Updated October 6, 2026 · 6 services tested
We tested 6 registered agent services for Texas. Northwest Registered Agent is our pick: $125 first year, then $125/yr.
By Jon Morgan · Fact-checked by Jon Tobin, Business Attorney · How we test
Northwest Registered Agent
$125 first year, then $125/yrFree first year with its $39 LLCGet Northwest's agent service (opens in a new tab)
ZenBusiness
$99 first year, then $199/yrHalf price in year one when you switch to ZenBusiness (state fee extra)See ZenBusiness agent plan (opens in a new tab)
Rocket Lawyer
$124.99 first year, then $124.99/yrOnly with a Plus or Pro membershipSee Rocket Lawyer's agent plan (opens in a new tab)Prices checked October 6, 2026.
Picking a registered agent in Texas comes down to who actually answers when a lawsuit notice shows up, well beyond whatever a signup page promises.
We tested every registered agent service reviewed in this guide and compared what each one delivered after payment.
Northwest Registered Agent won this roundup by scoring well across nearly every category we track. ZenBusiness took second with a straightforward opt-in signup flow, and Rocket Lawyer placed third with its broader legal-membership platform.
Compare providers on the renewal price below, since that is the figure you actually pay every year after the first.
Texas's own franchise tax filing stays completely separate from every number in that table, which ranks providers by ongoing renewal cost.
| Service | Agent price | RA bundled with formation | Service features | Score | Compare offers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $125 first year, then $125/yrFree first year with its $39 LLC | Yes (free first year with formation) | • Same-day scanning of legal mail • Files change-of-agent form for switchers • Home address kept off public filings | 4.9 | Get agent service (opens in a new tab) |
| $99 first year, then $199/yrHalf price in year one when you switch to ZenBusiness (state fee extra) | No (separate purchase, never pre-selected) | • Same-day scanning with an email alert • Address limited to legal and state mail • Never billed without a signup step | 4.7 | See plan (opens in a new tab) |
| $124.99 first year, then $124.99/yrOnly with a Plus or Pro membership | No (Plus or Pro membership required for the discount) | • Membership cuts the renewal price in half • Shared document center for legal paperwork • Available without a formation purchase | 4.5 | See plan (opens in a new tab) |
 | $249 first year, then $249/yr | No | • Documents scanned with time-sensitive alerts • Unlimited cloud storage • Not offered during formation checkout | 4.4 | See plan (opens in a new tab) |
 | $149 first year, then $149/yrFree first year with a Bizee LLC | Yes (free first year with formation) | • Dedicated tab for registered-agent mail • Free-year policy stated upfront on-site • Renewal billed apart from other tools | 4.3 | See plan (opens in a new tab) |
 | $49 first year, then $49/yrFree first year with its $375 Texas incorporation package | No (sold as its own standalone service) | • Texas-only company with a physical office • Free change-over from a prior agent • No auto-renew billing | 4.0 | See plan (opens in a new tab) |
Prices checked October 6, 2026.
Each score combines support, price, features, privacy and security, compliance alerts and user ratings.
Refund: 90 days
Inside our Northwest Registered Agent account, the Registered Agent Details screen listed the entity ID, coverage dates and assigned agent name on one page. Nothing about the coming renewal was left to guess.
Northwest Registered Agent's own office address sits on the public filing in place of a customer's home address. The company also states it handles that paperwork automatically for anyone switching from another provider.
The whole pitch rests on one flat number. A yearly renewal rate has held steady for a long stretch, with no added charge for scanning individual documents.
Pros
Cons
Refund: 60 days
ZenBusiness states clearly on its signup screen that this service is a separate purchase, never included automatically with an LLC order.
Skip that step during signup and the dashboard just keeps an Appoint prompt sitting there for later, with no surprise charge attached.
Its mail policy stays just as narrow. That address only accepts court paperwork and official state notices, nothing else.
Pros
Cons
Refund: 60 days
Rocket Lawyer sells this service on its own to anyone, though an existing Plus or Pro membership cuts the renewal price roughly in half. Phone support resolved our questions quickly during testing, often in a single call.
Rocket Lawyer Corporate Services LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary, is named in official state records as the entity that carries out this role for customers.
Membership itself bills apart from the registered agent fee, so anyone who already holds one saves real money on this line item alone.
Pros
Cons
Refund: 60 days
Our formation order through LegalZoom never surfaced this service during checkout. Anyone who wants it has to seek it out and add it separately afterward.
United States Corporation Agents, Inc. carries out the role behind the scenes, a company LegalZoom owns outright rather than a name buried in fine print.
No separate renewal figure gets published anywhere on the site. Whatever a customer pays that first year simply repeats every year after, at the same rate.
Pros
Cons
Refund: Before state payment
Bizee drops this service's price to zero for the first year whenever it ships with an LLC order, a policy printed plainly on its own site rather than tucked into fine print.
We noticed the account keeps a separate tab set aside just for this role, apart from Bizee's other alerts. Documents routed there came with an email notice attached, so we didn't have to check the dashboard directly.
Pros
Cons
Open any card for the complete review, scores and packages.
IncorporateMax works only inside Texas, unlike every other name on this page. The company has represented Texas entities for more than a decade.
Its own site lists one flat fee that covers the year. That fee already includes the state cost for a change-over from a prior agent.
