Formation services for a South Carolina LLC

What a formation service changes, and what it cannot

A formation service prepares and files the articles of organization. It does not change the state fee, the lien windows, the interest rates or any deadline on this site.

The $110 filing fee is owed to the Secretary of State whoever does the paperwork, and it is set by the LLC chapter of the state code, not by the service's checkout.

So the real comparison is narrow and honest: what is bundled around the filing, how registered agent service is handled, and what renews after the first year. The payment side of the business, the terms, the deposits and the collections, is covered on the pages that come before this one. If the structure question is still open, start with whether an LLC changes how you get paid.

$110South Carolina charges $110 to file articles of organization for a limited liability company, and the fee is owed to the Secretary of State whoever prepares the filing. — South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 33, Chapter 44, retrieved 2026-09-29

First-year cost, service by service

Compare the total first year, not the headline number. Most general services publish a base at the state fee's price, so what differs is the agent year, the add-ons and what the second year bills.

A payment-first business has one extra reason to care about the agent year. The registered agent's address is the one a court uses to serve the company, and the company that owns the invoices is the company that has to answer when it sues or is sued on one.

Every figure below comes from the service's own pricing page, opened on the date shown, checked against the page's own words rather than a summary of it. Plans change, so check the current one before buying.

$0 + state feesTailor Brands publishes a $0 Lite LLC plan plus state fees, with Essential at $199 per year and Elite at $249 per year. — Tailor Brands plans and pricing page, retrieved 2026-09-29

$0 + state feeBizee publishes a $0 Basic LLC package plus the state fee, and states that with any of its business formation packages you get one year of Registered Agent Service for free. — Bizee pricing page, retrieved 2026-09-29

$99 first yearZenBusiness lists LLC formation starting at $0 plus state fees, and publishes its registered agent service at $99 plus state fees for the first year, renewing at $199 a year. — ZenBusiness registered agent page, retrieved 2026-09-29

$249 a yearLegalZoom publishes its registered agent service at $249 a year, auto-renewing at the purchase rate until cancelled. — LegalZoom registered agent page, retrieved 2026-09-29

Services matched to a business that lives on invoices

These are use cases, not a ranking. Each service sits where its own published offer fits a need, and the order on the page is presentation order only.

Every price here is what the service published about itself on the date checked, opened and read from the page rather than from a summary. These services appear in the order they are discussed, and nothing here grades one above another.

1. Tailor Brands

   Suits an owner who wants the filing and the paperwork that follows it in one account. The $0 Lite plan covers the LLC filing with AI-guided setup, the paid tiers renew yearly at $199 or $249, and registered agent service appears on its services list rather than in the plan prices, so budget for it separately if you want one.

2. Bizee

   One free year of registered agent service comes with any formation package, which keeps the first year at the $110 state fee with an agent included. The agent service is what renews after that year. Paid Standard and Premium packages sit above the base at $199 and $299.

3. File it yourself with the Secretary of State

   The direct route costs the $110 statutory fee and nothing else, using the LLC chapter's own filing requirements. You list your own address and serve as your own agent, which puts your name and address on the public record. The fee schedule lists no annual-report filing fee for an LLC.

4. ZenBusiness

   The agent year is priced plainly: $99 plus state fees for the first year, renewing at $199 a year, with formation starting at $0 plus state fees. Its compliance add-ons, like Worry-Free compliance filings at $199 a year, are where the second-year bill grows if you keep them.

5. LegalZoom

   Auto-renewing registered agent service at $249 a year is the published number on its own page, cancel anytime. Its formation plan prices were not on the page when checked, so confirm the total at checkout before comparing it against the others on this page.

$99 first yearZenBusiness publishes registered agent service at $99 plus state fees for the first year, renewing at $199 a year. — ZenBusiness registered agent page, retrieved 2026-09-29

Check the price the day you buy

Prices on this page were read from each service's own page on the date shown, and services reprice their plans. The $110 state fee is the number the statute sets, so it is the one figure here a checkout cannot change.

Read what renews before the total. The cheapest first year is often the plan whose renewal you will cancel, and the agent service is the line that usually renews on every service here.

Before the filing, the money side of the business is worth settling first: the payment terms, the deposit rules and the interest notice are what this site is for, and they cost nothing to write. Start with how to write payment terms and the past-due checklist.

$199Bizee's paid packages above the free base publish at $199 for Standard and $299 for Premium, and any formation package includes one free year of Registered Agent Service. — Bizee pricing page, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions