Best LLC formation services in New Jersey

How do you form an LLC in New Jersey, step by step?

Pick and check a name, decide who will be the agent for service of process, file the Certificate of Formation with the Division, then get an EIN, sign an operating agreement and put the annual report on your calendar.

The last step continues after formation: the annual report comes back every year.

1. Check the name. Search that the name is free before you file. If you need to hold it while you sort out a lease or a partner, a reservation costs $50, and the fee schedule lists a renewal $50 if you need longer. If you are ready to file now, the reservation adds cost without changing the result.²
2. Choose the registered agent. The statute calls this person an agent for service of process; the state's forms say registered agent. Under N.J.S.A. 42:2C-14 it may be an individual who is a resident of this State or other person with authority to transact business in this State, so you can name yourself if you live here, or hire a company. The address you give for the agent is the registered office. Who qualifies and how the address works is in the New Jersey agent for service of process guide.³
3. Prepare the Certificate of Formation. The Division's instructions tell new LLCs to "file a Certificate of formation/authorization." If a service handles it, the service fills in the certificate from the answers you give at checkout.¹
4. File and pay the state fee. The filing fee is $100. The Division's pages we cite don't list a standard processing time or a paid expedite tier, so treat any speed a provider advertises as its own handling time, and ask whether a state charge for faster service is included.
5. Get an EIN. The Employer Identification Number is the LLC's federal tax ID, and the IRS issues it, not the state. Banks ask for it, and New Jersey's annual report asks for it too (EIN is on the list). Some packages include it; others charge extra.
6. Sign an operating agreement. This internal contract sets out ownership shares, who decides what, and what happens if a member leaves. Banks and partners may ask to see it.
7. Put the annual report on your calendar. The report is due by the last day of the month in which the LLC was originally filed, every year, for $75. It asks for the business name, mailing address, EIN, registered agent name and contact information, names and addresses of business partners (members). What else is due after formation is on staying compliant in New Jersey.

An LLC already formed in another state doesn't file a Certificate of Formation here. It registers to do business instead, and the fee for that is $100 (Certificate of Registration).²

What does a New Jersey LLC cost with and without a service?

The state's charges are identical whether you file yourself or a service files for you. Every package price on this page sits on top of them.

The yearly report is the state charge that continues after formation. The table below shows each provider's agent price and cheapest formation package, in the order of the site's provider table (our score, highest first, ties in editorial order).

What each cheapest package includes beyond the filing itself, and what each provider charges to file New Jersey's annual report for you, is set out next.

"Not listed" means the provider's package description doesn't mention the item, so ask before you order. The report-filing prices are provider fees; unless a provider says its price includes the state fee, the state's $75 comes on top. The year-by-year totals, agent renewals included, are worked out on the cheapest ways to form a New Jersey LLC.

What does each provider's formation package include for a New Jersey LLC?

Each paragraph covers one provider's published formation terms, in the provider table's order: our score, highest first, ties in editorial order (how we score).

Trustpilot ratings sit separately in that table. Agent prices and terms are compared in more depth on agent for service of process services for New Jersey.

Tailor Brands

Lite costs $0 plus state fees, with processing within 14 business days, and its plan card shows no annual compliance, operating agreement or branding tools. It does include a business coaching platform. Essential, at $199/yr plus state fees, moves to processing within 1 business day and adds annual compliance (report filing and updates), operating agreement. In New Jersey, the compliance item has a report to file every year.⁵

None of its packages lists a registered agent; Tailor Brands supplied a separate agent price of $199/year. It also sells an EIN service (EIN filing service offered; price not published). Essential and Elite ($249/yr plus state fees) are yearly charges, so they recur alongside the state's report fee.^{5, 6, 7}

ZenBusiness

Starter is $0 + state fees (does not renew), with handling listed as 7-10 days; ZenBusiness says that time excludes Secretary of State time, so the Division's own time is added. Starter includes Worry-Free Compliance free for 1 year (then $199/yr), which ZenBusiness describes as one optional free year on Starter; its pages don't say whether that year reaches the LLC's first New Jersey report. The EIN and operating agreement are +$99 add-ons, and a Rush upgrade +$79 on Starter is available. Pro, at $199 + state fees, renews at $199/yr, lists ongoing filing compliance (state-required annual report filings and up to 2 amendments per year). No tier includes the agent; with formation it is 50% off the first year ($99) when you form an LLC, then $199/yr.^{8, 37}

LegalZoom

LegalZoom's Basic package costs $0 + state filing fees. Articles of organization are on its list, and the page also lists a name check (Name check service). The EIN, operating agreement and agent are priced separately: the EIN at $79, the operating agreement from $99, and the agent at $249/year (first-time registered agent customers). A one-time report filing is $99 + state filing fees, bills once. The $249 + state filing fees tier adds attorney consultations, 30 days included, then $49/month auto-renew, so that charge continues unless you cancel it.^{10, 11, 12, 13, 14}

