The Free Year Ends and the Price Appears

You should know who benefits from this argument. Maryland Registered Agent.co charges $99 a year and competes with Inc Authority for exactly the customers reading this. Everything below sticks to what each company publishes, and where Inc Authority publishes nothing, we leave the space blank rather than filling it in with a guess.

Twelve Months at No Charge, No Asterisk We Could Find

Inc Authority includes registered agent service free for a year with its formation packages. We went looking for the usual fine print, a setup fee, a shorter effective term than advertised, something clawed back if you cancel early, and came away with nothing stated. The free year appears to be exactly a free year. For a new Maryland business that is one required expense off the first-year list, and the first year is when that list runs longest.

The Renewal Is the Missing Number

What is not published anywhere is what year two costs. In July 2026 we read the pricing material end to end, packages, FAQ, and home page included, and the figure was not there. In this industry that usually means the figure appears at the order screen or comes from a salesperson on the phone.

We are not going to invent one, because inventing one would defeat the entire argument. Here is the argument without it. Agent service is a forever expense, so the renewal rate is the number that actually describes the cost, and holding that number back until checkout removes the comparison you would want to make while you still have options open.

Ten Years Out

Stretch the comparison to the length of a business rather than the length of a promotion. Our side comes to $990 across a decade. Their side comes to zero plus an unknown times nine. That is not a debating trick, it is an honest description of the information you have at the moment you have to decide.

Both of Our Numbers Are on the Site Right Now

$99 to start and $99 forever after, printed on the pricing page where anyone can read them without entering a card first. Along with that: our Maryland address on the public resident agent line, whatever a process server delivers scanned on the day it arrives and emailed straight to you, one item at checkout, and a reminder before every April 15.

The boundary of our claim, since we are being picky about disclosure today. BetterLegal publishes $90 a year, which undercuts us. Ours is a low published Maryland rate that never changes, and both of its years are visible today.

How Cheap Is the Inc Authority Exit in Maryland?

Twenty-five dollars, which is about as low as this gets anywhere. One resolution to SDAT's Charter Division and it is done, and our Maryland change of agent page walks the form, the fee, and the online route through Maryland Business Express.

Two things belong outside that link. First, sequence: because the form has to carry the incoming agent's name, get the replacement signed up before anything is filed, and leave the Inc Authority appointment alone until the SDAT record catches up. Holding both for a few days is what keeps the agent line occupied. Second, the $25 cuts both ways. It applies to leaving us as easily as it applies to leaving them, which means we have to re-earn the $99 every single year. We prefer it that way.

Nothing stops you from filing during the free year, and nothing gets forfeited on an arrangement that was never costing you anything.

One More Maryland Number to Keep in Mind

Whichever way you go, budget for the state itself. Maryland's annual report is a flat $300, due April 15, filed with SDAT, and it applies to a foreign LLC registered here even if the company owns no property in the state whatsoever. Ignore it long enough and the charter is forfeited. That is the mail your agent exists to put in front of you, and it is a decent argument for choosing the provider whose incentives you can read in advance.

Order Here

Nine Maryland services, sorted by the prices they are willing to print, sit in our price comparison.