Best LLC services in North Dakota (2026)

How are North Dakota LLC services ranked?

Our rating sets the order, top score first, and a tie falls back on editorial order.

Year one in the table is each compared plan plus North Dakota's $135 filing fee. Year two is the $50 report fee plus whatever the plan charges to renew. Trial items that start billing later appear in neither.¹

Bizee (formerly Incfile) and ZenBusiness tie at 8.0, as do BizFilings and Rocket Lawyer at 6.8. Because the score is built from satisfaction, services with dashboard, and plan value, North Dakota's fees don't move it; the weights are on how we rate.

Second year: the recurring North Dakota 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.

Read the second-year column with the agent column beside it. A plan whose second year shows only the state fee may still bill for a registered agent once a free period ends: Inc Authority's agent renews at $249/year, Bizee (formerly Incfile)'s at $149/year, Northwest Registered Agent's at $125/yr, and BizFilings includes 3 months free before charging $220/yr. Plans with a higher second-year figure, such as Tailor Brands at $299 or ZenBusiness at $349, renew yearly. To see every provider ordered by what its plan costs across both years, open the list ranked by cost over both years.^{2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

Which North Dakota LLC service fits which need?

The picks below are each decided by one published fact, shown on the line. Different readers will weigh them differently, so the notes under the picks add what North Dakota's rules change.

• Lowest first-year total in North Dakota: Inc Authority, Free LLC, $135 with the state fee.
• Lowest two-year total in North Dakota: Inc Authority, Free LLC, $185 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 North Dakota

Inc Authority Free LLC has the lowest first-year figure, $135, and in year two it shows only the $50 report fee, the same as any plan that doesn't renew. What the table can't show is the agent. It is free for year one and then renews at $249/year unless you cancel, under terms that include a 60-day money-back guarantee on initial online purchase. Northwest Registered Agent comes next in year one at $174, and its agent renews at $125/yr. The cheapest services list and Inc Authority's profile show what each plan leaves out.^{2, 4, 7}

Fastest stated filing

On the compared plans, Tailor Brands and ZenBusiness both publish 1 business day, while Inc Authority publishes 24 hours. Each figure is the provider's own turnaround before it hands the filing to the state. The state doesn't publish a processing time or an expedite fee on the pages behind our record, so no service can promise when the state finishes review. Every provider's published time is on the fastest filing list.

First-time founders

This pick counts what a plan includes for good from a short list of supports: someone filing the annual report, a person to coach the owner, and an AI helper. Tailor Brands has all three supports. Its Elite plan lists mandatory report filing, the Business Coaching Program comes with any plan, and the Navi assistant is built into every plan. ZenBusiness also has all three supports; filing of state-required annual reports sits in Pro and Premium, Personal Velo AI guidance is on all tiers, and the advisor session is a one-on-one consultation, Premium only. doola has two of the three supports, one being the AI Co-Founder assistant. In North Dakota the report part applies every year, since the state's report is annual. See the first-time founders list.^{8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13}

All-in-one platform

Of the 10 business service types we track, Tailor Brands sells 9 and ZenBusiness sells 7. Selling a service isn't the same as including it in a plan, so check the plan before counting on one. The all-in-one list gives the full order.

Founders outside the U.S.

The pick goes to Tailor Brands on rating, and what it publishes is thin: its formation page links a sign-up flow for non-US citizens, with no stated eligibility rules. Owners without a Social Security number may care more about the EIN. LegalZoom lists an EIN filing without the need for a Social Security Number, Northwest Registered Agent prices it at $200, and doola writes that for a non-resident without a US SSN, doola can help. All of them appear on the non-U.S. founders list.^{14, 15, 16, 17}

What does North Dakota charge no matter who files?

North Dakota charges $135 to file the Articles of Organization and $50 for each annual report, whether you file yourself or use a service. No compared plan includes either fee in its price.¹

• Formation filing fee: $135
• Recurring report: due November 15 each year, $50

Two other state charges can come up. Changing registered agents later costs $10, and an LLC formed in another state pays $135 to register here, the same as a new formation. The state doesn't publish an expedite fee on the pages behind our record, so a service's rush option speeds up only its own side.^{1, 18}

Who files the North Dakota annual report?

North Dakota LLCs file a yearly report with the Secretary of State. The $50 filing is due November 15 each year, and the first report is due in the year following the calendar year of registration, and the report recurs every year after that.¹

The plans and services we compare describe annual report filing in general terms, without naming North Dakota's report, and they fall into the groups below.

• Included in the compared plan: Tailor Brands Elite lists mandatory report filing, and ZenBusiness Premium lists state-required annual reports. The second-year totals above add the state fee to each plan's renewal.^{8, 11}
• Sold per filing: Northwest Registered Agent bills $100 + state fees, charged at filing; its registered agent customers are auto-enrolled. ZenBusiness also sells single filings at $100 per report, and LegalZoom lists one at $99 + state filing fees.^{19, 20, 21}
• Not in the compared plan: for doola, Starter does not include ongoing compliance filings.²²

The report updates the business mailing address, business activities, and stakeholders, so whoever files it needs current details from you. Watch trial items too. On Tailor Brands Elite, bookkeeping is free for a 30-day trial and costs $39/month after that. LegalZoom's compared plan carries a note that its Business Advisor Plan auto-renews at $49/mo after 30 days. Later charges for every tier are on the Tailor Brands pricing page and the LegalZoom pricing page.^{23, 24, 25}

Is filing a North Dakota LLC yourself enough?

It can be, since the state takes filings directly online through the FirstStop Portal, and filing yourself costs only the $135 state fee.^{1, 26}

What a plan buys on top is the paperwork done for you, plus whatever extras that plan lists, such as an agent or an EIN.

Doing it yourself leaves two jobs. You need a registered agent at an actual street address or rural route box number in this state, and you need to file the report by its deadline each year without a provider's reminder. Each filing is laid out in the North Dakota formation guide, and the cost calculator prices a plan against filing alone. Nearby, compare South Dakota services and Minnesota services.²⁷