Best LLC services in Illinois (2026)

How are LLC services for Illinois ranked?

Providers are listed by our rating, highest first, with ties kept in editorial order. The totals are Illinois figures: each one adds the state's own fees to the plan we compare.

Year one is the $150 Articles of Organization fee plus the plan price. Year two is the $75 Annual Report fee, with the plan's renewal added only for plans that bill again. Items that start billing after a trial are left out, and so are agent renewals after a free period.¹

Two ties appear. Bizee (formerly Incfile) and ZenBusiness share 8.0, and BizFilings and Rocket Lawyer share 6.8. The rating blends customer satisfaction, services and dashboard, and plan value, and none of those parts changes by state; how we rate shows the weights.

Second year: the recurring Illinois report fee as the state lists it (some states charge it every two years) plus the plan's renewal, if it renews. Registered agent renewals are extra unless the plan includes the agent for good.

Illinois is a state where the second-year column fills in, so the spread between plans shows in both columns. One-time plans fall to the $75 state fee in year two, while yearly plans add their renewal. Tailor Brands Elite goes from $399 to $324, ZenBusiness Premium from $449 to $374, and doola Starter from $447 to $372. A higher second year can still buy something: the first two of those plans list annual report filing, covered under the needs below.¹

Before state fees, the plan alone across the first and second year costs $498 for Tailor Brands, $598 for ZenBusiness and $249 for LegalZoom Managed Service. The ranking by cost across both years sorts every provider on that figure.

Which Illinois LLC service fits which need?

Each need below names the providers whose published facts decide it. No single provider wins every line, so start with the cost or service you care about most.

• Lowest first-year total in Illinois: Inc Authority, Free LLC, $150 with the state fee.
• Lowest two-year total in Illinois: Inc Authority, Free LLC, $225 over two years with state fees. Full list
• Fastest filing: Tailor Brands, 1 business day stated on Elite. Full list
• Best for first-time founders: Tailor Brands, all three supports included in a plan (annual report filing, coaching, AI guidance). Full list
• Best all-in-one platform: Tailor Brands, sells 9 of the 10 business service types we track, with an online dashboard. Full list
• Best for non-U.S. founders: Tailor Brands, highest-rated provider whose own pages say it serves founders outside the U.S. Full list

Each line is decided by the published fact it names. First-time founder support counts an annual report filed for you, business coaching and AI guidance; the all-in-one count is the business service types a provider sells nationally.

Lowest cost in the first and second year

Inc Authority Free LLC is $150 in year one and $75 in year two in Illinois, both equal to the state fees. That leaves out its registered agent, which is free for the first year and then renews at $249/year automatically. With that renewal counted, its second year is the state fee plus $249/year. Its terms list a 60-day money-back guarantee on initial online purchase, less state/third-party filing fees.^{2, 3}

Northwest Registered Agent is $189 and then $75, with its included agent renewing at $125/yr. The Inc Authority profile and Northwest profile list what each leaves out, and the cheapest services list ranks plan prices nationally.⁴

Someone to file the Illinois annual report

Illinois law lists, among the grounds for dissolution, an LLC that failed to file its annual report and pay its fee. Plans split three ways on who files it.⁵

1. Included in the compared plan. Tailor Brands Elite lists mandatory report filing, and ZenBusiness Premium lists filing of state-required annual reports.^{6, 7}
2. Included for a trial. Swyft Filings plans come with a 14-day trial of ComplianceGuard, then $199/year auto-charged unless cancelled.⁸
3. Sold per filing. Northwest Registered Agent lists its report service at $100 + state fees, charged at filing, and InCorp Services lists $89 + state fees.^{9, 10}

doola files reports on its higher tiers, but Starter does not include ongoing compliance filings. Tailor Brands and ZenBusiness don't say whether the $75 state fee is inside the plan price; the second-year totals above assume you pay it.^{1, 11}

First-time founders

For a first company we count three supports: the yearly state report handled on your behalf, coaching from a person, and AI guidance. Tailor Brands includes all three supports: report filing on Essential and Elite, its Business Coaching Program on any plan, and Navi (Every plan comes with Navi built in). ZenBusiness includes all three supports, with Personal Velo AI guidance on every tier and a one-on-one consultation with an advisor on Premium only. doola includes two of the three supports, led by its AI Co-Founder assistant. Of the three, only report filing answers an Illinois requirement. The first-time founders list covers every provider.^{12, 13, 14, 15}

