LLC Formation Cost Calculator
Estimate first-year LLC formation costs by combining state filing fees, registered-agent costs, operating-agreement costs, licenses, and formation-service fees.
State Filing Fee Calculator
Free state business filing fee calculator. Estimate LLC or corporation state filing fees, expedited processing, and name reservation costs.
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One-Time Filing Costs⧉
$360.00
All formation fees combined
Annual Recurring Costs⧉
$425.00
Annual report + registered agent
Total Year 1 Cost⧉
$660.00
One-time + first year recurring
5-Year Total Cost⧉
$2,360.00
Formation + 5 years of recurring fees
Base Filing Fee⧉
$90.00
Delaware LLC
Certified Copies Cost⧉
$20.00
2 copies × $10.00
Cost Breakdown
| Fee Item | Amount | Type | Visual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base State Filing Fee | $90.00 | One-Time | |
| Expedited Processing | $100.00 | One-Time | |
| Name Reservation | $25.00 | One-Time | |
| Certified Copies (×2) | $20.00 | One-Time | |
| Registered Agent (Year 1) | $125.00 | 🔄 Recurring | |
| Annual Report / Franchise Tax | $300.00 | 🔄 Recurring | |
| Year 1 Total | $660.00 |
State Comparison (LLC)
| State | Filing Fee | Annual Fee | Publication | Est. Year 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyoming | $100.00 | $60.00 | — | $285.00 |
| Florida | $125.00 | $138.00 | — | $388.00 |
| Texas | $300.00 | $0.00 | — | $425.00 |
| Illinois | $150.00 | $75.00 | $150.00 | $500.00 |
| Delaware | $90.00 | $300.00 | — | $515.00 |
| Nevada | $75.00 | $350.00 | — | $550.00 |
| California | $70.00 | $800.00 | — | $995.00 |
| New York | $200.00 | $0.00 | $1,200.00 | $1,525.00 |
Year 1 Cost Distribution
One-Time Fees$360.00 (54.50%)
Recurring Fees$425.00 (64.40%)
Planning notes, formulas, and examples
About the State Filing Fee Calculator
This worksheet estimates the formation and early maintenance costs tied to a state filing. It starts with a base filing fee and then adds common extras from the live calculator such as expedited processing, name reservation, certified copies, publication cost, a registered-agent year-one charge, and any built-in annual report or franchise-tax amount for the selected state.
The built-in state presets are planning defaults, not a promise that a secretary of state currently charges those exact figures. The useful part is comparing scenarios quickly and then replacing any preset number with the current amount from the filing office or your service provider.
When This Page Helps
Base filing fees rarely tell the full story. This page is most useful when you want to compare a bare-minimum filing with a more realistic first-year budget that also includes publication, copies, expedited service, and recurring compliance costs.
How to Use the Inputs
- Enter the base state filing fee for your entity type.
- Add expedited processing fee if desired.
- Include name reservation fee if applicable.
- Add the number of certified copies and the cost per copy.
- Include publication costs and the year-one registered-agent amount if they apply.
- Review the first-year and 5-year totals instead of relying only on the base filing fee.
Formula used
Setup Cost = Base Filing Fee + Expedited Processing + Name Reservation + (Certified Copies x Copy Fee) + Publication + Registered Agent (Year 1)
Year 1 Total = Setup Cost + Annual Report or Franchise Tax
5-Year Total = Setup Cost + (Annual Report or Franchise Tax x 5) + (Registered Agent x 4)Example Calculation
Result: $660 estimated first-year cost
Setup cost is $90 + $100 + $25 + (2 x $10) + $0 + $125 = $360. Adding a $300 annual report or franchise-tax amount brings the first-year total to $660. On the same assumptions, the 5-year total would be $2,360.
Tips & Best Practices
- Use the state preset as a starting point, then overwrite any fee you have already confirmed from the filing office or service quote.
- The registered-agent amount is treated as a year-one cost inside the setup total, so check the 5-year figure if you want a better long-run comparison.
- Publication and certified-copy costs can dominate the difference between two states even when the base filing fee looks similar.
- If you are self-filing, keep service-provider upsells out of the worksheet unless you actually expect to buy them.
- For foreign qualification or multi-state expansion, run a separate scenario for each additional state instead of treating the original filing as a one-time event.
- Do not treat the built-in comparison table as a legal filing guide. It is only there to help with rough budgeting.
What The Calculator Is Actually Comparing
The useful comparison is not just one state filing fee against another. It is one complete setup path against another: base filing, rush service, name reservation, copies, publication, registered-agent spend, and the annual state charge that follows formation. That is why the year-one and five-year outputs are often more useful than the one-time subtotal.
State Presets Are Planning Defaults
The built-in state table helps users start quickly, but filing schedules, publication rules, and recurring fees change. If you are making a real filing decision, confirm the current state schedule and replace the preset values with the current amounts before relying on the result.
When This Worksheet Is Not Enough
This page does not try to price operating agreements, bylaws, tax elections, licensing, foreign qualification, or industry-specific permits. Once those become part of the decision, treat this calculator as only the state-filing slice of the larger formation budget.
Sources & Methodology
Last updated:
Methodology
This worksheet starts with a base filing fee and then adds common first-year formation costs shown in the live calculator: expedited processing, name reservation, certified copies, publication, a year-one registered-agent charge, and any recurring annual state charge the user wants to budget alongside formation. The five-year output keeps the one-time setup costs separate from the recurring annual charge and renewal-style agent spend.
State presets and example amounts are only starting assumptions. They are not a promise that a secretary of state currently charges those figures, and they do not determine what an entity must file in a particular state.
Sources
- Register your business (U.S. Small Business Administration) — Explains that business registration requirements and filings are state-specific.
- Forms, Samples and Fees (California Secretary of State) — Official example of a state filing office publishing business-entity filing forms, copies, and fee schedules separately from private filing-service pricing.
Frequently Asked Questions
The filing fee is the amount charged by the state secretary of state to process your business formation documents (Articles of Organization for LLCs, Articles of Incorporation for corporations). It is a one-time cost paid at formation.
Kentucky has one of the lowest LLC filing fees at $40. Other low-cost states include Colorado ($50), Idaho ($100), and Iowa ($50). For corporations, several states charge under $100. Remember that low filing fees don't always mean low total costs.
Standard filing may take 1–4 weeks. Expedited processing ($25–$200+) reduces this to 1–5 business days. Same-day or 24-hour processing is available in some states for premium fees ($100–$500).
A certificate of good standing confirms your business is in compliance with state requirements. Banks often require it to open accounts. It is also needed for foreign entity registration in other states. Cost is typically $5–$50.
Arizona, Georgia (corporations only), Nebraska, New York, and Pennsylvania have some form of publication requirement for LLCs and/or corporations. New York publication costs are the highest, often $1,000–$2,000+ in the New York City area.
Most states allow online filing through the secretary of state's website. Online filing is often faster and may include expedited processing at reduced cost. Some states offer same-day online processing.
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