Best LLC services in Washington DC (2026)

How is the list of D.C. LLC services ordered?

Providers appear in order of our rating, highest first. Shared ratings keep our editorial order: Tailor Brands, Bizee (formerly Incfile) and ZenBusiness first, then the rest by name.

The rating has three parts (customer satisfaction, services and dashboard, plan value) and is the same in every state and in the District. Two pairs share a score here. Bizee (formerly Incfile) and ZenBusiness both rate 8.0, and BizFilings and Rocket Lawyer both rate 6.8. The weights are set out in how we rate.

What changes for D.C. is the money. The first-year column adds the $99.00 fee for the Articles of Organization (Form DLC-1) to the compared plan, and the second-year column adds the $300.00 biennial report to any plan renewal.^{1, 2}

Second year: the recurring Washington DC 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.

Most rows show $300 in year two. That is the report fee with no plan renewal behind it, the pattern for any plan paid once, such as Northwest Registered Agent's formation plan and Inc Authority Free LLC. Plans billed every year stack their renewal on the report, so Tailor Brands reaches $549 and ZenBusiness $599. The doola row assumes Starter renews at its first-year price, but doola's terms say recurring fees automatically renew at the rates then in effect without giving that rate, so its second year is an estimate.³

Before District fees, the compared plans cost $498 for Tailor Brands, $598 for ZenBusiness and $249 for LegalZoom across the first and second year. None of these totals counts an agent that starts billing after a free period or a trial item that turns paid. On the compared LegalZoom plan, for example, LegalZoom lists that its Business Advisor Plan auto-renews at $49/mo after 30 days. Every provider is sorted on that measure in the list of the lowest cost over both years.⁴

Which D.C. LLC service fits which need?

Each pick rests on one published fact, and the notes after it explain where the District's rules shift the answer. A reader who weighs a different cost may land elsewhere.

• Lowest first-year total in Washington DC: Inc Authority, Free LLC, $99 with the state fee.
• Lowest two-year total in Washington DC: Inc Authority, Free LLC, $399 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 over the first and second year

Inc Authority Free LLC totals $99 in year one and $300 in year two, and both are DLCP fees only. Its included agent is free for the first year and then renews at $249/year, which is outside those totals.⁵

On first-year total, Northwest Registered Agent comes next at $138, with its included agent renewing at $125/yr. The cheapest services list gives the national order, and the Inc Authority profile covers its free plan.⁶

Fastest stated filing

Tailor Brands and ZenBusiness each state 1 business day on their compared plans. Those are the providers' own stated times. DLCP publishes its own: it processes standard online filings within 5 business days, and it sells $50 for 3-day service or $100 for 1-day service for faster review.⁷

Only DLCP's paid tiers shorten the District's part of the wait. Bizee (formerly Incfile) lists Expedited Filing in its Premium plan without saying whether that pays DLCP's expedite fee. The fastest stated filing list compares the providers' own times.⁸

First-time founders

This category counts three supports: the recurring report filed for you, business coaching from a person, and AI guidance. In the District the report is biennial, which changes how a yearly filing subscription adds up (see the notes below).

Tailor Brands includes all three supports in a plan, with mandatory report filing on its paid plans, its Business Coaching Program, and the Navi assistant, built into every plan. ZenBusiness includes all three supports: filing of state-required annual reports on Pro and Premium, Personal Velo AI guidance, and a one-on-one consultation on Premium only. doola includes two of the three supports, its AI Co-Founder assistant and Annual State Report Filing on its higher plans. The first-time founders list covers all providers.^{9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15}

One provider for later services

Tailor Brands sells 9 of the 10 business service types we track. That count is national and includes products sold separately, so the plan column above is the better guide to what a District plan includes. The all-in-one platforms list shows each provider's count.

