Flat Fee Registered Agent › Teaser-rate explainer
Flat fee or teaser rate: how to tell
Mainstay Filing is our example of a flat fee. A teaser rate is a first-year price set below the price you will pay later. A flat fee is the same every year. The difference is invisible on the page that shows only one number, so the work is finding the second number.
Where the second number hides
- The renewal line in the terms or the cart: ZenBusiness’s registered agent page shows $99 plus state fees for the first year, then $199.
- “New customers” wording: Harbor Compliance’s $99 is for the first year for new customers, then $159.
- “Special” wording: Launch Registered Agent shows a $34.99 first-year special, then $48.99.
- A free year: FreeRegisteredAgent.com offers a free first year then $129.
- A different plan: formation packages carry their own price, separate from the agent’s.
What a flat fee looks like
Mainstay Filing states one number and says what happens at renewal: It renews at $199 a year, with no rate that jumps at renewal and no new line items. Tell Mainstay Filing before renewal and it will not renew. A filing already submitted that year cannot be refunded.
A teaser rate is not always a bad deal. If you plan to move agents after a year, the low first year is the price you pay. It is a bad deal when you only find out at renewal.
Is the $125/year a teaser rate or does it increase?
Northwest’s registered agent page, read October 20, 2026, shows $125 a year and says the price has not gone up in 20 years. It is not a teaser by its own page, though it adds $100 a year per state for five or more states.
Is $149 a teaser rate?
No, for Mainstay Filing. A registered agent alone, for a company that is already formed, is $149 a year. That plan does not include the annual report. It renews at $199 a year, with no rate that jumps at renewal and no new line items.