Best LLC Formation Services, Ranked by First Year Cost

Most comparisons of LLC formation services lead with the first year price. That number matters, but it is not the whole story. A service can charge nothing to file your paperwork and still charge you more than every rival every year after, because the real recurring cost lives in the renewal that arrives in year two and repeats from then on. The renewal is usually for registered agent service, and it repeats whether you think about it or not.

This page ranks services by first year cost, and prints the cost every year after beside every total. Each figure below adds the formation price to the cost of that providers own registered agent service, first for year one and then for each year after. State fees are left out of the provider totals on purpose. You pay the same state fee whether you file yourself, use the cheapest service on this list, or use the most expensive one, so including it would only hide the difference that a service actually controls. To see your full cost in your own state, including the state filing fee and annual report fees, use the true cost calculator and select your state before you compare anything else.

Prices and plan details on this page were checked on the merchants own pricing pages on October 25, 2026. Prices change, and the honest way to use this page is to treat the ranking as a method as much as a result. Add the filing price to the first year agent cost for any service you are considering, then check the yearly figure beside it, and the order usually becomes clear very quickly. Nothing on this page is legal advice. It is general information about cost and features, for readers comparing options before they file.

What you pay the state is the same whichever provider you choose, so this table leaves state payments out. The calculator counts them for your state. Prices were checked on merchant pricing pages on October 25, 2026.

The honest baseline, filing yourself

Filing yourself is the cheapest route overall, and any honest ranking should say so first. You pay the state filing fee, plus any annual or biennial report fees your state charges, and nothing to a formation company. Every state publishes its own forms and instructions, usually through the secretary of state, and for a simple single member LLC with a straightforward purpose, many founders complete the filing without help.

The trade off is time and responsibility, not money. You draft your own operating agreement or go without a polished one. You track your own annual report deadline. You decide whether you will act as your own registered agent, which is free, but means your address goes on the public record and you must be available at that address during regular business hours to receive legal documents. If you are comfortable with paperwork and your structure is simple, the do it yourself route is hard to beat on cost, and every service below should be judged against it. A service earns its fee only if it saves you meaningful time, protects your privacy, or keeps you from missing a deadline that matters.

1. Bizee

Bizee ranks first among services in this comparison on first year cost. Its Basic plan costs $0 plus state fees, and registered agent service is free for the first year on every Bizee plan, so the first year service total is $0, the lowest on this page. For a founder whose only question is how little can be paid today, Bizee is the answer.

The yearly figure is the part to read next. Agent service renews at $149 a year, so the cost every year after on Basic is $149. The included extras beyond the filing and the agent are still fewer than what the larger providers bundle in. That structure is not a flaw by itself. A lean filing service that does the filing and leaves the rest to you can be exactly right, especially if you plan to act as your own agent or buy agent service separately after comparing prices. What it does mean is that the $0 headline is the start of your cost calculation, not the end of it. Add the agent renewal to any free filing offer before you decide it is the cheapest over time, because the renewal is where free filings are paid for. Readers who want the filing handled cheaply and are comfortable arranging the remaining pieces themselves will understand this offer best.

2. Northwest Registered Agent

Northwest Registered Agent ranks second on first year cost, and the reason is arithmetic, not features. Formation costs $39 plus state fees. Registered agent service is included free for the first year, so the first year service total is $39. Every year after, it costs $125, the lowest yearly figure on this page.

The strengths line up with that flat pricing. Northwest puts its own address on your filings instead of yours, which keeps your home address off the public record in most cases. The agent service is included for year one rather than sold as a surprise at checkout. Pricing stays flat and simple, and readers will not find the long maze of upsells that defines the experience at larger brands. For founders who care about privacy first and price second, and in that order or the reverse, this is the most coherent offer in the group.

The weakness is also plain. Northwest offers less hand holding and fewer extras than the big brands. If you want a large library of legal documents, attorney plans, branding tools, and a dashboard full of guided tasks, you will find more of that elsewhere. The full breakdown is in our Northwest Registered Agent review. For a reader who wants the filing done, the agent covered, and the renewal kept low, the trade is a good one.

