Formation
Stripe Atlas or Northwest Registered Agent: which should a non-resident use?
Northwest, unless you are building a startup that will raise money. Northwest forms a Wyoming LLC for $239 in year one and $185 a year after. Atlas forms in Delaware only: $500 up front, then $500 a year, $100 for its agent and $400 to Delaware, but it bundles the equity paperwork and 83(b) election investors expect.
Revised against the dataset Sep 2026. Every figure below is dated where it stands, and the dataset behind it is rechecked at least every 90 days.
Disclosure Links to providers on this page earn this site nothing. They go to the provider’s own site unmodified, with no tracking parameters. If that ever changes, this notice changes with it. Full disclosure.
They are not the same product
Northwest sells a filing and a registered agent. Its Deluxe tier, the one priced here because it is the cheapest that includes the EIN a non-resident needs, charges $139 once, includes the agent for the first year, and bills the agent at $125 a year after that. The state is your choice; the comparison prices Wyoming.
Atlas sells a Delaware company with the things a venture-backed startup needs on day one. For $500 it forms a Delaware C corporation or LLC, obtains the tax ID, covers the registered agent for the first year ($100 a year after), issues founder equity and files the 83(b) election, and adds $2,500 in Stripe product credits for the first year. Stripe says startups in over 175 countries have used it.
So the question is less which is cheaper — Northwest, on every horizon — than whether you need what Atlas bundles. If you are forming a company to invoice clients, hold assets or run a small online business, you do not, and the Delaware annual cost is money spent on a state you have no reason to be in.
- Northwest Registered Agent — Deluxe4.6Score 4.6 out of 5, Excellent tier, rubric 2026.1
Northwest Registered Agent
- Year-one total
- $239
- Annual thereafter
- $185Calculated from attributes verified Sep 2026
- Agent renewal
- $125/yr
- States available
- Any state — priced for WyomingVerified against the source Sep 2026
- Year-one total
- $500
- Annual thereafter
- $500
- Agent renewal
- $100/yr
- States available
- Delaware only
Every figure here was checked against the provider’s own page in Oct 2026, except where a date is shown against the figure. Figures are rechecked at least every 90 days; one past that is marked “Recheck due”.
date checked against the provider’s own pagecalculated; oldest date among its inputspast its recheck window
Segments show the tier reached, not the score:BasicStandardStrongExcellent
Where the annual gap comes from
Most of the difference after year one is the state, not the provider. Delaware's annual charge in the dataset is $400 against Wyoming's $60, and that recurs for as long as the company exists. The agent renewals are close: $100 at Atlas, $125 at Northwest.
Over five years the gap is $1,521: $261 in year one, then $315 a year. That is the price of Delaware plus Atlas's package, and it is worth paying only if an investor, an accelerator or a co-founder agreement is going to ask for a Delaware corporation with founder stock already issued.
Choose Atlas if
You intend to raise from US investors or join an accelerator, and want the corporation, the equity and the 83(b) election done in one pass rather than assembled afterwards. Atlas forms the company in Delaware because that is where those investors expect it to be, and the Stripe credits offset part of the fee if you will process payments through Stripe anyway.
Choose Northwest if
You need a US company that exists, has a tax ID, and costs as little as possible to keep. That describes most non-resident founders: consultants, e-commerce sellers, holding companies, and anyone testing an idea. Pick the Deluxe tier or above so the EIN is included; the Basic tier omits it, and without an EIN the company cannot file its annual Form 5472.
Related questions
- Can I use Atlas for a Wyoming company?
- No. Atlas forms Delaware entities only. Northwest forms in any state, and the comparison prices it for Wyoming.
- Does Northwest issue founder shares or file an 83(b) election?
- Not as part of the formation packages priced here. Those are startup-specific steps that Atlas bundles; a Northwest LLC does not need them.
- Is the EIN included with both?
- With Atlas, yes. With Northwest, only from the Deluxe tier upward; Basic does not include it.
- Can I move from a Wyoming LLC to a Delaware corporation later?
- Companies do convert or re-domicile, but that is a separate legal process with its own state fees and is outside what this comparison prices. If you know investors are coming, forming in Delaware first is simpler.
Sources
Rules and deadlines above are read from these primary sources. Prices come from the comparison dataset and are dated where they stand.