Northwest Registered Agent vs BizFilings

Last updated on: July 9, 2021
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If you want to start an LLC business, the help of professionals can make the LLC formation process much easier, faster, and cheaper. Because it is too expensive for most startups to hire a business attorney, today many entrepreneurs are forming an LLC online using special services.

In this Northwest Registered Agent vs BizFilings comparison guide, we are comparing pricing, functions, and features to choose the best LLC service for your business.

Do Northwest and BizFilings Offer Good Value?

If you consider Northwest Registered Agent and BizFilings as a professional online company to help you begin your LLCs, then you’re on the right track. Both these services are respected LLC formation service providers, have excellent reputations and are ranked high in the LLC services industry. 

Each can open a compliant LLC at reasonable rates, quickly and efficiently, but in our opinion, Northwest is one step ahead.

Northwest Registered Agent has the best customer support in the industry, because of its highly professional representatives and individual approach to clients. In addition, Northwest is the only LLC service that does a full local scan of all company incoming documents. It also has excellent and numerous customer feedback, whereas BizFilings has less than a dozen reviews.

Nevertheless, both companies are doing an excellent job of LLC formation.

7 Things They Have In Common

Affordable

The requirements and formation costs depend on the state of registration, so a lawyer’s help in preparing and filing LLC formation documents can be very helpful. However, their prices are quite high. If you hire Northwest Registered Agent or BizFilings, you will get high-quality services at a reasonable price. Although they are not the cheapest LLC services in the industry, you will save hundreds of dollars. 

Customer Support

BizFilings and Northwest Registered Agent customers can access customer support networks to quickly get answers to any questions. 

Both these companies have a high quality of customer service, fast response time, and a team of professional representatives. If you have any doubts while registering an LLC, you can always contact them for advice.

Registered Agent Service

Hiring registered agent services is an integral part of opening an LLC in every state. The good news is that both Northwest Registered Agent and BizFilings offer it as part of their LLC formation packages for free. Thus, with the BizFilings Basic LLC service package you will get 6 months of free registered agent services, and with Northwest, you will get 1 year.

Experience

BizFilings and Northwest are highly experienced companies that have formed thousands of LLCs and have earned a reliable services reputation. Since their opening, both companies have been constantly improving to start LLCs in the most efficient manner. Therefore, today they are the most respected services for creating new LLCs and corporations in the industry.

Efficiency

If you need to get an LLC formed as soon as possible, such service providers as Northwest Registered Agent and BizFilings can help. They provide expedited service to reduce turnaround time from a few weeks to a couple of days. With their services, you can register your LLC and start operating your business as quickly as possible.

Security

When it comes to security, both BizFilings and Northwest are good at it. They take online security and customer privacy seriously and protect their websites. BizFilings uses Norton Web Security, while Northwest goes further and hires in-house coders and hosts its own servers to take care of ensuring security. 

Additional Services

If you need to open an LLC, Northwest and BizFilings are among the best services available in the industry. To make your business operating more comfortable, they provide Additional Services such as:

  • Drafting an LLC Operating Agreement;
  • Help maintain an LLC’s compliant status;
  • Getting foreign qualifications, etc.

Side by Side Comparisons

Pricing

BizFilings offers three options for LLC service packages, which differ according to the set of services and price:

  • Basic Package for $99+state fee;
  • Standard Package costs $229+state fee;
  • Complete Package is $359+state fee.

Note that the prices for the last 2 packages may vary depending on the state in which you plan to open a business. Hence, you may need to pay an additional fee in some of them.

Northwest sets its price point at $225+state fee per the only LLC formation package. Such a price point for LLC service is not the lowest in the industry. There are several competing formation services that are ready to form your business for less. However, on a long-term basis, Northwest LLC formation expenses will pay off due to the high value of the services included in its package.

To summarize:

BizFilings:

  • LLC formation – starts at $99;
  • Registered agent – $164/year.

Northwest:

  • LLC formation – starts at $225; 
  • Registered agent – $125/year. 

Features

Both companies professionally help launch an LLC, also providing related services such as legal advice to make the process of doing business easier.

One of the most popular is the registered agent service. No matter whether you prefer BizFilings or Northwest, the company will provide this service free of charge by including it in the LLC formation package. One difference between the two LLC services, however, is the term. Northwest Registered Agent offers a year of registered agent service, while BizFilings offers six months.

Customer Support

When launching an LLC, every Northwest Registered Agent or BizFilings client can benefit from their Customer Support services.

