Northwest vs ZenBusiness for Non-Residents

For a non-US resident, Northwest Registered Agent is the better default: $39 plus the state fee to form, registered agent service included for the first year and renewing around $125 a year, human phone support, and a privacy posture that keeps your home address off public records wherever the state allows it. ZenBusiness wins on headline price — a $0 formation tier — but the pieces a foreign owner actually needs are add-ons, and the compliance subscription auto-renews at a price most people do not expect.

Bottom line

• Northwest: higher entry price, lower and more honest year-two cost, real support, strong privacy.
• ZenBusiness: $0 entry, but EIN, registered agent and compliance are extra, and renewals are where the money is.
• Non-resident specific: the EIN add-on without an SSN is the single biggest price difference between them.

Quick comparison

Prices change and both run promotions. Verify on each provider’s pricing page before paying.

Privacy is not a marketing word here

Northwest’s core pitch is that it lists its own address on your public filings wherever state law permits, and does not sell your data to third parties. For a founder abroad, this matters in a specific way: without it, the address that ends up in a searchable state database is often your home address in Lagos, Lahore, Manila or Tokyo. Once it is in a public record, scrapers copy it and it never comes back out.

ZenBusiness does not make privacy its pitch. You can achieve a similar result by buying its registered agent add-on, but the default path does not protect you and the marketing does not warn you.

If you are unclear why this role exists at all, start with what a registered agent is and why you need one.

The EIN is where non-residents get charged

This is the most important paragraph in the comparison. If nobody connected to the LLC has a Social Security number or ITIN, the IRS online EIN tool is unavailable and Form SS-4 must go in by fax or mail. Providers price that manual work accordingly.

Northwest lists its EIN service at roughly $50 for applicants with an SSN and roughly $200 for applicants without one, and quotes a long window — public reviews cite up to 120 days — because it is at the mercy of IRS processing. Northwest also publishes a bundled non-resident package around $925 that combines formation, registered agent, EIN, business address and mail scanning.

ZenBusiness includes EIN filing on its Pro and Premium tiers, which sounds better, but confirm with support that they will file a paper SS-4 for a responsible party with no SSN or ITIN before you buy on that basis. Several mainstream providers’ EIN workflows assume the online application.

You can also do this yourself for free. It is one form. See how to get an EIN without an SSN and decide whether $200 is worth not touching it.

Check Northwest’s current formation and EIN pricing

Read the renewals, not the headline

ZenBusiness’s Starter tier is $0 plus the state fee, and it includes its Worry-Free Compliance service free for the first year. That service then auto-renews at roughly $199 a year. Registered agent service is a separate roughly $199 a year, and is bundled only on the Premium tier. The EIN and operating agreement are around $99 each on Starter.

So the honest version of “free LLC” is: free filing service, then a set of annual charges that can total more than Northwest’s entire first-year cost.

Northwest’s structure is flatter. You pay $39 plus the state fee, the first year of registered agent is included, and it renews at roughly $125. Their renewal price has been notably stable for years, which is worth something when you are planning a business you intend to keep.

Do the three-year math for your own case using our US LLC cost guide for non-residents. For a simple single-member LLC that just needs to exist, Northwest is usually cheaper by year two and clearly cheaper by year three.

Support, from a different time zone

Northwest answers the phone and assigns support staff who can talk through a state’s specific requirements. For a foreign owner, that is the difference between a two-day fix and a two-week email thread — particularly when a state asks for something unusual, or your name transliterates differently on your passport than on your filing.

ZenBusiness support is competent and dashboard-driven, and its interface is friendlier for someone who has never filed anything in the US. If you would rather click through a guided flow than call anyone, that is a legitimate preference.

Where ZenBusiness genuinely wins

Three cases:

You want speed on a budget tier. ZenBusiness sells 1-day processing on Pro and Premium, and a rush upgrade on Starter. Northwest does not tier speed the same way.

You want the tooling. Logo builder, document templates, a money dashboard, compliance reminders — bundled and tidy. If you have no other systems, that has real value.

You want a single price for everything, once. Premium bundles registered agent and advanced compliance, so there is one renewal to track instead of three line items.

Check ZenBusiness’s current tiers and renewal prices

What neither of them solves

Neither company opens your bank account. Neither files your Form 5472. Both of those are the actual hard parts of running a foreign-owned LLC.

A foreign-owned single-member LLC generally must file Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 annually, even with no profit, with penalties starting at $25,000. Budget for a CPA or a tax-filing service from the start; see US LLC taxes for non-residents. For the account itself, work through our banking guide for non-residents.

And pick the state before you pick the vendor. Wyoming and New Mexico are the common low-cost choices for owners with no US presence; Delaware carries a $300 annual LLC franchise tax. Compare them in Wyoming vs New Mexico.

Who should pick Northwest

• You live outside the US and want your personal address kept off public filings.
• You want a predictable, low renewal and no subscription you forgot about.
• You want to talk to a person when a state does something unexpected.
• You either handle the EIN yourself or accept the non-resident add-on cost.

Who should pick ZenBusiness

• You want the cheapest possible day-one cost and will manage renewals deliberately.
• You want EIN and operating agreement bundled rather than itemized.
• You want fast filing and an all-in-one dashboard with compliance reminders.
• You are comfortable cancelling what you do not need before it renews.

FAQ

Can a non-US resident use either service?

Yes, both form LLCs for owners who live abroad. The friction is never the formation — it is the EIN without an SSN and the bank account afterward.

Is the $0 ZenBusiness plan really $0?

The formation service fee is $0; the state filing fee is not, and it is the larger number. Registered agent, EIN and the compliance subscription are separate annual costs, and the compliance trial auto-renews.

Do I need the Worry-Free Compliance product?

Not strictly. It files your annual report and sends reminders. If you can put your state’s report deadline in a calendar and file it yourself, you are paying for convenience.

Which is better if I want privacy specifically?

Northwest. Using its address on public filings wherever the state permits is its default behavior rather than a paid upgrade, and it does not monetize your data.

The call

For a non-resident forming one LLC to run a real business, take Northwest: see its formation and registered agent pricing. The privacy default and the stable $125 renewal are worth more over three years than a $0 signup.

If you want the bundled dashboard and fast filing and you will actively manage renewals, ZenBusiness is a fair choice — just diary the auto-renewal dates the day you sign up.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm your situation with a CPA or attorney familiar with foreign-owned US entities.