Massachusetts requires every LLC and corporation to keep a registered agent with a Massachusetts street address. You can be your own agent (For an LLC, the resident agent 'must be an individual resident of the commonwealth, a domestic..., full wording in the be-your-own-agent guide). Changing your agent costs $25 for an LLC and $25 for a corporation. Hiring an agent costs $125 to $249 a year at renewal on the providers' own sites, read 2026-09-28; first-year offers run lower.
How to change your registered agent in Massachusetts
- Choose the new agent. Name yourself if you meet the rule in the facts table, or hire a service from the price table below; they give you their Massachusetts street address to put on the form.
- File online. 'File Online' link confirmed on the cached corporations.htm menu page: https://corp.sec.state.ma.us/corpweb/loginsystem/externallogin.aspx. Filing fee is $0 (no fee) if filed electronically vs. $25 paper/fax, per both the filing-fees page and the form PDF. Open corp.sec.state.ma.us
- Or file the paper form. Statement of Change of Resident Agent/Resident Office (LLC form CFDLLCAGENTOFFICE); corporations file a separate Certificate of Appointment of Resident Agent, from the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division. Mail it to: Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division, One Ashburton Place, Room 1717, Boston, Massachusetts 02108-1512 (checks payable to Commonwealth of Massachusetts). Open the Massachusetts filing office Direct PDF
- Pay the fee. Changing your agent costs $25 for an LLC and $25 for a corporation. Keep the confirmation; the new agent is effective when the state records it.
What a registered agent costs in Massachusetts
Yearly fee from each provider's own site on the date shown: what a new customer pays the first year, and what it renews at. Sorted by renewal price, because that is what you pay every year after. Links marked "affiliate link" pay us a commission; the other names link straight to the provider, listed on the same terms. Best is not always the one we earn from, and we say which is which.
| Provider | First year | Renews at | Terms, our dated note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest Registered Agentaffiliate link | $125 | $125 | Same price every year, per its page; $100 a year per state for five or more states Read on the provider's site 2026-09-28 |
| Bizeeaffiliate link | $149 | $149 | 149 per year standalone or on renewal; first year free only with a Bizee formation Read on the provider's site 2026-09-28 |
| Harbor Complianceaffiliate link | $99 | $159 | Renews at 159 per year after the first; 3 years paid up front cost 297 Read on the provider's site 2026-09-28 |
| ZenBusiness | $99 | $199 | Renews at 199 per year Read on the provider's site 2026-09-28 |
| Registered Agents Inc | $200 | $200 | 200 a year, annual report filing included, per its page Read on the provider's site 2026-09-28 |
| LegalZoom | $249 | $249 | Auto-renews; renewal rate subject to change, per its page Read on the provider's site 2026-09-28 |
What switching to the cheapest renewal saves
| If you renew with | Renews at | Saved per year | Over 3 years | First year, after the $25 fee | Break-even |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LegalZoom | $249 | $124 | $372 | $99 | month 3 |
| Registered Agents Inc | $200 | $75 | $225 | $50 | month 4 |
| ZenBusiness | $199 | $74 | $222 | $49 | month 5 |
| Harbor Compliance | $159 | $34 | $102 | $9 | month 9 |
| Bizee | $149 | $24 | $72 | $0 | month 13 |
Compared with Northwest Registered Agent at $125 a year, prices read 2026-09-28. Switching costs the state change fee shown above, once.
Three-year totals and every price change we have seen: the cost page.
Type your current renewal price to see the saving, what the state fee leaves the first year, and the break-even month.
Switch to Northwest Registered Agent, $125 a year Affiliate link, same price as on their site.
Advertising disclosure. Some provider names on this page are links to that provider's site through an affiliate network. If you buy through one of those links we may earn a commission. The price you pay does not change. Links to providers we have no agreement with go straight to their site; every provider is ranked by the same rules. Disclosed under the US FTC Endorsement Guides and the Norwegian Marketing Control Act. A Northwest Registered Agent affiliate.
Massachusetts at a glance
Fees, forms and deadlines
What the statute says
Each limited liability company shall have and maintain in the commonwealth: (1) an office ... and (2) a resident agent for service of process on the limited liability company, which agent must be an individual resident of the commonwealth, a domestic corporation, or a foreign corporation authorized to do business in the commonwealth.
M.G.L. c. 156C, § 5, read 2026-09-08
A registered agent is the person or company the state and the courts send legal papers to. In Massachusetts the statute calls this role the resident agent; it is the same thing as a registered agent. The agent must have a street address in Massachusetts, not a PO box, and be available during business hours.
Annual report and what happens without an agent
We have not confirmed the annual report due date yet. Fee: $500 for an LLC, $125 for a corporation. Late fee: $150.
Without an agent on file: The penalty is not stated on the pages we read.
Sources and dates
- https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/corporations/corporations.htm, read 2026-09-08
- https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXXII/Chapter156C/Section5, read 2026-09-08
- https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/corporations/general-information/corporations-filing-fees.htm, read 2026-09-08
- https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/registered-agent, read 2026-09-28
- https://www.registeredagentsinc.com/registered-agent/, read 2026-09-28
- https://www.harborcompliance.com/registered-agent-service, read 2026-09-28
- https://bizee.com/business-management/registered-agent, read 2026-09-28
- https://www.zenbusiness.com/registered-agent-service/, read 2026-09-28
- https://www.legalzoom.com/business/business-operations/registered-agent-overview.html, read 2026-09-28
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