Best LLC formation services in North Dakota

How do you form an LLC in North Dakota, step by step?

You confirm the name, line up a registered agent, complete the Articles in FirstStop, pay the state fee, then get an EIN and sign an operating agreement before the first annual report comes round.

Taking them in this order settles the name and the agent before you open the filing.

1. Search the name. Check the Secretary of State's records for a conflicting name before you start. Name reservation, and any fee for it, isn't among the facts we cite, so ask the office if you need to hold a name.
2. Line up the registered agent. State law says every limited liability company shall have a registered office and a registered agent (N.D.C.C. § 10-32.1-16), and agent filings need an actual street address or rural route box number in this state. The agent is the person or company that accepts lawsuits and state notices for the LLC. Whether you can act as your own agent is covered in the North Dakota registered agent guide.³
3. Open FirstStop. The state's instruction is to go to Start a Business in the FirstStop Portal to begin your business registration. The Secretary of State's pages we checked describe this online route and no paper form.²
4. Complete the Articles of Organization. The Secretary of State's LLC page lists the filing as Articles of Organization, $135. A service enters the details for you; on your own, you fill them in through FirstStop.¹
5. Pay and wait. The fee is $135. North Dakota doesn't publish a standard turnaround or a paid rush option, so plan for some waiting time if you have a lease or bank account riding on the date.
6. Apply for 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. Several packages below include the application, and others charge for it.
7. Sign an operating agreement. None of the state facts we cite mention filing it with the Secretary of State; it records who owns the LLC, who makes decisions and what happens if an owner leaves.
8. Diary the first annual report. The Secretary of State says the first report is due in the year following the calendar year of registration. Business LLCs file by November 15 each year and pay $50; farming or ranching LLCs and ALF LLCs file by April 15. North Dakota doesn't publish a newspaper publication step for new LLCs. Staying compliant in North Dakota covers what follows.¹

What does a North Dakota LLC cost with and without a service?

The Secretary of State's fees are the same whether you file yourself or pay a service, and every provider below adds them to its own price.

After formation, the recurring state fee for a business LLC is the yearly $50 report. An LLC formed elsewhere that registers here pays $135 for a certificate of authority, the same figure as forming one. The next table shows each provider's published agent price and cheapest formation package, in the order of the site's provider table: our score, highest first, ties in editorial order.¹

What each cheapest package includes beyond the state filing:

"Not listed" means the provider's package description doesn't mention the item, so ask before you pay. Second-year arithmetic, including the report fee and agent renewals, is on the cheapest ways to form a North Dakota LLC.

What does each provider's formation package include for North Dakota?

These paragraphs cover only published formation package terms, following the site's provider table order (our score, highest first, ties in editorial order; see how we score).

Trustpilot ratings for each provider sit in that table, separately. North Dakota doesn't publish a processing time of its own, so read each provider's turnaround figure as that provider's estimate. The agent services themselves are compared on registered agents for North Dakota.

Tailor Brands

Lite is $0 plus state fees and processes the LLC within 14 business days, with 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. That covers a report North Dakota requires every year ($50 at the state), and Tailor Brands lists state fees extra on all plans. No package description mentions a registered agent, which Tailor Brands sells at $199/year. The top plan, Elite, is billed at $249/yr plus state fees and adds website and branding tools to Essential.^{4, 5}

ZenBusiness

Starter is $0 + state fees (does not renew), with handling of 7-10 days, a figure ZenBusiness says excludes Secretary of State time, so the state's own review comes on top. It includes Worry-Free Compliance free for 1 year (then $199/yr); the EIN and operating agreement are +$99 add-ons, and faster handling costs extra (Rush upgrade +$79 on Starter). Pro costs $199 + state fees, renews at $199/yr. Its list includes ongoing filing compliance (state-required annual report filings and up to 2 amendments per year), and for a North Dakota LLC that means the yearly report is handled while the plan is active. No ZenBusiness package includes the agent (Not included; add-on +$199/yr), though ZenBusiness offers 50% off the first year ($99) when you form an LLC.^{7, 28}

LegalZoom

LegalZoom's entry package, $0 + state filing fees, lists the Articles of organization. The EIN is $79, an operating agreement starts at $99, and the agent $249/year (first-time registered agent customers). Its annual report service costs $99 + state filing fees, bills once. Its middle package ($249 + state filing fees) adds attorney consultations (30 days included, then $49/month auto-renew), so the monthly charge starts unless that plan is cancelled within the included period.^{9, 10, 11, 12, 29}

