose to appoint yourself as your own agent, you will inevitably face the following drawbacks:

• No regular breaks, days off, or holidays;
• Sharing your personal address and info publicly;
• Being swamped with spam mail and unwanted promo calls;
• Unable to be a resident agent in another state, should you wish to expand.

A professional Texas registered agent can:

• Provide a Texas business address and registered office address;
• Receive correspondence and documents from the state and forward them to you;
• Scan documents and email them or upload them to the cloud;
• Notify you of any upcoming filings to help you keep your good standing with the state of Texas;
• Appoint resident agents in other states where you would like to do business.

Best Registered Agent Review - How do we choose?

The evaluation process for our picks is fairly simple, but we find that it’s often best to not go crazy with the number of qualifiers for this category.

Why you can trust our choice

We strive to keep our assessment concise. Often, polluting Texas resident agent reviews with unnecessary promotional information can be detrimental to the clarity of the evaluation. When you are on a Texas registered agent search, it’s always best to stick to the basics.

How We Selected the Best Registered Agent

We chose to evaluate our options for the best Texas statutory agents based on three major categories—price, features, and ease of use.

• Price: All agents charge customers on an annual basis, so it’s fairly easy to see how these rates compare when applied to the same billing period;
• Features: Professional Texas agencies offer more or less identical registered features, although some choose to include certain basic services for free while others charge extra;
• Ease of use: This category is designed for assessing how easy it is to get straightforward information on each service’s pricing and policy. This includes website navigation, simplicity of their order forms, upsells, etc.

Conclusion

Running any form of business in the state of Texas would be impossible without having a permanent Texas registered agent. Every formal entity must have an agent with a valid Texas street address who consents to the appointment.

The best way to keep your business compliant is to appoint a professional Texas registered agent, though some entrepreneurs choose to take this job upon themselves. While we understand the cost-efficiency of the latter method, we nevertheless strongly recommend you hire a professional agent, whether it’s an independent business owner or a service provided by a business formation company.

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