How Much Does an LLC Cost in Ohio?
By Edmond Hui · Fees verified July 29, 2026 against the Ohio 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 Ohio
Ohio charges $99 to file Articles of Organization (Form 533A) under ORC 111.16(F), and the same $99 to register a foreign LLC. There is no annual or biennial report for an Ohio LLC, so the recurring Secretary of State cost is $0. Expedited service is priced by rule at $100 for two business days, $200 for one business day and $300 for four business hours, charged on top of the $99 filing fee, and certification requests such as good standing certificates cannot be expedited. Name reservation is $39 and affixing the seal to a good standing certificate is $5, while copies are charged at up to $1 per page plus the $5 seal fee.
Ohio LLC fee breakdown
| Cost | Amount | How often | Charged by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Articles of Organization for a Domestic Limited Liability Company (533A) | $99 | One time | Ohio Secretary of State |
| Required state cost, first year | $99 | — | — |
| Registered agent service (optional) | $50–$300 | Every year | Commercial provider |
| Expedited processing (optional) — Expedite Level 1 (within 2 business days) $100, Expedite Level 2 (within 1 business day) $200, Expedite Level 3 (within 4 business hours) $300 | $100+ | One time | Ohio Secretary of State |
| Name reservation (optional) | $39 | One time | Ohio Secretary of State |
| Certificate of good standing (optional) | $5 | Per copy | Ohio Secretary of State |
ORC 111.16(F) sets a single $99 fee for filing and recording articles of organization of an LLC and the same $99 for an application to become a registered foreign LLC.
Commercial Activity Tax: Graduated only in the sense of an exclusion: the CAT rate of 0.26% applies to taxable gross receipts above an annual exclusion amount of $6 million for calendar year 2025 and thereafter (it was $3 million for 2024). A taxpayer with $6 million or less in taxable gross receipts is not required to file a return, so the great majority of LLCs owe $0.
Ohio imposes no newspaper publication requirement on LLC formation.
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.
Ohio 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) | $99 | $224 |
| Each year after | $0 | $125 |
| Five-year total | $99 | $724 |
Is Ohio expensive compared with other states?
Ohio ranks 11th cheapest of 50 states on first-year cost — $135.53 below the $234.53 national average. On ongoing annual cost it ranks 9th.
A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you live and operate in Ohio. Doing business here with an out-of-state LLC generally means registering it as a foreign LLC in Ohio anyway — paying both states. See foreign qualification in Ohio before forming elsewhere to save on fees.
Cost traps specific to Ohio
No annual report, but the Commercial Activity Tax can still reach you
Ohio LLCs file no periodic report, yet the CAT applies at 0.26% on taxable gross receipts above a $6 million annual exclusion for 2025 and later. Cross that line and you must reactivate a CAT account and file quarterly - annual CAT filing no longer exists.
Expedited service costs more than the filing itself
Ohio's expedite fees are $100, $200 and $300 depending on tier and are charged above and beyond the $99 filing fee, so a one-business-day formation costs $299. Certifications such as good standing certificates are not filings and cannot be expedited at any price.
Good standing certificates are cheap but copies are metered
ORC 111.16(K)(1) charges just $5 to create and affix the seal to a good standing certificate, but copies of filed documents are billed at up to $1 per page plus that $5 seal fee, so a certified copy of a long filing has no single flat price.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where these numbers come from
Every fee above was checked against Ohio's own published sources on July 29, 2026 — the Ohio 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 for a 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.