Updated November 10, 2026 · 9 services tested
We tested 9 LLC services for New Jersey. Northwest is our pick: $39 + $100 state fee, with the first registered agent year included (then $125/yr).
By Jon Morgan · Fact-checked by Jon Tobin, Business Attorney · How we test
Northwest Registered Agent
$39 + $100 state feeForm my LLC for $39 (opens in a new tab)
LegalZoom
$0 + $100 state feeSee LegalZoom plans (opens in a new tab)Save 20% with code: venturesmarter20
ZenBusiness
$0 + $100 state feeSee ZenBusiness plans (opens in a new tab)Prices checked November 10, 2026. New Jersey's state filing fee is $100.
We formed an LLC with every service on this list before ranking a single one. Northwest takes the top spot with the strongest overall New Jersey score, leading on support and price and tying for the top Features score.
Northwest is the stronger pick when privacy and a real person on the phone matter more than dashboard polish.
Its included first-year agent service and Corporate Guides team support that choice. LegalZoom ranks second for owners who want formation, ongoing legal help and bookkeeping tools together.
We compared checkout behavior, support access, filing speed, document delivery and how each service handles the state's registration paperwork. The table below lines up all nine side by side.
| Service | LLC Fees | Registered Agent Price | Money-Back Guarantee | Score | Compare offers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $39 using our exclusive link + $100 state fee | Free first year with the $39 LLC, then $125/yr | ✓ 90-day money-back promise | 4.9 | Form my LLC (opens in a new tab) |
| Priced from $0 + $100 state fee | $249 first year, then $249/yr (not in any plan) | ✓ 60-day money-back promise | 4.7 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
| Priced from $0 + $100 state fee | $199 first year, then $199/yr (not in any plan) | ✓ 60-day money-back promise | 4.6 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | Priced from $0 + $100 state fee | Free first year with formation, then $249/yr | ✓ 60-day money-back promise | 4.5 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | Priced from $0 + $100 state fee | $199 first year, then $199/yr (not in any plan) | ✗ | 4.4 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | Priced from $49 + $100 state fee | $14.99/mo first year, then $14.99/mo (inside its compliance plan) | ✓ 30 to 60 day money-back | 4.3 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | $99 formation fee + $100 state fee | $99 first year, then $159/yr (sold separately) | ✗ | 4.2 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | Priced from $0 + $100 state fee | $596 first year, then $596/yr (billed $149 a quarter; not in any plan) | ✓ 60-day money-back promise | 4.1 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | Priced from $0 + $100 state fee | Free first year with formation, then $149/yr | ✓ Refundable before state payment (within 24h); $30 fee | 3.9 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
Prices checked November 10, 2026. New Jersey's state filing fee is $100.
Each score combines support, price, turnaround, ease of use, user ratings and features.
Refund: 90 days
BBB: BBB A rating
Same & Next Day Filing: No
Free Package Features: No complimentary inclusions
Advisory Services: No
Our Northwest Registered Agent order started with a clear invoice, then a Corporate Guide reviewed our company details before anything was filed. A Corporate Guide answers questions during that verification step if any come up.
The registered-agent name and address appeared in our account as soon as the service went active, and filed documents were uploaded automatically once the state approved them. That gave us a single place to check both the filing and the agent record.
Northwest's address can stand in for a company's own on many filings, but a bank or a state form may still ask for the real principal address. We kept both on hand during setup.
Pros
Cons
Refund: 60-day money-back promise
BBB: A+ rating on BBB
Same & Next Day Filing: No
Free Package Features: Covers LLC filing, and customizable website
LegalZoom asked for our company details only after payment cleared. Every other service on this list asked first.
Its attorney network stands ready for legal questions that go past the LLC filing itself, and LZ Books added bookkeeping tools to the same account once our order finished.
That combination suits a founder who wants formation and ongoing legal help in one place.
The dashboard puts the legal and financial tools front and center at login. That makes them easy to find once the New Jersey filing is done.
Exclusively for Venture Smarter users, apply code venturesmarter20 to enjoy 20% off LLC formation and other services at LegalZoom.
Pros
Cons
Refund: 60-day money-back promise
BBB: Holds BBB accreditation
Same & Next Day Filing: Via Pro & Premium packages
Advisory Services: Accounting consultation provided
ZenBusiness kept the running total visible on every checkout screen during our formation order, and no optional extra arrived pre-selected. Phone and chat support stayed one click away the whole time.
After payment, Velo AI, ZenBusiness's in-account assistant, checked the new account and flagged the EIN, compliance and website work still open.
