Forming a single LLC? Bizee is the cheaper route. Harbor Compliance only starts to make sense once you're juggling several states or several entities.
Comparing the two on headline price is a bit like comparing a taxi to a monthly transit pass. Bizee's pitch is getting your company formed cheaply, and its base plan carries a $0 service fee. Harbor sells what happens after formation: registered agent service, Entity Manager software, document handling, business licenses, foreign qualification. Different products, so the lowest sticker price on each homepage doesn't tell you much.
Start with who you are
Picture a first-time founder, say a Chinese seller running a Shopify or WooCommerce store. One company, no US employees, nothing that needs registering in a second state. The to-do list is short: file the Articles of Organization, get the formation documents, an operating agreement, an EIN, a registered agent, and some annual compliance reminders. Bizee's base plan covers exactly that. You get a free registered agent for the first year, and the reminders stay free after renewal. It suits someone who plans to handle bookkeeping, banking, and taxes alone.
Now picture someone with a Delaware LLC, a Wyoming LLC, and another entity registered to operate in a third state. Now you're tracking filing status, served documents, annual report deadlines, and renewals in several places at once. That's the situation Harbor is built for. Entity Manager pulls your entities, licenses, and report deadlines into one dashboard. The registered agent fee includes unlimited document storage and pre-filled state forms, with no per-item charge for forwarding documents, and the company holds SOC 2 Type II certification. Its business license research and foreign qualification services are aimed at the same crowd.
Don't confuse a reminder with a filing, though. Annual report reminders come with the base registered agent price, but having Harbor actually file the report is a separate service that's quoted on its own.
The registered agent math is where it gets interesting
Harbor charges per state, per year. New customers pay $99 for year one, then $159 on renewal. You can also prepay two years for $198 or three years for $297, which locks the $99 rate for the whole term; after that you renew at $159. Bizee gives you the first year free when you form your company through them, then $149 a year. If you already have a company and only want to buy the registered agent, Bizee charges $149 a year from day one.
| Route | Three-year registered agent cost |
|---|---|
| Bizee, bought with formation | About $298 (0 + 149 + 149) |
| Harbor, paid yearly | About $417 (99 + 159 + 159) |
| Harbor, three-year prepay | $297 |
| Bizee, registered agent bought alone | About $447 (149 ร 3) |
So it depends on where you're starting. A first-timer forming through Bizee comes out roughly $120 ahead of Harbor's pay-as-you-go pricing. Harbor's three-year prepay closes that gap to a single dollar, but the catch is that prepaid money isn't refunded once service begins, including any unused years. For someone who already owns an LLC and just wants to swap agents, the picture flips: Harbor's $297 prepay beats Bizee's $447 by $150. And if you hold entities in several states, multiply Harbor's pricing by the number of states.
Formation fees: "$0" isn't free
Bizee has three tiers, Basic at $0, Standard at $199, and Premium at $299, each plus state fees. That $0 is only Bizee's own service fee. If your state charges $100 to file, Basic still costs you $100. The higher tiers bundle extras like EIN service and an operating agreement, so check the plan description for what's actually included.
Harbor's LLC formation is advertised from $99 plus state fees, but several 2026 reviews quote $399 and up. A gap of several times over likely comes down to different package scopes or different dates. Either way, on formation alone Harbor has no price edge, and formation isn't where it makes its money.
| Item | Harbor Compliance | Bizee |
|---|---|---|
| Core focus | Formation plus ongoing compliance management | Company formation and startup services |
| LLC formation service fee | From $99 plus state fee; several recent reviews say from $399 | Basic $0, Standard $199, Premium $299, all plus state fee |
| Registered agent, first year | $99 for new customers (per state) | Free when bought with formation |
| Registered agent renewal | $159/year | $149/year |
| Multi-state, multi-entity management | Entity Manager, centralized tracking | Basic compliance reminders |
| Document handling | Local offices in every state, same-day scan and forward | Document notifications and online management |
| Best for | Multi-state, multi-entity, compliance-heavy businesses | First-time, cost-sensitive founders |
What Bizee doesn't give you
No entity management software, for one. And add-ons like a virtual address or an upgraded registered agent plan cost extra after renewal, so work the renewal numbers into your budget before you click buy.
If you're not a US resident, a few extra things to think through
The EIN comes from the IRS, not from the formation company. Applicants whose main place of business is outside the US can't use the IRS online system and have to go by phone, fax, or mail. So when you're picking a plan, ask a very specific question: can this provider handle an EIN application when the responsible party has no SSN or ITIN? The registered agent's address is only for receiving legal documents. It's not your home or your actual business address, and when you apply to a bank, Stripe, or PayPal, you'll need to give whatever real address they ask for. And remember that having a provider form your LLC doesn't mean they've filed your taxes. A single-member LLC wholly owned by a foreigner may owe Form 5472 and a Pro Forma Form 1120.
Reputation and refunds
Bizee sits around 4.7โ4.8 on Trustpilot across roughly 25,000 reviews. Harbor Compliance scores about 3.2 on Trustpilot from around 50 reviews, about 4.3 on Google from 200-plus, and has an A+ from the BBB. With review counts hundreds of times apart, I wouldn't read the scores as a straight measure of service quality, and I wouldn't let star ratings alone decide it. On refunds, at least one review notes Harbor's registered agent fee isn't refundable once service starts, including unused portions of a multi-year prepay. If you're eyeing a prepay plan, be honest with yourself about whether you'll actually stay that long.
| Your situation | Better fit |
|---|---|
| First formation, one LLC, one state, budget first | Bizee |
| Already have an LLC, just want to switch registered agents and plan to stay | Harbor (prepay plan) |
| Multiple states and entities, need centralized management | Harbor |
| Need business licenses or foreign qualification | Harbor |
| Happy to handle everything yourself, no tools needed | Bizee |
My read: if all you're doing is forming one LLC and handling the books and taxes yourself afterward, there's no reason to pay a premium for Harbor's compliance setup. Bizee's base plan plus a free first-year registered agent does the job. If you already have entities in several states, or your business touches industry licensing, Harbor's extra cost buys back research time and lowers the odds of missing a deadline.
This article is general informational content, not legal or tax advice. For your specific compliance plan, consider consulting an attorney or CPA familiar with the relevant state laws. This article contains affiliate links; if you buy a service through them, this site may earn a commission, which doesn't affect the review's conclusions.