Bizee

Bizee's Basic is $0 + state fee and its list includes Registered Agent (1st year included); the agent then renews at $149/year (ongoing annual fee), and on Basic both the EIN ($70) and the operating agreement (+$99) cost extra. Standard ($199 + state fee) is Basic plus EIN, operating agreement, faster processing (~2 weeks), and Bizee says that timing includes expedited filing. A separate business address is sold at $29/month; 1 month free with Bizee LLC formation, and Bizee says it files annual reports for customers, with no standalone price stated.^{15, 16, 17, 38, 39}

Swyft Filings

Swyft's Basic package costs $0 + state fees; its list starts with "Preparation and filing of your Articles of Organization" and gives processing in 7-10 business days. Standard is priced at $169 + state fees (promotional, 'SAVE $30'; regular $199). It adds custom organizational minutes, custom banking resolution, business banking essentials, operating agreement, with processing in 3 business days. All tiers come with a trial of its report service, ComplianceGuard $199/year, on a 14-day free trial then auto-charged. In New Jersey that subscription has a report to file every year, and the trial turns into a paid year unless you cancel it. The agent isn't listed in any package and costs $149 per quarter ($596/year).^{18, 19, 40}

doola

doola's Starter is $297/yr and lists LLC filing, EIN, US bank account guidance, US business address, registered agent. doola says it files within 1-2 business days. The Division's own processing comes after that, and the state doesn't publish how long it takes in the pages we cite. doola says it can help a non-resident without a US SSN. Starter doesn't file annual reports; that comes with the Tax and Compliance plan at $1,999/yr. Founders abroad can compare options on agent services for non-resident founders.^{20, 21, 41}

Northwest Registered Agent

Northwest's formation price is $39 + State Fees, and the package adds a free domain name, open source website, phone line, business email, business address, brand protection. The corporation page calls the price a total that includes one year of registered agent service; the LLC page is silent, so confirm before you order. The agent on its own is $125 per year, and agent customers are enrolled in the report service at $100 + state fees, charged at filing. Its operating agreement template costs nothing (Free template), and the EIN is $50 (with SSN); $200 without SSN.^{23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 42}

Rocket Lawyer

Rocket Lawyer's offer reads: First registration free with a Rocket Lawyer membership. Memberships bill yearly: Standard $149/year, Plus $249/year, Pro $349/year. Its formation prices say "Excludes government and third party fees." The agent is $125 with a Plus or Pro membership, which rules out Standard. Report filing is $100 with Pro membership, excluding state fees. The EIN costs $70 with Plus or Pro membership, and no operating agreement is listed with formation.^{28, 29, 30, 43, 44}

InCorp

InCorp prices its formation service starting at $99 plus state fees; the only inclusion its pages state is "Live chat and phone support included with every service." The agent is sold separately at $129 per state per year. Faster handling carries a $50.00 InCorp expedite fee on top of any state charge. Its EIN service is $69, and its report filing is $89 + state fees.^{31, 32, 33, 34, 45}

Harbor Compliance

Harbor lists formation as "Starting at $99 plus state fees", and its page says "We can prepare and file the government forms to create most LLCs in one business day." The formation page lists "name check, articles, registered agent, EIN, and the operating agreement" without saying which tier includes which, or for how long an included agent lasts. Alone, the agent is $99 first year (new customers), then $159 annually. Harbor offers faster state processing in most states, with the price not published.^{35, 46, 47}

Should you file the formation certificate yourself or pay a service in New Jersey?

Filing yourself costs $100 and a few forms; a service adds its fee and does the paperwork. The real choice is who keeps up with the yearly report and the agent afterward.²

A resident owner can be the agent under N.J.S.A. 42:2C-14 and pay nothing for that role. The trade-off is that the owner's own address becomes the registered office, and someone must be there to accept papers. A commercial agent's address goes in that field instead. It doesn't change the members' names and addresses the annual report asks for.³

A provider's processing promise covers its own work. Because the Division's pages we cite don't publish a processing time, ask any provider what part of a quoted turnaround is the state's.

The recurring costs deserve more attention than the formation fee. Several packages bundle a free first year of an agent or a compliance service that later renews at the full price, and a few packages are themselves billed every year. On top of all of them sits New Jersey's $75 report. If your LLC has co-owners, investors or a licensed profession, a lawyer can draft or check the operating agreement instead of relying on a template. The glossary defines the filing terms, and how to change an agent for service of process covers switching later, which costs $25 at the state.²