Straight answers

LLC rules for every state, without the legalese

Short answers, official sources and a glossary for the legal words. Pick a state to start.

Reviewed and updated November 12, 2026 · By the Plain Charter editorial team

What do you need?

Every state's filing fee, form and yearly report, explained without legalese.

Do you need an agent? Each state's answer, cited.

When an LLC from another state must register, what it files and what it costs.

The method

Three-year cost (35%): The first-year price plus two renewals, from each company's published prices.
What the price takes off your plate (30%): The recurring work the price includes: registered agent service, the state's annual or biennial report filed for you, the EIN application, and whether the same price works in other states.
Plain pricing (15%): Whether the first-year price, the renewal price and the state fee are all published before checkout, in words a first-time owner can follow.
Renewal terms (10%): How the yearly price changes after year one.
Where it works (10%): Whether the service works in one state only or in all fifty, which matters once a company registers somewhere else.