Independent · no paid rankings

What your LLC really costs — to start, and to keep.

State fees plus each provider's real renewal price over five years, then an honest verdict. Every number sourced and dated.

I’m forming my LLC in State where your LLC is registered

Updates as you choose. No email, no account.LLC figures only. By the Statutia Ledger Desk.

Example Florida LLC · ZenBusiness

Example: yearly cost to keep this LLC

$337.75/yr

Northwest Basic package (one time)northwestregisteredagent.com · checked Oct 10, 2026$49
Registered agent, year 1Included; renews at $125/yr$0
Formation fee (one time)Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) · checked Oct 7, 2026$125
Yearly state fees, from year two Not in the total above
Florida annual reportFlorida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) · checked Oct 7, 2026$138.75

Next five yearsstate + agent

Have Northwest form itLowest verified cost$1,229

Have Bizee form it$1,276

File it yourself, hire Northwest$1,305

File it yourself, be your own agentIf you qualify$680

VerdictUse a formation service

Over five years, the cheapest way to start with a registered agent is to have Northwest form it: $49 plus Florida’s $125 filing fee, agent included the first year, then $125/yr. That’s $47 less than to have Bizee form it. Bizee costs less up front ($0 vs $49 in year one, before state fees) and stays cheaper through year 3; Northwest pulls ahead from year 4. If you might close the LLC within 3 years, that’s the cheaper choice.

No paid service is required. If you can be your own agent, you pay only the state: $125 to file, then $138.75/yr in yearly state fees.

Need an EIN, operating agreement or annual reports handled? Compare by need ↓

Example only — not your LLC. Figures checked Oct 7, 2026 · no affiliate linksFull breakdown ↓

Got an official-looking letter? Check it → See your next filing deadline →

The answer comes before the money.

Stay can winWe don't manufacture a switch.

$0 can winBeing your own agent is a real option.

Unknown stays unknownA missing fee is never counted as $0.

Example breakdown

Florida LLC — with ZenBusiness

Three honest paths, priced over five years. The cheapest one is marked — whichever it is.

Five years, side by side

Renewal prices for all five years. First-year discounts aren't counted unless they apply to people switching.

Have Northwest form itLowest verified cost

$1,2295-yr total · $263.75/yr

Northwest’s Basic package is $49 one time. First year of agent service included, then $125/yr. Basic leaves out the EIN and operating agreement (both in the $149 Deluxe); an EIN is free from the IRS. Agent customers are enrolled in annual-report filing ($100 + state fee) unless they opt out. Its /llc page also advertises a $39 offer that doesn’t say whether the agent year is included, so we price the $49 Basic package. Includes Florida’s $125 formation fee.

See Northwest’s Basic package ↗Plain link · we earn $0

Have Bizee form it

$1,2765-yr total · $287.75/yr

Bizee’s Basic package is $0 one time. First year of agent service included, then $149/yr. Includes Florida’s $125 formation fee.

See Bizee’s Basic package ↗Plain link · we earn $0

File it yourself, hire Northwest

$1,3055-yr total · $263.75/yr

You file the formation papers with the state. Renews at $125/yr. Includes Florida’s $125 formation fee.

See Northwest’s agent service ↗Plain link · we earn $0

File it yourself, be your own agentIf you qualify

$6805-yr total · $138.75/yr

No agent fee; you accept legal papers yourself. Includes Florida’s $125 formation fee.

What Florida requires

Must be an individual who resides in Florida, or a domestic or authorized foreign entity
The agent's business address must be identical to the registered office address in Florida
Your name and this address are listed on the state’s public business record.

Source: Florida statute ↗ (opens in a new tab)

I meet these — include this path in the verdict

Evidence behind these numbers

Florida annual report$138.75Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) ↗ (opens in a new tab) · checked Oct 7, 2026
Florida formation fee$125 — $100 filing fee + $25 registered agent designation feeFlorida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) ↗ (opens in a new tab) · checked Oct 7, 2026
Florida change-of-agent fee$25Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) ↗ (opens in a new tab) · checked Oct 7, 2026
Florida rules for being your own agent2 requirementsFlorida statute ↗ (opens in a new tab) · checked Oct 7, 2026
Northwest Registered Agent formation package$49 Basic — “Every package offered by Northwest includes 365 days of registered agent service”northwestregisteredagent.com ↗ (opens in a new tab) · checked Oct 10, 2026
Bizee formation package$0 Basic — “registered agent service ($149/yr value) is included free for the first year and renews annually”bizee.com ↗ (opens in a new tab) · checked Oct 10, 2026
Northwest Registered Agent price$125/yr renewal; $125 first year for a standalone agentnorthwestregisteredagent.com ↗ (opens in a new tab) · checked Oct 11, 2026
Method (new LLC)Formation service = the provider’s cheapest package + agent service in year one if the package doesn’t include it + four renewals + the state’s formation fee. Filing yourself = the state’s fee + the cheapest standalone agent’s first-year price + four renewals. A free first year that applies only when a provider forms the LLC is never applied to the file-it-yourself path. Later state fees are the same on every path and don’t decide the verdict.
MethodFive-year cost for a switch = the provider’s verified first-year price for switchers (or its renewal price, marked as an estimate) + four renewals + the state’s change fee where verified. Staying = five renewals. The state’s own fee is the same on every path, so it never decides the verdict, and it is added to five-year totals only when it is exact. Too close to call: under $25 over five years, or under $100 while anything on the cheaper path is unverified; above that, an unverified path is “likely”, never definite. Labels are cost-only: we don’t score service quality. Payouts are not an input.

