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Business Basics LabLLC paperwork, measured state by state.

Lab sheet 2 · Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Registered Agent (2026): 6 Procedures and the 3 Best Agents

For appointing a registered agent in Massachusetts in 2026, the lab recommends Mainstay Filing ($149 a year), MA Registered Agent.org ($99 a year) and Massachusetts Registered Agent.co ($99 a year), highest reading first. The sheet runs 6 procedures: the legal rule, eligibility, the address test and the filing.

Recorded by the Business Basics Lab staff ·

Key facts

Is one needed?
Yessec.state.ma.us (observed October 2026)
Prices of ranked services
$99 to $149 a yearListed prices
Limited Liability Company Annual Report
$500 a yearmalegislature.gov (observed August 2026)
Procedure count
6From first to last

Aims of this sheet

  • What Massachusetts requires of a resident agent
  • The eligibility and address rules
  • How the agent is put on record
  • The ranked agents

Best reading

Massachusetts: the ranked services

Cost over three years comes first, then procedures performed, renewal, Massachusetts fit and price legibility (method page).
Best overall

1. Mainstay Filing: best for owners planning expansion

$149 yearly, identical at renewal

Top of the Massachusetts readings is Mainstay Filing: $149 a year, $149 at renewal, with the same plan observed in all fifty states.

MA Registered Agent.org measures $150 lower over three years; this service still reads higher because it performs more of the sheet.

What the price performs

  • A registered office in Massachusetts
  • Papers served on the company are scanned free on the same business day
  • Three government letters a year are scanned at no charge
  • Also serves nonprofits, corporations, LPs and LLPs

Measured strengths

  • The same price in all fifty states
  • A flat $149 per year

Measured limits

  • More expensive by $50 a year
  • Agent service only
Visit Mainstay FilingPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.
Massachusetts specialist

2. MA Registered Agent.org: best for cost-conscious owners

$99 yearly, identical at renewal

MA Registered Agent.org follows in second place: $99 a year supplies a Massachusetts agent with an office inside the state.

What the price performs

  • An in-state office address
  • Papers served on the company are scanned into the account

Measured strengths

  • A flat $99 per year
  • Less per year than Mainstay Filing

Measured limits

  • A single-state service
  • Limited Liability Company Annual Report remains the owner's job
Visit MA Registered Agent.orgPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.
Massachusetts specialist

3. Massachusetts Registered Agent.co: best for another Massachusetts candidate

$99 yearly, identical at renewal

Massachusetts Registered Agent.co follows in third place: $99 a year supplies a Massachusetts agent with an office inside the state.

It publishes the same prices as MA Registered Agent.org.

What the price performs

  • An in-state office address
  • Papers served on the company are scanned into the account

Measured strengths

  • Less per year than Mainstay Filing
  • A flat $99 per year

Measured limits

  • A single-state service
  • Limited Liability Company Annual Report remains the owner's job
Visit Massachusetts Registered Agent.coPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.

Readings and prices at a glance

#ServiceAnnual priceRenewal priceThree-year total
1Mainstay Filing$149$149/yr$447Visit Mainstay FilingPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.
2MA Registered Agent.org$99$99/yr$297Visit MA Registered Agent.orgPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.
3Massachusetts Registered Agent.co$99$99/yr$297Visit Massachusetts Registered Agent.coPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.
Company prices as posted on November 13, 2026. Changing agent leaves state fees unchanged.

The Massachusetts agent, in sequence

  1. Procedure 1: Begin with the rule

    Every LLC must name a registered agent with an in-state street address.

    Specimen: sec.state.ma.us (observed October 2026)

  2. Procedure 2: Who qualifies as agent

    A Massachusetts resident, a Massachusetts corporation, or a corporation from another state authorized to do business in Massachusetts. State regulations (950 CMR 112.13) also allow other business entities authorized in Massachusetts. (M.G.L. c. 156C, § 5)

  3. Procedure 3: Choose a compliant address

    The address has to be a street address in Massachusetts. A post office address is not sufficient.

    TipEngaging a service keeps a home address out of the public record.

  4. Procedure 4: Serve personally or engage an agent

    Serving personally is possible if the tests are met. A professional from the ranking costs $99 to $149 per year.

  5. Procedure 5: Enter the appointment

    On a new Massachusetts LLC the agent appears in the Limited Liability Company Certificate of Organization. A later change reaches the Massachusetts Secretary of State as a separate filing.

    Specimen: sec.state.ma.us (observed October 2026)

  6. Procedure 6: Review the record annually

    Massachusetts learns the agent's details from the Limited Liability Company Annual Report ($500, every year, due on or before the anniversary date of filing of the certificate of organization), and state notices about it reach the resident agent.

    Specimen: malegislature.gov (observed August 2026)

The cost of this sheet

Cost itemPayeeTotal
Registered agent serviceThe engaged service$99 to $149 a year
Renewing the agentThe engaged service$99 to $149 a year
Limited Liability Company Annual ReportThe state$500 every year
Method for the three-year state row: take the filing fee, add the reports due in years two and three, then add any yearly minimum tax. Service fees stay in their own rows.

How the Massachusetts results were ordered

Procedures the price performs accounts for 28% of the reading, and it is where pulled ahead in Massachusetts.

One agent for any state defeated the one-state option.

Questions readers ask

Does Massachusetts law require a resident agent for an LLC?

Yes. Every LLC must name a registered agent with an in-state street address.

Can I be my own resident agent?

Yes, when the eligibility and address tests in procedures 2 and 3 are met.

Can I change my resident agent later?

A change is permitted whenever wanted, through the Massachusetts Secretary of State, as procedure 5 describes.

What does a registered agent cost in Massachusetts?

From $99 to $149 a year on this sheet.

What does the LLC pay the state each year?

Each time, the state collects the Limited Liability Company Annual Report fee of $500.

Which registered agent would you choose?

Select Mainstay Filing: an agent at $149 a year that remains usable when the company adds states. Then MA Registered Agent.org and Massachusetts Registered Agent.co.

See also

Specimens and records

  1. To reproduce the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth result, consult sec.state.ma.us. Our observation of it is dated August 2026.
  2. To reproduce the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth result, consult malegislature.gov. Our observation of it is dated August 2026.
  3. To reproduce the M.G.L. c. 156C, sec. 12 result, consult sec.state.ma.us. Our observation of it is dated August 2026.
  4. To reproduce the Massachusetts formation fee: Filing fee, official source result, consult sec.state.ma.us. Our observation of it is dated October 2026.
  5. To reproduce the Massachusetts formation fee: Filing fee, official source result, consult sec.state.ma.us. Our observation of it is dated October 2026.
  6. To reproduce the Massachusetts registered agent statute result, consult sec.state.ma.us. Our observation of it is dated October 2026.
  7. Recorded November 13, 2026 from the Massachusetts service page of Mainstay Filing
  8. Recorded November 13, 2026 from the pricing page of MA Registered Agent.org
  9. Recorded November 13, 2026 from the pricing page of Massachusetts Registered Agent.co