What is a registered agent in South Carolina?

A registered agent (South Carolina law calls it an agent for service of process) is the person or business that accepts lawsuits and official notices for your LLC. South Carolina law requires every LLC to designate and continuously maintain an office in South Carolina and an agent with a street address for service of process. The agent can be an individual who lives in South Carolina, a South Carolina corporation, another LLC, or a foreign corporation or company authorized to do business in South Carolina. You name the agent on your Articles of Organization (Form F0006), and the form has a line for the agent's signature.

What happens if my South Carolina LLC doesn't have a registered agent?

South Carolina's LLC Act lists only one ground for administrative dissolution: not paying a fee, tax or penalty within 60 days after it is due. Having no agent is not on that list. The practical risk is still serious: if your LLC has no agent, or its agent cannot be found at the agent's address, legal papers can be served on the Secretary of State instead, who forwards them by mail to your LLC's designated office. If nobody is watching that office, you can miss a lawsuit and face a default judgment without knowing you were sued. If your agent resigns, the agency ends on the 31st day after the resignation is filed, so name a new agent before then.

How much does a registered agent cost in South Carolina?

Serving as your own agent costs nothing if you live in South Carolina and can accept papers at a South Carolina street address. South Carolina LLCs file no annual report with the Secretary of State, so the agent's address is mainly where lawsuits and official notices arrive. A professional registered agent service charges its own annual fee, which varies by provider. Among the national services we compare, Northwest charges $125 a year for registered agent service (a year is included when you form a new LLC with its paid package, $39 plus your state's filing fee), and LegalZoom charges $249 a year and does not include the service in any formation plan. Changing your agent later costs $10 with the Secretary of State.

Does using a registered agent protect my privacy in South Carolina?

Yes. Your agent's name and street address go on your Articles of Organization and appear with your LLC's record in the Secretary of State's online business entity search, which offers a public registered agent search. If you are your own agent, that is your address. A professional agent puts its own name and address there instead. It does not hide everything: other filings for your LLC can still show names and addresses, so check what each form asks for before you file.

How do I change my registered agent in South Carolina?

Yes. To change your South Carolina agent, file Form F0080 (Notice of Change of Designated Office, Agent for Service of Process, or Address of Agent) with the South Carolina Secretary of State. The fee is $10, the new agent signs a consent to the appointment on the form, and on paper you file two copies (the original and a duplicate or conformed copy).

South Carolina Registered Agent: Requirements, Costs and How to Choose One

Everything you need to know about choosing and maintaining a registered agent for your South Carolina LLC in 2026.

By Edmond Hui · Last updated: October 2026

South Carolina requires every LLC to name a registered agent in the Articles of Organization it files to form. Hiring a paid service is optional: in most states the LLC's owner, or another individual who qualifies, may serve as its registered agent, and the rules below set out who qualifies in South Carolina. See the rules below.

Affiliate disclosure: We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Get registered agent service from Northwest$125/yr, or included for year one when you form your LLC with them ($39 plus your state's filing fee). Registered agent customers are enrolled by default in Northwest's renewal service, which charges your saved payment method $100, plus any state fee or tax it pays for you, each time it handles a state filing for you, cancellable any time.

Not sure which service is right? Compare formation services →

South Carolina Registered Agent Rules at a Glance

Can an individual serve?	Yes, an individual who lives in South Carolina
Can a company serve?	Yes, a South Carolina corporation, another LLC, or a foreign corporation or company authorized in South Carolina
Can you be your own agent?	Yes, if you live in South Carolina

How South Carolina's rules compare: registered agent requirements in all 50 states.

Best Registered Agent Services for South Carolina LLCs (2026)

Affiliate disclosure: Northwest Registered Agent, Bizee, ZenBusiness and LegalZoom pay us a commission if you sign up through our link, at no extra cost to you. We list only the registered agent services we have an affiliate relationship with, so this is not a survey of the whole market.

This table is not scored. The four are listed cheapest annual renewal first, and the rows below it say which one fits which situation. The scored ranking, and the formula behind it, is on the formation services review, which orders them on three-year cost, BBB rating and Trustpilot score.

