Is it cheaper to form an LLC in Delaware than Florida?

Delaware's filing fee is lower ($110 vs $125), but that's not the full picture: operating in Florida means also registering as a foreign LLC there ($125) and paying a Delaware registered agent. Realistic first-year cost is roughly $385 for the Delaware route versus $125 for forming in Florida.

Can I form my Florida business in Delaware?

Yes. Any Florida business can form its LLC in Delaware. But if the business operates in Florida, it must also register there as a foreign LLC ($125 filing fee) and maintain a registered agent in Delaware, so you take on two states' fees and filings instead of one.

Does Delaware have better asset protection than Florida?

Delaware offers more formation privacy. It allows anonymous LLCs while Florida doesn't. Core asset protection is similar, though: both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members. For most small businesses the practical difference is modest.

State Comparison

Florida LLC vs Delaware LLC (2026)

Written for owners based in Florida.

Based in Delaware? Read Delaware LLC vs Florida LLC →

Compare Florida LLC vs Delaware LLC on filing fees, taxes, privacy laws, and annual costs. Find out which state is actually better for your business.

By Edmond Hui · Last updated: September 13, 2026

If your business is based in Florida, a Florida LLC needs no foreign registration there; a Delaware LLC run from Florida generally must also register in Florida as a foreign LLC (Florida's $125 filing fee). If your business is based in Delaware, a Delaware LLC needs no foreign registration there; a Florida LLC run from Delaware generally must also register in Delaware as a foreign LLC (Delaware's $200 filing fee). An LLC formed in one of these states and run from the other owes whatever filings, fees and taxes each state requires. A Florida LLC runs $263.75 in year one and $138.75/yr after; a Delaware LLC runs $510 and $400/yr. See the full breakdown below.

Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based

Delaware's certificate is $110, $15 less than Florida's, and Delaware LLCs file no annual report whatsoever. What they file instead is a flat $400 alternative entity tax each June 1, owed in full whether or not the company traded and with no proration, raised from $300 by HB 400 with effect from January 1, 2026. Recurring cost is therefore $400 against $138.75, and first-year cost $510 against $263.75. Delaware keeps members off the public record, which is the honest reason to pick it. Operating in Florida still costs $125 to register.

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Factor	Florida	Delaware
Filing Fee	$125	$110
Processing Time	Live queue, not fixed	Not published by the state
Annual Report Fee	$138.75	None ($400/yr entity tax instead)
Annual Report Due	May 1	None required
State Income Tax	No	Yes
Anonymous LLC	No	Yes
Publication Requirement	No	No
Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state)	N/A, you're in your home state	$125 + registered agent ~$150/yr

Full fee breakdown for either state: Florida LLC cost and Delaware LLC cost.

Business Climate: Florida vs Delaware

Factor	Florida	Delaware
5-year business survival rate	49.5% (#34 of 51)	48.1% (#37 of 51)
Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months))	+15.5% YoY (#1 of 51 by volume)	+2.5% YoY (#33 of 51 by volume)

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics · U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (BFS)

See the full 50-state survival ranking.

Compare LLC Costs: Florida vs Delaware

State A

State B

Florida

✓ Cheaper Long-Term

Formation fee$125

Annual report fee$138.75

State entity taxNone

Report dueMay 1

Processing timeLive queue - no fixed turnaround

Late penalty$400

Delaware

✓ Cheaper Upfront

Formation fee$110

Annual report feeNo report required

State entity tax$400/yr, Annual LLC Tax (alternative entity tax)

Report dueNone required

Processing timeNot published by the state

Late penaltyNo report to file late. The annual tax carries its own penalty

Total Cost

Florida

Delaware

1 Year

$263.75

$510

3 Years

$541.25

$1,310

5 Years

$818.75

$2,110

Will you operate outside your home state?

Costs include every mandatory state charge: the filing fee, the report fee (annualised where a state files biennially), any state entity-level tax shown in its own row above, a one-time publication cost where the state publishes a rate for it, and any one-time registration charge a state requires before the LLC may trade. Two exclusions follow from that wording. Arizona and Nebraska require publication and publish no rate, so no newspaper cost is carried for either and their totals are not the whole cost. Alaska's $50 annual state business licence is a separate charge from the Secretary of State fees and is not carried here either. Annualising makes the 1, 3 and 5 year rows a cost of ownership rather than a payment schedule: a biennial state charges its whole report fee in the years it falls due and nothing in between. Entity-level taxes that only apply after a corporate election, or above an owner or income threshold, are excluded and flagged on the state's own cost page. New York's publication cost is carried at a $250 floor, roughly $200 of newspaper cost in a low-cost county plus the $50 Certificate of Publication fee. No county-clerk-designated New York City newspaper publishes a rate card, so the four-figure NYC estimates in wide circulation cannot be traced to a primary source and are not asserted here; budget for materially more than the floor if you file in a NYC county. Montana's annual report is free when filed by April 15 and $35 after, a waiver that applies to reports filed between January 1 and April 15. Every fee was verified against the state's own fee schedule, statute, or revenue authority on 29 July 2026. Excludes registered agent and legal fees. For informational purposes only, not legal or tax advice.

