Northwest Registered Agent is one of the most respected names in business formation, and it earned that reputation honestly. If privacy and human support are your top priorities, Northwest is a genuinely good choice, and this post will not pretend otherwise. But formation is the first step, not the whole job. Once the entity exists you still need an EIN, the documents a VC will ask for, and a place to actually move money. This post compares Northwest's formation and registered agent service against looch Start, and is honest about where each one wins.
Both companies do real things well. Northwest is a formation and registered agent specialist with a strong privacy and support reputation. looch Start forms your entity and then opens the financial accounts you run the business on, in one app. They overlap on formation and diverge after that.
What Northwest Registered Agent is (and where it wins)
Northwest is a formation and registered agent company based in Spokane, Washington. Its core product is straightforward: file your LLC or corporation, then serve as your registered agent in the states where you operate. It sells one formation package rather than tiered upsells, which is part of why people trust it.
Where Northwest is genuinely strong
Privacy. This is Northwest's signature, and the credit is deserved. Northwest's "Privacy by Default" approach uses its own address on public formation records where the state allows it, keeping your personal address off filings from the start. Northwest also states that it does not sell customer data. For a founder who cares about staying off public records and out of data broker lists, this is a real and durable advantage.
US-based customer support. Northwest's "Corporate Guides" are salaried employees, not commissioned salespeople pushing you toward a higher tier. You can call a real person who knows formation. In an industry full of upsell funnels, support that is actually helpful and not trying to sell you something is a legitimate reason to choose Northwest.
Registered agent quality and reputation. Northwest has a long track record as a registered agent, with reliable document handling and a written price lock so your renewal rate does not drift over time. If registered agent service is the thing you care most about, Northwest is one of the safest picks available.
Simple, single-price formation. Northwest lists its LLC formation at about $39 plus your state's filing fee (per multiple 2026 reviews), with one year of registered agent service included and an operating agreement provided. No tier maze.
These are not throwaway compliments. If your priority list is privacy, human support, and a dependable registered agent, Northwest may be the right answer for you, and looch Start does not beat it on those specific points.
Where Northwest has gaps
Northwest is a formation and registered agent specialist, so the gaps are about everything that comes after the entity exists.
The EIN is a paid add-on. Northwest can obtain your EIN, but it is priced separately. Independent 2026 reviews list it at about $50, and higher for non-US founders without an SSN or ITIN, at about $200. So the headline formation price is not the full cost of getting to an operational company.
No bundled VC-ready document package. Northwest provides an operating agreement, but it does not package the documents a venture investor expects from a startup: a stock purchase agreement, an IP assignment agreement, and a Section 83(b) election draft. You assemble those separately, typically through a startup lawyer.
Registered agent renewal is higher than looch's. After the first free year, Northwest's registered agent renews at about $125 per year (per multiple 2026 reviews). The price lock is a plus, but the rate itself is higher than looch's renewal.
No financial accounts. Northwest forms the company. It does not give you a business bank account, cards, payment acceptance, or accounting. That is by design, but it means formation with Northwest is one stop on a longer path, not the whole path.
The gap Northwest does not fill: Formation into a financial stack
Most formation services hand you a company and then leave. You walk away with filed paperwork and a registered agent, and the next several steps, EIN, bank account, cards, accounting, are yours to stitch together across other vendors.
looch Start is built to close that gap. It forms the entity and then opens the financial accounts you operate on, inside the same app.
What looch Start includes
looch Start forms a VC-ready entity and hands you a company that is ready to run. Entity options are Delaware C corp, Delaware LLC, Wyoming LLC, and Florida LLC. The all-in price is $249, and state filing fees are included (source: looch.money/start).
Filing takes one business day with the state (source: looch.money/start). The EIN is obtained at formation at no additional cost, and looch gets your EIN even if you do not have an SSN or ITIN. That path takes about four days and returns the IRS CP-575 (source: looch.money/start).
Formation includes the documents a VC will ask for: a stock purchase agreement, an IP assignment agreement, and a Section 83(b) election draft. For LLCs, a single-member operating agreement is included. There is also a virtual office with a business address, registered agent, and mail scanning.
Registered agent and virtual office renew at $49 per year, with registered agent service available in all 50 states and additional states at $49 per year each (source: looch.money/start).
What opens up after formation
Once your entity is formed and you are approved as a looch business, your financial accounts are ready: no-fee accounts with account and routing numbers, Smartcards you issue from the app, payment acceptance, and real-time accounting that runs in the background. That is the part Northwest does not do at all, because Northwest's job ends at formation.
Privacy: An honest look
Privacy deserves its own section, because it is the area where Northwest is strongest and where an honest comparison matters most.
On the underlying state rules, both services work with the same reality. Delaware and Wyoming let you keep your name off public formation filings, while Florida requires the manager's name to be public (source: looch.money/start). If state-level privacy is your goal, picking the right state matters as much as picking the service. We cover that tradeoff in Delaware LLC vs Wyoming LLC.