Service	With formation, year 1	Annual renewal	BBB	Trustpilot	Privacy
Northwest Registered Agent	Included with $39 formation	$125/yr	A	4.1/5 (297)	Says it does not sell your information; runs its own servers
Bizee	Free year one (some visitors are being shown shorter free periods, so confirm at checkout)	$149/yr	C (unaccredited)	4.8/5 (26,100+)	No data-sharing commitment
ZenBusiness	$99, not included in any plan	$199/yr	A	4.8/5 (32,500+)	Partial
LegalZoom	Not included, $249 extra	$249/yr	A+	4.6/5 (32,900+)	Partial

Note: Bizee holds a C rating from the BBB and is not accredited. BBB's profile carries a live alert describing a pattern of complaints about unexpected charges, difficulty canceling and filing delays, and Bizee has posted a response to it. We flag this so you can make an informed choice.

Prices are each provider's standard published rates; year-one pricing applies when you form your LLC through the same service. BBB and Trustpilot figures as recorded September 15, 2026, not re-checked since, and both sources update continuously. These are the dates the figures were last written to our dataset, which is the most we can show: they are not verification dates. See how we evaluate these companies in our full formation services review →

Which Registered Agent Is Best for Your South Carolina LLC?

You're forming a new LLC and want phone, email and chat support

Our pick: ZenBusiness

A $0 Starter formation plan, backed by an A from the BBB and a 4.8/5 Trustpilot score. Registered agent is not included in any plan: it is $99 for the first year when you form with them, then $199/yr.

Your LLC already exists and you just need an agent

Our pick: Northwest Registered Agent

A flat $125/yr for registered agent service, the lowest renewal of the services listed here, and a privacy policy that says it does not sell your information. Registered agent customers are enrolled by default in Northwest's report filing service, which charges your saved payment method $100 plus state fees each time it files for you and which you can cancel.

You want year one free and the cheaper renewal after it

Our pick: Bizee

Registered agent is free for year one on every Bizee plan and renews at $149/yr, $50/yr less than ZenBusiness. Northwest renews lower still at $125/yr, but its first year comes inside a paid $39 formation package rather than free. Tradeoff: a C rating from the BBB, which cites a pattern of complaints about charges and cancellation, so read every auto-renewal term.

Complex legal needs alongside your filing

Our pick: LegalZoom

The only one of the services listed here with attorney consultations, which come with LegalZoom's $299 formation plan (and in one version of its plans its $249 plan) for 30 days and then cost $49 or $99 a month until you cancel, depending on the version. Also the most expensive registered agent listed here at $249/yr, which is never included in their plans.

Need the South Carolina Secretary of State?

Go directly to the South Carolina Secretary of State website.

Visit the South Carolina filing office →

Your Registered Agent Options

Self / owner

Pros

No additional cost
Complete control over documents
Immediate access to legal papers

Cons

Your name and address become public record
Must be available during business hours
Can miss important deadlines if traveling

Best for: Small business owners who work from a fixed South Carolina location and don't mind public disclosure

Friend or family member

Pros

Lower cost than professional services
Personal relationship and trust
Your home address is not the one listed for the registered agent

Cons

Relies on someone else's availability
Could strain personal relationships
May lack experience handling legal documents

Best for: Entrepreneurs with reliable contacts in South Carolina who understand the responsibility

Professional service

Pros

Expert handling of legal documents
Your home address is not the one listed for the registered agent
Consistent availability and compliance

Cons

An annual fee set by the provider
Less direct control over document receipt
Requires ongoing service relationship

Best for: Business owners who value privacy, live outside South Carolina, or want professional document management

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state publishes about filing deadlines, fees, and the consequences of missing them, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you what your own company owes: the date turns on when and where you formed, states change these rules between our reviews, and in several states an entity-level tax falls due in a year when no report does. Confirm your own dates with the filing office named on this page before you rely on one here, because missing a deadline can cost the company its good standing or, in many states, its existence.