Filing Fees & Formation Costs

Florida charges $125 to form an LLC, while Delaware charges $110. Delaware is $15 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Delaware but operate in Florida, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Florida (a $125 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Delaware (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Delaware route at roughly $385, versus $125 for simply forming in Florida. Speed isn't a basis for choosing between them: neither Florida nor Delaware publishes a standard processing time, so any figure comparing the two is guesswork.

Taxes: Florida vs Delaware

Florida has no personal income tax, while Delaware taxes individual income. Since pass-through LLC profits are taxed where you live and operate, a Florida-based owner keeps Florida's no-income-tax benefit either way. Forming in Delaware adds no tax advantage. Delaware LLCs owe a flat $400 annual LLC tax (no report required).

Privacy & Asset Protection

Delaware allows anonymous LLC formation. Member and manager names don't appear on routine public filings. Delaware's Certificate of Formation requires no member or manager names, and LLCs file no annual report, so ownership never appears on a public filing. Florida doesn't offer that same privacy. An authorized person signs the Articles, and the annual report lists managers/authorized members on Sunbiz, so management is a public record. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and for most small businesses the practical difference in asset protection between the two is minimal. One important caveat: if you register your Delaware LLC as a foreign LLC in Florida, that Florida registration is itself a public record, which can undercut much of the privacy benefit for a business that operates in Florida.

Annual Maintenance Costs

Florida LLCs file an annual report ($138.75, due May 1), and Delaware LLCs file no annual report at all. If you form in Delaware while operating in Florida, you maintain filings in both states, Delaware asks for no report, but Florida still wants its equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Delaware registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Delaware route to roughly $688.75 a year, versus about $138.75 to keep a domestic Florida LLC in good standing. The tax inside those totals: Delaware LLCs owe a flat $400 annual LLC tax (no report required).

When Delaware Actually Makes Sense

Forming in Delaware makes sense in a few specific situations: you need anonymous ownership. Florida puts owner or manager information on public filings and Delaware doesn't (usually via a holding company, since operating in Florida still requires a public foreign registration there), you're raising venture capital or institutional investment. Many investors specifically prefer or require Delaware entities, your business genuinely operates in Delaware, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Delaware in the near future and accept taking on Delaware's personal income tax, which Florida doesn't levy. For a typical small business based in Florida, none of these usually apply. Registering a Delaware LLC to do business back home means $125 in Florida foreign-registration fees, on top of Delaware's $110 formation fee, while Florida's own annual report runs $138.75 a year and is due May 1. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.

Frequently Asked Questions

: Delaware's filing fee is lower ($110 vs $125), but that's not the full picture: operating in Florida means also registering as a foreign LLC there ($125) and paying a Delaware registered agent. Realistic first-year cost is roughly $385 for the Delaware route versus $125 for forming in Florida.
: Yes. Any Florida business can form its LLC in Delaware. But if the business operates in Florida, it must also register there as a foreign LLC ($125 filing fee) and maintain a registered agent in Delaware, so you take on two states' fees and filings instead of one.
: Delaware offers more formation privacy. It allows anonymous LLCs while Florida doesn't. Core asset protection is similar, though: both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members. For most small businesses the practical difference is modest.
: It depends on where the business is based. For a Florida-based business, Florida: forming where the business is based keeps costs and compliance simple, and Delaware is worth considering only if you actually do business there, want an anonymous holding company there or have investor requirements that point there. For a Delaware-based business, the same reasoning points to Delaware.
: Speed isn't a basis for choosing between them: neither Florida nor Delaware publishes a standard processing time, so any figure comparing the two is guesswork. Only 19 of the 50 states publish anything about non-expedited turnaround at all. Whichever you pick, remember that forming in Delaware while operating in Florida means you're not fully set up until the Florida foreign registration is also processed, so the out-of-state route is rarely the faster path end to end. If your timing is genuinely fixed, buy the state's expedite tier rather than relying on a standard turnaround.

Comparison chart of forming an LLC in Florida versus Delaware, contrasting filing fees, annual report cost and ongoing obligations across 8 factors. — Florida and Delaware side by side on the factors that decide where to form. Source: MyStateLLC 50-state cost dataset, verified against each Secretary of State's published fee schedule, July 2026.

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More State Comparisons

Florida vs Georgia →Florida vs Hawaii →Florida vs Idaho →Florida vs Wyoming →Delaware vs Wyoming →

Florida LLC Guide →Delaware LLC Guide →

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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.