Delaware vs Wyoming LLC (2026): Fees, Privacy and Which to Pick

Short answer: Wyoming is the cheaper state. It charges $100 to file Articles of Organization and a $60 minimum each year. Delaware charges $110 to form and a $400 annual tax. Over five years, state charges come to $400 in Wyoming and $2,110 in Delaware. Pick Delaware when investors or a future buyer will expect Delaware law, or when one shared annual date is worth the extra $340 a year.

Method: Prices checked 12 October 2026 on each state's own fee schedule and on its form for a new LLC, and every state figure below comes from those sources. The vendor prices come from each provider's own pricing page on the same day. Where a page lists a price two ways, we say so and show both.

The one-time filing fee

	Delaware	Wyoming
Formation filing	Certificate of Formation, $110	Articles of Organization, $100
Registered agent address	Located in Delaware	Physical Wyoming street address, no drop box
Owner names on the filing	Not asked	Not asked

Wyoming costs $10 less to form. That gap is too small to decide the question, so the real comparison sits in the annual charge and the registered agent. See also our state fee breakdown for six states. Both states require an agent with a local address, and that agent is a yearly cost. Wyoming's rule is stricter. The agent needs a physical street address in the state, and a P.O. box counts only when a physical address is listed as well.

What each state charges every year

	Delaware	Wyoming
Annual charge	$400 annual tax for an LLC	$60 license tax, or two-tenths of one mill ($0.0002) on Wyoming-located assets if that is higher
Due	June 1, for the prior year	The anniversary month of formation
Paperwork	Tax only, no annual report	Annual report plus the license tax
Late	$200 penalty plus 1.5% interest a month	Delinquent after the due date; administrative dissolution if still unfiled after 60 days

Delaware's charge is one flat number. The Division's own page sets the annual LLC tax as a flat amount, due by June 1 for the prior year. The tax applies to any year in which the company was active at any point, so a company formed in December still owes the full amount for that year. A late payment adds $200 plus 1.5% interest for each month it stays unpaid. The old $300 figure still circulates in older guides, but the Division's current page and its LLC form both show $400.

Wyoming's charge works as a floor rather than a flat fee. The license tax is $60, or two-tenths of one mill on each dollar of assets located and used in Wyoming, whichever is larger. The floor applies to any company with $300,000 or less of Wyoming assets, which covers a small company run from abroad that holds no Wyoming assets. Above that line the rate takes over. Wyoming assets of $1 million produce a $200 tax.

Wyoming's annual report is due in the anniversary month of formation, so the deadline depends on when you formed. The Secretary of State treats a late entity as delinquent. If the report stays unfiled for 60 days, the state can administratively dissolve the LLC. Delaware has one date for every company, which makes its calendar easier to keep. The dissolution risk is the Wyoming-specific item a founder abroad has to track, because a missed filing is easy to overlook from abroad.

Our analysis: Five annual charges cost $2,110 in Delaware, which is the $110 filing fee plus five annual taxes. The same five years cost $400 in Wyoming: the $100 filing fee plus five $60 license taxes. The gap is $1,710. A registered agent adds the same fee to both states if you use one provider for both, so the gap holds. At ZenBusiness's $199 a year agent price, the totals become $3,105 in Delaware and $1,395 in Wyoming, with the same $1,710 gap.

Privacy: the state filings look the same

Wyoming sells privacy, and part of that pitch holds up. Its Articles of Organization ask for the LLC name, a registered agent with a physical address, mailing and principal office addresses, a close-LLC election, and the organizer's contact details. They do not ask for member or manager names. Delaware's Certificate of Formation is shorter still. It asks for the LLC name, the registered office and agent in Delaware, and the authorized person who signs. It does not list owners either.

The annual report checklist on Wyoming's site asks for a filing ID and, for some entities, the financial figures behind the license tax. Its list of officer and director names applies to corporations, not to LLCs.

Our analysis: On the state record, the two states tie. Neither formation filing asks for owner names, although whoever signs as organizer or authorized person can be a founder. Owner details still surface elsewhere. A bank checks who owns a company before it opens an account, and federal tax forms carry owner details whichever state you choose. Plan on the owner's identity reaching the bank and the IRS in both cases, and treat a state choice as a question about fees and calendar, not secrecy.

