Best LLC formation services in Louisiana

How do you form an LLC in Louisiana, step by step?

You choose a name, line up a registered agent who will sign a notarized acceptance, file the Articles with the initial report, pick a speed, then get an EIN and an operating agreement.

1. Choose and check the name. Search the Secretary of State's business records to make sure no one else holds it. You can reserve a name for $25; we couldn't confirm how long a reservation lasts, so ask the Secretary of State if timing is tight.³
2. Pick your registered agent. Under La. R.S. 12:1308, the agent may be a citizen of the state who resides in this state, or a business entity on the statute's list, which includes a domestic corporation, domestic limited liability company. The LLC also needs a registered office in Louisiana (La. R.S. 12:1308(A)(1)). You can act as your own agent if you qualify; the Louisiana registered agent guide explains the trade-offs.⁴
3. Get the agent's notarized acceptance. The initial report lists each registered agent (with notarized acceptance). With a commercial agent, ask how it supplies that signed page before you file. An owner serving as agent signs one too.¹
4. Prepare the Articles of Organization and the initial report. The Articles create the LLC. The initial report is signed by the organizers and gives the registered office, the agent and the first managers or members if already chosen. If managers or members haven't been picked yet, a supplementary report follows as soon as they have been selected.¹
5. Pay and choose a speed. The filing fee is $125; older guides may quote the earlier amount (it was $100). We couldn't confirm a standard processing time from the Secretary of State, so plan for some wait if you pay nothing extra. Faster options are $35 for 24-hour service and $60 for while-you-wait service.²
6. Get an EIN. The Employer Identification Number is the LLC's federal tax ID, issued by the IRS rather than the state. Banks usually ask for it, and some packages below include it.
7. Sign an operating agreement. This internal contract sets ownership shares, who decides what, and what happens when an owner leaves. A template comes with some packages; a lawyer can tailor one.
8. Put the first annual report in your calendar. It is due on or before the anniversary date of organization and costs $35. There is no franchise tax bill for new periods; the Department of Revenue says "The franchise tax has been repealed for franchise tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2026." The ongoing rules are on staying compliant in Louisiana.^{2, 5, 6}

What does a Louisiana LLC cost with and without a service?

The state's charges don't change with the route you take, and every package below is priced before them.

Paying for speed adds $35 for 24-hour service to the $125 filing fee, or $60 for while-you-wait service if you need it the same visit. Budget for a notary, too. An LLC already formed elsewhere that registers in Louisiana pays a different fee, $185, instead of the formation fee. The next table lists each provider's agent price and cheapest formation package in the site's provider order: our score, highest first, with ties in editorial order.²

What each cheapest package covers beyond the filing itself is set out below.

"Not listed" means the published package description doesn't mention the item, so ask before ordering. The first-year and later-year arithmetic, with agent renewals and the annual report, is on the cheapest way to form a Louisiana LLC.

What does each formation package include for a Louisiana LLC?

The paragraphs cover only each provider's published formation terms, in the site's provider order: our score, highest first, ties in editorial order (how we score).

None of the package descriptions mentions Louisiana's initial report or the notarized agent acceptance, so ask the provider whether it prepares the report and how the acceptance is signed. The agent services themselves are compared on registered agents for Louisiana LLCs.

Tailor Brands

Lite costs $0 plus state fees and processes the LLC within 14 business days; its published description says no annual compliance, operating agreement or branding tools. Essential, at $199/yr plus state fees, processes within 1 business day and adds annual compliance (report filing and updates), operating agreement. The first of those gives it the Louisiana annual report to file each year. Elite is $249/yr plus state fees. Both higher plans bill every year rather than once.⁷

The packages don't list an agent; Tailor Brands sells it at $199/year. It sells EIN filing too, with the price not published. Its terms list government expedite fees as extra costs the customer may owe, so the state's fee may come on top of Essential's faster handling.^{7, 8, 9}

ZenBusiness

Starter is $0 + state fees (does not renew), with processing of 7-10 days that excludes Secretary of State time, so the Louisiana office's own time comes after. It includes Worry-Free Compliance free for 1 year (then $199/yr), and the EIN and operating agreement are +$99 add-ons. A Rush upgrade on Starter costs +$79; compare that with the state's own $35 for 24-hour service, and ask which one you are paying for.^{2, 10}

Pro ($199 + state fees, renews at $199/yr) folds in the EIN and an operating agreement template, plus ongoing filing compliance (state-required annual report filings and up to 2 amendments per year). No ZenBusiness package includes the agent, which is an add-on +$199/yr; formation customers get 50% off the first year ($99) when you form an LLC.^{10, 31}

LegalZoom

LegalZoom's Basic package is $0 + state filing fees and covers the Articles of organization. The EIN, operating agreement and agent are priced on their own: the EIN is $79, the operating agreement from $99, and the agent $249/year (first-time registered agent customers). Its next tier, $249 + state filing fees, adds attorney consultations on these terms: 30 days included, then $49/month auto-renew. That monthly charge is easy to miss once the free month ends.^{12, 13, 14}