3. ZenBusiness

ZenBusiness matches the cheapest start on this page. The Starter plan costs $0 plus state fees, so a founder with very little cash up front can get filed without paying a service fee on day one. The Pro plan costs $199 a year plus state fees, and the Premium plan costs $299 a year plus state fees, and both renew annually at those prices, with more compliance and filing speed features in the higher tiers.

The yearly picture is where ZenBusiness falls to third. Its registered agent service costs $199 a year, so a Starter customer who keeps the agent service pays $199 in year one and $199 every year after. On Pro, the $199 plan price renews each year and the agent service adds another $199 a year, so the cost every year after is $398. Neither figure makes ZenBusiness a bad choice. They do mean the free start is paid for over time if you keep its agent service year after year.

The strengths are real. The free tier is a genuine filing service, not a sample. The dashboard and compliance tools are among the clearest in this group, with reminders and guided tasks that suit first time founders who want structure. The weakness is the agent cost itself, plus add on pricing at checkout that requires careful reading. Accept the defaults without looking, and the total at checkout can move well past the headline price. Our ZenBusiness review walks through the tiers in detail. ZenBusiness suits a reader who values a low entry price and a helpful dashboard, and who has done the yearly math with open eyes.

4. LegalZoom

LegalZoom is the best known brand in this comparison, and for some readers that familiarity is the point. Formation tiers start at $0 plus state fees, with paid tiers above that level carrying more features and faster handling. The company also offers a breadth of legal services beyond formation, including legal documents and attorney plans that smaller formation companies do not attempt to match.

It is also the most expensive route in this group. Registered agent service costs $249 a year, the highest agent price on this page, and it is charged in year one and every year after, which outweighs any saving on the filing tier. On top of the agent cost, the checkout and account experience steer readers toward legal document and attorney plan upsells, and each accepted add on widens the gap further.

The strengths are brand and breadth. A reader who expects to need documents or attorney access beyond formation may value having it all under one account. The weaknesses are total cost and upsell pressure. Our LegalZoom review covers the tiers and the renewal math in full. LegalZoom makes the most sense for a reader who has priced both totals, understands they are the highest here, and still prefers the brand and the wider legal catalogue enough to pay them.

A brief note on Tailor Brands

Tailor Brands works on a different model from the four services above, so it is not ranked above any of them here. It sells annual subscription plans, including Lite and Essential tiers, that bundle formation with branding tools such as logo and website features. Treated as a branding bundle for a founder who wants design tools and formation in one subscription, it can make sense. Treated as a pure formation service and compared line by line on filing and agent cost, it answers a different question from the one this page asks. Readers whose main need is a brand kit should look at it on those terms. Readers whose main need is the lowest formation cost should start with the ranking above.

How to choose

Start with the baseline question. Are you willing to file yourself? If yes, your comparison is over, and your remaining decisions are whether to act as your own agent and how to track your state deadlines. Every service fee in this article is optional spending measured against that free baseline.

If you want a service, look at both numbers. The first year total is what leaves your account now. The yearly figure is what keeps leaving it. A $0 filing with a $199 or $249 agent charge will cost more every year after than a $39 filing with a $125 renewal, every time, and no dashboard feature changes that arithmetic.

Then choose by what you actually need beyond the filing. Privacy points toward Northwest, because its address goes on the filings and the agent price stays low. A guided dashboard and a free start point toward ZenBusiness, provided you accept the agent renewal or plan to change agents later. The cheapest start points toward Bizee. Brand familiarity and a wide legal catalogue point toward LegalZoom, at the highest cost on this page. Branding tools point toward Tailor Brands, judged as a bundle.

Finally, run your own state through the true cost calculator before you pay anyone. State fees vary widely, annual report fees repeat, and a few states add requirements that change the real total. The calculator adds those state costs to the provider costs in this ranking, so you see one honest number for your state instead of a national headline that was never going to be your price.