Updated November 10, 2026 · 9 services tested
We tested 9 LLC services for Montana. Northwest is our pick: $39 + $35 state fee, with the first registered agent year included (then $125/yr).
By Jon Morgan · Fact-checked by Jon Tobin, Business Attorney · How we test
Northwest Registered Agent
$39 + $35 state feeForm my LLC for $39 (opens in a new tab)
LegalZoom
$0 + $35 state feeSee LegalZoom plans (opens in a new tab)Save 20% with code: venturesmarter20
ZenBusiness
$0 + $35 state feeSee ZenBusiness plans (opens in a new tab)Prices checked November 10, 2026. Montana's state filing fee is $35.
We set up an LLC with every service reviewed here to see which company actually earns its price once the state's cut is paid.
Northwest Registered Agent is our top pick for direct support and a first year of registered agent service included with formation.
We ranked these nine providers on support quality, price, feature range, turnaround speed, ease of use and independent user ratings. Then we weighed each against what a Montana business owner needs after approval.
The comparison below shows what each service includes, followed by the state facts you'll want to know before you file.
| Service | LLC Fees | Registered Agent Price | Money-Back Guarantee | Score | Compare offers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $39 when using our link + $35 state fee | Free first year with the $39 LLC, then $125/yr | ✓ 90-day satisfaction guarantee | 4.9 | Form my LLC (opens in a new tab) |
| Formation from $0 + $35 state fee | $249 first year, then $249/yr (not in any plan) | ✓ 60-day satisfaction guarantee | 4.7 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
| Formation from $0 + $35 state fee | $199 first year, then $199/yr (not in any plan) | ✓ 60-day satisfaction guarantee | 4.6 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | Formation from $0 + $35 state fee | Free first year with formation, then $249/yr | ✓ 60-day satisfaction guarantee | 4.5 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | Formation from $0 + $35 state fee | $199 first year, then $199/yr (not in any plan) | ✗ | 4.4 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | Plans from $49 + $35 state fee | $14.99/mo first year, then $14.99/mo (inside its compliance plan) | ✓ 30-60 day satisfaction guarantee | 4.3 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | $99 service fee + $35 state fee | $99 first year, then $159/yr (sold separately) | ✗ | 4.1 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | Formation from $0 + $35 state fee | $596 first year, then $596/yr (billed $149 a quarter; not in any plan) | ✓ 60-day satisfaction guarantee | 4.0 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
 | Formation from $0 + $35 state fee | Free first year with formation, then $149/yr | ✓ Refundable within 24h before state payment; $30 cancellation fee | 3.8 | See plans (opens in a new tab) |
Prices checked November 10, 2026. Montana's state filing fee is $35.
Each score combines support, price, features, turnaround, ease of use and user ratings.
Refund: 90 days
BBB: A-rated (not accredited)
Same & Next Day Filing: No
Free Package Features: No features in free tier
Advisory Services: No
Northwest verifies every new account after signup, and a welcome call usually follows within a day. If anything is still missing, automated emails go out on day one, three and five, and a real person calls after 48 hours.
Our confirmation screen listed the assigned registered agent address immediately. It also showed the yearly limit on scanned regular mail. Service of process and state notices get unlimited scanning instead.
The welcome email linked to a forms library sorted by state. Paperwork we needed later was easy to find without digging through the account.
Pros
Cons
Refund: 60-day satisfaction guarantee
BBB: A+ accreditation
Same & Next Day Filing: No
Free Package Features: LLC filing and welcome packet (digital)
LegalZoom collects business details after payment clears, not before. That felt backward next to every other checkout we tested.
Once the account was active, a banner said more information was still needed before the application could move forward. Document tools elsewhere in the account offered AI-assisted analysis on anything we uploaded.
Chat and phone support answered questions the same day. The attorney network gave us a path to a licensed professional without leaving the account.
The attorney profile listed a specific practice area and license state for the professional assigned, more detailed than a generic "legal help" label.
Get 20% off eligible LegalZoom LLC formation and other services with Venture Smarter code venturesmarter20.
Pros
Cons
Refund: 60-day satisfaction guarantee
BBB: Yes, BBB accredited
Same & Next Day Filing: Pro and Premium plans only
Free Package Features: Includes LLC filing and a 100% accuracy guarantee
Advisory Services: Complimentary accounting consultation
Our ZenBusiness checkout kept the running total visible on every screen, with nothing paid pre-selected before we reached the final page. Phone and chat options stayed one click away throughout.