BizFilings representatives provide helpful support, providing additional details and responding quickly to requests. You can reach them via phone, email, and web chat options from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm Eastern Time on weekdays. When you work with this company, you’ll get solid customer service and qualified answers.

Instead of a standard customer support system, Northwest provides each customer with professional Corporate Guides, a personal consultant. If you have any questions about an LLC formation process, you can send an email response or contact them directly by phone. All the company’s representatives are professional, experienced, and friendly, making Northwest customer support truly one of the best in the industry. 

Registered Agent Service

Since every American company is required to designate an LLC registered agent, let’s look at BizFilings vs. Northwest Registered Agent from this point of view.

According to the law, a registered agent LLC is a person or business entity responsible for receiving official correspondence addressed to the LLC. 

The good news is that both services include registered agents in their service packages. If you hire Northwest, you will get a full year of registered agent service, and then the annual fee will be $125. 

BizFilings offers 6 months of registered agent service for free and then will charge $149 per year.

Experience

Both companies rank high in the business services industry and have solid experience in creating an LLC and business support.

BizFilings opened in 1996. During that time the company has helped more than 500,000 businesses formed, building a strong reputation.

Northwest Registered Agent was founded in 1998 and has served nearly 2 million customers since that time. It makes it one of the best companies in the online incorporation services industry. Unlike BizFilings, it has many positive reviews featured on various independent websites.

Turnaround Times

When hiring Northwest, turnaround times vary depending on the state you choose to do business in. It usually takes a couple of weeks, but the company offers expedited services that reduce the waiting period to a few days.

BizFilings determines the turnaround times by the level of service package you purchase: 

  • Basic Package – 4-6 weeks;
  • Standard and Complete Packages -7-10 business days.

You can pay an extra $60 cost to use the expedited service. It gives guaranteed fast delivery, but will not affect the filing time or speed of formation, only make your order a priority within the company itself. If you need to incorporate an LLC quickly, you will also need to pay a state expediting fee for expedited processing by the state.

Order Tracking

The Northwest Registered Agent and BizFilings both have handy status tracking tools on their websites, giving you access to real-time information. You can use them to track an application’s status throughout the LLC registration process, from filing paperwork to officially opening a business. 

Customer Reviews

If we do a customer reviews comparison of other popular online companies with BizFilings or Northwest Registered Agent, the volume of their customers’ feedback is small.

Northwest has about 150 customer reviews online, most of which are positive. Customers like the work of its customer support representatives and the high quality of the services.

Despite its vast experience, BizFilings has less than 10 reviews. Although the lack of numerous criticisms is a good sign, such a small number of reviews does not draw a conclusion.

Ease of Use

To simplify the application process, both these LLC service providers have developed user-friendly websites.

To hire Northwest, all you need to do is visit the company’s website, enter personal information, select the preferred package and pay for the order.

BizFilings uses a registration wizard service for submitting applications. It’s a convenient tool that helps you decide what business structure best fits the specifics of your business. There are some additional upsells during the checkout process, but they are not obtrusive.

Additional Services

Like most companies in this industry, BizFilings and Northwest Registered Agent’s services provide a large selection of additional services along with setting up an LLC. They can help with such things as:

  • Filing annual reports;
  • Obtaining the foreign qualifications needed to expand an LLC to another state;
  • EIN registration, etc.

However, only Northwest has virtual office services and mail forwarding options. 

BizFilings’ exclusive offering is LLC dissolution, LLC conversions, and amendments to Articles of Organization. 

Better Service to Form an LLC?

When you work with Northwest Registered Agent and BizFilings, you will get a professional approach to starting an LLC and excellent quality services. Both companies are among the top LLC formation services and have extensive experience. Nevertheless, you should consider the specifics and needs of your particular LLC when making your decision.

Let’s take a look at the main reasons why you might choose BizFilings LLC packages or Northwest packages. 

Choose Northwest Registered Agent if You:

  • Are interested in premium customer support with a customized approach;
  • Appreciate having better customer reviews on third-party websites;
  • Look for a company that provides a full year registered agent free of charge;
  • Want to see a clear picture of the turnaround time for both standard processing options and expedited processing.

Choose BizFilings if You:

  • Need publication service because you plan to open a company in a state where LLC state requirements include this additional condition;
  • Want to save money with the Basic BizFilings LLC formation Package.
Senior Business Tax Writer, etc
Jean Wilson Murray
https://bestllcservices.co/
(323) 789-5289
Senior Business Tax Writer, etc
Jean Wilson Murray

Entrepreneur, investor, financial commentator

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