Featured Partners
1
ZenBusiness
$0 + State Fees
Varies By State & Package
2
Tailor Brands
$0 + state fee
Varies by State & Package
3
Northwest Registered Agent
$39 + State Fees
Varies By State & Package
Why You Can Trust Forbes Advisor Small Business
The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content and guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey.
We analyzed these registered agent services using a complex scoring methodology to help you find the seven best Virginia registered agent service providers. Our ratings consider factors such as customer support and ratings, general features, pricing and a review by our experts. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
The Best Virginia Registered Agent Services Of 2025
Forbes Advisor Ratings
How To Choose the Best Virginia Registered Agent Service
To choose the best registered agent for your business, consider whether the registered agent has offices in your business’ state, its short- and long-term pricing and the level of support offered. Also, consider whether it might be helpful to bundle your registered agent services with other business services offered by the provider.
To represent your business as a registered agent, a provider must have offices in the states in which you do business. If you do business in multiple states, you will need a registered agent in each state in which you do business. Call or visit their website to verify your registered agent has offices in all states in which you do business, not just the state where your business was formed.
Many registered agents offer heavily discounted or free registered agent services for the first year. Then, in the second year, your credit or debit card will be automatically charged the full price. Make sure you know exactly how much your registered agent services will cost you upon renewal.
Next, some registered agents offer bundled plans, such as registered agent and compliance assistance services or bundled registered agent and business formation services. If your company has more needs than just hiring a registered agent, look at the provider’s website to see if it might offer other useful services too. Bundling services can often also help you save money.
Finally, evaluate the level of support offered by your chosen registered agent. To do so, look at the provider’s website to get details about the level of customer support offered with the plan you’ve chosen. Next, call the customer support number with some questions to evaluate the response time and level of support. Also, look up your provider on customer review sites to learn about the typical experience with customer support as reported by past customers.
Methodology
To evaluate providers for this list, we looked for registered agent service providers that offer services at a reasonable monthly or annual price, serve small businesses in Virginia, offer a variety of tools and services to ease the workloads and budgets of small business operators and provide superior customer support. Here is a closer look at each of these criteria.
Pricing
We preferred providers that offer registered agent services for free or at a discounted price for at least one year. However, we recognize that most of these deals happen with bundled plans and some businesses only want stand-alone registered agent services. Therefore, we looked for providers that offered stand-alone registered agent services for less than $20 per month. This accounted for 25% of our weighted scoring.
Features
All providers on this list offer, at minimum, registered agent services in Virginia. However, we preferred those providers that offer multistate registered agent services. We also looked for registered agents that offer a document dashboard that is accessible 24/7 and we preferred those that also offer same-day document delivery.
To prevent small business owners the headache of having to hire multiple providers, we also looked for agents that provide other key small business services, such as business formation, planning, accounting, legal and compliance consultations and services. We weighted features at 25% of our total score.
Third-party Reviews
Turning to respected third-party review sites that included the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Trustpilot, we looked for reviews provided by real users of registered agent services. This included a high number of reviews on the BBB website of “B” or higher or 3.5 or higher out of 5 on Trustpilot. These accounted for 25% of the total score.
Expert Analysis
We looked for registered agent providers offering tools or processes that ease small business workloads, such as software with automations that make running a business easier or prefilled forms. When evaluating registered agents for inclusion on this list, we looked for providers that offer live support but we preferred those that offer dedicated support or 24/7 support. Our experts also considered other important factors, such as value for the money, popularity and standout or detailed features. To arrive at our final total, our expert analysis made up 25% of the total score.
State Registered Agent Services Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Virginia require a registered agent?
Virginia requires that each business operating in Virginia designate a registered agent. This applies to both companies that were formed in Virginia and companies that were formed in another state but do business in Virginia.
Who can be a registered agent?
A registered agent must be a Virginia resident, have a physical Virginia business address and be available during regular business hours. Members of business management, such as a director or partner, can serve as a business’ registered agent if they can be in the business during all regular business hours. A third-party business, such as a law firm or a registered agent service provider, can also serve as a business’ registered agent.
Is a registered agent’s address public?
A registered agent’s address is required to be publicly listed. To comply with this, some businesses that use internal personnel as the registered agent list their business’ physical address. However, many list a hired registered agent’s physical address instead. This helps to avoid complications from a public listing, such as receiving excessive junk mail or having embarrassing legal papers served in front of customers at the business’ physical address.
Can I be penalized for not having a registered agent for my business?
There are consequences for not having a registered agent: You won’t receive important government and tax documentation and could risk missing important notices about any lawsuits against your company. Not having a registered agent could result in the state suspending your company’s right to conduct business.
Next Up In Business
- How To Set Up An LLC
- New Jersey Registered Agents
- 501(c)(3) Application: How To Obtain Nonprofit Status
- What Is A Limited Liability Company (LLC)?
- What Is A Registered Agent For An LLC & Do You Need One?
- Sole Proprietorship Vs. LLC: Here’s What You Need To Know
- How To Start A Business In Virginia
- Best Maryland Registered Agent Services
