LegalZoom vs. Northwest
The most famous name in formation against the flat-price agent company. The five-year gap is $706, and it buys brand and attorney-plan access, not a different LLC. Prices checked November 8, 2026.
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LLCForming is funded by affiliate commissions. Right now the provider links on this page are plain links and we earn nothing when you click them. As affiliate partnerships are approved, links will be swapped for tracked ones and this note will be updated. Prices below come from each provider's own pricing page, checked November 8, 2026. Full disclosure.
The short answer
Northwest wins on price everywhere it is possible to win: $39 with the agent year and operating agreement included, a $125 agent renewal, and a $539 five-year total, against LegalZoom's $0 Basic that reaches $1,245 over five years because its agent service is $249 a year, the highest in the category, and is never included. LegalZoom's case is not price. It is the brand, a deep documents library, and attorney consultation plans bundled into its paid tiers, which suit founders who expect to use a lawyer regularly and want the subscription already in place.
| Question | LegalZoom | Northwest Registered Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Formation price | Basic $0, Pro $249, Premium $299, plus state fees. | $39 flat plus state fees. One price, no tiers. |
| Registered agent included? | No. Not in any package, at any tier. | Yes, first year included with formation. |
| Agent renewal price | $249/yr, the highest of the five providers we track. | $125/yr, the lowest of the five. |
| Operating agreement | Included from Pro ($249). | Included in the $39 formation. |
| EIN | Included from Pro. Free from the IRS either way. | Available as an add-on service. |
| What renews every year | Agent service at $249/yr, if you keep it. Bundled subscriptions inside the paid tiers renew separately: attorney consultations at $49/mo after a 30-day included period, and Premium's bookkeeping tools at $9.99/mo after 6 months. | Agent service only, $125/yr, if you keep it. |
| Beyond formation | 150+ customizable legal documents for a year and unlimited eSignatures on Pro; attorney consultations on new topics for 30 days. | Business address and an identity bundle (domain, hosting, email, phone) with agent service; annual report filing service at $100 plus the state fee. |
| Service processing times | Standard processing 5 to 14 business days; expedited submission in as little as one business day for $99, per its own comparison pages. State review is separate. | No processing speed is published on the Northwest pages we checked. |
The cost table
| Path, state fees excluded | Year one | Five years |
|---|---|---|
| Northwest, with agent service | $39 (agent year included) | $539 |
| Northwest, you are your own agent | $39 | $39 |
| LegalZoom Basic, with agent service | $249 | $1,245 |
| LegalZoom Basic, you are your own agent | $0 | $0 |
| LegalZoom Pro, with agent service | $498 | $1,494 |
Five-year figures are our arithmetic from the published prices: Northwest $39 plus four agent renewals at $125; LegalZoom Basic $0 plus five years of agent at $249; LegalZoom Pro $249 once, plus the same five agent years. The renewing subscriptions bundled inside LegalZoom's paid tiers are excluded because they are optional services, not formation costs; cancel them before their included periods end if you do not want them.
Where LegalZoom genuinely wins
Legal help on tap. If your business will sign contracts, hire, and argue about terms in its first year, a tier that bundles attorney consultations and a documents library can pay for itself, and no other provider on this page sells that layer. LegalZoom is also the name a nervous co-founder or an older business partner will recognize, and there are situations where that recognition settles an argument. Its support operation is large, and its agent service includes a compliance calendar and document storage.
Where Northwest wins, and it is most places
Every line of the formation economics. The operating agreement LegalZoom sells at the $249 tier is inside Northwest's $39. The agent renewal is half LegalZoom's price, and the first year is included rather than billed from day one. Northwest's price has also been stable by design: it states the $125 agent price has not risen in 20 years, while LegalZoom's model stacks a premium agent price on top of subscriptions that renew inside its tiers. For a founder whose legal needs are ordinary, the $706 five-year gap buys nothing the state recognizes.
A reading caution: an old page on LegalZoom's own domain (headed "Pricing | Ribbon.io") still lists an agent at $10 a month and speed tiers that contradict LegalZoom's current pages. We price from the current LLC and registered agent pages, and so should you.
LegalZoom | Northwest Registered Agent
Prices checked on each provider's own pricing pages, November 8, 2026. Five-year figures are our arithmetic from those prices, excluding state fees, which are identical either way.
Who should pick which
- Pick Northwest if your needs are the ordinary ones: the filing done, your address private, an agent in place, and the lowest honest five-year cost. That is most founders.
- Pick LegalZoom Pro if you will genuinely use attorney consultations and the documents library in year one, and you calendar the subscription renewals ($49/mo after 30 days) before they surprise you.
- Never pick LegalZoom for the agent alone. At $249 a year it is the most expensive agent service we track; the same service costs $125 at Northwest and $149 at Bizee. Our price tracker keeps the five side by side.
- Pick neither if you are comfortable filing directly and being your own agent. The state fee is the whole cost, and our formation guide covers the process.
Common questions
Why is LegalZoom so much more expensive over five years?
One line: the agent. LegalZoom charges $249 a year for agent service and never includes it, which is $1,245 across five years on the Basic path. Northwest charges $125, includes year one, and totals $539 with its $39 formation fee.
Does LegalZoom's price buy a more legitimate LLC?
No. The state issues the same LLC whoever files it. What the premium buys is brand, bundled legal-plan access, and a larger support operation, none of which changes the entity, the liability shield, or your state obligations.
Are LegalZoom's Pro and Premium one-time prices?
The formation packages are priced as one-time charges on its pricing page. The subscriptions bundled inside them are not: attorney consultations renew at $49 a month after the included 30 days, and Premium's bookkeeping tools renew at $9.99 a month after 6 months. Read those two lines before checkout.
Which is faster?
LegalZoom publishes its own processing times (5 to 14 business days standard, expedited submission for $99); Northwest publishes none that we could find. Both then wait on the same state review, which our processing times page tracks from the states' own publications.