The decision
Two ways to satisfy the same legal requirement.
RA or DIY weighs acting as your own registered agent against hiring a registered agent service.
- No annual fee to a provider.
- Your name and street address go on the public record for the state.
- You must be present at that address during business hours.
- Service of process arrives wherever you said it would — including in front of customers.
- Moving means filing a change with the state yourself.
- An annual fee, charged per state.
- Their address appears on the public record instead of yours.
- Coverage during business hours is their obligation, not yours.
- Documents are scanned and forwarded, usually same day.
- Moving house does not touch your state filings.
What tips it
Three things that decide it in practice
- 01
Where you actually work
A home-based business and a storefront face different versions of the public-record question.
- 02
How many states
The maths changes sharply at the second state, because both the fee and the obligation repeat.
- 03
Who is there at 2pm
The requirement is availability during business hours, which is the part most often underestimated.
About
What this site is
This site covers one decision: whether to act as your own registered agent or appoint a service. It is written for people forming or running a US LLC.
Neither option is presented as the right answer. There are no ratings here, no tiers and no scored comparisons — where a view is offered it is argued in words, on the page, where you can disagree with it.
The site is newly published. Articles are in preparation and will appear as they are written.