What an LLC Really Costs: State Fees, Registered Agents and the "$0" Trap
The three bills nobody puts on the landing page, and what we actually paid across seven services.
Bill one: the state
Every LLC pays its state, not the filing service. It ranges from about $40 in Kentucky and $50 in Arizona and Colorado to $200 in New York, $300 in Texas for some filings and $500 in Massachusetts. New York also requires newspaper publication, which can add several hundred dollars in some counties.
Bill two: the registered agent
Year one is often free. Year two is where these companies earn: Harbor Compliance $99, Bizee $119, Northwest $125, Rocket Lawyer $149.99, ZenBusiness and Tailor Brands $199, LegalZoom $249. Over three years that gap is larger than any formation package.
Bill three: the annual report
Most states want a report and a fee each year — $0 in some, $20 in Colorado, $50 in Florida, $300 in Delaware for the franchise tax. Missing it can dissolve the LLC. Some services file it for you as a paid add-on; all of them will remind you.
Two things never worth paying for
- An EIN. The IRS issues one free in about ten minutes at irs.gov. Services charge $50 to $99.
- Expedited processing, unless the state itself is the bottleneck — several services charge for "rush" that only moves you up their own queue.
Three-year totals from our test
Northwest came to $289, Bizee $238, Harbor Compliance $396, ZenBusiness and Tailor Brands $398, LegalZoom $498, all excluding state fees. The cheapest year one is rarely the cheapest three years.
» See the full rankings: Best LLC Formation Services of 2026, Best Free LLC Filing Services (Pay Only the State Fee), Cheapest Way to Form an LLC .