Cheapest LLC formation in North Dakota

What does North Dakota charge to form and keep an LLC?

Two fixed state charges apply to every business LLC: the fee to file the Articles and the yearly report fee. No provider can lower either one.

The Articles of Organization cost $135, filed through the FirstStop Portal. A provider that files for you passes that same fee through, so its quoted package price comes on top.^{1, 4}

The annual report costs $50 and is due by November 15 each year. Timing helps a new LLC here: the Secretary of State says the first report is due in the year following the calendar year of registration, so an LLC formed in, say, the spring doesn't pay the report fee until the following autumn. Farm and ranch LLCs work to a different date: farming or ranching LLCs and ALF LLCs file by April 15. The state says annual reports do not require financial statements.¹

An LLC already formed in another state pays $135 for a certificate of authority, the same amount a new North Dakota LLC pays. Name reservation, and any fee for it, isn't among the facts we cite, so ask the Secretary of State if you want to hold a name before filing.¹

What raises the cost of a North Dakota LLC?

The registered agent, a paid report service, faster handling, and package extras. Each one recurs or adds up in its own way, and all of them are choices you control.

The registered agent

North Dakota requires a registered agent and a registered office at an actual street address or rural route box number in this state (N.D.C.C. § 10-32.1-16). There are three ways to cover it, listed from cheapest.⁵

1. Be your own agent, if you qualify. There is no agent fee, but your own address goes on the public record. Our North Dakota registered agent guide explains who can serve.
2. Take an agent bundled into a formation package for the first year, then pay its renewal or switch.
3. Buy a standalone agent at the prices in the table further down.

Switching later is cheap at the state level. The state lists $10 for a Registered Agent/Office Change filed in FirstStop, charged per entity when the agent is a noncommercial agent; the facts we cite give no figure for other cases. Get the new agent on file before cancelling the old one; how to change a registered agent gives the sequence. Running without one is grounds for involuntary termination after 60 days' notice to cure, and North Dakota doesn't publish a reinstatement fee on the pages we cite, so a lapse is a cost you can't price in advance.^{6, 7, 8}

A paid service for the yearly report

Most providers charge their fee on top of the state's $50. Published prices include InCorp at $89 + state fees, LegalZoom at $99 + state filing fees, ZenBusiness at $100 per report, Northwest at $100 + state fees, charged at filing, and Harbor Compliance at $199 per state per year plus filing fees. Swyft Filings folds report filing into its ComplianceGuard subscription at $199/year. Bizee offers the service with no standalone price stated. Filing it yourself costs the state fee only.^{9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15}

Faster handling

The Secretary of State doesn't publish an expedite option or fee, so there is no state rush charge to budget. Providers sell speed on their side: ZenBusiness charges $79 to rush a Starter order, and InCorp adds its own expedite fee of $50.00. Those fees pay for the provider's own handling; neither provider says they shorten the state's review.^{16, 17}

Extras at checkout

An EIN, an operating agreement, a business address and compliance subscriptions are the extras these providers sell at checkout. Some packages fold them in, and some of those bill yearly. Tailor Brands' Essential plan, for example, is $199/yr plus state fees and lists annual compliance report filing and updates among its features. That can be worth comparing against a one-off formation price plus filing the report yourself.¹⁸

Which providers have the lowest published prices for a North Dakota LLC?

The table lists each provider's agent price, renewal and lowest formation package. Rows follow our score, highest first, with ties in editorial order, and are not sorted by price.

Below, in the same order, is what each lowest-priced route adds to the state's $135 in year one, and what keeps billing after.

Tailor Brands. Lite is $0 plus state fees with no agent listed, so add $199/year or act as your own. Year two brings the state's report fee plus the agent renewal of $199/year (renews at the same price). Tailor Brands review.^{18, 19}

ZenBusiness. Starter is $0 + state fees (does not renew), and the agent is sold as an add-on (add-on +$199/yr); ZenBusiness offers 50% off the first year ($99) when you form an LLC. From year two the agent is $199/yr. Starter also bundles Worry-Free Compliance free for 1 year (then $199/yr), so mark the date that trial ends. ZenBusiness review.^{16, 20}

LegalZoom. The entry package is $0 + state filing fees. Its agent costs $249/year (first-time registered agent customers), and on renewal: Renews at the purchase rate each year; rate subject to change. LegalZoom review.^{21, 22}

Bizee. Basic is $0 + state fee, with the agent free for the first year with any Bizee formation package. That makes year one the state fee alone. Year two is the report fee plus the agent renewal, $149/year (ongoing annual fee). Bizee review.^{3, 23}

Swyft Filings. Basic is $0 + state fees, with no agent in the package description. Its agent is billed at $149 per quarter ($596/year), so compare it on the yearly figure. Swyft Filings review.^{24, 25}

doola. Starter is $297/yr and includes an agent (duration not stated). The plan price itself repeats every year, so the second year costs that plan fee plus the state's report fee. doola review.^{26, 27}

Northwest Registered Agent. Formation is $39 + State Fees. Northwest's corporation page calls that a total that includes one year of registered agent service, but its LLC page doesn't, so confirm it for an LLC. The agent alone is $125 per year. Northwest says agent customers are enrolled automatically in its report service ("you'll automatically be enrolled in our renewal service"), which bills $100 + state fees, charged at filing, so a filing charge can arrive that you didn't choose at checkout. Northwest review.^{12, 28, 29, 30}

Rocket Lawyer. Formation is a membership benefit (First registration free with a Rocket Lawyer membership); a non-member price isn't published. Standard, $149/year, excludes the agent; with Plus ($249/year) or Pro ($349/year), the agent adds $125 a year on top. Rocket Lawyer review.^{31, 32, 33}

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 say the agent is then billed at then-current fee unless a cancellation condition is met. InCorp review.^{34, 35, 36}

Harbor Compliance. Formation starts at $99 plus state fees. The agent is $99 first year (new customers), then $159 annually; to stop, give notice at least 90 days before the end of the current term. Harbor Compliance review.^{37, 38, 39}

National agent-only prices are on cheapest registered agent services, and the full package comparison is on North Dakota LLC formation services.