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LLC Answered The short reply to every LLC filing question.

Reasoning

Why we pick the services we do

LLC Answered chooses its picks by answering three questions: what the price adds up to over three years, which paperwork it covers, and whether the price is stated without fine print. Here is what we use, how we write it and how we score it.
By the LLC Answered editorial team

Where we get our numbers

A fee or rule gets printed only when we can link its official source and name the month we confirmed it. We read each company's published prices and put the reading date on every page that uses them.

The format

We put the reply at the top, support it with details and a citation, and link any legal term to the glossary.

Cost arithmetic

Three-year cost = first-year price + two renewals. On the state side we add the filing fee, the reports in years two and three, and minimum tax where one exists. Variable costs are mentioned, not added.

The five tests

  1. Three-year price (36%). Add the first-year price to two renewals, using each company's own published pricing. State fees are the same for every filer, so they appear on separate lines and carry no weight.
  2. Paperwork covered (29%). Check which repeating tasks the price includes: the registered agent, the annual or biennial report, the EIN application and use outside one state.
  3. Straightforward pricing (15%). Ask whether the first-year price, the renewal price and the state fee are shown before a buyer reaches checkout.
  4. Renewal behavior (10%). See how the price changes in year two. A flat renewal beats a low opening price that rises.
  5. States served (10%). Find out whether a service works in a single state or in every state, which counts once an LLC registers in another one.

When two picks are close, the page says which criterion broke the tie and what the lower pick still offers.

The order is LLC Answered's own editorial judgment, not a customer rating.

Who we compare

Lists are short: Mainstay Filing, plus the state-focused agent services, each included only where it prices the service publicly.

Not included

Rankings are editorial, not based on customer ratings, and nothing here replaces advice from a licensed professional.