Once the order went in, Velo AI, ZenBusiness's in-account assistant, ran a check on first login. It flagged the missing EIN and the still-open compliance items before we added them ourselves.
The document center repeated the same open items when we came back later, and a compliance tab tracked registered agent status and license checks together.
Pros
Cons
Refund: 60-day satisfaction guarantee
BBB: Yes, BBB accredited
Same & Next Day Filing: ~ Premium package dependent
Free Package Features: Covers LLC filing
Inc Authority's checkout separates its own fee from the state's cut in plain language. That made the total easier to trust than several competitors we tested.
Before the final screen, single-purpose upsell offers appeared one at a time. Each one showed a countdown timer and a clear decline button.
The confirmation page opened straight into a logo builder. Several AI-generated options were ready to claim right away.
The order summary also broke out the entity name, type and state clearly before final submission, so nothing about the filing felt like a surprise afterward.
Pros
Cons
Refund: No
BBB: No
Free Package Features: LLC filing plus 30-day trial for bookkeeping
Advisory Services: Business coaching across all plans
Tailor Brands' dashboard opens on branding tools first. Formation status sits a level below. Most of the account is built around logo and website tools rather than paperwork alone.
Once the LLC was approved, the formation documents landed in a dedicated dashboard folder. An email linked to that folder instead of attaching anything directly.
Navi AI, Tailor Brands' in-account assistant, surfaced next steps on its own. It also flagged deductible expenses once we connected the financial tools.
Tailor Brands itself acts as the registered agent, listing its own address on state records and forwarding anything that arrives straight to the dashboard.
Pros
Cons
Open any card for the complete review, scores and packages.
Refund: 30-60 day satisfaction guarantee
BBB: A-rated accreditation
Same & Next Day Filing: No
Free Package Features: Covers LLC filing, and organizational minutes
Advisory Services: Paid add-on for attorney support
LLC Attorney's intake lists every filing step before anything gets submitted. We knew what documents to expect and in what order they'd arrive.
Staff prepare each document, including the operating agreement and any EIN confirmation. Someone reviews every filing before it goes out, instead of generating it from a bare template.
Phone support connected within minutes in our test. Email questions took closer to a full business day to get a complete answer.
The dashboard laid out formation progress, compliance status and upcoming deadlines in one place, so we never had to dig through email to find anything.
Pros
Cons
Refund: No
BBB: Yes, BBB accredited
Same & Next Day Filing: ~ Varies based on state
Free Package Features: No features in free tier
Advisory Services: No
Harbor Compliance's order wizard adds one service at a time before checkout. Once an order is placed, the system moves directly into the formation flow with no separate confirmation step.
There is no onboarding call for a standard LLC formation. The process is self-guided through the wizard and portal. A specialist answers phone and email questions during business hours.
Entity Manager, the account's compliance layer, scans legal mail the same day it arrives. It also tracks good-standing status across every state where the business operates.
Pros
Cons
Refund: 60-day satisfaction guarantee
BBB: No
Same & Next Day Filing: Premium Package only
Free Package Features: LLC filing and lifelong customer support
Advisory Services: No
Swyft Filings runs new orders through a five-step application. It moves from business details straight to document preparation and state submission.
The customer dashboard gives real-time status updates once an order goes in, and most filings track ahead of the estimated timeline rather than behind it.
Registered agent service is never included here from the start. It's a separate decision every customer has to make going in, rather than something they get by default.
Support stayed reachable by phone, email and chat throughout. The confirmation screen pointed us back to those same three channels if anything changed.
Pros
Cons
Refund: Refundable within 24h before state payment; $30 cancellation fee
BBB: No
Free Package Features: And additional benefits
Advisory Services: Free tax consultation (1 hour)
Bizee's dashboard task list showed which included services still needed manual activation. Domain, email and website tools don't turn on by themselves.
The checkout itself kept a running order summary visible the whole time. Every upsell screen offered a clear way to skip it, and nothing paid was pre-selected.
An expedited-filing offer we declined at checkout reappeared inside the dashboard after payment. Worth knowing before you assume a decline is final.
The registered agent listed on our paperwork was a named third-party company, spelled out clearly in the account rather than buried in fine print.
