Best Diligent Entities alternatives for multi-entity businesses

The best Diligent Entities alternative for you depends on whether you need a better corporate record or a vendor that files with each state and is your registered agent. Diligent Entities keeps your entity data, officers, documents and compliance calendar in one place. It doesn't act as registered agent, and its only US e-filing runs through your own Delaware Division of Corporations account.

For a multi-state company or a fund platform with dozens of LLCs and LPs, the filing and agent work Diligent leaves to you becomes recurring work. Someone still has to submit each report, pay each state and keep a registered agent appointed in every jurisdiction where an entity is registered. In Delaware alone, that means corporate annual reports and franchise tax by March 1, then the LLC and LP annual tax by June 1, for every entity you hold there.

The providers below fall into two groups. Systems of record track entities and governance. Filing execution providers file with the Secretary of State and act as your registered agent.

Why teams look for a Diligent Entities alternative

You'd add to or replace Diligent Entities when you need a vendor to act as filer of record and hold registered agent appointments, two jobs the product leaves to you.

• Platform and corporate record. Diligent Entities is the entity management product in the Diligent One Platform, which Diligent describes as a governance, risk and compliance (GRC) platform. As a system of record it's strong: Diligent says it centralizes "entity data, ownership, authorities and filings in one permissioned corporate record" and tracks obligations across 100+ jurisdictions.

• Calendar and governance connections. The compliance calendar applies rules by jurisdiction and date, and the audit trail logs every access, addition, change and deletion. Entity documents connect to Diligent Boards for approvals and e-signatures. If your corporate secretary already runs board materials in Diligent, that connection is the main reason to stay.

• Filing execution. Diligent's Delaware forms table lists the annual report as e-filable, but only through your own Division of Corporations account and only for US-hosted Diligent sites. Filing that way also requires your own agent number and a DCIS login issued by the Division of Corporations. Outside Delaware, Diligent describes no US state filing. In April 2026, Diligent announced an AI agent that prepares filings across entities and said it expected general availability in the fall; the announcement doesn't say those filings include Secretary of State annual reports.

• Registered agent coverage. Diligent's December 2018 announcement paired its Blueprint OneWorld software with "CSC Registered Agent services." Diligent's published registered agent arrangement is that CSC partnership, and CSC still offers the service to Diligent Entities clients.

• Separate costs for software and filing. Entities sits inside a platform that also sells board, risk, audit and compliance products. You license the software and still pay separately for agents and state filings.

For the full feature and pricing breakdown, see the Diligent Entities overview.

How the alternatives compare

Five of the six providers below act as registered agent and file annual reports themselves. Athennian names partners for registered agent service and lists no filing service of its own, and Diligent leaves filing to you and registered agent work to its CSC partnership.

Read the annual report column closely: "automated" means software files from your entity data, while "human service-based" means the provider's team prepares and files each report for you.

How to choose between a filing provider and a system of record

The deciding question is who files: a system of record stores data and sends reminders, while a filing execution provider submits each report to the state. Ask every vendor who submits the filing and who pays the state, because a deadline in a calendar doesn't keep an entity in good standing. In the 2023 ACC and Deloitte report, which surveyed Association of Corporate Counsel members, 26% of respondents said their entities had been out of good standing with regulators. In the same survey, 9% said a delinquency affected a business transaction. Use these five questions to compare vendors:

• Will the vendor file, or only remind you? If you keep Diligent, decide which vendor files and how filed evidence flows back into your record.

• Does it act as registered agent everywhere you're registered? Delaware sends its annual franchise tax notices for corporations, LLCs and LPs to the registered agent, so the agent is where state notices arrive. Confirm coverage in every jurisdiction where you're registered, and confirm how quickly service of process reaches the right person for each entity.

• Are annual reports pre-filled and filed before they're due? Many jurisdictions now send electronic notices, often emailed to whoever filed the prior year's report, so a change of vendor or staff can send the next notice to the wrong inbox. Ask whether reports are pre-filled from your record, created before the due date and stored with filing evidence, and see how teams approach managing annual report filings across many entities.

• Does it file Delaware franchise tax, or only flag it? Delaware corporations file an annual report and pay franchise tax by March 1. Under 8 Del. C. § 503(a), the tax is the lesser of two calculations: the authorized shares method, with a $175 minimum, and the assumed par value capital method, with a $400 minimum. Delaware LLCs and LPs file no annual report but owe a $400 annual tax by June 1. A late payment adds $200 under 6 Del. C. § 18-1107(e) and § 17-1109(d), plus 1.5% interest per month on tax and penalty. Ask whether the vendor calculates and files these payments or only flags them, and check franchise tax by state for the rules elsewhere.

• How are payments handled across entities? Delaware requires electronic ACH payment for transactions over $5,000. Ask whether each entity can be billed to its own bank account, where receipts are stored and how many invoices you'll receive in a year.

Your counsel or the state's own instructions govern the figures for any specific entity, so put these questions to each finalist in writing before you sign.

Providers that file and act as registered agent

CSC, Computershare, CT Corporation and Harbor Compliance all offer state filing and registered agent service, so any of them can take the filing work off a record-only tool. Each also sells its own entity management software, so ask how filed evidence will reach your Diligent record if you keep it.

CSC: best for enterprises that want a managed filing service

CSC is a services company that acts as registered agent and files for you. It states that it can serve as registered agent in all 50 states, DC and key international jurisdictions. Its team prepares and files annual reports and franchise tax reports, and sends a report of upcoming filings 45 days ahead. CSC also runs a Fund Services business (fund administration, SPV and AIFM services) separate from its registered agent and annual report work.

