Best Registered Agent Services in Texas

Texas publishes every registered agent's name and street address in the Secretary of State's public records. Anyone can look yours up. That makes a commercial service matter more here than in states that hold those records back.

Texas LLCs face a May 15 franchise tax deadline every year. Revenue at or below $2.65 million, the no tax due threshold for the 2026 report year, means you owe no franchise tax and skip that report. You still file a Public Information Report. Miss the date and the penalty is $50 for each late report. Keep missing it and Texas can forfeit your right to do business here.

Texas sets office hours for company agents, not for individuals. Section 5.201(d) of the Business Organizations Code requires a registered agent that is an organization to keep an employee at the registered office during normal business hours. Individuals are not covered. What the law asks of everyone is narrower and harder to fake, the address has to be a street address where a process server can hand papers to the agent in person, and it may not be only a mailbox service or a telephone answering service.

If your registered agent resigns, Texas does not give you much runway. The state writes to your last address. Fail to appoint a replacement and your LLC loses the ability to receive service of process. You may not hear about a lawsuit until a default judgment lands.

Forming a new Texas LLC is where the bundles pay off. A formation package with the first year of agent service included saves you $100 or more up front. Bizee and ZenBusiness both offer one. Check the renewal before you buy. Bizee renews Texas service at $119 a year and ZenBusiness at $199.

Switching agents on an existing LLC is one form and $15. You file Form 401 with the Secretary of State. The new agent has to consent before you name them. Northwest fills that form out free. Its $125 a year never moves, so there is no year two surprise to plan around.

Harbor Compliance is the cheapest national option in year one at $99. Its multi year plans hold that rate instead of jumping to $149. We read these off its own pricing page on August 8, 2026. The screenshot is below.

Still picking a formation service? Our guide to the best LLC formation services in Texas compares the packages that bundle agent service with your Certificate of Formation filing.

First year prices here run from $0 to $596. Renewals are where Texas founders get caught. We checked every provider's own pricing page again on August 8, 2026. Bizee renews Texas agent service at $119 a year, below the $149 it charges generally. Here is what three years costs once renewals count.

The order changes once renewals count. Swyft Filings bills $149 every quarter, so three years comes to $1,788. That is nearly five times what Northwest costs for the same legal job. Harbor Compliance is cheapest if you prepay three years at $297. Northwest is the cheapest flat rate that asks for nothing up front.

Two are missing. Rocket Lawyer and Inc Authority sit in the table above but not in this chart. Rocket Lawyer's real cost depends on which membership you already hold. Inc Authority bundles the first year into its formation package, and sells a year of agent service on its own at $249.

• Change of agent filing fee - Texas charges $15 to file Form 401. Some services pass that through to you on top of their annual fee. Northwest does not.
• Renewal price jumps - Bizee and ZenBusiness give you a free first year with formation. Then the bill arrives. Bizee renews at $119 a year and ZenBusiness at $199. Northwest charges $125 from day one and does not raise it.
• Quarterly billing - Swyft Filings advertises $149, and that is per quarter, per state, per entity. Read the billing period before the price.
• Mail past the free allowance - Northwest scans five pieces of regular business mail a year at no charge. After that it is $15 a document. Postage on anything mailed to you is extra.
• Document forwarding add ons - Some services charge $10 to $30 per document to forward physical mail. Ask first if you need paper originals.
• Compliance monitoring tiers - LegalZoom bundles deadline alerts into its $249 a year package. Northwest includes the same alerts at $125. There is no upper tier to buy.

Texas has no state income tax. Every LLC still files a Public Information Report by May 15. Revenue at or below the $2.65 million no tax due threshold means you owe no franchise tax and skip that report, but the Public Information Report is still due. Missing the date costs $50 straight away. A good agent service emails you weeks before it, which is most of what you are paying for.

1. File your Certificate of Formation with the Texas Secretary of State ($300 online). Your agent's name and address go on this document. Set the service up first. The fee sits on the state's published fee schedule.
2. Apply for an EIN from the IRS, which is free. You need it to open a business bank account. Apply online at irs.gov. The number arrives at once.
3. Open a business bank account. Texas banks ask for your Certificate of Formation, your EIN, and your operating agreement. Keep the money separate. That separation is what protects your limited liability.
4. Mark May 15 for your Public Information Report, plus a franchise tax report if revenue tops $2.65 million. An LLC formed after January 1 may not owe its first filing until the following May 15. Your agent should remind you. Check with the Comptroller anyway.
5. Turn on document alerts in your agent's dashboard. Northwest and ZenBusiness both notify you when mail arrives. Both flag state deadlines too.
6. Get a Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit if you sell taxable goods or services. The permit is free from the Texas Comptroller. State sales tax is 6.25%. Local jurisdictions can add up to 2% more.