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LLC PlainlyThe LLC stuff, in words you actually use.

Behind the list

Why we recommend who we do

LLC Plainly ranks LLC services on what they cost across three years and how much of the state paperwork they take off an owner, with clear pricing, renewals and reach as tie-breakers. Here is where our facts come from, how we write, how we add up costs and what the five checks are.
From the LLC Plainly editorial team

Where we get our facts

Fees, deadlines and agent rules come straight from the state: its fee schedules, forms and laws. We link the source next to each fact and show the month we last confirmed it. Service prices come from the companies themselves, dated on every page that uses them.

Plain on purpose

You get the answer up top, the details underneath and the source at the end, with any legal word explained.

How we add up costs

We count a three-year cost as year one plus two renewals. We total the state's fees as the filing, two reports and any minimum tax. Anything that has no fixed price stays out of the number.

What we look at

  1. Cost across three years (33%). Take the first-year price and two renewals, straight from what each company posts. Every filer pays the state the same, so those fees sit on their own lines and are not weighed.
  2. Work taken off your hands (31%). Look at the recurring work covered by the price: registered agent service, the state report, the EIN application, and whether the service reaches other states.
  3. Prices stated clearly (14%). Can you see the first-year price, the renewal and the state fee before checkout? Clear posting earns points.
  4. Renewal price (12%). Compare the year-one price with the renewal. Flat renewals rank above a low start that climbs.
  5. Where it works (10%). Does it work in one state or all fifty? That counts once your LLC needs a second state.

If two services are close, the page names what separated them and what the runner-up does well.

The order is LLC Plainly's own editorial opinion from these criteria. It is not a customer rating.

Who can be picked

We weigh Mainstay Filing against the local agent companies, counting only services they sell at a posted price.

Where we stop

No customer ratings or quotes here, and nothing on the site is legal or tax advice. Our order is our own editorial opinion about the five checks.