Cheapest Incorporation Service in 2026: True Costs Ranked

The true $0-plus-state-fee options

Three services charge no formation fee at all. You pay only your state's filing fee, and the differences show up in what is bundled and what renews.

Bizee: $0 plus state fee, free first-year registered agent

Bizee, formerly Incfile, is the strongest free tier on the market. The $0 plan includes preparation and filing, plus a full year of registered agent service at no charge. After year one, the agent renews at $119 to $149 per year depending on your plan. Our full Bizee review covers the upsells to decline during checkout.

Inc Authority: $0 plus state fee, free first-year registered agent

Inc Authority matches Bizee's structure: no formation fee, one year of registered agent service included. The difference is the renewal, which is $199 per year, and a sales process known for follow-up calls pitching paid packages. Cheapest in year one, mid-pack by year two.

ZenBusiness: $0 plus state fee, registered agent costs extra

ZenBusiness's Starter plan is a genuine $0 one-time formation fee, but it does not include a registered agent, an EIN, or an operating agreement. Registered agent service runs $99 for the first year and renews at $199 per year, and add-ons like Worry-Free Compliance auto-renew at $199 per year if you accept them at checkout. It is a polished product, but among the free tiers it is the most expensive once you add the pieces most founders actually need.

The cheapest route of all: file directly with the state

No service beats DIY on price. You file the formation document with your state yourself and pay only the state fee. In Delaware, that is $109 minimum for a corporation's certificate of incorporation, if you authorize 1,500 or fewer no-par shares, and $110 for an LLC's certificate of formation.

What you give up:

• A registered agent. Delaware requires an agent with an in-state address, so unless you live there you will hire one anyway, typically $50 to $125 per year at the budget end. Our Delaware registered agent guide explains how to choose.

• Document templates. No operating agreement or bylaws included. Solid templates exist, but you are assembling them yourself.

• EIN handling. The EIN is free from the IRS either way, but you complete the application yourself.

• Compliance reminders. Nobody will nudge you before your franchise tax deadline. Missing Delaware's deadlines triggers penalties that dwarf everything you saved.

DIY makes sense for a simple single-member LLC run by someone comfortable with forms. It makes less sense the more owners, states, or investors you add.

Watch the renewals: where free gets expensive

Formation is a one-time event. Registered agent service renews forever, and it is priced accordingly.

LegalZoom deserves a special note here. Its corporation formation starts at $149 plus state fees, rising to $399 for the top tier, and its registered agent service is $249 per year with no free first year. It is a household name, not a budget option. If you were considering it on price, our roundup of LegalZoom alternatives is the better starting point.

You can switch registered agents later, and many founders form with a free bundle and move to a cheaper standalone agent at renewal. Just remember the switch itself requires a state filing in Delaware.

Total cost over two years

Here is the math on a Delaware LLC, including the $110 state filing fee and registered agent service for both years.

State fees are identical across every row, so the ranking holds in any state. The two-year view flips the intuitive answer: DIY with a budget agent and Bizee are effectively tied, and the gap between the cheapest and most expensive mainstream option is over $500.

When cheap is expensive

If you are building a venture-track startup, stop optimizing for the $0 tier. Investors expect a Delaware C corporation with standard documents: proper bylaws, board consents, stock purchase agreements with vesting, and a clean cap table. Budget services do not produce those, and paying a lawyer to rebuild your paperwork before a financing costs far more than any formation service.

That is why startup-focused services charge more. Stripe Atlas is $500 and Clerky's lifetime package is $819, both built around investor-standard C corp documents. See how the startup-grade options compare in our guide to Stripe Atlas alternatives.

There is also a fourth pricing model worth knowing about. Rho Incorporation charges $400 for an attorney-reviewed Delaware C corp formation, with a registered agent included for the first year, your SS-4 prepared and submitted for you, and support for the 83(b) election that budget services ignore. The $400 is refunded when you open a Rho account and maintain a $10,000 average checking balance for 60 days. For a funded startup that will hold cash in its operating account anyway, that makes the effective cost $0, which undercuts every startup-grade service on this page.

The rule of thumb: if your company will only ever have you in it, buy the cheapest thing that includes a first-year agent. If other people's money is coming in, whether investors or co-founders, buy documents you will not have to redo.