Formation services for Tennessee businesses

What a formation service can and cannot do here

A formation service prepares the Articles of Organization and files them with the Secretary of State. It does not obtain the county license, and it does not touch the business tax registration, the trade licenses, or the health permits.

The stack is the reason to be precise about what you are buying. In Memphis the county and city licenses cost $30 together, the LLC filing costs $300 minimum, and the trade layer, where it exists, carries its own board fees. A service's work covers exactly one of those layers.

So the comparison below is narrow. It is about the entity filing, each service's own published price, and what renews after the first year. The license layers are covered in how to get a Tennessee business license, and the reason the two halves are separate is on does an LLC need a business license.

$300 minimumThe Articles of Organization form SS-4270 states a filing fee of $50 per member, with a minimum fee of $300 and a maximum fee of $3,000. — Tennessee Secretary of State, form SS-4270, retrieved 2026-09-29

First-year published prices beside the state fee

Every figure below is what the service publishes about itself on its own pricing page, checked on the date shown. The state fee is added where the service's plan passes it through.

The state fee is not small in Tennessee. At $300 minimum for the Articles of Organization, the filing costs more than most services' base plans, so the "plus state fees" line is where the money actually is.

Check each price again before buying. Plans change, and the binding price is the one shown at checkout on the service's own site.

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

$0 + state feeBizee publishes a $0 Basic plan plus the state fee, Standard at $199 and Premium at $299, with one free year of registered agent service on every 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

Services matched to what a Tennessee owner needs

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

Every price is what the service published about itself on the date checked. Nothing here is a rating, and none of these services obtains the county license or the business tax registration, whichever one you pick.

1. Tailor Brands

   Suits a first-time Tennessee owner who wants the filing and the upkeep in one account. The $0 Lite plan covers the Articles of Organization, an operating agreement, and the annual compliance feature, with brand tools on the same account. Paid tiers add expedited processing and legal compliance work. The plan page does not state a registered agent price, so price that piece separately if you want it.

2. Bizee

   One free year of registered agent service rides along with every package here, including the $0 Basic plan plus the state fee, which matters when the state fee itself is $300. That year can keep a home address off the formation record. The agent service is what renews after the free year, and the Standard and Premium tiers sit above the base plan.

3. BetterLegal

   No tiers to compare: $299 plus the state fee covers the formation filing, an EIN, an operating agreement, and banking documents, with a stated two-business-day turnaround. Getting the EIN inside the package saves a separate trip to the IRS. Registered agent service is sold as an add-on, not part of the $299.

4. ZenBusiness

   When the deadline is the worry, this one sells the tracking. Formation starts at $0 plus state fees, and Worry-Free Compliance at $199 per year monitors filings such as the Tennessee annual report. Registered agent service is a separate $199 per year, so the total climbs once both are added.

5. LegalZoom

   The draw here is a lawyer on the phone. 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. A commercial lease or a vendor contract for a new trade business is the kind of document worth that call. Registered agent service is sold separately.

$299 + state feeBetterLegal publishes a $299 plus state fee formation package including an EIN, an operating agreement, and basic company documents, with registered agent as an add-on. — BetterLegal home page, retrieved 2026-09-29

$249 + state feesLegalZoom publishes a $0 Basic LLC plan plus state filing fees and a $249 Pro plan that adds an operating agreement, an EIN, and 30 days of unlimited 30-minute attorney consultations. — LegalZoom LLC pricing page, retrieved 2026-09-29

File it yourself with the Tennessee Secretary of State

You can skip every service and file directly with the Tennessee Secretary of State through the TNCaB portal. The fee is the same $300 minimum either way, because the state charges the filing fee, not the preparer.

The form is SS-4270, and its own fee line states the arithmetic: $50 per member, minimum $300, maximum $3,000. No attorney is required to file it. This route is the benchmark for every figure above, because it is the same filing at the same fee with nobody in between.

What a service adds is the typing, an address service, reminders, or extra documents. What it never adds is the rest of the stack: the county license from the local county or city tax agent, the state credential in the licensed trades, and the health permit in food service. Those stay yours whichever route files the paperwork.

SS-4270The Secretary of State's businesses portal handles new business filings online, and form SS-4270 states the filing fee is $50 per member with a $300 minimum. — Tennessee Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

Year two, and the reminders worth paying for

Pick by what year two costs, not by the first-year headline. The state's own second-year bills are fixed: the LLC annual report at $300 minimum, and the local license renewals on their anniversary.

A reminder service earns its price against exactly those two dates. The Secretary of State's calendar and the county clerk's counter do not chase you, and a lapsed annual report or a lapsed license is discovered at the worst moment, in front of a customer or a bank.

Before choosing, write down the two dates, then compare what each option costs in year two on what Tennessee business licenses cost. The order of errands for the whole stack is the Tennessee business license checklist.

$300 minimumThe Secretary of State's FAQ states the LLC annual report fee is $300 minimum up to $3,000, rising $50 per member over six members, while corporations file at $20. — Tennessee Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions