LLC formation services for a Maine day care

What a formation service files, and what it cannot touch

A formation service prepares and files the Certificate of Formation. It cannot touch the license — the family child care license is issued to you, at your home, and cannot move to a company or an owner.

Whoever files, the state charges the same $175 fee. The inspections, the ratios, the background checks and the June 1 annual report stay yours regardless. See the licensing guide for the half of this business no service sells.

So the comparison is narrow: what is bundled around the filing, and what renews after the first year. Every figure below comes from the service's own pricing page on the date shown.

$175A Maine domestic LLC is formed by filing a Certificate of Formation on form MLLC-6 with the Secretary of State for a $175 filing fee. — Maine Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

First-year cost at base, service by service

Compare the total, not the headline. Most services publish a $0-plus-state-fee base tier, so what differs is what the base includes and what the second year costs.

Maine adds one wrinkle worth knowing: the registered agent named on the form must have consented to serve, and a noncommercial agent — you, at your own address — satisfies it. If you would rather keep your home address off the public record, an agent service is what you would pay for.

Every price below is what the service published about itself on the date checked. Confirm the current plan on each service's site before you buy.

$0 + state feeBizee publishes LLC formation packages starting at $0 plus state fees, with one year of registered agent service free with any formation package. — Bizee pricing page, retrieved 2026-09-29

$199 per yearZenBusiness publishes LLC formation starting at $0 plus state fees, with registered agent service at $199 per year and Worry-Free Compliance filings at $199 per year. — ZenBusiness pricing page, retrieved 2026-09-29

$249 per yearLegalZoom's registered agent service costs $249 per year and auto-renews at the purchase rate each year until cancelled. — LegalZoom registered agent page, retrieved 2026-09-29

Matched to what a day care provider actually needs

These are use cases, not a ranking. Each service sits where its own published offer fits a need, and the order on the page is presentation order only.

The need is specific here. A home day care's LLC is a shell around a licensed person: one filing, one agent, one annual report date. What separates the services for this reader is which of those three things they bundle and what the bundle costs in year two.

1. Tailor Brands

   Suits a provider who wants the filing, the operating agreement and the yearly compliance reminders living in one account. The $0 Lite plan covers the LLC formation, an operating agreement and an annual compliance feature, with the LLC processed within 14 business days. Paid tiers add one-day processing, legal compliance work and business tools, and a bookkeeping free trial becomes $39 a month after 30 days. The plan page does not list registered agent service, so budget for it separately if you want your home address off the public record.

2. Bizee

   Only the $175 state fee is due at the $0 base, and one year of registered agent service comes free with the package — the lowest first-year cost here with an agent included, and the free agent year keeps your home address off the state record while you decide whether the service is worth renewing. The agent service is what renews after the free year, and paid Standard and Premium tiers sit above the base with expedited handling.

3. BetterLegal

   Formation plans here start at $0 plus state fees across Starter, Pro and Premium tiers, with name availability checking, preparation of the articles and filing with the Secretary of State handled by their team. Registered agent service is a $199-per-year add-on rather than part of any base package, and an employer identification number and an operating agreement template are each published as $99 one-time items — worth pricing into the first year if you want them handled rather than done yourself.

4. ZenBusiness

   When the June 1 annual report deadline is the thing you fear missing, this is the service built around it: formation starts at $0 plus state fees, and Worry-Free Compliance at $199 per year tracks the state's required filings and amendments. Registered agent service is a separate $199 per year, so the total climbs once both are on — but the deadline tracking is the product, and for a provider juggling a sixty-day license renewal clock as well, that is the use case it answers.

5. LegalZoom

   Here the draw is a lawyer. The $0 Basic plan files the LLC, and the $249 Pro plan adds an operating agreement, an EIN and 30 days of unlimited 30-minute attorney consultations about the business, with the subscription auto-renewing at $49 a month until cancelled. An enrollment contract or a parental waiver worth a second opinion is the kind of document that use case fits. Registered agent service is separate at $249 per year, auto-renewing at the purchase rate.

$0 + state feesTailor Brands publishes a $0 Lite LLC plan plus state fees with an operating agreement and annual compliance feature, Essential at $199 per year and Elite at $249 per year. — Tailor Brands plans and pricing page, retrieved 2026-09-29

$0 + state feesBetterLegal publishes formation plans starting at $0 plus state fees, with registered agent service at $199 per year, an EIN at $99 and an operating agreement template at $99. — BetterLegal home page, retrieved 2026-09-29

$249 + state feesLegalZoom's Pro LLC plan costs $249 plus state filing fees and includes an operating agreement, an EIN and 30 days of unlimited 30-minute attorney consultations, auto-renewing at $49 per month. — LegalZoom LLC pricing page, retrieved 2026-09-29

File it yourself with the Maine Secretary of State

You can skip every service. Download the Certificate of Formation from the Secretary of State, file it with the $175 fee, and name yourself as the noncommercial registered agent.

No lawyer is required for the formation. The form is two pages: the name, the purpose, the agent, the signature. The Secretary of State also sells expedited handling — 24-hour for $50 more per entity, same-day for $100. That is worth it if the business banking has to open on a date.

This route is the benchmark for the whole page: the same filing, at the same fee, with nobody in between. What a service sells is the typing, an address, reminders or extra documents — never a different certificate.

$50 or $100 expediteMaine form MLLC-6 offers 24-hour expedited filing for a $50 additional fee per entity and immediate same-day handling for $100 additional. — Maine Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

Year two: the annual report either way

Pick by year two, because year one is nearly a tie. Every Maine LLC files an annual report to stay in good standing, due June 1. That holds whether it was formed by a service or by you, and whatever the service's compliance add-on actually does.

Write both deadlines down before you choose: the LLC's June 1, and the license renewal clock at sixty days before expiry. A compliance add-on can watch the first; nothing but you watches the second.

If the entity is still a question rather than a decision, the LLC page covers what the company can and cannot hold in a licensed home, and the cost breakdown puts the $175 beside the state's licensing fees in one budget.

June 1The Maine Secretary of State states an annual report is required to be filed every year to maintain good standing, with a legal filing deadline of June 1. — Maine Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions