Best LLC formation services in Tennessee

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

You pick a name, line up a registered agent, count your members so you know the fee, file the articles online, then get an EIN, sign an operating agreement and set up for the yearly report and franchise tax.

The order below keeps the fee and the agent from becoming last-minute surprises.

1. Pick a name and check it is free. Search the Secretary of State's business records before you file. Our verified sources don't include Tennessee's name reservation fee, so if you want to hold a name ahead of filing, ask the Secretary of State what it costs.
2. Count your members. Tennessee's filing fee is $50 per member, with a $300 minimum and a $3,000 maximum. A single-member LLC pays the floor, and so does a small group, because the per-member amount only passes the floor as membership grows. Know the number before checkout so the state line on a service's invoice isn't a surprise.¹
3. Choose the registered agent. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-249-109, the agent can be an individual who resides in this state, a domestic corporation or another entity the statute lists, and its office must share a street address with the LLC's registered office. You can be your own agent if you live here; the Tennessee registered agent guide sets out who qualifies and how the agent is named.³
4. File the articles of organization. The state's business site says "File New Businesses Online", and the state doesn't publish a paper route for domestic LLC articles on any page we could load (paper filing not confirmed for LLC articles). A service files through the same online channel.²
5. Plan for timing. The Secretary of State doesn't publish a standard processing time or a paid expedite option on the pages we could load. Provider timelines below describe how fast the provider prepares and submits your filing, not how fast the state approves it.
6. Get an EIN. This federal tax number comes from the IRS, at no state cost, and banks generally ask for it before opening an account. Some packages include it.
7. Sign an operating agreement. The state doesn't publish a requirement to file it, but it records who owns what and how decisions get made. Several packages include a template.
8. Set up for what comes after approval. The LLC files an annual report due on or before the 1st day of the 4th month after the LLC's fiscal year closes, with a $300 minimum fee, and it owes franchise and excise tax to the Department of Revenue, including a $100 minimum franchise tax. Staying compliant in Tennessee walks through both.^{4, 5, 6}

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

The state's fee is identical whether you file or a service files for you, and every package below quotes its price before that fee.

For most small LLCs the state part of formation is the $300 minimum; only larger memberships move toward the $3,000 maximum. Tennessee doesn't publish an expedite tier on the pages we could load, so no state rush fee appears here. The next table lists each provider's agent price and cheapest formation package in the order of the provider table, by our score, highest first, with ties in editorial order.

Below, each cheapest package is set against the agent, the EIN and the operating agreement.

A "Not listed" cell means the published package description is silent on that item, so ask the provider. The year-two arithmetic, with the annual report, franchise tax and agent renewals, is on the cheapest ways to form a Tennessee LLC.

What does each formation package include for a Tennessee LLC?

These paragraphs cover only published formation package terms, in provider-table order: our score, highest first, ties in editorial order (how we score).

Trustpilot ratings sit in that table on their own. One question to ask any provider for Tennessee is whether its plan files the annual report, because here that report carries a fee every year. The agent services themselves are compared on choosing a registered agent in Tennessee.

Tailor Brands

Lite, the entry package, is $0 plus state fees and is processed within 14 business days; its own description says it has no annual compliance, operating agreement or branding tools. The next plan up costs $199/yr plus state fees, is processed within 1 business day, and adds annual compliance (report filing and updates) and an operating agreement. The state's report fee is still yours.⁷

Neither plan description says a registered agent is included; Tailor Brands sells it separately at $199/year. It offers an EIN filing service, price not published. The top plan, Elite, is $249/yr plus state fees, and the two upper plans bill yearly.^{7, 8, 9}

ZenBusiness

Starter costs $0 + state fees (does not renew) and covers the first filing, processed in 7-10 days by ZenBusiness, whose timing excludes Secretary of State time. It bundles Worry-Free Compliance free for 1 year (then $199/yr), and the EIN and operating agreement are +$99 add-ons. Pro ($199 + state fees, renews at $199/yr) includes the EIN and an operating agreement template plus ongoing filing compliance (state-required annual report filings and up to 2 amendments per year), which covers the Tennessee report. The agent is sold apart from every plan (add-on +$199/yr), though it is 50% off the first year ($99) when you form with ZenBusiness. Faster handling on Starter costs extra (Rush upgrade +$79 on Starter).^{10, 30}

LegalZoom

The cheapest LegalZoom package is $0 + state filing fees, and lists Articles of organization. The EIN, operating agreement and agent are priced separately: the EIN is $79, operating agreements start at $99, and the registered agent is $249/year (first-time registered agent customers). Its middle package, $249 + state filing fees, adds attorney consultations on these terms: 30 days included, then $49/month auto-renew. LegalZoom sells a one-time report filing at $99 + state filing fees if you want help with the first Tennessee report.^{12, 13, 14, 15, 31}

