I'm starting a small consulting LLC and want to keep my home address out of public records. I keep seeing Northwest Registered Agent and Inc Authority compared. Northwest costs more upfront but seems to have a better privacy reputation. Inc Authority is free but I've read mixed things about upsells and mail forwarding. Has anyone used either for privacy specifically? I'm not trying to hide from taxes, just don't want my address on every database.
business privacy
Northwest Registered Agent or Inc Authority for a privacy-conscious founder?
Used Inc Authority for the free LLC filing. It's free for a reason. They'll call you nonstop about their $1000+ "business makeover" package. The registered agent service was fine but I moved to Northwest after a year and never looked back. Mail forwarding through IA felt clunky.
NW all day. The fact they don't upsell you every five minutes says a lot. I pay for their registered agent and privacy is solid. They also have a business address option. Not the cheapest but worth it for the quiet.
Do you actually need privacy from the start? In many states the registered agent's address is listed anyway, and your name is public regardless unless you use a nominee. Might be worth checking your state's rules before paying extra.
Yeah, that's fair. I'm in Oregon. You can use the RA address for the business address but the member's hame still shows up if you're the only member. The only way around is forming with an attorney or a trust, which is oveerkill for me. I just wanted to keep my apartment out of it.
I went with Northwest specifically because they don't force their address at the time of filing. Some servces list your home address in the initial articles. With NW you can opt out of that, and their mail forwarding is just included in the RA plan (I think it was like $125). Inc Authority charged me separate for mail.
Isn't Northwest just as upsell-y but in a nicer wrapper? They still charge for their business address and phone. Doesn't matter if they're polite about it. Also their "free" registered agent for the first year is just a hook.
@davefromdesk Not really. The difference is NW isn't calling you every 10 minutes to sell you a $2000 website. But yeah, their pricing is what it is. I paid for the address because I didn't want my home in the database. To each their own. Some folks just use a UPS box.
Inc Authority gave my business address to third parties. Got constant junk mail at my house for a year. Switched to Northwest and it stopped. That's my two cents.
Also NW has an actual human answer the phone. Inc Authority's chat is a bot loop. Small thing but when you're dealing with legal filings you want a person.