Pros
Cons
We scored the services using the same seven-part LLC service testing methodology: support, price, features, turnaround, ease of use, independent user ratings and Montana fit.
The state's own layer barely changes between providers, so the real differences show up in what happens after the filing goes in.
Every provider on this page went through an actual formation, order wizard walkthrough or verified provider records, going well beyond a features comparison read off a spec sheet.
Support mattered most in the minutes right after checkout, when an owner still has questions about what comes next and how fast it moves.
Northwest scored highest for support among these nine providers, followed by LegalZoom. ZenBusiness and Northwest both routed us to a real answer quickly instead of a scripted queue, and LegalZoom provided attorney-backed access.
The sticker price only tells part of the story once a registered agent renewal and other recurring costs enter the picture a year later.
Northwest and Inc Authority share the highest price score on this page. ZenBusiness, Inc Authority and Bizee offer no-cost entry plans, while Northwest's $39 formation package includes the first registered-agent year.
A long feature list earns its place only if it keeps being useful long after the LLC is formed, far past that first checkout screen.
Northwest and LegalZoom share the highest feature score on this page. ZenBusiness's dashboard keeps organizing compliance tasks well past the filing date, while Northwest and LegalZoom include tools beyond bare formation.
Every provider promises fast processing, but a provider's internal review time and the state's own review time are two separate clocks worth tracking apart.
ZenBusiness moved fastest through internal processing in our test. It shares the highest turnaround score with Northwest, with LegalZoom slightly behind. None of the nine needed a rush fee to beat the slowest providers on this list.
A clean checkout does not guarantee a clean account afterward, so we judged both halves of the experience rather than stopping at the first screen.
Nothing on this page matched ZenBusiness's ease-of-use score, largely on the strength of a dashboard that turns checkout into an organized task list right away. Northwest and Tailor Brands share the next-highest ease-of-use score at 4.7.
Independent user ratings gave us a check against our own hands-on impressions, since a service can look strong internally and still frustrate real customers elsewhere.
ZenBusiness and Northwest shared the top user-rating score in this group at 4.8 each, and Tailor Brands sat just behind them. All three carried noticeably stronger reviews than the lowest-rated providers here.
Montana's $35 filing fee and now-free on-time annual report apply the same way no matter which provider an owner picks, so fit comes down to what happens around that fixed cost.
Northwest is our top pick for Montana business owners who value a dedicated support contact and an included first registered-agent year.
LegalZoom is our second choice for founders who expect to use its wider legal services, while ZenBusiness remains our pick for guided online formation and account follow-up.
Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2025 Montana Small Business Profile, drawing on Business Employment Dynamics (Bureau of Labor Statistics) and CRA Aggregate Data (FFIEC).
Montana taxes corporate income at a flat 6.75% and individual income on a two-bracket schedule for 2026, 4.7% up to $47,500 in taxable income and 5.65% above that, down from a 6.9% top rate before the state's 2025 reform [4].
Montana charges no franchise tax on LLCs and has no statewide sales tax, though a few local jurisdictions in resort areas impose their own local option tax.
Yes, Montana is a good state for an LLC because the filing process is straightforward and the ongoing state costs stay low compared to most other states.
It is not hard to get an LLC in Montana. You file Articles of Organization online and pay the $35 filing fee, and the state handles the rest.
LLCs themselves do not pay Montana income tax by default, since they're pass-through entities. Members still owe the 15.3% federal self-employment tax on their share of profits.
It usually takes a handful of business days once the state reviews an online filing, on top of whatever internal processing time the formation service adds first.
Yes. Montana requires every LLC to name a registered agent with a physical in-state address on the Articles of Organization at formation.
The annual report is free if filed on or before April 15 each year. Filing after that date brings a $35 fee.
Pick Northwest Registered Agent for the strongest overall balance of direct support and registered agent service included for the first year with formation.
Choose LegalZoom as our second recommendation if you want legal services alongside formation. ZenBusiness ranks third for guided online formation and account follow-up.
Choose LLC Attorney if you would rather have a licensed professional review your paperwork than lean on a dashboard afterward.
Renewal pricing is where these nine services really pull apart, so weigh the second-year registered agent cost as closely as the first-year total before you commit.
References
Our verdict
$39 + $35 state fee, with the first registered agent year included (then $125/yr). 90-day money-back guarantee.
Prices checked November 10, 2026. Montana's state filing fee is $35.