For a Diligent customer, CSC is the known pairing: it's the registered agent partner in Diligent's announcement, and it still offers that service to Diligent Entities clients. The trade-off is the service model: CSC's team, not software, prepares each filing. That suits teams that want to hand the work off and keep Diligent as the governance record.

Computershare: best for portfolios that extend to Canada and US territories

Computershare says it offers registered agent service in all US states, plus the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam and Canada. It pairs its GEMS entity management software with registered agent and annual report services. Its compliance experts prepare and file annual reports on your behalf using entity data taken directly from GEMS, and registered agent data appears in the same GEMS dashboard.

In 2020, Computershare announced it was acquiring Corporate Creations, a US registered agent founded in 1993, to serve organizations facing a multi-state US regulatory environment. Its registered agent site lists REITs and private equity among the clients it serves, and its main site runs an Alternative Investment Portal. Because its filings draw on GEMS data, keeping Diligent as your record means keeping entity data current in both systems.

CT Corporation: best for consolidated billing across entities

CT Corporation, part of Wolters Kluwer, is a services company that sells registered agent service, annual report services and its hCue entity management software. CT's Compliance Bundle puts registered agent and annual report services on one annual invoice, by entity or group of entities, with Delaware LLC and LP annual tax as a separate line item. The bundle suits a finance team that wants fewer invoices.

CT's Annual Report Managed Services cover filing preparation, submission and payment to the states; its self-service CTAdvantage tool leaves the filing to you, so confirm which one your proposal includes. Neither CT option files automatically from your own record: either CT's team files, or you do. Fund managers can compare more CT Corp alternatives.

Harbor Compliance: best for teams that also track licenses and tax registrations

Harbor Compliance is a managed compliance service that also tracks licensing and tax registrations, so it fits if your team owns those workflows alongside entity compliance. Harbor says its software integrates directly with secretary of state databases and filing portals, and that it files annual reports automatically in all states as they come due. Its national registered agent service offers a local presence in every state and includes access to its Entity Manager software.

If you only need Secretary of State filings and registered agent coverage across a portfolio, you'd be buying into a wider set of services than that job needs.

Systems of record that rely on filing partners

Athennian, like Diligent, is a system of record that relies on partners for registered agent work. Choosing it changes where your entity data lives, not who files.

Athennian: best for a fund-oriented governance record

Athennian is cloud entity management software for legal, tax and fund teams. It keeps one centralized record across entity and ownership data, documents, structure charts and appointments, and it lets teams organize entities by fund and deal.

Athennian does not list a US Secretary of State filing service of its own, and its Professional Services Partners provide registered agent services. If you want a fund-oriented record and already retain a filing vendor, it can replace Diligent as your record. If you need filing handled, you'd still add a provider from the group above. For more record-keeping options, see these Athennian alternatives.

Automate state filings for every entity with Discern

Keeping dozens of entities in good standing across states means tracking deadlines, fee rules and agent appointments in each one, and filing with each state on time. Discern is a filing execution provider built for multi-entity portfolios, handling registered agent service, automated annual report filing and foreign registrations for Secretary of State compliance from a single platform. It acts as registered agent in all 51 jurisdictions and creates annual reports before their due dates, with forms pre-filled from your entity data. For Delaware franchise tax, it runs both calculation methods and files the lower amount.

If you keep Diligent as your governance record, Discern files and acts as registered agent while board materials stay in Diligent. A multi-entity payment system supports multiple bank accounts per entity, and Discern audits every entity before onboarding. Pricing is $350 per state registration, per year, with registered agent service and annual report filing bundled. Change of agent filings are free, and current Discern pricing is published by state registration. Long Journey Ventures used Discern to consolidate 27 registrations spread across multiple providers and cut 15 separate bills down to one.

Book a demo with Discern to see how it handles registered agent and filing needs across every state where your entities are registered.

FAQs

These answers cover the questions multi-entity teams ask most often when they evaluate Diligent Entities and its alternatives.

What is Diligent Entities?

Diligent Entities is the entity management product within the Diligent One Platform. It holds a central corporate record of entities, directors and officers, ownership, documents and org charts, with a compliance calendar and audit trail. Diligent markets it to corporate secretaries, general counsel, and finance and tax teams.

Does Diligent Entities file annual reports with the Secretary of State?

Only in Delaware, where Diligent e-files annual tax payments and/or reports to Delaware's ICIS XML Filing Service using your own Division of Corporations account. Diligent isn't the filer of record. It describes no filing in other US states. Outside the US, it supports e-filing with Companies House, Ireland's Companies Registration Office (CRO) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

How does Diligent Entities pricing work?

Diligent sells Entities as software with no bundled filing service, and its product pages don't list a price. Cost depends on which Diligent One applications you license and your contract terms. Registered agent fees and state filing work are separate purchases from the software license.

How does Diligent Entities compare with Athennian?

Both are systems of record, and the difference is what sits around the record. Diligent Entities connects to Diligent Boards and the wider Diligent One GRC products, while Athennian's record can be organized by fund and deal. Athennian names partners for registered agent service, and Diligent's published registered agent arrangement is its CSC partnership.

Which Diligent Entities alternatives include registered agent service?

CSC, Computershare, CT Corporation and Harbor Compliance each state that they act as registered agent and offer annual report services. Athennian's registered agent service comes through its Professional Services Partners.

Can you keep Diligent Entities and add a filing provider?

Yes. You can keep Diligent as your governance record and appoint a separate provider to file and act as registered agent. Evidence of each filing that provider makes still needs to be added to your Diligent record.