How our pricing works (no surprises)
Business-formation companies have a bad reputation for surprise fees, mandatory upsells, and confusing pricing. We've built ours to be the opposite.
The full pricing breakdown
When you check out, you'll see a clear breakdown:
LLC Formation (Premium tier) $XX California state filing fee $70 EIN service included in Premium Operating Agreement included in Premium BOI report included in Premium Registered Agent (1 year) included in Premium ───────────────────────────────────────────── Subtotal $XXX Sales tax (where applicable) $X ───────────────────────────────────────────── Total $XXX
Each line is itemized. Nothing is bundled together to hide a particular charge. Every dollar is accounted for.
What you'll pay
One-time fees (at formation)
Our service fee: covers the work we do — paperwork prep, state filing, customer support
State filing fee: passed through to the state at exact cost, no markup
Add-ons (optional): EIN, OA, BOI, expedited processing, certified copy, etc.
Recurring fees
Registered Agent: $199/year, auto-renews annually. Cancel anytime.
Annual report filing (if you bought this service): per-year fee, billed when due.
That's it. No "platform fee," "compliance fee," or other invented categories.
What you'll NEVER pay
❌ Hidden activation fees after signup
❌ "Verification fees" or "processing fees"
❌ Mandatory upsells you have to decline
❌ Charges for services you didn't explicitly order
❌ Auto-enrollment in services after a "free trial"
❌ Cancellation fees on the Registered Agent service
❌ Higher renewal price than the original year
Comparison with how competitors price
We've shopped most of the competition. Here are common patterns to watch out for:
"$0 LLC formation, just pay state fees"
The most aggressive bait-pricing. Their $0 tier: - Excludes EIN, OA, BOI, Registered Agent - Often excludes basic things like email confirmation, document downloads, or customer support - The "real" tier (anything you'd actually want) is $250-$400 plus state fees
Compare total out-of-pocket, not headline price.
"Free Registered Agent for your first year, then $XX/year"
Be careful with this one. The first year is often a loss-leader to bundle into formation, then the renewal price is high. We charge the same renewal price as the first year — no surprise hike.
"Premium tier required for X service"
Some competitors lock features behind tiers in confusing ways. Need email? Premium. Need document downloads? Premium. Need to upload your own logo? Premium. We don't gate basic functionality behind upgrades.
"Activation fees"
Charged separately from the service fee, usually as a small "$15 setup fee" or "$25 onboarding fee" — pure profit. We don't have any.
Confusing "credit" systems
A few competitors charge credits instead of dollars, making it hard to compare prices. We use real dollars.
Why we price the way we do
Honest pricing keeps customers. Acquisition-driven dishonest pricing churns customers after year 2. We bet on: 1. Charging a fair price up front 2. Showing the full price clearly 3. Building a recurring relationship via the RA service + ongoing compliance 4. Getting referrals because we don't surprise people
Our economics depend on customer retention. We literally can't afford to nickel-and-dime people because they wouldn't stay 3+ years.
How state fees work
State filing fees are set by each state's Secretary of State. They range from $40 (Kentucky) to $500 (Massachusetts). See the LLC fees by state article for the full table.
We pay the state on your behalf and pass through the exact fee. If the state raises the fee, we update our pricing to match. If the state lowers it (rare), we lower ours too.
Sales tax on state filing fees: state filing fees are NOT taxable in most states (they're government fees, not commercial transactions). Our service fee IS taxable in states where we have tax nexus. You'll see tax broken out as a separate line.
How expedited processing works
Many states offer expedited processing for an extra fee. Common tiers: - 24-hour: usually $50-$200 above standard - Same-day: usually $200-$500 above standard - Standard: 5-15 business days, no extra fee
We pass these through at exact state cost + a flat $XX coordination fee (it does require extra work on our end to track expedited filings). The total expedite cost is shown clearly at checkout.
Not all states offer expedited service. Where they don't, you can't pay to speed things up — sorry, we can't make state employees process faster.
Refunds
Detailed in Refund policy. TL;DR: full refund if we haven't started work, prorated if we have, state fees not refundable once paid to the state.
Promotional pricing and discounts
We occasionally offer: - First-time customer discount: usually 15-25% off Premium - Multi-LLC bundle: discount if you form 2+ LLCs at the same time - Referral discount: $XX credit when a referred friend signs up - Annual prepay discount: not currently offered for one-time services, considering for RA renewal
What we don't do: - ❌ Time-pressure pop-ups ("Only 3 hours left!") - ❌ "Last chance" emails after you abandon cart - ❌ Loud red banners that don't go away - ❌ Fake urgency in general
If you see one of those on FormationHub somewhere, please report it via [email protected] — we don't intend to do this.
How to compare us fairly
When comparing FormationHub to a competitor:
Add up everything you'd actually use, not just the headline tier: - Formation service fee + state fee + EIN + OA + BOI + 1 year RA + tax
Check the renewal price of the Registered Agent service (often a hidden cliff)
Check the refund policy
Check what's required vs optional (some competitors auto-add things)
If we lose a head-to-head comparison on price, that's fine — we'd rather have a customer who chose us for the right reasons. Send us the comparison and we'll often match or beat.
Next steps
See pricing for your state: https://www.formationhub.com/ (auto-calculates total)
Have a competitor's quote and want a comparison? Open a chat and share screenshots — we'll do an honest side-by-side.
Questions about specific fees? Email [email protected].