An agent with a District address

D.C. law requires any agent address a filing states to be a street address in the District (D.C. Code §§ 29-104.03, 29-104.04), so an owner living in Maryland or Virginia can't list a home address. Some providers name D.C. in their coverage. Northwest Registered Agent lists offices in every state plus D.C. and Puerto Rico, and InCorp Services lists every state plus DC, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands. ZenBusiness says it offers services in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, though its agent page describes coverage in all 50 states without naming D.C.^{16, 17, 18, 19, 20}

Bizee (formerly Incfile) describes agent offices in all 50 states and Tailor Brands agent service in all 50 states, and neither names the District, so ask them before you count on a D.C. address. Tailor Brands sells its agent separately at $199/year, Bizee (formerly Incfile) renews its included agent at $149/year after the first year, and doola lists Registered Agent Service in Starter. The registered agent included list compares included periods.^{21, 22, 23, 24, 25}

Founders outside the U.S.

The pick goes to Tailor Brands as the highest-rated provider whose own pages say it serves founders abroad; it links a separate sign-up flow for non-US citizens from its formation page. LegalZoom says it forms LLCs with no Social Security number, residency, or travel required, and doola's Starter plan includes a US business address. A founder abroad has no District street address to list, so someone in the District, such as a paid agent service, has to serve as agent. See the non-U.S. founders list.^{26, 27, 28}

What does D.C. charge no matter who files?

DLCP charges $99.00 to file whether you or a service submits it, and the $300.00 biennial report follows with the first report due April 1 of the year after formation. No compared plan includes either fee in its price.^{1, 29}

• Formation filing fee: $99.00
• Faster state processing: $50 for 3-day service; $100 for 1-day service (by end of next business day)
• Recurring report: due every two years, by April 1 (biennial report; first report due April 1 of the year after formation), $300.00
• Optional name reservation: $50

The report is the cost no service removes. A service can file it, but the District fee still applies, and a late filing adds a $100 late fee. Later reports are due by April 1st of each 2nd calendar year thereafter, so the fee lands every other year rather than each year.^{1, 29}

The unincorporated business franchise tax sits outside DLCP and outside every plan. The rate the District publishes for tax years 2018 to 2025 is 8.25% of net income, with a $250 minimum, and an LLC with gross income of $12,000 or less doesn't owe it. It is not part of any total on this page, and it is a question for an accountant. The D.C. formation guide explains the tax in more detail.³⁰

Who files the D.C. biennial report, and what does that cost?

Report filing is sold two ways, and the District's every-other-year cycle makes the difference plain. A pay-per-filing service bills only in the years a report is due. A yearly subscription bills in the off year too.

Per filing, InCorp Services charges $89 + state fees, Northwest Registered Agent $100 + state fees, LegalZoom $99 + state filing fees, and ZenBusiness sells single filings at $100 per report. None of these pages names the District's biennial report, so confirm it is covered. By subscription, ZenBusiness sells Worry-Free Compliance at $199/year, and Swyft Filings sells ComplianceGuard at $199/year, which every Swyft plan includes as a 14-day free trial before billing starts.^{31, 32, 33, 34, 35}

Plan-included filing works the same way. Tailor Brands Elite lists mandatory report filing, and ZenBusiness's Premium plan covers filing of state-required annual reports, both inside plans that renew every year. Neither says how it treats a biennial report, so ask before relying on it.^{9, 12}

Trial items reach year two as well. Tailor Brands Elite includes bookkeeping on a free 30-day trial that bills $39/month afterwards. The Tailor Brands pricing page and the ZenBusiness pricing page list each provider's prices.³⁶

Can you form a D.C. LLC without a service?

Yes. DLCP takes the Articles of Organization straight from owners online through BOSS, formerly CorpOnline, by mail or as a walk-in, and the only required cost is the $99.00 fee.^{1, 2}

Filing yourself means finding a registered agent with a District street address and tracking the biennial report without a reminder. The cost calculator shows what a plan adds in each year, and the guide to filing yourself or hiring a service weighs the trade.