Fastest stated filing

Tailor Brands and ZenBusiness both state 1 business day on their compared plans, and Inc Authority states 24 hours. Bizee (formerly Incfile) lists Expedited Filing in its compared plan. All of these describe the provider's own work. Our record has no published Illinois processing time, so the state's review is an unknown added on top. The fastest filing list orders providers by stated time.¹⁶

Registered agent in the plan

Illinois requires an agent who is an individual resident of this State or other person authorized to transact business in this State (805 ILCS 180/1-35). Some plans cover one for a while.¹⁷

• Bizee (formerly Incfile): Free first year with any Bizee formation package, then billed yearly.¹⁸
• Northwest Registered Agent: the first year, then $125/yr.⁴
• BizFilings: 3 months free, then $220/yr.^{19, 20}
• doola: Registered Agent Service sits inside Starter, which bills each year.²¹

Tailor Brands sells its agent separately at $199/year, and ZenBusiness offers 50% off the first year ($99) when you form with it. See the registered agent included list.^{22, 23}

EIN in the plan

An EIN, the federal tax ID, comes from the IRS, and the IRS never charges a fee for an EIN. Some plans apply for it on your behalf. LegalZoom lists EIN (federal tax ID) in Managed Service, ZenBusiness lists EIN, Bizee (formerly Incfile) lists Federal Tax ID (EIN), and Swyft Filings lists Employer ID Number (EIN) in Standard. The EIN included list has the rest.^{14, 16, 24, 25, 26}

One provider for more than formation

Counting the kinds of business service each provider sells, out of 10 we track, Tailor Brands and LegalZoom each sell 9, and Bizee (formerly Incfile) and ZenBusiness each sell 7. Selling a type isn't the same as including it in a plan, so check the plan table. The all-in-one platforms list ranks the full set.

Founders outside the U.S.

LegalZoom lists LLC formation for owners with no Social Security number or U.S. residency, and doola states that it serves non-residents without a U.S. SSN. Swyft Filings answers in its FAQ that a non-US citizen can form a U.S. LLC, without saying how its own order flow handles one. Tailor Brands links a separate sign-up flow for non-US citizens from its formation page without published eligibility details. Northwest Registered Agent charges $200 for an EIN when the owner has no Social Security number. More in the non-U.S. founders list.^{27, 28}

What does Illinois charge no matter who files?

Illinois charges $150 for standard Articles of Organization and $75 for each Annual Report, whichever route you take. No compared plan price includes either fee.¹

• Formation filing fee: $150
• Optional name reservation: $25

Others depend on the company. A series LLC pays $400 to form instead of $150. It then pays more on each report, for every series that has a certificate of designation in effect. Late reports cost extra, because the fee is $75 plus a penalty if delinquent, though our record doesn't state the penalty amount. An LLC dissolved for missing reports or an agent pays $200 to apply for reinstatement. A service's annual report product can cut the risk of a missed filing, but it removes none of these state fees.¹

Whose names does the Illinois report make public?

The Annual Report lists the names and business addresses of managers (or members with manager authority). A registered agent service changes only the agent and registered office fields, so managers' names stay on the public record whichever service you use.²⁹

Tailor Brands' terms add that its agent address cannot be used as the business location in public materials, and it sells a separate Virtual Address product for keeping a home address private. Other providers sell business addresses too; the provider profiles list them.³⁰

Trial items are the other surprise. Tailor Brands Elite includes bookkeeping that bills $39/month after the trial, and for LegalZoom Managed Service, LegalZoom lists that its Business Advisor Plan auto-renews at $49/mo after 30 days. The LegalZoom pricing page and Tailor Brands pricing page show what bills later.^{25, 31}

Can you file an Illinois LLC yourself?

Yes. An owner can file the Articles directly, and filing alone costs $150 with no plan price. You then name your own agent and track the yearly report yourself.¹

An Illinois resident owner can serve as the agent, though the office address goes on each Annual Report. The Illinois formation guide covers the name check, the filing, agent changes and the report, and the cost calculator shows what a service adds over the state fees in each year.