About LLC Founder

LLC Founder is a free tool for figuring out what it really costs to form and run an LLC in any US state. State filing fee, annual report fee + cadence, franchise tax minimums, registered agent requirements, publication where it applies — all 50 states plus DC. No signup, no email collected, no calls.

What this site does

• Calculate Year-1 and ongoing LLC cost in any state, factoring registered agent, EIN service, expedited filing, and publication.
• Compare LLC formation services (ZenBusiness, Northwest, LegalZoom, Doola, Bizee, Tailor Brands, Rocket Lawyer) on price, what's included, and use case.
• Explain the choice of formation state — when to form at home, when not to, and why "form in Delaware" is usually wrong.
• Cite official Secretary of State sources alongside every fee.

Where the numbers come from

Every state's LLC fee schedule is published online by its Secretary of State (or Division of Corporations, or Department of State, depending on the state). Each state row carries a direct link to that source. Numbers are seeded against published rates and re-verified on a refresh schedule.

Refresh schedule

• Major refresh: January 5 each year (most states change fees on January 1).
• Quarterly refresh: April 5, July 5, October 5 (catches mid-cycle changes from special legislative sessions).
• Monthly notify-only check: 5th of each month (catches any newly-passed bills affecting LLC fees, franchise tax minimums, or filing rules).

What we don't do

• We don't give legal advice. The lookup is an estimate. Always verify with your state's Secretary of State before paying or filing.
• We don't file LLCs for you. When you click through to a formation service, you're on their site, not ours.
• We don't collect email or personal information. No newsletter, no signups, no account.

How we make money

Two ways: display ads (Google AdSense) and contextual affiliate links to LLC formation services and registered agent providers. We earn a commission if you click and follow through; your price doesn't change. We rank services on price, support quality, and what's actually included — not on payout.

Corrections

If a fee or rule looks wrong, it's usually because (a) the state changed it after our last verification pass, or (b) the rule has a sub-rule we didn't surface (e.g. PLLC variants, foreign-LLC qualification fees, expedited tier pricing). The linked official source on each state page is the canonical record — when our data and the official record disagree, the official record wins, and we backfill on the next refresh.