Cheapest LLC formation in Kentucky

What does Kentucky charge to form an LLC?

The state sets one required fee for a new LLC and a couple of optional ones. No provider can lower them, and package prices are always quoted before them.

Every new Kentucky LLC pays $40 for the Articles of Organization. It's the same whether you file or a service does. Kentucky's processing is usually same day as received, and the state pages cited here don't publish an expedite fee.⁷

A name reservation, at $15 for 120 days, is optional. It's useful when something will hold up your filing after you've picked the name.¹

An LLC formed in another state that wants to do business in Kentucky doesn't pay the formation fee. It files for a certificate of authority at $90 instead, which is more than the Articles fee.¹

The annual report is the Secretary of State's recurring charge: $15, filed between January 1 and June 30. It's small, but it recurs every year.⁴

What raises the cost of a Kentucky LLC?

The registered agent, report-filing services, upsells at checkout, and the entity tax are what move the total. The one penalty to plan around is reinstatement after a missed report.

The registered agent

Kentucky lets a resident serve as the LLC's agent, provided the person is one whose business address is identical with the registered office. That costs nothing, but your business address becomes the public registered office. Otherwise you pay a commercial agent, either bundled into a first-year formation offer or bought on its own; the yearly price is where most of the gap between providers sits.⁸

If a renewal is higher than you want, moving to a cheaper agent costs $10 on Form RAC. File it before cancelling the old service: an LLC without an agent for 60 days or more can be dissolved. The guide to changing a registered agent has the steps.^{1, 9, 10}

A paid annual report filing

Filing the report yourself costs only the $15 state fee. Providers charge far more: ZenBusiness lists $100 per report, InCorp $89 + state fees, and LegalZoom $99 + state filing fees. Some bundle it into a yearly plan instead, as Tailor Brands' Essential does with annual compliance (report filing and updates). What you're paying for is someone else meeting the deadline, because the state lists no late fee; instead domestic LLCs that miss June 30 are administratively dissolved.^{4, 11, 12, 13, 14}

Reinstatement after a missed report

Coming back from dissolution costs a $100 reinstatement penalty plus any delinquent filing fees, and the office also asks for letters of good standing from the Department of Revenue. Compared with a $15 report, that's the most expensive mistake on this page. Staying compliant in Kentucky lays out the calendar.¹

The entity tax

The Limited Liability Entity Tax (LLET) carries a minimum of $175 a year under the tax statute, well above the report fee. The statute's exemptions aren't reviewed here, so check with the Department of Revenue or a tax adviser before you budget for it; the compliance page has more.⁵

Checkout add-ons

An EIN, an operating agreement, a business address and compliance trials are the usual extras. Each is a separate decision. Watch the trials in particular: Swyft Filings' report service starts with a 14-day free trial and then charges automatically, and ZenBusiness's Starter includes Worry-Free Compliance free for 1 year (then $199/yr).^{15, 16}

Which providers have the lowest published prices for a Kentucky LLC?

Rows follow our score, highest first, with tied scores in editorial order, so the table isn't sorted by price.

Here is what each provider's cheapest route adds to the $40 state fee, and what it costs once the first year ends, in the same order.

Tailor Brands. Lite is $0 plus state fees and doesn't list an agent, so add $199/year or serve yourself. Essential is $199/yr plus state fees, a yearly charge that includes annual compliance (report filing and updates). See the Tailor Brands review.^{14, 17}

ZenBusiness. Starter costs $0 + state fees (does not renew). The agent is an add-on +$199/yr, though ZenBusiness offers 50% off the first year ($99) when you form an LLC; after that it renews at $199/yr. See the ZenBusiness review.^{16, 18}

LegalZoom. Its entry package is $0 + state filing fees. Agent service is $249/year (first-time registered agent customers), and it renews at the purchase rate with the rate subject to change. See the LegalZoom review.^{19, 20}

Bizee. Basic is $0 + state fee and includes the agent for the first year, which makes the first year cost the state fee alone. The second year brings the agent's $149/year renewal plus the state report. See the Bizee review.^{2, 6}

Swyft Filings. Basic is $0 + state fees, with no agent listed. Swyft's agent bills quarterly, which works out to $596/year, the largest yearly figure here. Its report service is ComplianceGuard $199/year. See the Swyft Filings review.^{15, 21, 22}

doola. Starter is $297/yr and includes the agent (duration not stated). The plan itself bills yearly, so its full price comes back each year. See the doola review.^{23, 24}

Northwest Registered Agent. Formation costs $39 + State Fees, and its corporation page describes a total that includes one year of registered agent service; the LLC page doesn't say. The agent alone is $125 per year. Its pages say registered agent customers are automatically enrolled in Compliance Services, which file the report at $100 + state fees each time, so an owner who plans to file the report directly would need to opt out. See the Northwest review.^{25, 26, 27, 28, 29}

Rocket Lawyer. It offers a first registration free with a Rocket Lawyer membership, and memberships bill yearly: Standard $149/year, Plus $249/year, Pro $349/year. The agent, $125 with a Plus or Pro membership, needs Plus or Pro, so count the membership in the yearly cost. See the Rocket Lawyer review.^{30, 31, 32}

InCorp Services. Formation is priced starting at $99 plus state fees, with the registered agent sold separately at $129 per state per year. Its terms say the agent service continues and is billed at then-current fee unless a cancellation condition is met. See the InCorp review.^{33, 34, 35}

Harbor Compliance. Formation is priced starting at $99 plus state fees. The agent is $99 first year, then $159 annually, and stopping that renewal takes notice at least 90 days before the end of the current term. See the Harbor Compliance review.^{36, 37, 38}

For agent prices on their own, see cheapest registered agent services. What each package includes beyond the price is compared in Kentucky LLC formation services compared, and the agents themselves in registered agent services for Kentucky.