What will my US LLC really cost over 5 years?
State filing fees, yearly reports and taxes, and your registered agent, added up for eight states. Made for founders who live outside the US and want the full number before they file.
Most expensive in this list: California.
Pick your years and your agent. The ranking redraws.
Every figure comes from a state page we opened on November 13, 2026. Nothing you enter leaves this page.
Total cost over 5 years, cheapest first
US dollars. One scale for every state. Hover or focus a bar for the parts.
- Formation filing
- State reports, licenses and taxes
- Registered agent
- Good standing certificate
How the math works. Costs are the state fees you pay during the years you choose, with formation at the start of year 1. Yearly reports and taxes start in year 2, except Nevada and California, which charge their first yearly amounts at formation. Delaware's tax for your last year falls due after the period and is not counted. Taxes that start at higher revenue or assets are left out. That covers the Texas franchise tax above $2.65 million, the California LLC fee above $250,000 of California income, and Wyoming's asset-based tax above $300,000 of Wyoming assets. Card and convenience fees, federal filings and bank costs are not included.
Three steps, about a minute.
Set the horizon
Choose how many years you plan to keep the LLC. Five is a fair default for a first company.
Enter your agent's price
Agents charge by the year in every state. Their price often decides the ranking among the cheap states.
Read the fine print
Open a state to see its due dates, late penalties and which names end up in public records.
Free to use.
No account and no email. The comparison runs in your browser.
Quietfile States
- Eight states, one to ten years
- Ranked totals and a cost chart
- Copy the results or save a CSV
Already formed?
The Quietfile calendar lists every state and IRS deadline your LLC owes, with the fee and the penalty for missing it.
Open the Quietfile calendarShort, honest answers.
Is this legal or tax advice?
No. It adds up fees that states publish. Where you form, where you operate and how you are taxed depend on your facts. Ask a US attorney or CPA before you decide.
Does forming in a cheap state avoid taxes where I operate?
Not by itself. California, for example, charges its $800 tax to any LLC doing business there, wherever it was formed. This tool only counts the state you form in.
Why is Delaware $400 a year and not $300?
The Division of Corporations tax page now states $400 for LLCs, due June 1 for the prior year. One older Delaware page still says $300. We use $400 and show both sources below.
Why include California?
As the expensive contrast. Its $800 yearly tax is owed with or without income, which is the cost many founders do not expect.
What is left out?
Federal filings such as Form 5472, sales tax, payroll, bank fees, card processing fees, and taxes that start at higher revenue or asset levels. Your registered agent's price is whatever you type.
Sources, as of November 13, 2026
Confirm with the state before you file.
What we could not verify
- Certificate of good standing fees for Texas and New Mexico. The optional toggle adds $0 for those two.
- The Delaware fee schedule PDF and the Nevada Secretary of State web pages did not load for us. Delaware fees come from its form and tax pages; Nevada fees come from its published LLC fee schedule (revised August 1, 2023) and the Nevada Revised Statutes.
- The exact late-payment penalty on California's $800 tax. The Franchise Tax Board says penalties and interest apply but does not list an amount on the page we used.
- Whether Colorado's Articles of Organization ask for member names. We only state what its periodic report asks for.