Alabama · registered agent · last verified
Alabama requires every LLC to keep a registered agent at an Alabama street address, staffed during business hours, on file every day the company exists. Through our partner Registered Agents Inc, that agent is $74.25 a year, one price in every state and the same at renewal.
$74.25 a year + $2.22 card processing fee at checkout: $76.47 due today.
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From Alabama law and its filing office, each with its source: the term it uses, who can serve, the form to change agents, and what happens if the agent lapses.
| Rule | What the official source says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Legal term and statute | Alabama uses "registered agent" and "registered office." Ala. Code § 10A-1-5.31(a) requires each filing entity, including LLCs, to "designate and continuously maintain in this state" both. | alison.legislature.state.al.us |
| Who can serve | The agent can be an individual Alabama resident, or a domestic entity or a foreign entity registered to do business in Alabama. The agent must keep a business office at the same address as the registered office. The agent may not do its job solely through a virtual office (internet or remote-only) or a mail-forwarding service (§ 10A-1-5.31(b)). | alison.legislature.state.al.us |
| Address rule | The registered office must be at an Alabama street address where the agent can be personally served. It cannot be solely a mailbox service or telephone answering service (§ 10A-1-5.31(c)). The SOS change form says 'No PO Boxes' for the street address. | alison.legislature.state.al.us |
| Changing the agent (LLC) | File "Change of Registered Agent or Registered Office by Entity" (form rev. 1/2022) under § 10A-1-5.32. The fee is $100. Mail 2 typed copies to Secretary of State, Business Services, P.O. Box 5616, Montgomery, AL 36103, or email them to miscellaneous.filings@sos.alabama.gov. The new agent must sign the consent box. | sos.alabama.gov |
| Agent resignation (separate filing) | Yes. The agent files "Notice of Registered Agent Resignation" (form rev. 8/2025) under § 10A-1-5.34. There is no fee: the statute says no fee is required, and the form says 'No fee is involved.' The resignation takes effect on the 31st day after delivery, or sooner if a new agent is designated. The SOS notifies the entity. An agent can resign even if the entity is not in good standing. | sos.alabama.gov |
| If the LLC has no agent | Under § 10A-1-5.35, if an entity fails to designate and keep an agent, or the agent cannot be served with reasonable diligence, the entity may be served under the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure. Alabama's statute does not make the Secretary of State the fallback agent. | alison.legislature.state.al.us |
| Agent on the public search | Yes. The SOS Business Entity Records detail page shows 'Registered Agent Name,' 'Registered Office Street Address' and 'Registered Office Mailing Address.' | arc-sos.state.al.us |
| Who is served if the agent can't be found | No state officer is named. § 10A-1-5.35 sends service to the methods in the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, and § 10A-1-5.36 says the statute is not the only way to serve an entity. | alison.legislature.state.al.us |
| Alabama-specific rule | Alabama is among the most expensive states to change an agent: $100 for a statement of change, while the agent's own resignation is free. Its statute also bars an agent from working solely through a virtual office or mail-forwarding service. | sos.alabama.gov |
Allowed in general if you have an Alabama street address and are reliably there in business hours. Free, but your address becomes public record, a process server can arrive in front of customers, and every trip out of town is a gap in coverage.
Works until it doesn't: they move, change jobs, or sign for a summons and forget to mention it. The lawsuit does not pause because the agent was a favor. You also need their Alabama address on the public record.
An Alabama office, staffed, whose only job is to be there. Notices are scanned the day they arrive, your home address stays off the registry, and the Alabama calendar is tracked for you. Ours, through our partner Registered Agents Inc, is $74.25 a year.
Not legal advice. Who may serve in Alabama is in the sourced table above.
Service on the registered agent counts as service on the company. If the papers stop there, deadlines to respond run anyway, and the other side can ask the court to rule without hearing from you.
State notices about Alabama filings, fees and agent problems go to the same address. Unanswered, they turn into penalties, loss of good standing and eventually administrative dissolution.
