Sunbiz LLC Cost: Average Fees Explained

Sunbiz is the Florida Division of Corporations' website, where the state registers and tracks businesses. People searching "Sunbiz LLC cost" want the total price of forming a Florida LLC. This page covers that.

The numbers come from the sources named in each table and were checked on Oct 11, 2026. Florida fees can change, so confirm them on the Sunbiz site before you pay.

The Articles of Organization are the filing that creates the LLC.

A name reservation costs $25. Registering a fictitious name, Florida's term for a DBA, costs $50. An LLC formed in another state registers as a foreign LLC for $125.

Two smaller documents are worth knowing about. A Certificate of Status, which proves the LLC is active, costs $5. Certified copies of filed documents cost $30 for each document, per ZenBusiness. Request only the ones a bank or counterparty asks for.

This is the cost that catches new owners off guard.

The annual report costs $138.75/yr, according to LLC University. That amount recurs every year, and it is larger than the Florida formation fee in this table. It is filed through Sunbiz, and the deadline is May 1.

Missing the deadline brings a late fee of $400. That is more than twice the cost of the report itself, so the deadline is worth treating as firm. An LLC that stays delinquent long enough can face administrative dissolution, so check with the state about its current rules.

Filing plus the first annual report comes to at least $263.75. Notice the word "at least." A registered agent, a name reservation, or an operating agreement from a service each push the total higher.

A Florida LLC that uses the owner as agent and skips every optional item lands at about that figure. Someone who hires an agent and reserves a name will see a noticeably larger bill.

Florida requires every LLC to have a registered agent with a street address in the state. You can serve yourself if you live in Florida. A commercial service is quoted at $100 – $300/yr, per ZenBusiness.

Many owners pay for an agent to keep a home address off the public Sunbiz record, since the registered agent's address appears in the public listing. If privacy matters to you, that is a reasonable use of the money.

All three sources agree on the filing fee. Because the figure is the same across sources, it appears to be the state's own schedule. Services may charge more when they add their own fees, so check what a quote includes.

The Sunbiz website is the official place to file. Filing yourself pays only the state fee. A formation service adds its own price in return for doing the paperwork and sometimes bundling an agent plan. Watch for solicitations that look like state notices and ask you to pay for a filing you did not request. The only official Florida business filing site is Sunbiz.

These two fees sound similar and do different jobs. A name reservation holds an LLC name before you file, so nobody else registers it while you prepare. A fictitious name registration lets an existing business operate under a name other than its legal one. If your LLC will use its own name publicly, you can skip the fictitious name entirely.

An LLC formed in another state registers with Florida before it operates here. The fee is listed above and matches the Florida formation fee in this table. The out-of-state company keeps its home-state obligations too, so the total yearly cost includes both states. A licensed attorney can help you decide whether forming a new Florida LLC makes more sense than registering an existing one.

Sunbiz is also a free search tool for checking whether a business name is taken, whether a company is active, and who its registered agent is. Searching costs nothing. Order a Certificate of Status only if someone needs a certified record.

These figures are filing and service fees. They are not tax amounts. Florida business taxes, federal taxes, and local licenses depend on what you do. A licensed CPA can explain what applies, and a licensed attorney can help with an operating agreement.