How Much Does an LLC Cost in Alabama?
By Edmond Hui · Fees verified July 29, 2026 against the Alabama Secretary of State fee schedule
What you actually pay in Alabama
Alabama charges $200 for a domestic LLC Certificate of Formation and passes $100 of that to the county treasurer where the registered agent sits, so there is no extra probate filing fee. A Certificate of Name Reservation is legally required before the formation document can be filed - $25 by mail or $28 online - making the true minimum state cost $225 to $228, not $200. Alabama LLCs file no annual report: since January 1, 2024 only domestic and foreign for-profit corporations and professional corporations file one, at $10, and reports from other entity types are not accepted. A Certificate of Existence is $25 by mail or $28 online, certification of a document is $10, and plain copies are $2 per page ($3.50 online).
Alabama LLC fee breakdown
| Cost | Amount | How often | Charged by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Formation (Domestic Limited Liability Company) | $200 | One time | Alabama Secretary of State |
| Required state cost, first year | $200 | N/A | N/A |
| Registered agent service (optional) | $50, $300 | Every year | Commercial provider |
| Name reservation (optional) | $25 | One time | Alabama Secretary of State |
| Certificate of good standing (optional) | $25 | Per copy | Alabama Secretary of State |
The $200 fee is the same online or by mail; the Secretary of State remits $100 of it to the treasurer of the county where the initial registered agent's office sits, so there is no separate probate-court fee.
Alabama Business Privilege Tax: Computed on net worth at $0.25 to $1.75 per $1,000 depending on federal taxable income apportioned to Alabama, with a $15,000 cap. The statutory minimum was $100, reduced to $50 for tax years beginning after 12/31/2022; for tax years beginning after 12/31/2023 there is a full exemption when the computed tax is $100 or less, so most small LLCs owe $0.
The Secretary of State's Domestic LLC Certificate of Formation form and instructions and its LLC guidance set out name reservation, the certificate and the filing fee, and impose no newspaper publication step. Secondary guidance written before Act 2020-73 (effective 1 January 2021) frequently states otherwise; that act removed the county Probate Judge filing, and no publication duty replaced it.
Registered agent is listed separately because it is a commercial service, not a state charge. Commercial registered-agent services, not a state charge. Range and $125 midpoint match the assumption used by /tools/llc-true-cost. Most states let you serve as your own registered agent at no cost if you have a physical in-state address. Run your own numbers in the true-cost calculator. For what formation services charge on top of these state fees, see the best LLC services in Alabama.
Alabama LLC cost over five years
State charges only in the first column; the second adds a registered-agent service at the $125/yr market midpoint.
| Period | State cost only | With registered agent |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 (formation + first filing) | $200 | $325 |
| Each year after | $0 | $125 |
| Five-year total | $200 | $825 |
Is Alabama expensive compared with other states?
Alabama ranks 28th cheapest of 50 states on first-year cost , $32.03 below the $232.03 national average. On ongoing annual cost it ranks 1st.
A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you live and operate in Alabama. Doing business here with an out-of-state LLC generally means registering it as a foreign LLC in Alabama anyway. Paying both states. See foreign qualification in Alabama before forming elsewhere to save on fees.
Cost traps specific to Alabama
Name reservation is mandatory, not optional
Alabama requires a Certificate of Name Reservation to be obtained and attached before the Certificate of Formation can be filed, so budget $25 by mail or $28 online on top of the $200 filing fee.
Business privilege tax return can still bite in year one
Form BPT-IN is due within 2 1/2 months of organization unless the computed privilege tax is $100 or less, which Alabama fully exempts (tax and return) for tax years beginning after 12/31/2023.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where these numbers come from
Every fee above was checked against Alabama's own published sources on July 29, 2026 , the Alabama Secretary of State fee schedule, the governing statute, and where a state-level tax applies, the state tax authority. Commercial formation-service pages were not used.
The first-year total is the Certificate of Formation (Domestic Limited Liability Company) fee plus the first year of any recurring state charge. Where a state's first report is not due until the following year, that is noted above. The five-year total is the filing fee plus five years of recurring charges, which avoids the timing question entirely. Registered-agent service is excluded from all state figures.
Primary sources:
- https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/form-files/FeeSchedule.pdf
- https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/2022-01/2021FeeSchedule.pdf
- https://www.sos.alabama.gov/business-entities/llcs
- https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/DomesticLLCFormation.pdf
- https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/form-files/domesticEntityNameReservation.pdf
- https://www.revenue.alabama.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/BPT_Annual-Report_Notice.pdf
- https://www.revenue.alabama.gov/tax-types/business-privilege-tax/
- https://www.revenue.alabama.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/24fbptinblk.pdf
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.