Yes, your LLC needs a registered agent; here is the actual decision

Making the choice

1. Check what your state requires of the agent. A street address in the state (not a PO box) and availability during business hours to accept service of process. The requirement exists so that lawsuits and official notices reliably reach the company; the agent of record is public in every state register.
2. Being your own agent: free, public, tethered. If you have an in-state street address and are reliably present in business hours, you can usually serve as your own agent. The costs are privacy (your address is on the public record, harvested by mail spammers) and coverage (a process server arriving while you are away is how default judgments start).
3. A commercial agent: paid, private, covered. A commercial service provides the street address, accepts and scans service of process, and files its own listing with the state; Montana's register goes as far as publishing the official list of commercial agents. You are buying coverage and keeping your home address off the record.
4. Whichever you choose, verify the record. After formation or an agent change, run the state's free entity search and read the agent of record back. The register is the legal fact; if the record shows a lapsed or wrong agent, notices can go astray while you assume they cannot.

What happens without a valid agent

An entity whose agent resigns or lapses falls out of compliance: states flag the record, good standing is lost, and after the statutory grace the entity faces administrative dissolution or revocation. Worse, service of process can proceed by substitute means, so a lawsuit can run against the company without anyone reading the papers. The register's public record is where that failure becomes visible, which is why every state page here links the search.

Nonprofits are not exempt: the agent requirement follows registration, not tax status, and the same registers show nonprofit agents of record the same way.

Choosing a service without the marketing fog

Registered agent services compete on price, scanning speed, compliance reminders and how hard they upsell. The verifiable part is on the register: whether the service is registered as a commercial agent in your state, and whether its address actually appears on entities' records. When readers want a recommendation we refer them to Northwest Registered Agent; the referral link and its disclosure sit beside the register facts on each state's registered agent page, and their current price is stated on their own site.

If you form through a formation service, the first year of agent service is often bundled; diarise the renewal, because the bundled year converts to a paid subscription and the agent of record silently rolls with it.

Changing your answer later

Nothing about the choice is permanent: switching from self-agent to a service, or between services, is a state filing that updates the public record, and some jurisdictions charge nothing for parts of it; the District of Columbia's code, for instance, sets no fee for filing a registered agent's statement of resignation. Our guide on changing a registered agent walks the filing itself.

Questions people ask

Can I be my own registered agent for my LLC?

In the states we cover, yes, if you have a street address in the state and are available during business hours. Your address becomes part of the public record; that trade-off is the usual reason owners eventually switch to a service.

Does a single-member LLC still need an agent?

Yes; the requirement attaches to the registered entity regardless of size. The register will not accept a formation without an agent and office listed.

Does a nonprofit need a registered agent?

Yes; the requirement follows state registration, not tax-exempt status, and nonprofit records show an agent of record in the same registers.

What does a registered agent service cost?

Prices are set by each service and change; we deliberately quote none here. The provider's own site states the current figure, and our referral links are disclosed where they appear.

Cross-state lookups in the index

• EIN lookup with verified facts
• Registered agent lookup with verified facts