Business Formation Choice

Sketched out

DIY or an LLC formation service? The choice is smaller than it looks.

Both routes end with the same entity registered in the same state. What you are really choosing is how much of the process you want to own - now, and every year after.

Read the comparisons What it comes down to

The essentials

Begin with these pages

Guide

Filing an LLC Yourself or Using a Service (2026)

Read the guide Yourself or a service

Is a DIY LLC Just as Legitimate as One Filed Through a Service?

Read it Glossary

LLC Formation Terms, Explained

Look up a term

On the napkin

Four questions that settle it

01

Is your home address going on the record?

If that matters to you, it decides more than anything else here - and it is about the registered agent, not the filing.

 02

Will you remember the annual report?

The filing is once. The report is forever, and forgetting it is what actually costs people money - Florida adds $400 for being late.

 03

Is anything about your setup unusual?

Multiple owners, outside investment, a regulated activity. None of that is what a formation service is for.

 04

What is an afternoon worth to you?

That is the honest size of the DIY route in most states. If the answer is "less than the service fee", the sketch is finished.

By the numbers

Fees, as the states publish them

Federal

  • An EIN is free directly from the IRS $0 (free) irs.gov

Worked through in Is a DIY LLC Just as Legitimate as One Filed Through a Service?

California

  • Articles of Organization filing fee $70.00 ca.gov
  • Statement of Information fee $20.00 ca.gov
  • FTB annual LLC tax $800 per year ca.gov

Worked through in Filing Your California LLC on bizfile Yourself vs. Using a Service, What's the Practical Difference?

Florida

  • New LLC total filing cost $125.00 ($100 filing + $25 registered agent) fl.gov
  • Annual report fee $138.75 fl.gov
  • Annual report received after May 1 $538.75 (a $400 late penalty) fl.gov

Worked through in Filing on Sunbiz Yourself vs. Using a Florida LLC Service, What's Actually Different About the Outcome?

Michigan

  • Annual statement fee $25.00 michigan.gov
  • Late penalty on the annual statement $50.00 if received after February 15 michigan.gov

Worked through in What Does a Michigan LLC Service Handle That You'd Otherwise Do Yourself Through LARA?

New York

  • Articles of Organization filing fee $200.00 ny.gov
  • Biennial Statement fee $9.00 ny.gov
  • Annual filing fee on Form IT-204-LL $25 minimum, up to $4,500 by NY source gross income ny.gov

Worked through in Filing Your NY LLC Through NYS DOS Yourself vs. Using a Service, What's the Practical Difference?

Asked and answered

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