Where Northwest pulls ahead is its whole posture around privacy: using its own address by default, its stated policy of not selling customer data, and a reputation built specifically on this. If privacy is the single thing you optimize for, give Northwest the credit it has earned.
looch Start vs Northwest Registered Agent: Side by side
| Feature | looch Start | Northwest Registered Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Formation price | $249 all-in, state filing fees included (source: looch.money/start) | ~$39 plus state filing fee (per 2026 reviews) |
| Entity types | Delaware C corp, Delaware LLC, Wyoming LLC, Florida LLC | LLC and corporation across states |
| EIN included | Yes, at no extra cost, even without SSN/ITIN (~4 days, IRS CP-575) (source: looch.money/start) | Paid add-on, ~$50, or ~$200 for non-US founders without SSN/ITIN (per 2026 reviews) |
| Registered agent, year one | Included | Included (one free year) |
| Registered agent renewal | $49/year, all 50 states, additional states $49/year each (source: looch.money/start) | ~$125/year, with written price lock (per 2026 reviews) |
| Filing speed | Filed with the state in 1 business day (source: looch.money/start) | Submitted promptly, then state processing (reviews cite roughly 3 to 5 business days to approval in most states) |
| VC-ready documents | Included: stock purchase agreement, IP assignment, 83(b) draft | Not bundled (operating agreement provided; no VC startup package) |
| Operating agreement (LLC) | Single-member operating agreement included | Included |
| Virtual office | Included (business address, registered agent, mail scanning) | Available as a separate service (reviews cite about $29/month, in select states) |
| Privacy posture | DE and WY keep your name off filings; FL makes manager public (source: looch.money/start) | Strong "Privacy by Default," uses own address, states it does not sell customer data |
| Customer support | In-app support | US-based "Corporate Guides," salaried, not commissioned |
| Financial accounts after formation | Yes: no-fee accounts, Smartcards, payments, real-time accounting | Not offered (formation and registered agent only) |
| Mobile-first | Yes, formation to banking in one app | Web-based formation service |
Some rows favor Northwest, and the table does not hide that. Northwest's privacy posture and US-based support are real advantages. looch Start wins on the all-in price, the EIN being included even without an SSN or ITIN, the bundled VC-ready documents, the lower registered agent renewal, and the path straight into financial accounts.
Who should use Northwest Registered Agent
Northwest is the right call if:
- Privacy is your top priority and you want a service whose whole reputation is built on keeping your information off public records and not selling your data
- You value being able to call a real, salaried support person who is not trying to upsell you
- Registered agent service is the specific thing you care most about, and you want a long track record with a price-locked renewal
- You only need formation and registered agent, and you already have a plan for your EIN, documents, and banking elsewhere
If that describes you, Northwest is a strong and legitimate choice, and this post is not arguing otherwise.
Who should use looch Start
looch Start is the right call if:
- You want one all-in price that includes state filing and the EIN, rather than a low formation price plus separate add-ons
- You are a foreign founder who needs an EIN without an SSN or ITIN included in the formation, not priced as a higher add-on
- You want the VC-ready documents (stock purchase agreement, IP assignment, 83(b) draft) bundled with formation
- You want to go from formation straight into no-fee financial accounts, Smartcards, payments, and accounting in the same app
- You want a mobile-first flow and a lower registered agent renewal
The core difference is scope. Northwest is a formation and registered agent specialist with a privacy and support reputation that is genuinely hard to beat on those points. looch Start covers more of the path from idea to operational company in one place. Pick based on which of those matters more to you.
The honest decision framework
Four questions that settle it quickly.
1. Is privacy your single most important factor? If yes, Northwest's "Privacy by Default" posture is a strong reason to choose it. looch follows the same state rules but does not make privacy its whole identity the way Northwest does.
2. Do you need an EIN, especially without an SSN or ITIN? looch Start includes the EIN even without an SSN or ITIN (source: looch.money/start). Northwest can get it, but as a paid add-on that is more expensive for non-US founders (about $200 per 2026 reviews, versus about $50 with an SSN or ITIN).
3. Will you raise venture money? looch Start bundles the stock purchase agreement, IP assignment, and 83(b) draft. Northwest does not package those, so you would assemble them separately.
4. Do you want banking and payments right after formation? looch opens financial accounts in the same app. Northwest forms the company and stops there.
Bottom line
Northwest Registered Agent is a genuinely good formation and registered agent service, and the best choice if privacy and human support top your list. looch Start is the better choice when you want one all-in price, an EIN even without an SSN or ITIN, VC-ready documents, a lower registered agent renewal, and a direct path into financial accounts. Decide based on whether you are buying formation and privacy, or formation and a financial stack.
Ready to go from zero to financially operational? looch Start forms your entity and opens your accounts in one app. Compare the full breakdown on looch pricing, or read Delaware LLC vs Wyoming LLC to choose the right state first.
