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

No. Delaware costs more upfront ($110 vs $100), and if you operate in Wyoming you must also register there as a foreign LLC ($150) plus pay a Delaware registered agent. Realistic first-year cost is roughly $410 versus $100 for forming locally.

Can I form my Wyoming business in Delaware?

Yes. Any Wyoming business can form its LLC in Delaware. But if the business operates in Wyoming, it must also register there as a foreign LLC ($150 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 Wyoming?

Not meaningfully. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and neither offers a decisive asset-protection edge for a typical small business; Wyoming’s charging-order statute is widely regarded as the strongest in the country. Sound insurance and clean separation of business and personal finances matter more in practice.

State Comparison

Wyoming LLC vs Delaware LLC (2026)

Written for owners based in Wyoming.

Based in Delaware? Read Delaware LLC vs Wyoming LLC →

Compare Wyoming 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 Wyoming, a Wyoming LLC needs no foreign registration there; a Delaware LLC run from Wyoming generally must also register in Wyoming as a foreign LLC (Wyoming's $150 filing fee). If your business is based in Delaware, a Delaware LLC needs no foreign registration there; a Wyoming 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 Wyoming LLC runs $160 in year one and $60/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 charges $110 to form and files no annual report at all, which is where the cheap-Delaware story usually stops. The state instead levies a flat $400 alternative entity tax on every LLC regardless of income, raised from $300 effective January 1, 2026 and payable each June 1 for the prior calendar year, with no proration for a December formation. Wyoming's equivalent is an annual report license tax with a $60 minimum, and both states let you keep members off the public filing. A Delaware LLC operating from Wyoming still pays $150 here.

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Factor	Wyoming	Delaware
Filing Fee	$100	$110
Processing Time	Instant online; up to 15 business days paper	Not published by the state
Annual Report Fee	$60	None ($400/yr entity tax instead)
Annual Report Due	First day of anniversary month	None required
State Income Tax	No	Yes
Anonymous LLC	Yes	Yes
Publication Requirement	No	No
Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state)	N/A, you're in your home state	$150 + registered agent ~$150/yr

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

Business Climate: Wyoming vs Delaware

Factor	Wyoming	Delaware
5-year business survival rate	47.5% (#42 of 51)	48.1% (#37 of 51)
Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months))	+13.3% YoY (#22 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: Wyoming vs Delaware

State A

State B

Wyoming

✓ Cheaper Upfront✓ Cheaper Long-Term

Formation fee$100

Annual report fee$60

State entity taxNone

Report dueFirst day of anniversary month

Processing timeInstant online; up to 15 business days paper

Late penalty$0

Delaware

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

Wyoming

Delaware

1 Year

$160

$510

3 Years

$280

$1,310

5 Years

$400

$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

Wyoming charges $100 to form an LLC, while Delaware charges $110. Wyoming is $10 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Delaware but operate in Wyoming, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Wyoming (a $150 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 $410, versus $100 for simply forming in Wyoming. Only one side of this comparison is knowable: Wyoming publishes instant online; up to 15 business days paper, while Delaware publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed.

Taxes: Wyoming vs Delaware

Wyoming has no personal income tax, while Delaware taxes individual income. Since pass-through LLC profits are taxed where you live and operate, a Wyoming-based owner keeps Wyoming's no-income-tax benefit either way. Forming in Delaware adds no tax advantage. Wyoming charges an annual report license tax of $60 minimum ($62 filed online), based on in-state assets; no franchise or privilege tax otherwise. Delaware LLCs owe a flat $400 annual LLC tax (no report required).

Privacy & Asset Protection

Both Wyoming and Delaware allow anonymous LLC formation. Neither state requires member or manager names on routine public filings. 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. Wyoming's charging-order statute (W.S. 17-29-503) makes the charging order a creditor's exclusive remedy (including for single-member LLCs) and is widely regarded as the strongest in the country.

Annual Maintenance Costs

Wyoming LLCs file an annual report ($60, due in the anniversary month), and Delaware LLCs file no annual report at all. If you form in Delaware while operating in Wyoming, you maintain filings in both states, Delaware asks for no report, but Wyoming 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 $610 a year, versus about $60 to keep a domestic Wyoming LLC in good standing. The taxes inside those totals: Wyoming charges an annual report license tax of $60 minimum ($62 filed online), based on in-state assets; no franchise or privilege tax otherwise. 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'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 Wyoming doesn't levy. For a typical small business based in Wyoming, none of these usually apply. Registering a Delaware LLC to do business back home means $150 in Wyoming foreign-registration fees, on top of Delaware's $110 formation fee, while Wyoming's own annual report runs $60 a year and is due in the anniversary month. Wyoming already allows anonymous formation, so the privacy argument for Delaware doesn't apply to a Wyoming-based owner. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.

Frequently Asked Questions

: No. Delaware costs more upfront ($110 vs $100), and if you operate in Wyoming you must also register there as a foreign LLC ($150) plus pay a Delaware registered agent. Realistic first-year cost is roughly $410 versus $100 for forming locally.
: Yes. Any Wyoming business can form its LLC in Delaware. But if the business operates in Wyoming, it must also register there as a foreign LLC ($150 filing fee) and maintain a registered agent in Delaware, so you take on two states' fees and filings instead of one.
: Not meaningfully. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and neither offers a decisive asset-protection edge for a typical small business; Wyoming’s charging-order statute is widely regarded as the strongest in the country. Sound insurance and clean separation of business and personal finances matter more in practice.
: It depends on where the business is based. For a Wyoming-based business, Wyoming: forming where the business is based keeps costs and compliance simple, and Delaware is worth considering only if you actually do business there or have investor requirements that point there. For a Delaware-based business, the same reasoning points to Delaware.
: Only one side of this comparison is knowable: Wyoming publishes instant online; up to 15 business days paper, while Delaware publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed. 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 Wyoming means you're not fully set up until the Wyoming 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 Wyoming versus Delaware, contrasting filing fees, annual report cost and ongoing obligations across 8 factors. — Wyoming 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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Wyoming 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.