Form your LLC: $99 + state fee
One flat service fee in all 50 states and DC. The state's own fee is passed through at cost and shown before you pay.
Start your LLCWhat's included
- Name availability check before we file
- Articles of organization prepared and filed
- Submitted within 3 business days, or same day for +$50
- Approved documents emailed, plus a private order page
- Your state's after-formation deadlines in writing
- A real person by email and phone
Every state also accepts filings directly from owners, for the state fee alone.
Delaware and Wyoming are the two states people ask about when they don't want to form in their own. Delaware has a century of business case law and a specialized business court; Wyoming has low fees and a reputation for privacy. Both are real advantages for some companies. For a typical small business that operates in one state, though, forming in either one usually adds cost rather than saving it. Here is how they compare, and the rule that decides most cases.
The home-state rule
An LLC must register in every state where it transacts business. If you form in Delaware or Wyoming but live, work, and sell in Ohio, your LLC generally has to register in Ohio as a "foreign LLC" too. That registration has its own state fee, and from then on the company owes two annual reports (or a report and a tax), and needs a registered agent in the formation state, where you have no address.
Put simply: forming out of state rarely replaces your home state's fees. It adds a second state's on top. Your home state sets its own foreign registration fee, so look it up before you decide.
Delaware and Wyoming, side by side
| Delaware | Wyoming | |
|---|---|---|
| Formation document | Certificate of Formation | Articles of Organization |
| Filing fee | $110 | $100 |
| Recurring | $400/year LLC tax (from the June 1, 2027 payment; $300 before) | $60/year minimum |
| Due | June 1 (LLC alternative-entity tax) | First day of anniversary month |
| State processing | Varies | Online: active immediately. Paper: up to 15 business days. |
| State expedite | 24-hour $50, same-day $100, 2-hour $500, 1-hour $1000. | Online filings: none. Paper filings since 7/1/2026: next-day $700, same-day $1,400 (verify on sos.wyo.gov before using) |
| Names on the formation filing | Only the authorized person (signature and printed name). No members, managers or principal address. | Organizer (signature, printed name); contact person; registered agent (name, address, signer, phone, email). No members/managers. |
State fees verified October 2026 and charged by the state, not by us. The median filing fee across all states is $100.
When Delaware makes sense
Delaware's draw is its legal system, not its price. Its business statutes are flexible, its Court of Chancery handles business disputes without juries, and decades of decisions make outcomes easier to predict. Venture investors and their lawyers know Delaware law, which is why startups planning to raise institutional money usually incorporate there (most often as a corporation rather than an LLC).
The cost side: Delaware's recurring charge is $400/year LLC tax (from the June 1, 2027 payment; $300 before), due June 1 (LLC alternative-entity tax). That is a tax owed every year regardless of revenue, and it comes on top of whatever your home state charges a foreign LLC. Can you be your own registered agent in Delaware? Only if the business is physically located in Delaware.
When Wyoming makes sense
Wyoming's fees are lower: $100 to file and $60/year minimum after that. Its formation filing does not list members or managers, which appeals to owners who value privacy, and online filings are quick (Online: active immediately. Paper: up to 15 business days).
The privacy has limits. Your bank, the IRS, and any court that orders disclosure will still know who owns the company, and if you register as a foreign LLC in your home state, that state's filing may ask for its own information. Wyoming works best for owners with no physical base in any particular state, or for holding companies that own assets but don't operate.
A worked example
Say you run a design studio from your home in Pennsylvania. Forming in Wyoming means paying Wyoming $100 to form and $60/year minimum every year, paying a Wyoming registered agent because you have no Wyoming address, and then registering in Pennsylvania as a foreign LLC and filing Pennsylvania's annual report as well. Forming in Pennsylvania means one filing fee, one annual report, and being your own agent at your own address if you want. The Pennsylvania guide has those numbers. The same logic holds in every state.
How to decide
- One location, one state of operations: form in your home state.
- Raising venture capital: talk to the investors' counsel; the answer is usually a Delaware corporation.
- No operations anywhere, such as a holding company: Wyoming or Delaware can make sense; compare the recurring costs above.
- Unsure: an hour with an accountant costs less than a year of paying two states.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. For more on costs, see LLC cost by state and the cheapest states to form an LLC.
Form in your home state, or in Delaware or Wyoming
We file in all 50 states and DC for $99 plus the state fee at cost.
File it yourself or have us do it
Delaware, Wyoming, and every other state accept filings directly from owners for the state fee alone; the Delaware and Wyoming guides link to each state's filing site and walk through the steps. If you would rather hand it off, our service is $99 on top of the state fee. Note that either state requires a registered agent with an in-state address, which most out-of-state owners hire.
Frequently asked questions
Is it better to form an LLC in Delaware or Wyoming?+
For most small businesses, neither: forming in your home state avoids registering twice. Between the two, Wyoming costs less ($100 to file, $60/year minimum after), while Delaware offers its business courts and case law ($110 to file, $400/year LLC tax (from the June 1, 2027 payment; $300 before) after).
Do I have to register my Wyoming or Delaware LLC in my home state?+
Generally yes, if the LLC transacts business in your home state, such as having an office, employees, or day-to-day operations there. That foreign registration has its own fee and annual report.
Does a Wyoming LLC keep my name private?+
Wyoming's formation filing does not list members or managers. Your bank, the IRS, and courts can still learn who owns the company, and a foreign registration in another state may require its own disclosures.
What is Delaware's annual fee for an LLC?+
$400/year LLC tax (from the June 1, 2027 payment; $300 before), due June 1 (LLC alternative-entity tax).