The company states it checks a customer's corporation status every month. It also sends an email reminder ahead of the state's own franchise tax filing.
Pros
Cons
Firsthand testing or a direct conversation with a provider's own team backs every claim on this page, well beyond anything pulled from a press release. Our full testing methodology walks through exactly how that process runs.
Six weighted categories combine into the score shown on each card above. The seven sections below break down what actually separated these six providers from each other.
A single plain question, sent before any money changed hands, showed the widest gap between these six companies faster than any other test we tried.
Northwest Registered Agent answered fastest of the group, and ZenBusiness came close behind on how directly its reply addressed what we asked.
Response quality dropped off toward the bottom of the roster, where a similar question sat unanswered for days.
Opening discounts fade after year one, so this category counts only the figure that shows up on the renewal invoice.
Northwest Registered Agent and ZenBusiness tied for the top score in this category, ahead of every other provider on renewal-year value.
Rocket Lawyer's non-member rate produced the highest renewal figure among providers that don't bundle a membership discount.
Every provider's feature list reads about the same on the surface. The split shows up in which features stay free and which one quietly turns into a paid extra.
Northwest Registered Agent's document handling pulled clearly ahead of the pack, with ZenBusiness and LegalZoom close behind. A couple of providers in this group offer little past a bare scan-and-forward step.
Not one provider here put a customer's home address on a public filing during our testing. Each one differed in how clearly it spelled out what that address can and cannot be used for afterward.
Northwest Registered Agent led this category outright, spelling out that address-use scope in the plainest language of the six. ZenBusiness and Rocket Lawyer tied close behind, both stating a similar scope limit.
A deadline reminder that lands on time outweighs nearly any other feature on this list. Miss that window and everything else a provider offers stops mattering.
Northwest Registered Agent posted the top score outright, flagging filing deadlines earliest and stating them in the plainest terms. ZenBusiness came next, with alert sophistication dropping off further down the roster.
Public reviews don't always match what our own account testing turned up, which is exactly why this category gets scored on its own instead of folded into a testing note.
Northwest Registered Agent carries the strongest public rating of the six, with ZenBusiness sitting closest behind it.
Review volume stays thin for IncorporateMax, since a smaller regional company hasn't built the same review base as a national brand.
The local wrinkle isn't the registered agent rule itself, which tracks the Texas Business Organizations Code closely.
It's the fact that an LLC can never name itself as its own agent. Only an individual can serve personally, a detail easy to get backwards.
Texas's Public Information Report is a separate obligation from any registered agent's renewal price. It's filed with the Comptroller rather than the Secretary of State, detailed in Quick Facts above.
Texas also skips the commercial-versus-noncommercial agent split that some other states write into statute, which keeps the compliance picture simpler for a first-time filer.
IncorporateMax's Texas-only focus and Northwest Registered Agent's free change-of-agent filing both matter more in a state this large, where a local office and a fast switch-over process carry real weight.
Renewal prices across this group span $49 to $249.99 a year, with Rocket Lawyer's rate cut roughly in half for existing Plus or Pro members.
That range has nothing to do with Texas's own Public Information Report, a completely separate obligation every LLC owes the Comptroller. That report carries no filing fee by itself.
Entities at or below $2,650,000 in annualized revenue owe no franchise tax, but the report itself still has to be filed every year.
An individual Texas resident can act as a registered agent at no cost, as long as they meet the state's address and availability requirement. The entity itself can never fill that role.
Anyone comparing full LLC formation services instead should check our Texas LLC services guide, built from the same hands-on testing.
Texas's rule centers on naming an agent with a genuine street address, and the Business Organizations Code spells out exactly who qualifies. Here's the full list of what applies.
Yes, your Texas LLC is required to have a registered agent. Every entity formed and registered with the Texas Secretary of State must appoint one before the state accepts its filing.
A Texas registered agent accepts service of process and official state correspondence on behalf of an LLC, then forwards it to the business at the address on file.
No, you cannot use the registered agent office address as your business address. It is meant only to receive official government and legal documents.
Yes, but only as an individual. A Texas resident can serve personally if a qualifying street address is available during business hours, though the LLC itself can never act as its own registered agent.
A registered agent in Texas costs between $49 and $249.99 a year on the renewal basis, with IncorporateMax's flat rate at the low end. First-year pricing can run higher or lower than that ongoing number.
You change your registered agent in Texas by filing Form 401 with the Secretary of State and paying the $15 fee, either through SOSDirect or by mail.
Yes. Every LLC files a Public Information Report with the Comptroller, due May 15, separate from any registered agent fee.
Every provider on this page handled Texas service of process correctly, and none put a customer's own address on the public filing. Renewal price and document-handling speed actually separated them.
Northwest Registered Agent stands out if you want one provider that handles the switch-over paperwork and never adds a per-document charge later.
IncorporateMax costs less overall, a fair trade if you only need coverage inside Texas and don't mind a smaller regional company.
If price is the only factor that matters to you, IncorporateMax's flat $49 rate ($49 first year, then $49/yr) is the strongest value on this page for a Texas-only filer.
Rocket Lawyer is worth a look too, but only if you already carry a Plus or Pro membership.
References
Our verdict
$125 first year, then $125/yr. 90-day money-back guarantee.
Prices checked October 6, 2026.