Registered Agent Privacy Features Comparison

The One Privacy Feature Every Provider Delivers

Every registered agent provider in our research performs the same core privacy function: it lists its own physical address on the LLC's public formation filing and subsequent annual reports, rather than the owner's personal or home address. This is the baseline service, not a premium add-on, and it does not differ meaningfully by provider, since the underlying state requirement, a public, searchable registered agent address, is identical everywhere.

What Marketing Language Does and Does Not Confirm

Some providers use privacy-oriented language in their marketing, describing their service as protecting an owner's personal information. None of the providers in our dated, published research publish a specific, independently audited privacy certification tied to this feature the way a security standard like SOC 2 might be audited for a software product. A provider's own description of its privacy practices is a claim about itself, useful as a starting point but not independently verified in the sources used for this comparison.

Why a Side-by-Side Privacy Table Would Be Misleading

Because the baseline address-substitution function is the same across every provider, and no provider publishes additional, independently verified privacy specifics beyond that baseline, building a row-by-row comparison implying meaningful privacy differences between providers would overstate what is actually documented. The honest comparison is that the feature is essentially uniform, and the real variable is price.

What a Registered Agent Cannot Do for Privacy

A registered agent service addresses one specific field on one specific filing. It does not control whether your state separately requires a member's or manager's name to appear on the Articles of Organization or the annual report; that is a matter of the state's own disclosure statute, unrelated to which registered agent you hire. It also has no bearing on federal beneficial ownership information reporting requirements, where applicable, which are handled separately through FinCEN rather than through a registered agent.

Comparing Published Registered Agent Prices

Since the privacy function itself is essentially uniform, published price and renewal terms are the meaningful comparison, as published on each company's own site in October 2026:

• LegalZoom: $249 a year, the same at renewal, though LegalZoom notes its renewal rate is subject to change.
• ZenBusiness: $99 for the first year, renewing at $199 a year.
• Northwest Registered Agent: included free for one year with its $39-plus-state-fee formation package, then $125 a year, a figure the company states is fixed.
• Bizee: free for the first year with any package, then $149 a year.
• Harbor Compliance: $99 for new customers in the first year, renewing at $159 a year.
• LLC Register: $99 a year, the same price at renewal.

How LLC Register compares

LLC Register's registered agent service is $99 a year, the same price at renewal. LLC formation in year one and annual report filing are included, while most providers charge $99 to $199 a year extra for annual report filing. State fees are passed through at cost and shown before checkout.

What to Ask If Privacy Beyond the Address Field Matters

If keeping ownership information off the public record entirely, not just the address, is your goal, ask a business attorney about your specific state's disclosure rules rather than assuming any registered agent provider's marketing language covers that broader question.

Privacy Marketing Language Is Not a Certification

Treat a provider's description of its own privacy practices as a starting point for questions, not as an independently verified guarantee, since no third-party audit of this specific feature is published by any provider in our research.

Your State's Disclosure Rules Control What Else Is Public

Separate from the registered agent address, check your own state's Secretary of State rules on whether member or manager names must appear on the formation filing or annual report, since a registered agent service cannot change that requirement.

Federal Reporting Is a Separate Track

Beneficial ownership information reporting requirements, where applicable, are filed with FinCEN and are independent of any state-level registered agent arrangement. Confirm your current obligations directly with FinCEN's own guidance.

Confirm Mail Forwarding Still Works Reliably

A privacy benefit is only useful if the provider also reliably forwards what it receives at its address; ask about forwarding speed and method before relying on a provider for anything time-sensitive.

This Is Not Legal Advice

What privacy protections are available to your LLC depend on your specific state's rules. Talk to a business attorney about your state's requirements before relying on a registered agent service as your only privacy measure.