Which state wins each dimension

Dimension	Winner	Why
Formation fee	Wyoming	$10 less than Delaware
Annual state charge	Wyoming	A license tax floor against Delaware's flat annual tax
Five-year state charges	Wyoming	Under a fifth of Delaware's total
Owner names on state filings	Tie	Neither formation filing asks for them
Registered agent	Tie	Both need an in-state agent; Wyoming also rules out drop boxes
Filing calendar	Delaware	One date for every LLC; Wyoming's depends on the formation month
Investor and buyer familiarity	Delaware	Investors often ask for Delaware law

Wyoming wins all three cost rows, and Delaware wins the calendar and investor familiarity. Which row matters most depends on what the company will do in its first five years. A founder who keeps the business small and self-funded gains the most from Wyoming's lower charge. A founder who expects a fundraise should weigh Delaware's familiarity more heavily, since the annual difference is small next to the value of a familiar entity.

Which state fits a non-US founder

Neither state asks where the owner lives, so a founder abroad can form in either one. The state choice does not change the federal tax position, though. A single-member LLC owned by a foreign person is a foreign-owned US disregarded entity. The IRS instructions treat it as a reporting corporation, and it must file Form 5472 when it had a reportable transaction with a related party, such as its foreign owner. The initial penalty is $25,000 per form, and the rule is the same in Delaware and Wyoming. Our Form 5472 guide covers the filing in detail, and how to form a US LLC as a non-resident walks through the steps.

If the company will do business from another US state, that state will likely require its own registration. That requirement does not depend on where you formed, so it does not decide between Delaware and Wyoming. Pick the formation state on fees, investor expectations and your ability to meet the annual deadline.

Our rule of thumb for a non-resident owner:

• Choose Wyoming when you own the company alone, keep it bootstrapped, want the lowest recurring state charge, and can file the annual report in your anniversary month from wherever you live.
• Choose Delaware when investors or an acquirer will expect Delaware law, or when one shared annual date is worth $340 a year to you.

Investors who write venture checks often want a corporation rather than an LLC. If fundraising is the plan, ask a lawyer about the entity type before you choose a state. The state comparison matters less than that decision.

Vendor bundles for a non-resident owner

Most non-resident owners buy a bundle rather than file each form. Our doola review and LLC formation services roundup cover the same providers in more depth. We ranked the bundles on three scenarios, using the list prices on each provider's pricing page, read on 12 October 2026. State fees are extra in every case. Annual prices renew each year, but firstbase's Start fee is a one-time charge.

Scenario	Option	List price	What is included
1. Formation, EIN and registered agent	doola Starter	$297 a year	Formation filings, EIN, operating agreement, registered agent, virtual mailing address
1. Formation, EIN and registered agent	firstbase Start plus Agent	$99 one-time, then $299 a year per state	Formation and expedited EIN with Start; the agent is sold separately
2. Adds federal and state tax filings	firstbase Start, Agent and non-US single-member tax filing	$1,297 in year one ($99 + $299 + $899)	Tax filing for non-US owned single-member LLCs at $899 a year
2. Adds federal and state tax filings	doola Tax and Compliance	$1,999 a year	Starter plus federal and state tax filings and a 1:1 tax consultation
3. Adds bookkeeping	doola Business-in-a-Box	$2,999 a year	Monthly financial statements, synced bookkeeping and taxes, quarterly estimates, dedicated bookkeeper
3. Adds bookkeeping	firstbase scenario 2 stack plus Accounting	$3,187 at the $1,890 add-on, or $7,287 at $5,990 a year	The scenario 2 stack plus accounting

Ranking: In scenario 1, doola's Starter is the cheapest bundle we could confirm with both an EIN and a registered agent in one price. firstbase costs $398 in year one, and it renews at $299 for the agent alone. In scenario 2, firstbase is lower on list price. Its $1,297 before state fees beats doola's $1,999 by $702. In scenario 3, doola is lower on either reading of firstbase's accounting price. Its $2,999 plan undercuts firstbase's stack at $3,187 and at $7,287.

Two other providers sell single prices as well. ZenBusiness charges $199 a year for its registered agent, and formation starts at $0 plus state fees. Bizee sells a Standard package at $199 plus the state fee, which includes one free year of registered agent service. Neither page confirms an EIN inside its single price, so they do not rank in the three scenarios above.

