Best LLC formation services in Utah

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

Pick a name, choose an agent, file the Certificate of Organization online, decide whether expedite is worth paying for, then get an EIN, sign an operating agreement and note your renewal date.

The order helps. A name conflict or an attachment sends the filing to manual review, which is the main thing that slows a Utah formation down.

1. Search the name. Check that the name is free in the Division's records before filing. A name conflict is one of the reasons a filing goes to manual review. If you want to hold a name first, a reservation costs $22; the facts we cite don't give the reservation period, so ask the Division how long it lasts.⁴
2. Choose the registered agent. Under Utah Code § 16-1a-403, wherever the chapter requires a filing to state an address, it must be a street address in this state. The same chapter lets the filing name a commercial registered agent or give the name and address of the represented entity's noncommercial registered agent. The Utah registered agent guide covers who may serve and how the agent is named.²
3. File the Certificate of Organization. The Division accepts filings this way: Online through the Division's business registration system (UtahID login); paper filings are uploaded via its "Submit a Paper Filing" option. Online filing needs a UtahID account; paper documents go through the same online system.⁵
4. Expect the result quickly in most cases. In the Division's words, most filings are processed immediately. The cases it names for manual review are paper filings, attachments, name conflicts.³
5. Decide on expedite only if your filing will be reviewed by hand. The Division charges $75 per filing for expedited processing. The turnaround isn't published in the facts we cite, so ask the Division what it buys before you pay.⁴
6. Get an EIN. The Employer Identification Number is the LLC's federal tax ID, issued by the IRS rather than Utah. Banks usually want it before opening an account.
7. Put an operating agreement in writing. It records who owns what, who makes decisions and what happens when an owner leaves. Several packages below include a template.
8. Write down the renewal date. Utah's Annual Report/Renewal is due one year from the date of registration and due annually thereafter, for $18, and it must list at least one manager, member or other governing person. The Utah compliance page explains how to file it.^{1, 4, 5, 6}

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

The Division's fees are identical whether you file yourself or a service files for you, and every provider here adds them to its own price.

Utah's expedite fee, $75 per filing, is only worth weighing for a filing that would otherwise wait for manual review. The next table shows each provider's agent price and cheapest package in the order of the site's provider table, which is our score, highest first, ties in editorial order.⁴

What each cheapest package includes beyond the certificate itself is set out below.

"Not listed" means the provider's package description doesn't mention the item, so ask before you order. The full first-year and later-year arithmetic, with agent renewals and the Utah renewal fee, is on the cheapest ways to form a Utah LLC.

What does each provider's formation package include in Utah?

These paragraphs cover only each provider's published formation packages, in the table's order: our score, highest first, ties in editorial order.

Two Utah facts run through all of them. Most filings clear at once, so a package's handling time is mostly the provider's own queue. And the LLC owes a renewal every year on its anniversary, so a package that files it has a use here. The agent services themselves are compared on Utah registered agent services compared.

Tailor Brands

Lite is $0 plus state fees, with handling within 14 business days; its description says it comes with no annual compliance, operating agreement or branding tools. Essential, at $199/yr plus state fees, lists handling within 1 business day and adds annual compliance (report filing and updates) plus an operating agreement; the compliance item is what would cover Utah's yearly renewal. Elite is $249/yr plus state fees. Essential and Elite are yearly charges.⁷

No package lists a registered agent, so plan for the agent at $199/year or name your own. For the EIN, its listing reads: EIN filing service offered; price not published.^{8, 9}

ZenBusiness

Starter costs $0 + state fees (does not renew), with processing of 7-10 days, a time ZenBusiness says excludes Secretary of State time. It comes with Worry-Free Compliance free for 1 year (then $199/yr), and the EIN and operating agreement are +$99 add-ons. ZenBusiness lists a Rush upgrade +$79 on Starter, though the Division processes most clean Utah filings at once anyway. Pro ($199 + state fees, renews at $199/yr) lists ongoing filing compliance (state-required annual report filings and up to 2 amendments per year), which covers Utah's renewal. On every package the agent is an add-on +$199/yr, with 50% off the first year ($99) when you form an LLC.^{10, 31}

