How to form an LLC in North Dakota (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in North Dakota?

North Dakota keeps formation short: pick a name, name a registered agent with an in-state address, file online, and keep the annual report current. Each step and its fee is listed below.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the North Dakota Secretary of State.
2. Name a registered agent in North Dakota: a person or company with a North Dakota address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization, $135 with the North Dakota Secretary of State. The state fee is $135. Filing methods: Online through the FirstStop Portal.
4. Recurring filing: Annual Report ($50), due November 15, fee $50.

The filing itself happens in one place. The North Dakota Secretary of State tells applicants to go to Start a Business in the FirstStop Portal once the earlier steps are done, and none of the state pages behind our record describe a paper or mail route for an LLC.²

The fee works the same way for a new company and an out-of-state one. The state lists a single charge, $135, for both domestic and foreign registration. Choosing a formation service is a separate question, covered on the ranked list of LLC services in North Dakota, which adds this fee to each provider's plan.¹

How do you file the Articles of Organization online?

You file through the FirstStop Portal, the state's online business system, and pay $135 at submission. The state doesn't publish a standard processing time or an expedite fee on the pages behind our record, so we can't say how long review takes.^{1, 2}

The state's own wording on what creates the company is short: "A limited liability company (LLC) is created by filing articles of organization."¹

A formation service can't make the state review faster than the state allows. What a service states is its own time to prepare and submit, which is a separate clock from the state's review. The guide to LLC timelines explains the difference, and the fastest filing list compares providers on the times they publish.

What are North Dakota's registered agent rules?

Every limited liability company shall have a registered office and a registered agent, under N.D.C.C. § 10-32.1-16. The Registered Agents Act (N.D.C.C. ch. 10-01.1) requires the addresses on these filings to be an actual street address or rural route box number in this state.³

So the rule accepts a rural route box number in the state as well as a street address. A P.O. box or an out-of-state address isn't on that list.

The state pages behind our record set the address rule but don't list who may serve as agent. The Secretary of State can answer that before you name yourself or a family member.

Services that act as the agent price it differently. Bizee (formerly Incfile) includes the agent free for the first year with any Bizee formation package and then charges $149/year. ZenBusiness offers 50% off the first year ($99) when you form with it. Tailor Brands sells its agent on its own at $199/year. The list of services that include a registered agent shows the rest, and the registered agent guide covers the role in general.^{4, 5, 6, 7}

What does a North Dakota LLC cost in the first and second year?

In year one a North Dakota LLC costs the $135 filing fee plus any service plan. In year two the state charges the $50 annual report fee, and a service adds its renewal if the plan renews.¹

The table shows both years for each provider's compared plan. Rows follow our rating, with ties in 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.

For North Dakota a second-year total can be worked out, because the recurring report fee is a flat figure. Inc Authority's Free LLC plan runs $135 in year one and $50 in year two, while ZenBusiness's Premium plan runs $434 and then $349 because it renews yearly.

One cost isn't in the second-year column. Plans that include a registered agent for only a limited time bill for it afterwards, and that renewal is extra. See Inc Authority's pricing and Bizee's pricing for what each charges once the free period ends.

To model a different plan, open the LLC cost calculator. The state fees table puts North Dakota's charges next to every other state's.

What does a North Dakota LLC file after it is formed?

A North Dakota LLC files an Annual Report with the North Dakota Secretary of State, due November 15 each year, for $50. Our source also notes that farming or ranching LLCs and ALF LLCs file by April 15, so check which deadline applies to your type of LLC.¹

The first report has its own timing rule. The state says the first report is due in the year following the calendar year of registration. An LLC registered in spring therefore files its first report in the following year, not the same autumn.¹

The report itself is light. It updates the business mailing address, business activities, and stakeholders, and the state notes annual reports do not require financial statements. The page doesn't define "stakeholders," so ask the Secretary of State if you are unsure whose names belong there.⁸

Some services sell annual report filing, though their facts describe it in general terms and don't name North Dakota's report. LegalZoom lists a one-time annual report filing at $99 + state filing fees, and a Compliance Filings subscription that starts at $199/year, auto-renews. Swyft Filings includes a 14-day trial of ComplianceGuard in its plans, then $199/year auto-charged unless cancelled. The annual report guide and the package contents guide explain which plan items file a report and which only send a reminder.^{9, 10, 11}

How do you change a North Dakota registered agent?

You change agents by filing a Registered Agent/Office Change, a statement of change filed in FirstStop. The fee is $10, charged per entity when the agent is a noncommercial agent.^{8, 12}

File the change before you cancel the old agent's service. North Dakota law lists the duty to "Appoint and maintain a registered agent and registered office" among the grounds for involuntary termination after 60 days' notice to cure, so a gap with no agent on record puts the company at risk.¹³

An agent can also resign. The resignation takes effect on the 31st day after the resignation is filed, or earlier if a new agent is appointed, and the agent must promptly notify the LLC. That window is the time to choose a replacement and file the change.¹⁴

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC formed elsewhere registers in North Dakota with a certificate of authority, and the fee is $135. That is the same figure the state charges to form a new LLC here.¹

The agent rules quoted above come from the domestic LLC chapter, and the state pages behind our record don't say how they apply to a foreign LLC. A foreign LLC also files the annual report, since the $50 fee on the state's fee list covers domestic and foreign companies alike. Whether to register an existing company or form a new one depends on where the business operates; an accountant or lawyer can answer that for your case. The foreign LLC guide covers the general process, and the neighbouring guides for Minnesota, South Dakota and Montana show their fees.¹