How we judge
How LLC Straight Talk ranks services
Where the facts come from
If a state sets the number, we go to the state. Fees, deadlines and agent rules come from its own forms, fee schedules and laws, linked next to the fact with the month we confirmed it. What a company charges is whatever it posts, and we print the date we read it.
What a page looks like
You get the answer up top, the numbers under it and the source at the bottom. Jargon links to a definition.
How we add it up
Three years means the first-year price plus two renewals. That's it. On the state side we add the filing fee, the reports in years two and three and any yearly minimum tax. Costs that have no fixed amount, like a newspaper notice, get explained but aren't added in.
The five tests
- Money out the door in three years (35%). Year one plus two renewals at the prices each company posts. The state charges everybody the same, so its fees are listed apart and do not change the order.
- Jobs the price actually covers (30%). Agent, state report, EIN application, other states. If the job sits inside the price, it counts. If it is an add-on, it does not.
- No hunting for the price (14%). The first-year price, the renewal and the state fee should be easy to find before you pay. Hidden numbers lose points.
- No surprise at renewal (11%). A renewal that matches year one is better than a low start and a jump.
- Where it works (10%). One state or fifty. Matters once the LLC moves or grows.
Where two services are close, the page says what broke the tie and what the one in second place does right.
The order is the LLC Straight Talk editorial opinion on the criteria above. It is not a customer rating.
Who we rank
It's Mainstay Filing against that state's own agent companies. No posted price, no ranking.
What you won't find here
No customer ratings, no made-up quotes and no legal advice. The order is our own opinion, built from the five tests.