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Alternative to Harbor Compliance
Mainstay Filing vs Harbor Compliance
Mainstay Filing vs Harbor Compliance, 2026 pricing: Mainstay Filing's $199-a-year package keeps your registered agent and files your annual report for one price that's the same every year, while Harbor Compliance charges $159 a year for its agent after the first year plus $199 a year for its annual report service, $358 a year in all. For the agent alone, Mainstay Filing is $149 a year, the same at renewal.
Both companies sell registered agent service and annual report filing. The difference is in how the yearly bill is put together. Mainstay Filing sells one flat price for the agent and one flat package for a new company that adds the formation and the annual report. Harbor Compliance starts its agent lower, renews it higher, and sells the annual report as a separate yearly service.
Receipt · Mainstay Filing vs. Harbor Compliance
Registered agent, year one
Registered agent at renewal
Annual report filing
Agent + annual report, per year from year two
Agent + annual report, 3 years
Agent alone, 3 years
Harbor Compliance prices as published on harborcompliance.com (registered agent and annual report pages), updated October 29, 2026. Before state fees. Three-year totals are year one plus two renewals, paid yearly unless marked prepaid.
Both companies sell registered agent service and annual report filing. The difference is in how the yearly bill is put together. Mainstay Filing sells one flat price for the agent and one flat package for a new company that adds the formation and the annual report. Harbor Compliance starts its agent lower, renews it higher, and sells the annual report as a separate yearly service.
The Verdict
Choose Mainstay Filing if you're forming a new company and want the agent and the annual report handled for one $199 yearly price, or if you want an agent at $149 that renews at $149 with no first-year rate to keep track of. Harbor Compliance suits an owner who only needs an agent and is happy to prepay several years of it up front.
What Mainstay Filing Includes
Registered agent, $149 a year, the same at renewal. Our name and street address on the state record, service of process scanned and uploaded the same business day at no charge, the first three government mailings each year scanned free, and compliance reminders before your deadlines.
Formation package, $199 a year. For a new company: we prepare and file the formation, apply for your EIN, serve as your registered agent and prepare and file your annual report every year it's due. The state's own fees are passed through at cost. The price is the same in year one and every year after.
What Harbor Compliance Charges
From Harbor Compliance's own pages: its registered agent is $99 for the first year and renews at $159 a year. It offers to lock the $99 rate by prepaying, $198 for two years or $297 for three, after which it renews at $159. Its annual report service is a separate $199 a year per state, plus the state's filing fees.
The Three-Year Math
Paid yearly, three years of an agent plus the annual report filed each year comes to $597 with Mainstay Filing, and that includes forming the company. With Harbor Compliance it's $99 + $159 + $159 for the agent plus 3 × $199 for the annual report service: $1,014, or $894 with its three-year agent prepay.
For the agent alone, three years with Mainstay Filing is $447 ($149 each year). Harbor Compliance's is $417 paid yearly, or $297 prepaid, and from the fourth year it's $159 a year against our $149.
Moving From Harbor Compliance to Mainstay Filing
Changing your registered agent is a filing with the state that names the new agent and address. We prepare and file it for you, and you pay only the state's own change fee, at cost. If you're also moving your annual report work to us, that comes with the $199-a-year formation package for a company we form; for a company that's already formed, our $149 service is the agent role with compliance reminders before your deadlines.
Harbor Compliance's terms say that to cancel its registered agent service before the anniversary date you must pay any outstanding fees and provide documentation, and that fees are non-refundable. Once the change of agent is on file with the state, that documentation exists, so the order is: switch first, then cancel.
What Mainstay Filing Doesn't Do
We don't prepare tax returns, run bookkeeping, handle business licenses or rent out a virtual office address. Our registered agent address is for the agent role, and in some states it can't be listed as your mailing or office address. Physical mail forwarding isn't included in any plan; legal papers and the first three government mailings each year are scanned for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Mainstay Filing cheaper than Harbor Compliance?
For a registered agent plus the annual report filed, yes: $199 a year with Mainstay Filing against $358 a year with Harbor Compliance from the second year on ($159 agent + $199 annual report service). For the agent alone, Harbor's first year is lower ($99 against our $149), and from the second year Mainstay Filing is lower ($149 against $159).
Does Harbor Compliance raise its registered agent price at renewal?
Its page says the $99 first-year rate renews at $159 a year, or at $159 after a prepaid two- or three-year term. Mainstay Filing's agent is $149 a year and renews at $149.
Does Harbor Compliance file annual reports?
Yes, as a separate service: $199 a year per state, plus the state's filing fees, according to its annual report page. With Mainstay Filing the annual report is part of the $199-a-year formation package.
Can I switch my registered agent from Harbor Compliance to Mainstay Filing?
Yes. We file the change of registered agent with the state for you, and you pay only the state's own change fee, at cost. See our registered agent service.
Do these prices include state fees?
No. Both companies charge state fees on top of their own price; Mainstay Filing passes them through at cost.
Disclosure: Mainstay Filing publishes this comparison and is one of the services in it. Other companies' prices are as published on their own sites, updated October 29, 2026; confirm with them before you buy.
See it side by side, in your state
Formation, your registered agent, and your annual report. One price, $199/yr, with the state fee passed through at cost. Pick your state and we'll take it from there.
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