What are the cheaper alternatives to doola for forming a US LLC from abroad?

doola sells formation as an annual subscription, with the registered agent inside it. That keeps the first year competitive, but the fee repeats every year the company exists, and that is what puts its running cost above the services that charge their fee once.

Its fee is $297, charged every year. Over five years, with the registered agent and the state's own fees, the company costs $1,825. Northwest Registered Agent's fee is charged once, and the same five years come to $979: $846 less.

Cheapest first, over five years: Wyoming Registered Agent Services $490, Northwest Registered Agent $979, StartGlobal $1,035, Bizee $1,135, against $1,825 for doola. Year one is the provider's fee, the registered agent and the state's filing fee; each year after is any recurring fee, the agent renewal and the state's annual charge.

Wyoming Registered Agent Services is cheaper still but does not obtain the EIN, so you would apply to the IRS on Form SS-4 yourself, by phone, fax or mail. The table shows which tier of each package includes it.

doola offers the annual Form 5472 filing as part of its Tax and Compliance plan, $1,999/yr. Bought separately, the cheapest published filing in the Form 5472 comparison is $299 a year, at US LLC Filings, so Northwest Registered Agent plus that filing comes to $484 a year after the first.

If you want the formation and the yearly Form 5472 handled by one company, doola sells both, and one subscription means one provider to deal with. Check the bundled price against the separate ones in the section above first: the formation subscription alone is $357 a year with the state's fee.