It is easy to assume the cheapest option today will cost more later, or that paying an attorney for something a cheap filing service claims to do is money wasted. Neither fear holds up once you see exactly what each price includes and what it leaves out. Start with the one number that never changes: what Georgia itself charges.
What Georgia Actually Charges to Form an LLC
The Georgia Secretary of State charges a flat fee to file your Articles of Organization, the document that legally creates your LLC.
Under the fee schedule that took effect September 6, 2025, this fee is $110 whether you file online or by mail.
| Filing Method |
Fee |
Typical Processing Time |
| Articles of Organization, online |
$110 |
7 to 10 business days, standard |
| Articles of Organization, by mail |
$110 |
7 to 10 business days plus mail time |
There is no Georgia franchise tax and no separate state income tax on the LLC itself. Income passes through to your personal tax return.
The Annual Registration Fee (The Cost People Forget)
Every Georgia LLC must file an Annual Registration to stay in good standing with the state.
The fee is $60 every year, due between January 1 and April 1.
A newly formed LLC does not file an Annual Registration in its first year. Your first filing is due January 1 through April 1 of the year after you form the LLC.
Georgia gives a 90-day grace period after the April 1 deadline, extending to July 1 before the LLC risks administrative dissolution. But a $25 late fee applies immediately after April 1 if you miss the original deadline, even while you are still inside the grace period.
Optional Costs That Add to the Total
A registered agent service costs $100 to $300 a year. You can act as your own registered agent for free if you have a physical Georgia address and are comfortable having your name on public record for service of process.
A name reservation costs $25 and is optional. It holds your LLC name for 30 days while you prepare your paperwork, but it is not required to file.
Expedited processing speeds up state review: 2 business days costs an extra $100, same-day service (submitted before noon) costs an extra $250, and 1-hour service costs an extra $1,000.
What a $110 Filing Does Not Cover
Georgia does not require an LLC to have a written operating agreement, so a bare-bones filing service will not draft one for you. Without an operating agreement, basic questions like who takes over the LLC if you become incapacitated default to statutory rules that were not written with your specific situation in mind.
The bigger gap is what happens when you die. An LLC membership interest is not automatically protected from probate. Under O.C.G.A. § 14-11-506, the deceased member’s executor or administrator only receives the LLC’s economic rights (called an assignee interest) after being appointed through probate. That is not the same as becoming a full member. Under O.C.G.A. § 14-11-503, becoming a full member with voting and management rights requires the unanimous consent of the other LLC members. For a full breakdown of what this actually means for your family, see the article on problems with an LLC that has no trust behind it.
A revocable trust that holds your LLC membership interest avoids this. For a full comparison of when you need an LLC, a trust, or both, see LLC vs. trust for Georgia rental properties.
DIY vs. Registered Agent Service vs. Attorney
The state fee is the smallest number in this decision. Here is what the realistic first-year total looks like under each path:
| Path |
What You Get |
Typical First-Year Total |
| DIY, no operating agreement |
Filed entity only |
$100 to $160 |
| DIY plus registered agent service |
Filed entity, professional registered agent |
$210 to $460 |
| Attorney-drafted setup |
Filed entity, registered agent, operating agreement built for your situation |
$700 to $1,000+ |
An attorney-drafted operating agreement is the item doing the real work in that top row. Georgia’s default rules were not written around your family or your business.
If your LLC exists to hold a business you built, see whether your LLC operating agreement overrides your will in Georgia before you assume your current paperwork already covers this. For the full picture of protecting a Georgia business with the right legal structure, see the Business Owner estate planning hub.
If You Are Forming an LLC for a Rental Property
Everything above is the generic answer for any Georgia LLC. If you are specifically forming an LLC to hold a rental property, the costs and the estate planning stakes are different, because a rental property LLC usually needs a deed transfer into the entity on top of the filing fee. See the full breakdown in how much it costs to set up an LLC for rental properties in Georgia.
What It Costs to Set This Up Correctly at Atlanta Estate Planning
The full cost of a complete estate plan built around an LLC and a revocable trust depends on the number of entities and properties involved. For the full cost breakdown, see how much estate planning costs for a business owner in Georgia.