Bizee

Bizee Basic is $0 + state fee and lists Registered Agent (1st year included), after which the agent renews at $149/year (ongoing annual fee). On Basic, the EIN ($70) and the operating agreement (+$99) are both extras. Standard ($199 + state fee) adds both. It also lists faster processing (~2 weeks), while Premium ($299 + state fee) lists expedited filing (~4 business days), though Bizee doesn't explain how either figure relates to the time North Dakota's Secretary of State takes to review a filing, which the state doesn't publish. Its business address add-on costs $29/month, with 1 month free with Bizee LLC formation.^{13, 14, 30, 31}

Swyft Filings

Swyft's Basic package is $0 + state fees and processes in 7-10 business days. Standard, at $169 + state fees (promotional, 'SAVE $30'; regular $199), adds custom organizational minutes, custom banking resolution, business banking essentials, operating agreement, and processes in 3 business days. No package mentions an agent, which Swyft sells at $149 per quarter ($596/year). For the yearly report it offers ComplianceGuard ($199/year), with a 14-day free trial then auto-charged, so note the trial's end date if you sign up at formation.^{15, 32, 33}

doola

doola's Starter costs $297/yr, and that charge repeats each year. It bundles LLC filing, EIN, US bank account guidance, US business address, registered agent. doola says it files within 1 to 2 business days, and the state's review comes after. doola says it can help a US citizen or a non-resident without a US SSN; agent services for non-resident founders compares providers for owners abroad.^{16, 17, 34}

Northwest Registered Agent

Northwest's package is $39 + State Fees, covering the filing and a free domain name, open source website, phone line, business email, business address, brand protection. Its corporation page describes a total that includes one year of registered agent service; the LLC page doesn't repeat that, so confirm before ordering. The agent alone is $125 per year. Northwest lists its operating agreement as: Free template. The EIN costs $50 (with SSN); $200 without SSN.^{18, 19, 20, 21, 35}

Rocket Lawyer

Formation here is a membership benefit: First registration free with a Rocket Lawyer membership. Memberships bill yearly after a free 7-day trial: Standard $149/year, Plus $249/year and Pro $349/year. The agent costs $125 with a Plus or Pro membership, which leaves Standard members without it, and the EIN is $70 with Plus or Pro membership. No operating agreement appears.^{22, 23, 36, 37}

InCorp

InCorp prices formation starting at $99 plus state fees, and its package listing names only this: Live chat and phone support included. The agent is sold separately at $129 per state per year, and its EIN service costs $69. InCorp charges its own expedite fee of $50.00 for faster handling on its side; North Dakota doesn't publish a state expedite fee to add.^{24, 25, 26, 38}

Harbor Compliance

Harbor prices formation starting at $99 plus state fees. Its stated turnaround on its own side: most LLCs prepared and filed in one business day. The formation page names a registered agent, an EIN and an operating agreement, but not which tier carries which item or how long the agent lasts. The standalone agent is $99 first year (new customers), renewing at $159 annually.^{27, 39, 40}

Should you file the North Dakota Articles yourself or use a service?

On your own, you pay $135 and fill in the Articles in FirstStop yourself; a service charges for doing that data entry and for any extras in its package.¹

Filing yourself happens online in North Dakota, where the state routes registration through one system, the FirstStop Portal. The parts that take more thought are the registered office, which has to be an actual street address or rural route box number in this state, and the operating agreement.²

If you qualify to act as your own agent, you save the yearly agent fee. Your address then goes on the public record, and you need to be there to accept papers. A commercial agent puts its own address in the agent field, which every agent does; it doesn't change the other addresses the Articles ask for. A few providers sell a separate business address for those, such as Bizee's add-on at $29/month.³¹

The yearly report is the other part of the choice. It costs $50 and involves updating your business mailing address, business activities, and stakeholders. The state says annual reports do not require financial statements. A package that includes report filing saves you the reminder and the form, at the provider's price.¹

Watch the renewals. Several packages bundle a first year of an agent or compliance service that then renews at full price, such as ZenBusiness's Starter with Worry-Free Compliance free for 1 year (then $199/yr). Owners with partners or investors may want a lawyer to write the operating agreement rather than relying on a template. The glossary defines the filing terms, and annual reports explained covers how yearly reports work across states.⁷