Your next state filing

From the state's own rules. If we haven't verified a rule, we say so.

Filing: Annual report · $138.75
Rule: File by May 1 every year.
Next due: May 1, 2027
If you’re late: $400 late fee after May 1 (total $538.75)

Source: Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) ↗ (opens in a new tab) · checked Oct 7, 2026

Downloads a calendar file with alerts 60, 30 and 7 days before. Nothing is sent to us.

Showing the example state. Pick yours above.

Starting an LLC

The package price isn’t the first-year cost.

Our finding: Northwest’s $49 package with a year of agent service included is the cheapest over five years: $549 before state fees. Filing yourself and hiring the cheapest agent we track (Northwest) costs $625. Bizee’s $0 package costs less up front and comes to $596. “$0” packages that leave out the agent run up to $1,245 (LegalZoom).

No state requires a paid service. You can file the formation papers yourself for the state’s fee. What a service mostly adds is a registered agent, which keeps your home address off the public record and receives legal papers for you. Many “$0” packages leave that out, and it renews every year.

Three states can add a cost most fee tables miss: newspaper publication after you form (Arizona only outside its largest counties; New York ↗ (opens in a new tab), Arizona ↗ (opens in a new tab), Nebraska ↗ (opens in a new tab)). It varies by county, so we flag it rather than guess.

You may see offers to file a “BOI report” for a new LLC. FinCEN says U.S.-formed companies are exempt from beneficial-ownership reporting; only foreign companies registered in a state still file. FinCEN ↗ (opens in a new tab) · checked Oct 10, 2026.

Find your best fit

What matters most? We pick the cheapest package that meets that need, and a credible alternative.

Formation prices we trackRead on each provider’s own site · checked Oct 10, 2026
Provider	Package	Agent, year 1	5-yr cost
Northwest Registered Agent (opens in a new tab)Basic · agent renews $125/yr. Basic leaves out the EIN and operating agreement (both in the $149 Deluxe); an EIN is free from the IRS. Agent customers are enrolled in annual-report filing ($100 + state fee) unless they opt out. Its /llc page also advertises a $39 offer that doesn’t say whether the agent year is included, so we price the $49 Basic package.	$49	Included	$549
Bizee (opens in a new tab)Basic · agent renews $149/yr	$0	Included	$596
Harbor Compliance (opens in a new tab)LLC formation · agent renews $159/yr. Doesn’t say whether year-one agent service is included.	$99	$99 estimated	$834 estimated
Registered Agents Inc (opens in a new tab)LLC formation · agent renews $200/yr. Includes filing your annual report (the state’s fee is extra).	$100	Included	$900
ZenBusiness (opens in a new tab)Starter · agent renews $199/yr. Starter doesn’t include a registered agent.	$0	$199	$995
LegalZoom (opens in a new tab)Basic · agent renews $249/yr. Agent service is extra at its $249/yr standalone price.	$0	$249	$1,245

Full comparison: every package, what it leaves out, and all 51 state filing fees →

5-yr cost = cheapest package + agent in year one if it isn’t included + four renewals. It leaves out the state’s own fees, which are the same whoever files. Pick “Starting an LLC” above to add your state. “≈” marks a figure the provider doesn’t state, priced from its standalone agent price. Packages differ in what they include (EIN, operating agreement, filing speed); we compare the cheapest package that files the LLC. Not hands-on tested.

Letter Check

Got an official-looking letter? Check it before you pay.

Private companies mail look-alike notices that charge many times the real state fee. We only name a sender when a regulator has — and we link to what the regulator said.

Example search — try your own sender above.

Regulator warning: misleading solicitation

C.F.S.

What it asks: Offers to file your annual report for $210.
Real cost: $85 when you file directly with the Maine Secretary of State (established domestic business entities).
Named by: Maine Secretary of State · Maine · Dec 13, 2024

“The misleading solicitation form is from an organization identified as C.F.S.” — read the regulator’s notice ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Don’t pay from the letter. If the filing is real, do it on the state’s own site for the state’s fee. Would rather have it handled? See what filing services charge.

11 senders named by state regulators, attorneys general or FinCEN · each links to the regulator’s own words.

How we're paid

We'd rather lose a commission than lose the math.

Right now, Statutia has no affiliate relationships. If that changes, a commercial link will say so at the point of the click, with the amount. Payouts are never an input to the comparison or the verdict.

That is why the calculator is allowed to tell you to stay, to be your own agent, to file it yourself — or to do nothing at all.

Registered-agent prices we trackRead on each provider's own site · checked Oct 11, 2026
Provider	First year if you switch	Renews at
Northwest Registered Agent (opens in a new tab)$100/yr per state at 5+ states.	$125	$125/yr
Bizee (opens in a new tab)$149/yr standalone; first year free only when Bizee forms the LLC.	$149	$149/yr
Harbor Compliance (opens in a new tab)	$99	$159/yr
ZenBusiness (opens in a new tab)$99 first year (“50% off”) when you switch; renews at $199/yr.	$99	$199/yr
Registered Agents Inc (opens in a new tab)Price includes filing your annual report; its site doesn’t say whether the state fee is covered.	$200	$200/yr
LegalZoom (opens in a new tab)LegalZoom says it renews at the purchase rate, and that rate can change.	$249	$249/yr

A first-year price is used only where the provider says it applies to someone switching an existing LLC. Otherwise every year is priced at renewal and the result is marked as an estimate. Full price index, with cancellation terms and price changes.