Bizee

Basic is $0 + state fee and lists Registered Agent (1st year included). After that year the agent renews at $149/year (ongoing annual fee), which becomes the recurring Bizee charge for a Tennessee LLC on Basic. On that package the EIN ($70) and operating agreement (+$99) are add-ons. Standard, at $199 + state fee, includes both and faster processing (~2 weeks), and Premium lists expedited filing (~4 business days). Bizee doesn't say how those timings relate to the Secretary of State's own review in Tennessee.^{16, 17, 32}

Swyft Filings

Swyft's Basic package is $0 + state fees, and it 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 lists a registered agent; the agent service is $149 per quarter ($596/year). Every plan includes a ComplianceGuard trial; the service is ComplianceGuard $199/year, on a 14-day free trial then auto-charged. A Tennessee LLC does have a report for that service to file, so the decision is whether you want to pay for it once the trial ends.^{18, 33, 34}

doola

Starter is $297/yr, a yearly plan, and includes LLC filing, EIN, US bank account guidance, US business address, registered agent. doola says it files within 1-2 business days, after which the state's review runs. It works with US founders and with a non-resident without a US SSN; agent services for non-resident founders covers that group. Ongoing report filing sits in doola's more expensive plans, because Starter does not include ongoing compliance filings.^{19, 20, 35, 36}

Northwest Registered Agent

Northwest prices formation at $39 + State Fees, listing filing plus a free domain name, open source website, phone line, business email, business address, brand protection. Its corporation page describes that price as "a total that includes one year of registered agent service", but the LLC page doesn't repeat it, so confirm with Northwest. The agent alone is $125 per year. Free template is how it lists the operating agreement, and the EIN is $50 (with SSN); $200 without SSN.^{21, 22, 23, 24, 37}

Rocket Lawyer

On formation, Rocket Lawyer says your "first one is FREE with a Rocket Lawyer membership", meaning the first entity registration. Memberships start with a free 7-day trial, then billed yearly, at these prices: Standard $149/year, Plus $249/year, Pro $349/year. Its offer excludes government and third party fees, so the Tennessee fee is added. 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, 38, 39}

InCorp

InCorp's formation service is priced starting at $99 plus state fees. It doesn't itemize what formation includes; the closest line is "Live chat and phone support included with every service". The agent isn't part of it (sold separately at $129 per state per year). Its rush option is a $50.00 InCorp expedite fee, with any state expedite fee extra; since Tennessee doesn't publish an expedite tier on the pages we checked, ask InCorp what its rush buys here. No EIN or operating agreement is itemized.^{27, 28, 40}

Harbor Compliance

Harbor's formation pricing reads Starting at $99 plus state fees, and it says "We can prepare and file the government forms to create most LLCs in one business day", adding that the state response varies. The formation page's summary lists Name check, articles, registered agent, EIN, operating agreement, without saying which tier includes what or how long an included agent lasts. The standalone agent is $99 first year (new customers), renewing at $159 annually, and cancelling takes notice at least 90 days before the end of the current term.^{29, 41, 42, 43}

Should you file the Tennessee articles yourself or use a service?

Doing it yourself costs only the state fee, $50 per member, $300 minimum, $3,000 maximum, and Tennessee's online filing makes that practical. A service saves the paperwork and can bundle the agent, EIN and report help, at a price.¹

A Tennessee resident can act as the LLC's own agent under Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-249-109 and skip that yearly charge. That person's address then fills the agent and registered office slot on the public record, and someone has to be there to accept legal papers.³

A service doesn't lower the member-based state fee. It also can't buy faster state processing that Tennessee doesn't publish, so read a provider's speed or "rush" language as describing its own preparation.

The bigger difference shows up after formation. Tennessee's annual report and franchise tax arrive every year, and a self-filer handles both directly: the report through the Secretary of State, the tax through the Department of Revenue. Packages that include report filing take the first job off your hands for the life of the plan. None of the packages here says it prepares the franchise and excise tax return; doola's Tax and Compliance plan adds federal and state tax filing, so ask whether that covers Tennessee's.¹⁹

Whoever acts as agent, its address goes in the agent field; that is true of every commercial agent, and it doesn't replace any other name or address the state asks for. LLCs with several owners, outside investors or a licensed profession may want a lawyer to review the operating agreement rather than relying on a template. Filing terms are defined in the glossary.