startyour.llc vs Northwest Registered Agent: privacy, EIN and yearly cost

The short answer

Registered agent service is Northwest's core business, and it shows: its agent service includes the use of its business address on public filings by default and scanning of your mail. Formation is low-priced and includes the first year of the agent. For a founder outside the United States, the costs to look at are the EIN without an SSN and the agent from year two.

Price over two years

Without the state fee:

• startyour.llc: $40 once for our work, EIN included, plus $45 for the first year of registered agent service. Year 2: $45. Two years: $130, plus the state fee.
• Northwest: $39 for the formation, with the first year of registered agent service included. The EIN without an SSN is a $200 add-on. From year two the agent is $125 a year. Year 1: $239. Year 2: $125. Two years: $364, plus the state fee.

Northwest lowers its agent price to $100 a year per state for customers with five or more states. Prices checked on 2 November 2026; see the full side-by-side comparison on our Compare page.

What is included

Northwest's formation includes the filing and a year of registered agent service. Its agent service, at $125 a year, includes a business address, mail scanning within a yearly allowance that varies by state, and the use of Northwest's address instead of yours on public filings. State and legal mail is always handled as part of the service. Prices checked on 2 November 2026; see the full side-by-side comparison on our Compare page.

startyour.llc includes:

• Name check and the formation filing, filed within 48 hours.
• The EIN application, also for owners without an SSN or ITIN.
• The first year of registered agent service, then $45 a year at cost.
• An operating agreement, which banks and payment providers ask for.
• Optional: CORA bookkeeping at $30 a month, which includes the yearly Form 5472.

Privacy

Both services put the registered agent's address on the public record, which keeps your home address off it. At startyour.llc, state, IRS and legal mail is scanned to your order page. Northwest goes further, with a business address and scanning of other mail within its yearly allowance. Separately, the state you choose matters: Wyoming and New Mexico do not list the owners in the public formation document.

EIN for non-residents

Northwest sells an EIN service for owners without an SSN at $200. At startyour.llc the EIN, also without an SSN or ITIN, is part of the $40 fee: we prepare the application, you sign once, and we send it to the IRS after the state has approved the LLC. Prices checked on 2 November 2026; see the full side-by-side comparison on our Compare page.

What every LLC pays, whichever service you use

Some costs do not depend on the formation service. The state charges its own filing fee, and many states charge an annual report fee or a yearly tax: Wyoming from $60, Delaware $300, New Mexico nothing. A single-member LLC owned by a foreign person also files Form 5472 with a pro forma 1120 with the IRS every year, even with no income, and the penalty for missing it is $25,000. Budget for these on top of any service fee. Prices checked on 2 November 2026; see the full side-by-side comparison on our Compare page.

Who should choose Northwest

Founders who want a long-established, dedicated registered agent with privacy and mail scanning built in, and companies with entities in several states that benefit from its multi-state agent price.

Who should choose startyour.llc

Founders outside the United States who want the EIN included in the order, a registered agent at $45 a year at cost, and optional CORA bookkeeping with Form 5472 for $30 a month. Prices checked on 2 November 2026; see the full side-by-side comparison on our Compare page.

Frequently asked