Bizee

Basic, at $0 + state fee, lists a registered agent with the 1st year included, and the agent then renews at $149/year (ongoing annual fee). The EIN ($70) and operating agreement (+$99) cost extra. Standard ($199 + state fee) is described as Basic plus EIN, operating agreement, faster processing (~2 weeks), and Bizee says its timing includes expedited filing. Premium ($299 + state fee) lists expedited filing (~4 business days). Bizee doesn't say which Louisiana expedite tier, if any, those timings rely on.^{16, 17, 32}

Swyft Filings

The Basic package is $0 + state fees and processes in 7-10 business days. Standard is $169 + state fees (promotional, 'SAVE $30'; regular $199); it adds custom organizational minutes, custom banking resolution, business banking essentials, operating agreement and processes in 3 business days. No package lists an agent, which Swyft sells at $149 per quarter ($596/year). Every LLC plan also starts ComplianceGuard on a 14-day free trial, after which it is charged at $199/year unless cancelled. With Louisiana's state report fee at $35, decide before the trial ends whether you want the service filing it.^{2, 18, 33, 34}

doola

doola's Starter plan is $297/yr, billed yearly, and includes LLC filing, EIN, US bank account guidance, US business address, registered agent. doola says it files within 1-2 business days, and the state's processing follows. doola says it works with US citizens and with a non-resident without a US SSN. For a Louisiana founder abroad, the notarized agent acceptance is one more thing to arrange, so ask doola how its included agent handles it. Non-resident options are compared on agents for non-resident founders.^{19, 20, 35}

Northwest Registered Agent

Northwest's package is $39 + State Fees and adds a free domain name, open source website, phone line, business email, business address, brand protection. Its corporation page calls the price a total that includes one year of registered agent service, but the LLC page is silent, so confirm before ordering. The agent alone is $125 per year. Its operating agreement is a free template. The EIN costs $50 (with SSN), or $200 without SSN (meaning a Social Security number).^{21, 22, 23, 24, 36}

Rocket Lawyer

Rocket Lawyer's formation offer reads "Your first one is FREE with a Rocket Lawyer membership." Memberships are yearly: Standard $149/year, Plus $249/year, Pro $349/year, each with a free 7-day trial before yearly billing starts. Its formation note reads "Excludes government and third party fees," so the Louisiana filing fee is on you. The agent is $125 with a Plus or Pro membership, which rules out Standard. The EIN is $70 with Plus or Pro membership, and no operating agreement is listed with formation.^{25, 26, 37, 38}

InCorp

InCorp prices formation starting at $99 plus state fees, and the package description mentions only "Live chat and phone support included with every service." The agent is not part of it: InCorp says it is sold separately at $129 per state per year. Its own expedite fee is $50.00, with the state expedite fee extra, which for Louisiana means its fee plus $35 for 24-hour service or more. Its EIN service costs $69.^{2, 27, 28, 29, 39}

Harbor Compliance

Harbor prices formation from $99 plus state fees and says "We can prepare and file the government forms to create most LLCs in one business day." Its formation page promises "name check, articles, registered agent, EIN, and the operating agreement" but doesn't publish which tier includes which item, or how long an included agent lasts. The agent alone is $99 first year (new customers), renewing at $159 annually, and stopping it takes notice at least 90 days before the end of the current term. Harbor offers expedited state processing but doesn't publish a price for it (Expedited state processing available in most states (price not published)).^{30, 40, 41, 42}

Should you file the Louisiana Articles yourself or use a service?

Filing yourself costs $125 plus any expedite you choose, and you handle the name search, the initial report and the agent's notarized acceptance. A service prepares the filing for its own price; the state fee stays the same.²

A citizen of the state who resides in this state can serve as the LLC's own agent under La. R.S. 12:1308 and skip an agent fee. The initial report then gives that person's own address as the registered office, and they sign the notarized acceptance themselves.^{1, 4}

Speed works the same either way. A provider's own handling time sits before the state's, and only the state's expedite fee changes how fast Louisiana works ($35 for 24-hour service or $60 for while-you-wait service). Ask a provider whether its rush price includes that fee or adds it.²

On privacy, any commercial agent puts its own address in the registered office field, so that part is true of every service here. Your other addresses are a separate matter. Providers that sell a business address product include Swyft Filings, at $29/mo.¹⁸

Watch the recurring charges in the cheaper packages. Free first years renew at the regular price, as with ZenBusiness's Worry-Free Compliance free for 1 year (then $199/yr), and some packages bill annually. Louisiana does have a yearly report, so a compliance plan has something to file. The state fee is $35, and the report gives the registered office, the name and address of each registered agent and each manager, details an owner already has. Owners with partners, investors or a licensed profession may want a lawyer to draft the operating agreement. The glossary defines the filing terms, and the Louisiana registered agent guide covers agent rules.^{2, 5, 10}