Read the doola page with care. Its Business-in-a-Box card shows monthly rates of $329 and $263 that do not match the $2,999 annual price. Ask for the annual price in writing before you sign, and check that the state fee is listed separately on the invoice.

Stripe Atlas sells a Delaware corporation, not an LLC, so it sits outside this comparison.

Banking after formation

The bank is the next decision. Mercury has a free plan at $0 a month. Deposits sit with partner banks, and Mercury lists up to $5 million of FDIC insurance through them. The company says it is "a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank," so read the partner-bank wording before you count on that coverage. Non-USD wires carry a 1% currency fee, and non-USD card transactions carry 3%. Both matter if you pay suppliers in other currencies.

Relay is the other common pick. Its Starter plan is free and allows 20 checking accounts per business. Grow costs $30 a month, and Scale costs $90 a month, down from a regular $120. For a single owner with one operating account, the free tier is the starting point to compare, and the paid tiers only make sense when the account count justifies them.

Our reviews of Mercury and Relay go through the fee schedules in more detail. Pricing changes on bank and vendor pages move often, so check the live page before you open an account. To hear about fee changes, subscribe to the Finpresso newsletter.

Bookkeeping is a separate line. Xero and FreshBooks bill on their own plans, so price them as a separate subscription next to the formation package. Our Xero review and FreshBooks review cover their plans. If you pay suppliers abroad, a multi-currency account such as the one Airwallex offers is the other route to compare. Our Airwallex review sets out its fees.

A checklist for the first year

Work through the steps in this order, because the state choice drives the rest.

1. Decide on the investor path first. If a fundraise is likely, the entity type matters more than the state fee, so settle it with a lawyer before filing.
2. Name a registered agent in the state you choose. Delaware needs an agent located in Delaware. Wyoming needs a physical Wyoming street address, and a P.O. box only counts alongside one.
3. File the formation document with the state fee from the table above. Wyoming accepts online filings through its business portal.
4. Get the EIN. The doola Starter and firstbase Start packages both include one, so compare the bundle before you pay for a separate EIN service.
5. Open the bank account and set the bookkeeping. Compare the free tiers first, then the fees on non-USD transfers.
6. Put the state date in the calendar. Delaware's annual tax falls on June 1 each year. Wyoming's annual report falls in the anniversary month, so set a reminder for that month before the first report is due.
7. Track the federal filing. A foreign-owned single-member LLC carries the Form 5472 duty in either state when it has reportable transactions with its owner, so track it alongside the state deadline.

Gotchas

• A company formed in December owes the full Delaware tax for that calendar year, even if it closes soon after.
• A Wyoming registered agent needs a physical street address in the state. A P.O. box counts only in addition to one, and a drop box does not count.
• If the Wyoming annual report stays unfiled for 60 days, the state can dissolve the LLC.
• The doola monthly figures do not match its annual price. Use the annual figure, in writing, when you compare.

FAQ

Is Wyoming or Delaware cheaper for an LLC in 2026?

Wyoming, by a wide margin once the annual charge counts. It costs $100 to form in Wyoming and $110 in Delaware. Its annual license tax has a minimum, while Delaware's annual tax is a flat amount. Five years of state charges come to $2,110 in Delaware, and Wyoming's total is under a fifth of that.

Do I have to live in Delaware or Wyoming to form an LLC there?

No. Neither formation form asks where the owners live, so a founder abroad can file in either state. Each state does require a registered agent with a local address, and that agent costs money every year in both states.

Does Wyoming keep the owners' names private?

Its Articles of Organization and its annual report checklist do not ask for member names, and Delaware's certificate does not either. Privacy stops at the bank and the IRS. A bank checks who owns the company before it opens an account, and federal tax forms carry owner details in any state.

Is Delaware better if I plan to raise money?

It can be. Investors often ask for Delaware law, and that familiarity is what the extra $340 a year buys. Many venture investors also want a corporation rather than an LLC, so check the entity type with a lawyer before you file in either state.

Cite this: Finpresso, "Delaware vs Wyoming LLC (2026): Fees, Privacy and Which to Pick", October 2026.

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