Every LLC Formation Site Says $0. Here's What They Actually Charge.

Search for "form an LLC" and every result on the first page will offer to do it for $0. Zero dollars. Free. No cost to you. Just pay state fees.

It sounds incredible until you're four screens into the checkout flow and your cart is at $350.

I've gone through the signup process for the major formation services. Not as a customer, just to see what happens between the "$0" landing page and the final checkout screen. The pattern is the same everywhere, and it's designed to make you feel like every add-on is essential.

How the $0 funnel works

You start by entering your state and LLC name. This part is fast and feels free because it is. Then the upsells begin.

The first screen offers a registered agent. Every LLC needs one, and most founders don't realize this until it's presented as a checkout add-on. The formation service charges $100-299/year for this. Some auto-select the annual plan for you and make you actively deselect it.

Next comes the EIN. You need an Employer Identification Number from the IRS to open a bank account. The formation service offers to "handle" this for $50-79. What they don't tell you is that applying for an EIN is free. You go to the IRS website, fill out a form, and get your EIN in about ten minutes. There is no filing fee. The IRS does not charge for this. The formation service is charging you $79 to fill out a free government form.

Then the operating agreement. Some services include a basic template for free. Others charge $35-99 for one. The free versions are generic enough to be nearly useless for a software company. They cover the basics of LLC governance but say nothing about IP ownership, digital assets, or how subscription revenue works.

After that comes "compliance monitoring" or "annual report filing" for $100-199/year. Expedited processing for $50-150. A "business license research package" for $99. Some services even charge for a "banking resolution" document that's literally one page.

The actual math

I tracked the real costs of forming a Wyoming LLC through three different $0 services, selecting the things a software founder actually needs (registered agent, EIN, operating agreement).

The cheapest came to $279 after add-ons. The most expensive was $467. The average was around $350, and none of them included a software-specific operating agreement. All three included at least one upsell that was pre-selected in the cart, meaning you'd pay for it unless you noticed and removed it.

Compare that to paying a flat fee that includes everything from the start. No add-on screens. No pre-selected upsells. No charging for services the government provides free.

Why the $0 model exists

The $0 price point is a customer acquisition tool. It gets you into the funnel. Once you're there, you've already invested time entering your information, and the psychological cost of starting over somewhere else is higher than just clicking "add to cart" on each upsell.

This isn't illegal or even unusual. It's the same pricing strategy airlines use when they show you a $49 fare and then charge for a carry-on bag, seat selection, and the privilege of boarding the plane before it leaves without you.

But it's worth understanding because the entire experience is designed to make you spend more, not to give you what you need at the lowest price. Every screen in the checkout flow exists to increase your cart value.

What "everything included" actually means

I built QuickBiz specifically because this pricing model frustrated me when I was forming my own LLC. I kept hitting add-on screens for things that should have been standard.

So QuickBiz is $150 + your state's filing fee. That's the real price. Not the starting price, not the before-add-ons price. The price.

That includes LLC formation filing with the state, an EIN from the IRS (yes, we do it for you, no, we don't charge extra for it), a registered agent for year one, an operating agreement written for software businesses, and a compliance dashboard that tracks your state deadlines. There's no second screen where the actual costs appear.

After year one, the compliance plan that includes registered agent renewal, annual report reminders, and ongoing compliance tracking starts at $2/month. That's optional, and the price is on the website before you start the formation process.

The comparison that matters

When you're evaluating formation services, don't compare the advertised price. Compare the checkout total for the same set of services.

Write down what you actually need: formation filing, registered agent, EIN, operating agreement. Then go through each service's checkout flow and add those items. Compare the totals.

You'll find that the $0 services cost the same or more than services that charge a transparent flat fee upfront. The difference is that one pricing model is honest about the cost and the other uses your time and attention as a funnel.

If transparent pricing and a software-focused formation package sound like what you're looking for, here's the QuickBiz formation flow. Five minutes, $150 + state fees, everything included.