LegalZoom

LegalZoom's Basic package is $0 + state filing fees and covers the Articles of organization. The EIN, operating agreement and agent are priced on their own: the EIN at $79, an operating agreement from $99, and the agent at $249/year (first-time registered agent customers). Pro, at $249 + state filing fees, adds attorney consultations, 30 days included, then $49/month auto-renew. A one-time report filing is $99 + state filing fees, bills once.^{12, 13, 14, 15, 32}

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 operating agreement (+$99) cost extra. Standard ($199 + state fee) adds both, along with faster processing (~2 weeks); Bizee describes that standard timing as one that includes expedited filing. Since the Division processes most filings immediately, that quoted time is mostly Bizee's own handling.^{16, 17, 33}

Swyft Filings

Basic is $0 + state fees; it covers the articles and processes in 7-10 business days. Standard is $169 + state fees (promotional, 'SAVE $30'; regular $199) and adds custom organizational minutes, custom banking resolution, business banking essentials, operating agreement. No package lists an agent; the agent service is $149 per quarter ($596/year). Every plan includes a trial of its report service, ComplianceGuard $199/year, which would cover Utah's renewal; the terms are a 14-day free trial then auto-charged. Swyft also sells a business address at $29/mo.^{18, 34, 35}

doola

doola's Starter plan is $297/yr, billed every year rather than once, and lists LLC filing, EIN, US bank account guidance, US business address, registered agent. Timing is given as 1-2 business days filing. Founders outside the U.S. can compare doola with others on agents for non-resident founders.^{19, 20}

Northwest Registered Agent

Northwest's package is $39 + State Fees and includes filing with a free domain name, open source website, phone line, business email, business address, brand protection. The agent's first year is described as included, as stated on the corporation page; its LLC page doesn't say so, so confirm before ordering. On its own the agent is $125 per year. Its operating agreement listing reads: Free template. The EIN is $50 (with SSN); $200 without SSN.^{21, 22, 23, 24, 36}

Rocket Lawyer

Rocket Lawyer's formation offer reads: First registration free with a Rocket Lawyer membership. Memberships are yearly: Standard $149/year, Plus $249/year, Pro $349/year. Its pricing note reads: Excludes government and third party fees. The agent is $125 with a Plus or Pro membership, so Standard alone doesn't include one. The EIN is $70 with Plus or Pro membership, and no operating agreement is listed.^{25, 26, 37, 38}

InCorp

InCorp prices formation starting at $99 plus state fees; its package listing reads: Live chat and phone support included. The agent isn't included (registered agent sold separately at $129 per state per year). InCorp lists a $50.00 InCorp expedite fee, separate from the Division's expedite fee ($75 per filing). Its EIN service costs $69.^{27, 28, 29, 39}

Harbor Compliance

Harbor's formation starts at $99 plus state fees, and the page lists Name check, articles, registered agent, EIN, operating agreement. It doesn't publish which tier carries which item or how long an included agent lasts. Harbor says most LLCs are prepared and filed in one business day. The agent alone is $99 first year (new customers), renewing at $159 annually, and stopping it needs notice at least 90 days before the end of the current term.^{30, 40, 41, 42}

Should you file the Utah certificate yourself or use a service?

Filing yourself costs $59 and, for a clean online filing, the Division usually processes it immediately. A service saves you the form and the follow-up steps; it doesn't change how the Division processes the filing.¹

Filing yourself in Utah means setting up a UtahID login, confirming the name is free and having your agent's name and Utah street address ready. If the filing goes to manual review, the Division's range is 5 to 7 business days, whoever submitted it.

A service earns its fee in other ways. Some bundle the agent, the EIN or an operating agreement, and some file the yearly Annual Report/Renewal for you. Those are the items to compare, not the advertised processing days. Watch for charges that start once a free period ends: ZenBusiness's Starter, for example, includes Worry-Free Compliance free for 1 year (then $199/yr), and Swyft's compliance trial turns into a paid plan unless cancelled.^{5, 10}

Serving as your own agent puts your own Utah street address in the agent field of the filing. Hire a commercial agent and its address sits there instead, with every other address on the certificate unchanged, as with any agent. Owners with partners, investors or a licensed profession may want a lawyer to draft the operating agreement instead of using a template. Filing terms are defined in the glossary, and the agent rules are on the Utah registered agent guide.