How to form an LLC in Illinois (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in Illinois?

Illinois formation comes down to three filings and decisions: pick a name the state will accept, line up a registered agent, and file the Articles of Organization with the fee. The steps below give the state fee where one applies.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Business Services. You can reserve a name for $25.
2. Name a registered agent in Illinois: a person or company with an Illinois address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization with the Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Business Services. The state fee is $150.

The list stops at the filing, but an Illinois LLC has more to do once it exists. Its first Annual Report comes due in a later year, and the state can dissolve an LLC that skips it (see the section on filings after formation below). An EIN from the IRS and an operating agreement are separate steps from the Articles.

If you would rather pay a company to handle the paperwork, the Illinois list of LLC services ranked with state totals compares them on cost and stated speed in this state.

How do you check and reserve an Illinois LLC name?

Search the Secretary of State's business records to see whether the name is free, then either file it with your Articles or, if you aren't ready, hold it first with an optional reservation application for $25.¹

A reservation suits founders who have picked a name but still need a few weeks to settle on partners, an agent or funding. Our record confirms the $25 fee from the statute, but not how long Illinois holds a reserved name, so ask the Secretary of State before you count on a set period.¹

Planning a series LLC? Illinois lets one LLC hold separate series, and that changes the price. The statute sets $400 for articles of an LLC with series or the authority to create them, instead of $150, and each Annual Report then costs $50 more for each series with a certificate of designation in effect.¹

Who can be the registered agent for an Illinois LLC?

Under 805 ILCS 180/1-35, the agent must be an individual resident of this State or other person authorized to transact business in this State. That means an owner who lives in Illinois can serve, or a company authorized to do business in the state can.²

The registered agent receives lawsuits and official state mail for the LLC at the registered office. Illinois requires every LLC to continuously maintain in this State a registered agent and registered office. During any gap, the company has no one designated to accept service.²

Think about the public record before naming yourself. The Annual Report lists the registered office address and registered agent, so a home address used as the registered office shows up in the state's records every year. A commercial agent puts its own Illinois office there instead. Prices differ. Northwest Registered Agent lists its agent at $125 per year, InCorp Services at $129/year, and Inc Authority includes one free for the first year with formation and then bills $249/year. The list of plans that include a registered agent shows which formation packages bundle one and for how long, and Northwest's pricing breaks down its renewal.^{3, 4, 5, 6}

How do you file Illinois Articles of Organization?

You file Articles of Organization with the Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Business Services and pay $150. The fee line in the statute reads "Filing articles of organization (domestic)", and the same fee covers an out-of-state LLC's admission.¹

Our record stops short of three practical details. We have no verified form number, no list of accepted filing methods and no published processing time from the Secretary of State, because the agency's own pages couldn't be confirmed when the facts were gathered. Check the Secretary of State's site for those before you send anything, and don't plan a launch date around a turnaround we can't confirm.

What we can say is how a formation service's speed fits in. A provider's stated time covers its own preparation and submission, and nothing more. Once the Articles reach the Secretary of State, the office reviews them on its own schedule, whoever sent them. The LLC timeline guide separates those two waits, and the fastest stated filing list orders providers by the time they publish.

What does an Illinois LLC cost in the first and second year?

The first year costs the $150 filing fee plus any service plan. The second year costs the $75 Annual Report fee plus whatever the plan and agent renew at, so both years carry a state fee.¹

The table below adds those state fees to the plan we compare for each provider. Rows follow our rating, and ties keep the editorial order explained on how we rate.

First year: state filing fee plus the provider's compared plan. Second year: the recurring state fee plus the plan's renewal, if it renews.

Totals are our arithmetic on the published figures. Registered agent renewals are extra unless a plan includes the agent. Try other plans in the calculator.

Read the second-year column with one gap in mind: it counts plan renewals but not agent renewals after a free period. Inc Authority shows the effect. Its Free LLC plan totals $150 in year one and $75 in year two in Illinois, which is the state fees alone. Its included agent then renews at $249/year, which the table doesn't add. Northwest Registered Agent works the same way, at $189 and then $75 before its own agent renewal.⁶

Plans that bill every year look different. Tailor Brands Elite renews at $249/yr, so its Illinois totals are $399 and then $324. ZenBusiness Premium comes to $449 and $374. Both of those plans list annual report filing, a point covered in the next section.⁷

To try a different plan, run it through the LLC cost calculator. The cheapest formation services and the national LLC cost guide show how Illinois compares with other states.

What does an Illinois LLC file after it is formed?

An Illinois LLC files an Annual Report with the Secretary of State every year and pays $75, plus a penalty if delinquent. Missing it can lead to dissolution.¹

The report updates the state's public record. It lists the LLC's name, its registered office address and registered agent, its principal place of business, and the names and business addresses of managers (or members with manager authority). Manager names and business addresses therefore appear in a public filing every year, whatever agent the LLC uses.³

Timing ties to the LLC's anniversary month. Illinois law lists among the grounds for dissolution that an LLC failed to file its annual report and pay its fee before the first day of the anniversary month. Our record doesn't include an official calendar for the report, so confirm the exact due date with the Secretary of State once the LLC is formed.⁸

If the state does dissolve the LLC, the way back is an application for reinstatement, and the statute sets its fee at $200. Other conditions, such as filing missed reports, aren't confirmed in our record.¹

Who files the report for you

Some plans include the filing; others sell it per report.

• Tailor Brands Elite lists annual compliance with mandatory report filing.⁷
• ZenBusiness Premium covers state-required annual reports, and ZenBusiness also lists Annual Report Filing $100 per report.^{9, 10}
• Northwest Registered Agent lists its report service at $100 + state fees, charged at filing.¹¹
• InCorp Services lists its report filing at $89 + state fees.¹²
• LegalZoom lists its annual report filing at $99 + state filing fees, bills once.¹³

For the two plans that include the filing, neither page says whether the Illinois $75 fee is part of the price, so ask. The guide to what formation packages include separates filings a provider makes from reminders it sends.¹

How do you change an Illinois registered agent?

File a Statement of change of registered agent and/or registered office with the Secretary of State and pay $25. The same fee applies when only the registered office address moves, and for filing a statement of correction.¹

Order the steps so there is no gap. File the change naming the new agent first, then cancel the old service. Leaving the LLC without an agent is a listed ground for dissolution: the statute covers an LLC that failed to appoint and maintain a registered agent in Illinois.⁸

An agent can also quit. Illinois requires a resigning agent to mail notice to the LLC at least 10 days before filing with the state, and the resignation takes effect no sooner than 30 days after filing. That notice is the signal to choose a replacement and file the change before the old agent drops off the record.²

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC formed elsewhere files an application for admission to do business in Illinois, and the fee is $150, the same as forming a new Illinois LLC. It also needs an Illinois registered agent under 805 ILCS 180/1-35.^{1, 2}

Because both routes cost the same here, the choice turns on where the owners live and work, how the home state taxes the company and whether two sets of yearly reports make sense. That is a question for an accountant or lawyer. The state fees table lists formation and foreign registration costs side by side, including neighbors Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri.