Cheapest LLC formation in Maine

What does the state of Maine charge to form and keep an LLC?

Maine sets its own fees and no provider can discount them. Package prices are quoted without them, so the table below is added to whatever a service charges.

Only one charge is certain at formation: the $175 for the certificate. It is the same whether you mail the form yourself or a service sends it for you. The Division's forms page describes mail filing (no online formation filing is listed).¹

The yearly fixed cost is the Annual Report (Form MLLC-13), due January 1 to June 1. It starts in the calendar year after formation and costs $85 each time. Within a few years, the reports add up to more than the formation fee.^{4, 5}

A name reservation, at $20, is optional. It only helps if you want to hold a name before you are ready to file the certificate.⁴

An LLC already formed in another state doesn't pay the formation fee to do business in Maine. It pays $250 (Statement of Foreign Qualification, Form MLLC-12) instead, which costs more than forming a new Maine LLC. Comparing a neighbouring state? The New Hampshire registered agent page and the Massachusetts LLC cost page list their fees.⁵

What raises the cost of a Maine LLC?

The bill grows with paid expedite, a paid registered agent, report-filing subscriptions and add-ons, and with penalties if a report or agent change is missed. Each one is a choice or a deadline you can plan around.

Paid expedite

Standard processing is 40 to 55 business days with no extra charge. That is a long wait if you need the LLC for a lease, a contract or a bank account. The certificate offers 24-hour (next business day) $50 and immediate (same business day) $100, each charged per entity on top of the filing fee. A service's own rush handling covers its side of the work, so when a package advertises speed, ask whether the state's expedite charge is included or billed on top.^{1, 4}

The registered agent

A Maine LLC's agent filing gives "An actual street address or rural route box number in this State" (5 M.R.S. § 104 and § 105). An unpaid noncommercial agent costs nothing, with the trade-off that the filing gives "The name and address of the entity's noncommercial clerk or noncommercial registered agent" and the agent needs to be reachable there. A paid agent is a yearly charge, unlike the formation fee. You can buy one on its own, or take one bundled into a formation package for the first year, after which it renews at the provider's price. Changing agents later costs $35 on Form CLKRA-3. Maine lists failing to notify the SOS of an agent change or resignation as a ground for dissolution, which is why the change goes on file before the old service is cancelled. The Maine registered agent guide covers who may serve, including whether you can act as your own agent.^{4, 7, 8, 9}

Report filing services

Unlike states with no yearly filing, Maine gives a compliance subscription something to do. You can still file the report yourself and pay only the state fee. A provider that files it charges its own fee on top: InCorp lists $89 + state fees, ZenBusiness Annual Report Filing $100 per report, and Northwest $100 + state fees, charged at filing. Watch for enrolment you didn't choose. Northwest says RA customers auto-enrolled in Compliance Services billed in annual auto-pay, and Swyft Filings starts ComplianceGuard $199/year as a 14-day free trial then auto-charged.^{10, 11, 12, 13, 14}

Late reports and lapses

Filing after the deadline (June 1 each year) adds a $50 late fee to the report fee ($50 in addition to the $85 report fee). If the state dissolves the LLC, reinstatement is $150 per ground for dissolution; for unfiled annual reports $150 capped at $600. Those amounts can exceed the original formation fee. Staying compliant in Maine has the full calendar.^{5, 15}

Add-ons at checkout

Formation checkouts commonly offer an EIN (the federal tax ID), an operating agreement, a business address and compliance plans. Each one is a separate purchase from the filing: ZenBusiness, for example, lists its EIN at $99 one-time (included in Pro and Premium), and Bizee its business address at $29/month; 1 month free with Bizee LLC formation.^{11, 16}

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

The table gives each provider's published agent price, renewal and lowest formation package, ordered by our score, highest first, ties in editorial order. It is not sorted by price.

In the same order, here is what each lowest-priced option adds to Maine's fees in the first year and what keeps recurring after it.

Tailor Brands. Lite costs $0 plus state fees and doesn't list a registered agent, so one is bought separately: from Tailor Brands at $199/year, or from another agent. Essential, at $199/yr plus state fees, is billed yearly and includes annual compliance (report filing and updates). See the Tailor Brands review.^{17, 18}

ZenBusiness. Starter is $0 + state fees (does not renew). The agent is an add-on (+$199/yr), with 50% off the first year ($99) when you form an LLC, and renews at $199/yr. Starter includes Worry-Free Compliance free for 1 year (then $199/yr). Whether that covers the first Maine report depends on whether it is still active when the report falls due, so note its renewal date. See the ZenBusiness review.^{19, 20}

LegalZoom. Its lowest package is $0 + state filing fees. The agent is $249/year (first-time registered agent customers) and renews at the purchase rate each year, with the rate subject to change. See the LegalZoom review.^{21, 22}

Bizee. Basic is $0 + state fee and comes with a free first year with any Bizee formation package, after which the agent renews at $149/year (ongoing annual fee). That leaves the state fee as the main first-year cost; from the second year on, the bill becomes the agent renewal plus the Maine report, which together recur every year the LLC exists. See the Bizee review.⁶

Swyft Filings. Basic is $0 + state fees. Its agent is $149 per quarter ($596/year), the highest yearly agent figure in the table. The package details don't say whether Basic includes an agent. See the Swyft Filings review.^{23, 24}

doola. Starter is $297/yr and includes the agent, but the plan itself recurs every year rather than only an agent fee. See the doola review.²⁵

Northwest Registered Agent. Formation is $39 + State Fees. Its corporation page describes its formation price as "a total that includes one year of registered agent service"; confirm that applies to an LLC order. The standalone agent is $125 per year, with no separate renewal price published. See the Northwest review.^{26, 27, 28}

Rocket Lawyer. Formation comes with a membership (First registration free with a Rocket Lawyer membership). Standard, at $149/year, has no agent. The agent ($125 with a Plus or Pro membership) needs Plus at $249/year or Pro at $349/year, so add both figures when you compare. See the Rocket Lawyer review.^{29, 30, 31}

InCorp Services. InCorp prices formation starting at $99 plus state fees, with the registered agent sold separately at $129 per state per year. Its terms bill renewals at the 'then current' fee. See the InCorp review.^{32, 33, 34}

Harbor Compliance. Harbor prices formation starting at $99 plus state fees. The agent is $99 first year (new customers), then $159 annually, and stopping that renewal needs notice at least 90 days before the end of the current term. See the Harbor Compliance review.^{35, 36, 37}

Agent-only prices for every provider are on cheapest registered agent services.