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

Firstbase's formation fee is currently discounted from its list price, so its first year looks cheap. The registered agent is not bundled at all: it is billed separately every year at the highest agent fee in the comparison, and that is what sets its running cost.

Its fee is $99, charged once. Over five years, with the registered agent and the state's own fees, the company costs $1,934. Northwest Registered Agent's fee is charged once, and the same five years come to $979: $955 less.

Cheapest first, over five years: Wyoming Registered Agent Services $490, Northwest Registered Agent $979, StartGlobal $1,035, Bizee $1,135, doola $1,825, LegalZoom $1,834, against $1,934 for Firstbase. 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.

Firstbase offers the annual Form 5472 filing as an add-on, at $899/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 something else Firstbase sells matters to you, weigh it on its own page. On formation and the registered agent alone, the alternatives above keep the same company standing for less every year after the first.