How to form an LLC in Wyoming (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in Wyoming?

The steps below take a Wyoming LLC from an idea to a company in good standing. The list gives each step's form and fee.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division. You can reserve a name for $60 for 120 days.
2. Name a registered agent in Wyoming: a person or company with a Wyoming address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization with the Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division. The state fee is $100. Filing methods: Online or by mail.
4. Wait for approval: Online filings are active immediately; mailed filings up to 15 business days. Faster options: $700 next business day or $1,400 same business day per document; not available for initial formations or other filings that can be completed online.
5. File the recurring report (Annual Report): due First day of the anniversary month of formation, each year, fee $60 minimum, or $0.0002 per dollar of Wyoming assets if greater (annual report license tax).

The order is flexible at the start but not at the end. You can check the name and line up an agent in any order, and both should be settled before the Articles go in. The fourth step is often instant here: an online filing makes the LLC active the moment the state accepts it.

The last step repeats every year. The yearly license tax is paid with the annual report, so missing the report means missing the tax too. If you would rather hand these steps to a formation service, the Wyoming LLC services list compares each one's first-year total in this state.³

How do you check and reserve a Wyoming LLC name?

Search the Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division business records before filing, and if you need to hold a name while you prepare, reserve it for $60 for 120 days. The reservation rests on W.S. 17-29-109.⁵

A reservation is optional and is a separate filing from the Articles. It helps when the name is settled but the members, the agent or the money aren't ready yet.

Wyoming's online system has one naming quirk. The state's online registration page says names beginning with the letter "A" must be filed on paper for manual review. A company whose name starts with that letter loses the instant online approval and joins the paper queue instead.¹

Who can be a registered agent for a Wyoming LLC?

A Wyoming registered agent can be an adult individual who resides in this state and whose business office is identical with the registered office, a domestic or authorized foreign business entity, or a commercial registered agent. The rules are in Wyo. Stat. § 17-28-101.⁶

The registered agent is the person or company that receives lawsuits and official state notices for the LLC. Wyoming is strict about where that happens. The statute says the registered office shall be located at a street address in Wyoming which shall be a physical location where the business entity's agent is present. A mail drop where no agent is present doesn't fit that wording.⁶

Owners who live outside Wyoming can't use the individual option, since it requires living in the state. So an owner outside Wyoming needs a Wyoming business entity or a commercial agent to serve. Commercial agent prices vary widely. Northwest Registered Agent lists its agent at $125 per year. Inc Authority makes the agent free for the first year with LLC formation, then charges $249/year. Bizee (formerly Incfile) includes a first year with any package and renews at $149/year. The Northwest pricing page, the Inc Authority pricing page and the list of plans that include a registered agent show what each costs after the first year.^{7, 8, 9, 10}

How do you file the Articles of Organization, and how fast is it?

You file the Articles online or by mail. Online filings are active immediately; mailed Articles are reviewed in the order received and take up to 15 business days.³

Online filing carries a small extra charge. The state adds a credit card processing fee of 2.4% (minimum $1) of the filing fee. Paper filings go to the Business Division at Herschler Building East, Suite 101, 122 W 25th Street, Cheyenne.^{1, 2}

Can you pay the state to expedite a Wyoming LLC?

No. Wyoming sells expedited review for many documents at $700 next business day or $1,400 same business day per document, but that service is not available for initial formations or other filings that can be completed online. Since online Articles are already active right away, there is nothing to speed up on the state's side.¹¹

That shifts the question to the formation service. When a service files online, its own handling time is most of the wait in Wyoming. The fastest stated filing list compares providers on their published times, and the LLC timeline guide explains how service time and state time add up in other states.

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

The first year costs the $100 filing fee plus whatever plan you choose. The second year costs at least the $60 minimum license tax paid with the annual report, plus any plan or agent renewal.^{2, 3}

The table gives each provider's first-year total in Wyoming with the plan we compare, and a second-year total built from the state's minimum license tax and the plan's own renewal. Rows follow our rating, with ties kept 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.

Wyoming's minimum license tax sets a floor for year two, so the table can total that year for every provider. The figure uses the minimum, so an LLC with large Wyoming assets pays more. Registered agent renewals are not in the second-year column unless a plan bills the agent as part of its own renewal.

Two rows show why that caveat counts. Inc Authority Free LLC totals $100 in the first year and $60 in the second, but its agent then renews at $249/year, which the column leaves out. Tailor Brands Elite totals $349 and then $309, because the plan renews yearly. Read Inc Authority's profile and Northwest's profile for what each low-cost plan leaves out.⁹

The cost calculator works out other plan choices. For comparisons beyond Wyoming, the lowest first-year totals list and the national LLC cost guide cover every state.

What does a Wyoming LLC file after it is formed?

A Wyoming LLC files an Annual Report every year, due on the first day of the anniversary month of formation, and pays the license tax with it. The report and the tax are a single filing.⁴

The report asks for the Filing ID and, for some entities, current financial information to compute the license tax. The tax is $60, or $0.0002 per dollar of Wyoming assets if that comes to more, and paying online adds a 2.4% card processing fee (minimum $1). Larger companies should note one limit. Online filing is not allowed if the annual report fee exceeds $500, so a company owing more can't use the online system.^{3, 4}

Missing the deadline still has consequences, even though the fee schedule's LLC section shows no late fee. An LLC becomes delinquent the day after the due date, and it is administratively dissolved if not filed within 60 days.³

Reinstatement is possible for a limited time. The fee is $100 if dissolved for unpaid annual report tax and $350 if dissolved for having no registered agent. Only within 2 years after an administrative dissolution can the LLC come back; after that, the state FAQ says no reinstatement is allowed.²

Will a formation service file the Wyoming annual report?

Some will, for a price that can exceed the state's own minimum tax. Northwest Registered Agent charges $100 + state fees for its annual report service, and its page adds, "When you sign up for our registered agent services, you'll automatically be enrolled in our renewal service." LegalZoom lists its Compliance Filings subscription with the note that auto-filing excludes Indiana, Maryland, Wyoming; it also lists a one-time annual report filing at $99 + state fees. ZenBusiness lists filing of state-required annual reports in its higher plans, and Tailor Brands lists mandatory report filing in its compared plan. The guide to what packages include covers report filing and reminders across plans, and the ZenBusiness profile covers its plan tiers.^{12, 13, 14, 15}

How do you change a Wyoming registered agent?

File the Appointment of New Registered Agent and Office form with the Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division; the fee is $5. Do it before cancelling the old agent service, so the LLC is never without one.^{2, 16}

A gap is costly in Wyoming. If the LLC has no agent and does not comply within 60 days of notice, it is deemed defunct and forfeits its articles. Bringing a company back from that status takes a reinstatement fee plus a $250 penalty, so a lapse that starts as an oversight can end up costing far more than the agent fee.¹⁷

An agent can also quit. It must notify the LLC at least 30 days before filing its statement of resignation, and the appointment ends on the date the statement of resignation is filed. With no successor, service goes to the Secretary of State, which means legal papers could be served on the state while the LLC hears about them late. That notice period is your window to appoint a replacement.⁶

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC formed elsewhere registers in Wyoming with a Certificate of Authority, which costs $150. The agent rules in Wyo. Stat. § 17-28-101 speak of a business entity's agent in general terms, so the same agent options apply to a registered foreign LLC.^{2, 6}

An owner who forms in Wyoming but runs the business from another state may also have to register in that state, which adds a second set of state fees and a second agent. Whether that is worthwhile depends on where the business actually operates, so it is a question for an accountant or lawyer. The state fees table compares formation and foreign registration costs, including neighbors Montana and Colorado.