That single list replaced several separate dashboard tabs a first-time filer would otherwise have to hunt through.
Registered-agent coverage costs extra here, so we tracked that renewal once the state accepted our filing. The document center flagged a missing EIN and offered AI-assisted templates to help close it.
Pros
Cons
Refund: 60-day money-back promise
BBB: Holds BBB accreditation
Same & Next Day Filing: ~ Contingent on premium package
Advisory Services: Consultation with private banking specialist
Inc Authority is the bargain pick only if every screen gets read slowly. In our formation order, the first payment stayed low and first-year registered agent service showed as included.
The catch came before final checkout, when Inc Authority walked us through a sequence of full-screen upsell offers, each carrying its own countdown timer, before the order review.
Most filers should pick the EIN if they need a bank account, then decline anything they don't understand.
There isn't much of an ongoing dashboard after that. The registered-agent renewal is the number to calendar before year two.
Pros
Cons
Refund: No
BBB: No
Free Package Features: LLC filing plus a free 30-day bookkeeping trial
Advisory Services: Business coaching program (included in all plans)
Tailor Brands put our filing status, logo options and a website builder inside one account once the order went through. That kept the legal work and the public-facing launch in a single place instead of scattered across separate tools.
Registered agent and virtual-address decisions had to be made before we submitted the application. Neither could be added afterward.
Once the account opened, the dashboard showed Annual Compliance already tracking our filing. Reminders are set to go out by email, text and an in-app alert 90 days ahead of any due date.
Standard review can take up to two weeks without an upgrade, slower than several competitors on this list. A founder who needs the LLC approved fast should weigh that against the branding tools before choosing this route.
Pros
Cons
Open any card for the complete review, scores and packages.
Refund: 30 to 60 day money-back
BBB: A rating on BBB
Same & Next Day Filing: No
Free Package Features: And organizational minutes
Advisory Services: Attorney support (paid upgrade)
LLC Attorney pairs the filing with document review from its formation team before anything reaches the state, and the paperwork on our account came back correctly formatted with no errors to fix.
Support answered through phone, email and live chat. A call connected to an advisor within a few minutes, while email replies took closer to a day.
Private and anonymous filing options also kept our address off records where New Jersey's process allowed it.
The tradeoff is that this isn't a broad software account. Anyone who wants ongoing reminders, brand tools or a large dashboard will find more of that with ZenBusiness or Northwest.
Pros
Cons
Refund: No
BBB: Holds BBB accreditation
Same & Next Day Filing: ~ Varies per state
Free Package Features: No complimentary inclusions
Advisory Services: No
Harbor Compliance feels more like an entity-management service than a beginner filing app. That's the reason to use it, with same-day document scanning, deadline tracking and compliance software access once the account is active.
Nobody calls to walk a filer through setup. The online flow assumes you already know what to add. Documents and legal mail get scanned the same day they arrive and posted to the portal, with entity good-standing monitoring running in the background.
For a single New Jersey LLC, that structure can be more than a first-time filer needs. It becomes more useful once the annual report is only one piece of a broader compliance calendar.
Pros
Cons
Refund: 60-day money-back promise
BBB: No
Same & Next Day Filing: Via Premium plan
Free Package Features: Covers LLC filing and lifetime customer support
Advisory Services: No
Swyft Filings runs a five-step application that stays easy to follow from name check through document filing. The dashboard shows real-time order status once submitted.
Support during testing answered fast, with most queries resolved on first contact through phone, chat or email.
The service is a reasonable middle option, though its dashboard doesn't go as far as the ones that pushed ZenBusiness and Northwest higher on this list.
Registered agent service costs extra here, on every plan, and it renews above the industry average. Annualize that cost before comparing the total price against a provider that includes agent coverage up front.
Pros
Cons
Refund: Refundable before state payment (within 24h); $30 fee
BBB: No
Free Package Features: Tax consultation
Advisory Services: 1-hour free tax advisory
Bizee placed each upsell on its own screen during our formation order. The decline option always sat next to the paid choice, and nothing arrived pre-selected.
The registered agent listed on our filing was Republic Registered Agent LLC, a third party Bizee contracts with. It doesn't act as its own agent. The dashboard still centralized filings, contracts and a compliance checklist once the account opened.
A few free extras, like the virtual mailbox, sat unclaimed until we manually activated them. A 24-hour order-change window fixes a mistyped detail before the filing goes out to the state.
Pros
Cons
We ran New Jersey's nine providers through the same six-part LLC service testing methodology used sitewide, plus a New Jersey Fit score layered on top: Support, Price, Features, Turnaround, Ease of Use and User Ratings.
