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LLC Cost Calculator

State filing fee, annual charge, and any extras, totaled before you commit.

Details

State of formation

Registered agent

Expedited filing?

Results

Total first-year cost,

State filing fee,

Annual report / franchise,

Registered agent,

State,

Planning figures only. Confirm current fees with your state filing office before you submit anything.

How This Calculator Works

The calculator pulls your state's one-time filing fee and stacks it against the annual report or franchise fee, then folds in registered-agent and expedite costs if you want them. One number: what year one actually costs.

Watch the annual line: California's $800 minimum franchise tax applies even if the business earns nothing in year one.

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The fees nobody warns you about

The filing fee gets the headline. The recurring charge is what catches people. Most states bill an annual report fee or franchise tax every year after formation, and a few are genuinely painful: California charges an $800 minimum franchise tax whether the business earns anything or not, Massachusetts runs $500, Nevada bundles fees that push past $350. This calculator adds the one-time filing fee to the recurring annual charge and any extras you select, so the total reflects what the first year actually costs.

You don’t need to pay for formation

You can file the Articles of Organization directly with the Secretary of State and serve as your own registered agent at no cost. Formation services charge for the convenience of doing it for you. Your EIN from the IRS is free too, applied for online in about ten minutes. The one spot worth paying is a registered agent service, if you want your home address off public records or you do not have a permanent in-state address.

Still deciding whether you need to file at all? See how an LLC's cost and liability protection stack up against staying a sole proprietorship before you commit to a state filing fee.

2026 State Filing Fees Used in This Calculator

The figures below feed the calculator above and match the full 50-state filing fee dataset, current as of July 2026.

State	Filing fee	Annual/biennial fee
Montana	$35	$20
Kentucky	$40	$15
Arizona	$50	None
California	$70	$820
Delaware	$110	$300
Florida	$125	$138
New York	$200	$9
Texas	$300	None
Nevada	$425	$350
Massachusetts	$500	$500

Full 50-state table: 2026 LLC Formation Filing Fees by State. Source: this site's filing-fee dataset, compiled from Secretary of State fee schedules, updated July 2026.

Things to Know Before You File

The filing fee is one-time. The annual or biennial figure repeats every year, or every other year, that the LLC stays active.
California's annual figure reflects its $800 minimum franchise tax, an unusually large recurring cost most other states do not charge.
Expedited filing is optional in most states and typically shaves a few business days off approval, not weeks.
A registered agent service is a convenience cost, not a legal requirement, if you already have a permanent in-state address.

Good to know

FAQs

How much does an LLC cost?

A one-time state filing fee, which ranges from $35 in Montana to $500 in Massachusetts, plus any recurring annual report or franchise fee. Some states add several hundred dollars a year on top.

Do I need a registered agent service?

No. If you have a permanent in-state street address, you can serve as your own registered agent for free. A service makes sense if you want privacy or travel frequently.

Is an EIN free?

Yes. The IRS issues EINs at no charge through its online application at irs.gov, and the number is issued immediately.

Are these fees current?

State fees change without much notice. Treat these figures as a planning baseline and confirm the current rate with your Secretary of State before filing.

Which state has the cheapest LLC filing fee?

Montana charges $35 for the Articles of Organization, the lowest filing fee of any state in the 2026 dataset. Kentucky is next at $40.