# What Claude (Anthropic) with web search answered for registered agent services (startups) on 2026-10-23

## In short

On 2026-10-23, Claude (Anthropic) with web search was asked "best registered agent services for startups". It named 10 brands; the first six, in order, were Northwest, Northwest Registered Agent, Clerky, Stripe Atlas, CSC and CT Corporation.

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Question | best registered agent services for startups |
| Asked on | 2026-10-23 |
| Engine | Claude (Anthropic) with web search |
| Model | claude-opus-5 |
| Brands named | 10 |
| Sources cited | 5 |
| Audience | startups |
| Coverage | Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included. |
| Last verified | 2026-10-23 |

Page: https://bikoosh.com/answers/s/registered-agent-services-startups-2026-10-23
Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.

## The answer, as recorded

Asked on 2026-10-23 through Claude (Anthropic) with web search (model claude-opus-5).

> ## The short answer
> 
> **Northwest Registered Agent** is the default I'd recommend for most startups, and **Harvard Business Services** if you're a Delaware entity and want the cheapest sane option. Here's the full ranking:
> 
> **1. Northwest Registered Agent - $125/yr**
> The best all-around pick. Flat pricing with no renewal games, genuinely good phone support (you get a human who knows what they're talking about), and the strongest privacy posture - they list *their* address rather than yours on public filings, which matters if you're working out of your apartment. They've been doing this since 1998. If you don't want to think about this decision, pick this one. ([rho.co](https://www.rho.co/blog/best-registered-agent-services), [businessinitiative.org](https://www.businessinitiative.org/formation-providers/northwest-registered-agent-vs-harbor-compliance/))
> 
> **2. Harvard Business Services (delawareinc.com) - $50/yr, Delaware**
> Cheapest credible option by a wide margin, and they contractually fix it at $50 per company per year for the life of the entity - a price they've held since 1981. Fewer bells and whistles than Northwest, but a registered agent's actual job is to receive service of

## Brands named, in the order the engine gave

| Position | Brand | How it was named |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwest | recommended |
| 2 | Northwest Registered Agent | recommended |
| 3 | Clerky | mentioned |
| 4 | Stripe Atlas | mentioned |
| 5 | CSC | mentioned |
| 6 | CT Corporation | mentioned |
| 7 | Harbor Compliance | mentioned |
| 8 | LegalZoom | mentioned |
| 9 | ZenBusiness | mentioned |
| 10 | Bizee | mentioned |

## Sources the engine cited

- https://www.rho.co/blog/best-registered-agent-services (vendor)
- https://www.businessinitiative.org/formation-providers/northwest-registered-agent-vs-harbor-compliance/ (other)
- https://www.delawareinc.com/blog/registered-agent-fees-rising-not-ours/ (other)
- https://www.delawareinc.com/compare-registered-agent-fees/ (other)
- https://www.rho.co/blog/stripe-atlas-vs-clerky (vendor)

The question page: https://bikoosh.com/answers/q/registered-agent-services/startups

Alerts and membership: Answer Watch Pro, 79 USD per month: https://bikoosh.com/answers. Bikoosh is monitoring assistance, not complete protection.

Answer Watch records what one AI answer engine said on one date, nothing more. Each page names the engine and the model, carries the date the question was asked, and lists the brands that appeared in the answer in the order the engine gave them, with the sources it cited. It is a measurement, not a ranking, not a recommendation and not a claim about the world. Brands that did not appear in an answer are not named on any public page. Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.