New Jersey owners also have to plan for the Business Registration Certificate and the annual report, so a low formation fee is only part of the decision. The screenshots below come from our own Tailor Brands and Northwest testing.
A Corporate Guide walked our Northwest order through a full detail review before it reached the state, the most direct human contact of any service here. ZenBusiness backed that up with a support link that never disappeared from checkout.
Northwest led the Support score, with LegalZoom close behind. Northwest and ZenBusiness both kept a real answer within reach whether the question came up before or after payment.
A near-zero entry cost never decided this category on its own. We weighed the entry cost against registered-agent renewal, EIN help and ongoing compliance charges together.
Northwest led the group once its included first-year agent service changed the real year-one math; ZenBusiness still kept its free entry option easy to track from checkout through the account.
Document breadth and post-formation tools separated these services more than the checkout screen did. Credit went to accounts that stayed useful well beyond the moment New Jersey approved the filing.
Northwest and LegalZoom tied for the highest Features score, ahead of ZenBusiness.
The provider-specific tools varied: Northwest offered agent coverage, LegalZoom paired legal and bookkeeping tools, and ZenBusiness combined compliance coverage with its document library.
Bizee scored lowest once its templates-only document library came into the count.
The state controls part of the clock, but each provider still controls everything leading up to submission. We looked at intake clarity, order review and any avoidable delay before filing.
Northwest and ZenBusiness tied for the top Turnaround score, while Tailor Brands' standard review can stretch past two weeks without an upgrade. A fast filing buried in confusing checkout screens never scored well here.
Checkout clarity and dashboard organization drove this score more than any single feature. We asked how quickly a first-time filer could tell finished work from what still needed attention.
ZenBusiness led this category by a clear margin, with its dashboard keeping formation and follow-up tasks in one list. Bizee and Harbor Compliance scored lower here since both ask you to track more manually after checkout.
Public review scores mattered only when they matched what we actually saw during testing. A familiar brand name didn't earn credit on its own.
Tailor Brands posted the top User Ratings score among the nine, with Northwest and ZenBusiness tied just behind, and both delivered a formation experience that matched the reputation.
Bizee's third-party agent setup drew the most mixed outside feedback.
New Jersey fit measured how well each service handled the state's filing rhythm: the Business Registration Certificate step, the registered-agent requirement and the anniversary-month annual report.
The strongest fit came from services whose dashboard kept those follow-up deadlines visible without extra digging. A provider that files the first form and stops there scored lower here, whatever its checkout price looked like.
Source: SBA Office of Advocacy 2025 New Jersey State Profile, drawing on Business Employment Dynamics (BLS) and CRA Aggregate Data (FFIEC).
You do not have to hire a formation service to start an LLC in New Jersey. Here is what a self-filed formation actually looks like end to end.
LLC formation takes about one business day for the state's own review once the Public Records Filing is submitted online. Provider processing adds to that, typically same day (ZenBusiness Pro) up to two weeks (Tailor Brands Lite).
Forming an LLC costs $100 for the Public Records Filing with the Division of Revenue.
Add $75 each year for the annual report and, for LLCs with three or more members taxed as a partnership, a $150-per-member minimum filing fee based on New Jersey-source income.
New Jersey requires every LLC to name a registered agent with a physical street address in the state.
Owners can appoint themselves if they meet the address rule, but most hire a private registered agent service to keep a home address off the public filing.
The Business Registration Certificate is the document the Division of Revenue issues after an LLC files Form NJ-REG.
It confirms the LLC is registered for state taxes and is required to bid on public contracts, apply for state grants, and claim New Jersey tax credits.
New Jersey LLCs file an annual report each year with the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. The report costs $75 and is due on the last day of the LLC's anniversary month, filed through the online portal.
Switching from sole proprietor to LLC means filing a Public Records Filing, obtaining an EIN, and completing NJ-REG for state tax registration.
The move adds personal liability protection and the ability to hold a Business Registration Certificate that a sole proprietorship cannot.
Northwest is the LLC service we would choose first for most New Jersey owners, based on its top scores for support and price, its tie for top Features and its included first-year registered-agent service.
LegalZoom ranks second for owners who want formation, an attorney network and bookkeeping tools together. Pick LLC Attorney when reviewed paperwork is worth more to you than a dashboard full of extra tools.
Whichever service you choose, budget for the Business Registration Certificate and the annual report as real follow-up work rather than optional extras.
References
Our verdict
$39 + $100 state fee, with the first registered agent year included (then $125/yr). 90-day money-back guarantee.
Prices checked November 10, 2026. New Jersey's state filing fee is $100.