Illinois LLC costs and business software (October 2026)
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What it costs to form and keep an LLC in Illinois, which cloud data centres are closest, how Illinois's privacy rules affect your customer data, and the software and free tools for running the business.
LLC costs in Illinois
Forming an LLC in Illinois costs $150 in state fees in the first year and $75 a year after that. That makes Illinois the 36th cheapest state to form an LLC and the 36th cheapest to keep one, above the national median of $110 to form.
| Formation filing fee | $150 |
|---|---|
| Recurring: annual report | $75 every year |
| State cost in the first year | $150 |
| State cost each later year | $75 |
Work out your own total, with or without a formation service, in the LLC cost calculator, or see every state in LLC cost by state.
Forming in Illinois with a service
Services file the paperwork, act as your registered agent and, on some plans, get your EIN. Their fee comes on top of the state's.
| Service | Service fee | First year with Illinois fees | Each later year | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest Registered Agent (Basic) | $49 | $199 | $200 | Visit site |
| doola (Starter) | $297 | $447 | $372 | Visit site |
Later years include the service's registered agent (Northwest renews at its listed price; doola's plan renews each year) plus Illinois's recurring fee. You can act as your own registered agent if you have a street address in Illinois.
Founders who can form anywhere often choose Delaware or Wyoming through services such as Stripe Atlas, Clerky or Firstbase; compare them in the company formation ranking.
Compared with neighbouring states
| State | First year | Each later year |
|---|---|---|
| Illinois | $150 | $75 |
| Kentucky | $40 | $15 |
| Iowa | $50 | $15 |
| Missouri | $50 | $0 |
| Indiana | $95 | $16 |
| Wisconsin | $130 | $25 |
An LLC formed in another state that does business in Illinois usually has to register in Illinois as a foreign LLC too, paying fees in both states. A cheaper neighbouring state rarely saves money if you operate here.
Cloud servers closest to Chicago
Servers near your customers load pages faster. The nearest data centre of each provider in our cloud server ranking, measured in a straight line from Chicago, Illinois's largest city:
| Provider | Nearest data centre | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Vultr | Chicago | 0 miles |
| Akamai Cloud (Linode) | Chicago | 0 miles |
| Amazon Lightsail | Ohio | 274 miles |
| DigitalOcean | Atlanta | 589 miles |
DigitalOcean also lists Richmond, Kansas City and Memphis data centres; check which products are offered there before choosing one.
Customer data and Illinois privacy law
Illinois has no comprehensive consumer privacy law yet, but customers from other states and countries bring their own laws with them: if you sell to Californians or Europeans, their rules apply to their data.
A CRM that records consent and can export or delete a contact's data makes this routine. Compare them in the CRM ranking.
Software for Illinois businesses
The same tools serve every state; these rankings compare them on published prices and features.
- CRM software
- Help desk and AI support
- Project management
- Online store builders
- Point of sale
- Business accounts
- Corporate cards and expenses
- Hiring abroad (EOR)
- Cloud servers
- Website hosting
- Company formation services
Free tools
- LLC cost calculator by state
- Business name generator
- Free QR code generator
- Email signature generator
- Discount and sale price calculator
- Break-even calculator
- Hourly to salary calculator
- Customer lifetime value (LTV) and acquisition cost (CAC) calculator
Questions
How much does it cost to start an LLC in Illinois?
$150 in state fees in the first year ($150 to file), then $75 a year. A formation service adds its own fee.
Does Illinois require an annual report?
Yes: the annual report, every year, $75.
Sources: LLC University: LLC filing fees by state (updated June 10, 2026); LLC University: LLC annual fees by state (updated June 10, 2026); Commenda: LLC filing fees by state (updated July 16, 2026). Fees change; confirm with the Illinois filing office before you file.