Companies House direct vs a formation agent: what’s the real difference
This confuses a lot of first-time founders, and it’s a fair confusion. A formation agent isn’t a different, more official way to register a company, it’s a service that files the same paperwork with Companies House on your behalf, sometimes with extras bundled in.
Registering directly
You go to the Companies House website, fill in the required details yourself, pay the standard filing fee, and your company usually appears on the register within a day. It’s a genuinely straightforward process if you already know your director, shareholder, and SIC code details.
Using a formation agent
They handle the same filing on your behalf, often bundling in extras like a registered office address, template company documents, or in the case of bank-linked agents, a business account. Some charge a fee for this, others (usually banks) offer it free specifically to win you as an account customer.
Is one more legitimate than the other
No. Both routes result in exactly the same entry on the exact same public Companies House register. There’s no “more official” version of an incorporated company, the legal status is identical regardless of how you filed.
The honest recommendation
Confident with the details and don’t need extras: register directly, it’s free of any middleman and just as valid. Want a registered office address or banking bundled in, or you’d rather not deal with the form yourself: a formation agent, ideally a free one, saves you time for no real downside.
Some links here are referral links, if you sign up we may earn a fee at no cost to you, it never changes the order we list things in. Fees and terms change, always check Companies House and the provider’s own site for the current numbers. This is information, not legal advice.