How to form an LLC in Missouri (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in Missouri?

Forming a Missouri LLC comes down to a name, a registered agent and one filing with the Corporations Division, and nothing follows on a yearly calendar. The list shows each step with its form and fee.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the Missouri Secretary of State, Corporations Division. You can reserve a name for $25 for up to 60 days (renewable for two more 60-day periods).
2. Name a registered agent in Missouri: a person or company with a Missouri address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization (LLC 1) with the Missouri Secretary of State, Corporations Division. The state fee is $50 online, $105 on paper. Filing methods: Online ($50) or on paper ($105).
4. There is no recurring annual report for Missouri LLCs.

The last line of that list is what sets Missouri apart. Asked whether LLCs have to file an annual report, the Secretary of State's FAQ answers no, so the report fee is $0. That removes a yearly deadline. It doesn't remove the registered agent, which the company has to keep on record, and that requirement is where most of the later rules on this page come from.³

Comparing formation services instead of filing alone? The Missouri LLC services ranked with totals page lists each provider's first- and second-year cost in this state.

How do you check and hold a Missouri LLC name?

Search the Missouri Secretary of State, Corporations Division business records for the name first, then reserve it if you aren't ready to file. A reservation costs $25 and holds the name for up to 60 days, renewable for two more 60-day periods.²

Because the hold can be renewed, a founder can keep a name for a good while before filing. That helps when members are still deciding to join, or when the company won't start trading until later in the year.

A reservation is optional. Its fee is separate from the filing fee and from any service's plan price, so it adds to the first-year total only if you use it.

Who can be the registered agent for a Missouri LLC?

Missouri law (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 347.030) allows an individual resident of Missouri or a domestic or foreign corporation authorized to do business in Missouri, whose business office is identical with the registered office. After formation the LLC has to keep one on record, as the upkeep section below explains.⁴

The registered agent is the person or company that accepts lawsuits and official notices for the LLC, at an address on file called the registered office. Under the statute that office may be, but need not be, the same as a place of its business in this state. In practice the office can be the company's own Missouri location or somewhere else, provided the agent's business office is that same address.⁴

Two groups can't simply list themselves. An owner who lives outside Missouri isn't a Missouri resident, and a company acting as agent has to be authorized to do business here. Either can still name a Missouri resident or an authorized company, and that second option is what commercial agent services sell.

An owner who acts as agent from home makes that home the registered office on file. A paid service lists its own Missouri address there instead; Northwest Registered Agent, for example, states that Northwest's address is listed on public filings instead of the owner's.⁵

Prices vary. Northwest Registered Agent charges $125 per year for its agent service and Tailor Brands lists $199/year, while Inc Authority includes its agent free for the first year with LLC formation before it renews at $249/year. See Northwest's prices, Tailor Brands' prices, the plans that include an agent and the registered agent explainer.^{5, 6, 7, 8}

Should you file Missouri LLC articles online or on paper?

Online costs less. The Missouri Secretary of State, Corporations Division charges $50 for articles filed online and $105 for the same document on paper, a difference the office puts at $55.00 in its FAQ.²

The fee schedule lists only two routes, Online ($50) or on paper ($105). Our record has no postal or walk-in address for paper filings, so check the Corporations Division's forms page before sending one.⁹

We don't have a verified Missouri processing time or paid rush option, so this page doesn't quote either. Ask the Corporations Division if timing is tight.

A formation service's stated speed is a different clock. It measures how fast the service prepares and submits your articles, and the state then reviews them on its own schedule. The guide to how long LLC formation takes separates the two, and the list ordered by stated filing time compares providers on their published speeds. The service totals below use the online fee, so if a provider files on paper, ask who pays the higher amount.

What does a Missouri LLC cost to form and then to keep?

In year one a Missouri LLC costs the $50 online filing fee plus any plan you buy. Year two adds no state report fee, because Missouri has no annual report, so only plan and agent renewals remain.²

The table gives each provider's first- and second-year totals in Missouri with the plan we compare. Rows follow our rating, and ties keep the editorial order set out in 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.

Many rows show nothing due in year two, since the state adds no fee that year. Read those figures with one gap in mind. They count a plan's own renewal, not a registered agent that was free for a limited time.

Three providers show why. Inc Authority totals $50 in year one and $0 in year two with its Free LLC plan, yet its included agent renews at $249/year after the first year unless you cancel. Northwest Registered Agent shows $89 and then $0, with its agent renewing at $125/yr. Bizee (formerly Incfile) includes the agent for the first year and then charges $149/year.^{8, 10, 11}

Plans that renew carry their cost into the second column. Tailor Brands Elite comes to $249 in year two, ZenBusiness Premium to $299, and doola Starter to $297; the doola plan lists Registered Agent Service among its items.¹²

Run your own plan and agent choices through the LLC cost calculator. The list ranked by cost across both years, Inc Authority's profile, Northwest's profile and the national LLC cost guide go further.

What does a Missouri LLC have to keep up after formation?

A Missouri LLC sends no yearly report to the Secretary of State, so its main ongoing duty is keeping a registered agent on record. Failing to maintain a registered agent is grounds for administrative cancellation of the LLC.¹³

Cancellation can be reversed. Reinstatement costs $100 plus any delinquent fees and penalties, and the LLC must show grounds for cancellation no longer exist. When the cancellation came from a missing agent, that means having an agent on record again.¹³

Annual report services need a second look here. Several plans we compare include or trial one, and a Missouri LLC has no Secretary of State report for it to file.

• Swyft Filings puts a 14-day free trial of its ComplianceGuard service in every LLC plan, then bills $199/year unless cancelled.¹⁴
• Northwest Registered Agent tells agent customers they will "automatically be enrolled in our renewal service", a service priced at $100 + state fees and charged at filing.¹⁵
• Tailor Brands lists mandatory report filing on its higher plans, and ZenBusiness lists filing of state-required annual reports on Pro and Premium.^{16, 17}

Ask each provider what that item does for a Missouri company before you pay to renew it. The annual report guide and the package contents guide explain which plan items are filings and which are reminders, and Swyft Filings' pricing shows the ComplianceGuard terms.

How do you change a Missouri registered agent or office?

File the Statement of Change of Registered Agent or Registered Office (Corp. 59) with the Missouri Secretary of State, Corporations Division. The fee is $10, and the same form covers a new agent, a new office address, or both.^{1, 18}

Get the new agent on record before ending the old service. A gap with no agent is grounds for cancellation, so the safe order is new agent, then change statement, then cancellation.

An agent can also step down on its own. It files LLC 6, a statement certifying written notice to the LLC, and the resignation becomes effective 30 days after receipt, or earlier if a new agent is appointed. That window is the owner's chance to file Corp. 59 naming someone new before the company is left without an agent.^{1, 4}

How does an LLC from another state register in Missouri?

It files the Application for Registration of a Foreign LLC (LLC 4) with the Missouri Secretary of State, Corporations Division, and the fee is $105.⁹

The online discount doesn't reach this filing, because the schedule lists the $50 online rate for domestic LLCs only. Registering an existing company therefore costs more than forming a new Missouri LLC online. Which of the two suits a business depends on where it operates and how it is taxed, a question for an accountant or lawyer.⁹

The foreign LLC guide explains registration in general, and the state fees table compares these costs with neighbours such as Illinois, Kansas and Arkansas.