Read this guide for another state:

Frequently Asked Questions

: A registered agent (South Carolina law calls it an agent for service of process) is the person or business that accepts lawsuits and official notices for your LLC. South Carolina law requires every LLC to designate and continuously maintain an office in South Carolina and an agent with a street address for service of process. The agent can be an individual who lives in South Carolina, a South Carolina corporation, another LLC, or a foreign corporation or company authorized to do business in South Carolina. You name the agent on your Articles of Organization (Form F0006), and the form has a line for the agent's signature.
: South Carolina's LLC Act lists only one ground for administrative dissolution: not paying a fee, tax or penalty within 60 days after it is due. Having no agent is not on that list. The practical risk is still serious: if your LLC has no agent, or its agent cannot be found at the agent's address, legal papers can be served on the Secretary of State instead, who forwards them by mail to your LLC's designated office. If nobody is watching that office, you can miss a lawsuit and face a default judgment without knowing you were sued. If your agent resigns, the agency ends on the 31st day after the resignation is filed, so name a new agent before then.
: Serving as your own agent costs nothing if you live in South Carolina and can accept papers at a South Carolina street address. South Carolina LLCs file no annual report with the Secretary of State, so the agent's address is mainly where lawsuits and official notices arrive. A professional registered agent service charges its own annual fee, which varies by provider. Among the national services we compare, Northwest charges $125 a year for registered agent service (a year is included when you form a new LLC with its paid package, $39 plus your state's filing fee), and LegalZoom charges $249 a year and does not include the service in any formation plan. Changing your agent later costs $10 with the Secretary of State.
: Yes. Your agent's name and street address go on your Articles of Organization and appear with your LLC's record in the Secretary of State's online business entity search, which offers a public registered agent search. If you are your own agent, that is your address. A professional agent puts its own name and address there instead. It does not hide everything: other filings for your LLC can still show names and addresses, so check what each form asks for before you file.
: Yes. To change your South Carolina agent, file Form F0080 (Notice of Change of Designated Office, Agent for Service of Process, or Address of Agent) with the South Carolina Secretary of State. The fee is $10, the new agent signs a consent to the appointment on the form, and on paper you file two copies (the original and a duplicate or conformed copy).

Sources

6 documents

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified South Carolina sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.

scstatehouse.gov/code/t33c044.phpS.C. Code 33-44-108 to 33-44-111, designated office and agent; change; resignation; service on the Secretary of State
businessfilings.sc.gov/BusinessFiling/Entity/DownloadForm?formName=F0080&entityType=2&filingType=Notice+of+Change+of+Designated+Office%2C+Agent+or+Address+of+Registered+AgentSouth Carolina Secretary of State, Form F0080, Notice of Change of Designated Office, Agent for Service of Process, or Address of Agent
sos.sc.gov/online-filings/business-entities/file-and-search-onlineSouth Carolina Secretary of State, Business Entities Online
sos.sc.gov/online-filings/business-entitiesSouth Carolina Secretary of State: business entity filings
scstatehouse.gov/code/t12c020.phpSouth Carolina statute: Annual Report and License Fee
dor.sc.gov/business-income-taxes/corporateSouth Carolina Department of Revenue: file the Annual Report and License Fee

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Forming an LLC in South Carolina?

See how Northwest Registered Agent, Bizee, ZenBusiness and LegalZoom, the formation services we partner with, compare on 3-year cost, BBB rating and Trustpilot score before you choose.

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Need a Registered Agent in South Carolina?

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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.

How we check facts

South Carolina Registered Agent Rules at a Glance

Best Registered Agent Services for South Carolina LLCs (2026)

Which Registered Agent Is Best for Your South Carolina LLC?

You're forming a new LLC and want phone, email and chat support

Your LLC already exists and you just need an agent

You want year one free and the cheaper renewal after it

Complex legal needs alongside your filing

Your Registered Agent Options

Self / owner

Friend or family member

Professional service

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

More for South Carolina LLCs

Start and set up

Taxes, money and growth

Stay compliant

Operate in other states

Compare structures

By owner type

By profession

Need a Registered Agent in South Carolina?

More South Carolina LLC Guides

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