Private mailers copy state seals to sell you things you do not owe. Run any notice through the free triage to see what needs action, what can wait, and what to bin.
Business Privilege Tax of $100 or less is fully exempt with no return required (tax years from 2024). A return is only due if the computed tax exceeds $100.
So in Alabama the registered agent is not one obligation among several yearly filings; it is the standing one. Federal filings, local licenses and any other state you are registered in still run on their own calendars. What an Alabama LLC still owes each year.
Three ways in
One price in every state, the same at renewal. Order only what you need; nothing is filed without an order.
For comparison, Northwest publishes $125 a year, ZenBusiness $99 on its eligible first-year offer then $199, and LegalZoom $249 (their pricing pages, checked ). Compare provider prices, renewals, and included services
$74.25 / yr+ $2.22 card processing fee at checkout, $76.47 due today
An Alabama street address on file, every notice scanned to your dashboard and triaged by urgency, every Alabama deadline tracked from day one.
Get an agent in Alabama$41.25 service fee+ $1.23 card processing fee at checkout, $42.48 due today. The state’s filing fee is invoiced after.
Already have an agent who is slow, expensive, or gone? We prepare the Alabama change-of-agent filing, and the new agent takes over from the day it is accepted.
How to change your Alabama registered agent: the form and state fee.
Change my agentFrom $123.75 + state fee+ card processing fee at checkout
Starting fresh in Alabama? Form the LLC and add the agent in the same order, so the articles list a compliant address from the first filing. You own it outright: no subscription, no upsell.
Form my Alabama LLC$100 for the Change of Registered Agent or Registered Office by Entity filing. The same $100 applies when an agent changes its own name or address. To switch to Registered Agents Inc through us, our change-of-agent order form collects what the filing needs and we handle the paperwork.
No. § 10A-1-5.34(g) says no fee is required, and the resignation takes effect on the 31st day after delivery unless a new agent is designated first.
No. § 10A-1-5.31(b)(4) bars an agent from performing its duties solely through a virtual office or mail-forwarding service. The registered office must be a street address where the agent can be personally served.
The LLC may be served under the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure (§ 10A-1-5.35).
Yes. Alabama, like every state and DC, requires an LLC or corporation to continuously maintain a registered agent with a physical street address in Alabama who is available during normal business hours to accept service of process and official state mail. A P.O. box does not qualify.
Generally yes, if you have an Alabama street address and someone is reliably there during business hours. The trade-offs: your home address becomes public record, a process server can appear at your door in front of customers or family, and a missed delivery while you travel can mean a lawsuit proceeds without your knowledge. Confirm eligibility on the official state portal linked above.
Yes. Business Privilege Tax of $100 or less is fully exempt with no return required (tax years from 2024). A return is only due if the computed tax exceeds $100. The registered-agent requirement is separate and does not go away: it applies every day the LLC exists, regardless of whether the state asks for a yearly report.
$74.25 per year per company, the same in every state and the same at renewal. The service is provided through our partner Registered Agents Inc. Every notice the agent receives is scanned to your dashboard and triaged by urgency; legal notices are held for your review. Checkout adds a $2.22 card processing fee, so $76.47 is due today. Order through the registered agent order form; nothing is filed without an order.
No. Vermilion Vitez is a filing-services company, not a law firm. This page is educational, sourced reference information (the last-verified date is at the top); confirm requirements on the official state site or with a professional before acting.
Each state where the LLC is formed or registered to do business as a foreign LLC needs its own in-state agent. Checking a name first? Alabama LLC name search. Opening a bank account? Alabama certificate of good standing. Starting from scratch? How to start an LLC in Alabama, and the full LLC cost in Alabama. Selling taxable goods? Alabama sales tax permit.
Last step
$74.25 a year (+ $2.22 card processing fee at checkout), notices in your dashboard the day they arrive, and the Alabama calendar tracked for you.
Or call (954) 470-8356 — we pick up.