How to Register a Business in the US: 5 Steps

Registering a business is five decisions and one filing. The filing takes minutes. The decisions are where people get stuck, and four of the five are reversible.

You are not alone in the queue either. The US Census Bureau logged 491,941 business applications in March 2026 alone.

Key takeaways

• The only unavoidable cost is your state filing fee, which runs from $35 in Montana to $500 in Massachusetts.
• Four of the five providers we track file for $0 plus that fee. Northwest charges $39 and includes a year of registered agent service.
• Processing speed varies more than price. Standard turnaround runs from same-day at one provider to 20 business days at another.
• File in your home state unless you genuinely operate across state lines. Filing elsewhere means registering twice.
• Only the structure choice is hard to reverse. Name, agent and even state can be changed later.

Step 1: Choose your structure

For most people forming a first business, this is an LLC. It gives personal liability protection with light formalities, and it keeps your tax position simple.

The full comparisons are in LLC vs sole proprietorship and LLC vs corporation. One point that saves confusion: an S corp is not a structure, it is a tax election an LLC can make later, covered in LLC vs S corp.

This is the one decision worth getting right first, because changing structure later means a state conversion rather than an amendment.

Step 2: Pick your state

Your home state, unless you genuinely trade across state lines.

The advice to file in Delaware, Wyoming or Nevada circulates constantly and applies to almost nobody starting out. File in Delaware while operating from Ohio and you must also register in Ohio as a foreign entity: two filings, two registered agents, two annual fees, one company.

Delaware is the right answer for one group, companies raising institutional venture capital, because investors expect it. For everybody else it doubles the admin and the cost.

State filing fees vary widely and are set by the state, not by whoever files for you:

Most states also charge an annual or biennial report fee afterwards. Check yours before budgeting.

Step 3: Choose and check the name

Three separate checks, and clearing one says nothing about the others.

1. State availability. Your Secretary of State keeps a searchable register. Your name must be distinguishable from existing entities in that state, and must usually include "LLC" or "Limited Liability Company".
2. Trademark. A state clearing your name does not mean nobody holds federal trademark rights to it. Search the USPTO database before printing anything.
3. Domain and handles. Check availability before you commit, not after.

Formation services run the state check as part of filing. The other two are on you.

Step 4: Appoint a registered agent

Every state requires one. The agent receives service of process and state correspondence at a physical address during business hours, and that address goes on the public record.

You can be your own agent. Two consequences follow: your home address becomes publicly searchable, and you must be physically present during business hours to receive documents.

A professional service costs $125 to $596 a year depending on who you use, and this is the recurring cost that decides your long-run bill:

Prices read from each provider's own pages on 18 August 2026. Nothing obliges you to use the agent who files your paperwork, and switching later is a routine state filing.

Step 5: File the Articles of Organization

This is the filing that creates the company. It carries your name, address, registered agent and management structure, and it goes to the Secretary of State with the state fee.

You can file it yourself. Services sell convenience, a registered agent and compliance tracking.

Here is what the five services we track actually charge and how fast they actually are:

Read that table sideways. The price spread across four providers is $39. The speed spread is same-day to twenty business days, and the slowest is not the cheapest. LegalZoom's $99 expedite still lands slower than the Swyft Filings and ZenBusiness free plans.

All of these describe the provider's own turnaround. Your Secretary of State then adds its own review time, which varies by state and season and which nobody controls.

What three years actually costs

Formation is a one-off. The registered agent is not, so the totals diverge quickly.

Cheapest formation plan plus registered agent, state fees excluded because they are identical whoever files. The $0 headline that four providers share tells you almost nothing about what you will actually spend.

After the filing: three things the state still wants

An EIN. The federal tax ID, free from the IRS in about ten minutes online. Formation services charge $50 to $99 to do it for you. Apply directly at IRS.gov unless you have no Social Security number, in which case the process is slower and help is worth paying for.

Licences and permits. These depend on your industry and your city, not just your state. A licence research report costs about $99 at most services and covers federal, state, county and local requirements.

An annual report. Most states want one each year or every two years, with a fee. Missing it can put the company out of good standing.

Federal beneficial ownership reporting is no longer on this list. FinCEN ended the BOIR requirement for US-formed companies on 14 August 2026, detailed in what a BOIR report is.

Which service to use

• Northwest if total cost matters most. $39 to form, agent free for a year, then $125. Cheapest over any period longer than twelve months, and it files same-day.
• ZenBusiness if you want the best dashboard and compliance tracking. Free first year of Worry-Free Compliance, 1-day filing on the $199 Pro plan.
• Swyft Filings if you need a nonprofit, corporation or DBA. It files five entity types. Watch the quarterly agent billing.
• Tailor Brands if you want branding, a domain and a website bundled with the filing. LLCs only.
• LegalZoom if you want attorney access or the widest catalogue. Slowest filing and the most expensive agent.

Full scoring is on the best LLC services chart, with the method in how we rank.

Common questions

How long does registration take? The provider's part runs from same-day to about 20 business days. Your state then adds its own review time.

Can I register a business myself? Yes. File the articles of organization with your Secretary of State and pay the state fee. Services sell convenience, not exclusive access.

Which state is cheapest to register in? Montana at $35, then Kentucky at $40. But filing outside your home state usually means paying two states, so the cheapest fee is rarely the cheapest outcome.

Do I need a registered agent? In almost every state, yes. You can be your own, at the cost of putting your home address on the public record and being available during business hours.

What if I picked the wrong name? Changing it is an amendment filing with your state, usually $25 to $150. Far easier than changing structure.

Next steps after the filing are in how to start a small business. Still deciding whether to start? The data is in starting a business.

State fees and provider prices were read on 18 August 2026 and change without notice. This content is not legal, financial or accounting advice.