How Much Does an LLC Cost in Missouri?
By Edmond Hui · Fees verified July 29, 2026 against the Missouri Secretary of State fee schedule
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.
What you actually pay in Missouri
Missouri is one of the cheapest states to maintain an LLC in — there is no annual report and no franchise tax, so after formation the state charges nothing recurring. But the formation fee more than doubles if you file on paper: $50 online versus $105 by mail, a $55 gap the Secretary of State itself advertises. Only domestic online filings get the $50 rate; the fee schedule prices paper filings at $105 for domestic and foreign alike. Ancillary fees are low: $25 to reserve a name, $10 for a certificate of good standing, $10 for an online certified copy (or $10 certification plus 50 cents per page on paper). Two quirks from the fee schedule worth knowing: electronic payments carry an added convenience fee not retained by the state, and under Startup for Soldiers, active-duty military in Missouri including the National Guard may create new businesses without paying a filing fee.
Missouri LLC fee breakdown
| Cost | Amount | How often | Charged by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Articles of Organization (LLC-1) | $50 | One time | Missouri Secretary of State |
| Same filing, submitted on paper | $105 | One time | Missouri Secretary of State |
| Required state cost, first year | $50 | — | — |
| Registered agent service (optional) | $50–$300 | Every year | Commercial provider |
| Name reservation (optional) | $25 | One time | Missouri Secretary of State |
| Certificate of good standing (optional) | $10 | Per copy | Missouri Secretary of State |
The Secretary of State's fee schedule lists "Certificates of Limited Liability Company (domestic/foreign)(paper) $105.00" and "Certificates of Limited Liability Company (domestic)(online) $50.00"; the SOS FAQ puts it plainly — "The savings for filing articles of organization for a limited liability company online is $55.00 ($50.00 online versus $105.00 by paper)." The paper LLC-1 form is printed "Submit with filing fee of $105.00."
No newspaper publication requirement for LLC formation under Chapter 347 RSMo.
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.
Missouri 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) | $50 | $175 |
| Each year after | $0 | $125 |
| Five-year total | $50 | $675 |
Is Missouri expensive compared with other states?
Missouri ranks 3rd cheapest of 50 states on first-year cost — $184.53 below the $234.53 national average. On ongoing annual cost it ranks 5th.
| Cheaper state | First-year cost | You would save |
|---|---|---|
| Montana | $35 | $15 |
A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you live and operate in Missouri. Doing business here with an out-of-state LLC generally means registering it as a foreign LLC in Missouri anyway — paying both states. See foreign qualification in Missouri before forming elsewhere to save on fees.
Cost traps specific to Missouri
Paper filing costs more than double
Missouri charges $50 for Articles of Organization filed online but $105 on paper — the Secretary of State's own FAQ frames it as a $55 saving for filing online. Mailing the LLC-1 form is the single most common way to overpay for a Missouri LLC.
Foreign LLCs get no online discount
The fee schedule's $50 rate is explicitly "(domestic)(online)" only. A foreign LLC registering in Missouri pays the $105 paper rate, so an out-of-state LLC should not budget $50.
Card payments add a convenience fee
The fee schedule states that electronic payments — credit cards and echecks — incur an additional convenience fee that is not collected or retained by the State of Missouri, so the $50 online filing costs slightly more than $50 at checkout.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where these numbers come from
Every fee above was checked against Missouri's own published sources on July 29, 2026 — the Missouri 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 Articles of Organization 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.