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Formation ClassClass is in session: LLC paperwork, state by state.

Class session 1 · Hawaii

Hawaii LLC Formation Class (2026): 7 Assignments and the 3 Best LLC Services

If you want help starting an LLC in Hawaii in 2026, the top grades go to HI Registered Agent.org ($199), Hawaii Registered Agent.co ($199) and Mainstay Filing ($199), in that order. Numbers for the chalkboard: 7 assignments, a $51 filing fee, a $12.50 Domestic Limited Liability Company Annual Report.

Taught by the Formation Class faculty

The quick version

Fee to form$51Look at cca.hawaii.gov for yourself; we read it in October 2026
Recurring report$12.50 a yearCalendar entry: last day of the quarter in which the LLC was organized
Three years of state fees$76Formation, reports and any minimum tax
How many assignments7In order

You will leave able to

  • What Hawaii charges for a new LLC and where the filing goes
  • What the registered agent rule asks for
  • How to stay in good standing
  • How the picks stack up

Hawaii: the graded services

Tuition over three years leads, then homework done, year-two tuition, Hawaii fit and readable fees (grading page).
Top of the class

1. HI Registered Agent.org: best for a bare-bones formation

$199 to open, $99 a year after year one

HI Registered Agent.org gets first place, and the reason is that the formation costs $199 on top of the state fee, and the agent renewal is $99.

Over three years it costs less than Mainstay Filing, and three-year tuition is 30% of the grade.

Handing in the Domestic Limited Liability Company Annual Report every year stays on your homework list.

Covered by the tuition

  • The Hawaii formation, prepared and sent
  • A year of agent service is part of the price

Strengths

  • $99 yearly from year two
  • $199 plus the state fee
  • Year-one agent service costs nothing extra

Weak spots

  • Preparing the Domestic Limited Liability Company Annual Report is up to you
  • Help with the EIN is $99 more
Local choice

2. Hawaii Registered Agent.co: best for LLCs that never leave Hawaii

$199 to open, $99 a year after year one

Grade number 2 belongs to Hawaii Registered Agent.co, where the formation costs $199 on top of the state fee, and the agent renewal is $99.

Handing in the Domestic Limited Liability Company Annual Report every year stays on your homework list.

It lists the same prices as HI Registered Agent.org.

Covered by the tuition

  • The Hawaii formation, prepared and sent
  • A year of agent service is part of the price

Strengths

  • $199 plus the state fee
  • Year-one agent service costs nothing extra
  • $99 yearly from year two

Weak spots

  • Preparing the Domestic Limited Liability Company Annual Report is up to you
  • Help with the EIN is $99 more
Any state

3. Mainstay Filing: best for having the annual report filed by someone else

$199 a year that renews at $199

Mainstay Filing lands in third place: you hand in $199 each year and the formation, the registered agent and the annual report are taken care of.

A $200 gap to HI Registered Agent.org over three years decides where it lands.

The Domestic Limited Liability Company Annual Report is part of its homework, and Hawaii's $12.50 fee is billed to you at cost.

Covered by the tuition

  • Formation filing prepared and sent
  • Registered agent for the whole year
  • Annual report filed on time
  • EIN application included
  • State fee passed through at cost

Strengths

  • It prepares your EIN application too
  • $199 when you renew
  • $199 a year covers filing, agent and report

Weak spots

  • HI Registered Agent.org renews for $100 less

3 services, side by side

#ServiceFirst yearFrom year twoThree-year total
1HI Registered Agent.org$199$99/yr$397Visit HI Registered Agent.orgPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.
2Hawaii Registered Agent.co$199$99/yr$397Visit Hawaii Registered Agent.coPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.
3Mainstay Filing$199$199/yr$597Visit Mainstay FilingPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.
Taken from each company's price page on November 13, 2026. The $51 state fee is left out of these figures.

The assignments

  1. Assignment
    1

    Settle on a name

    Class starts with a look at the Hawaii register at the Hawaii Secretary of State.

    Keep a backup in your notebook.

  2. Assignment
    2

    Name the registered agent

    Every LLC must name a registered agent with an in-state street address. A Hawaii resident, or a business entity formed in Hawaii or authorized to do business there. The LLC cannot be its own agent.

    The address has to be a place of business with a street address in Hawaii. P.O. boxes are not accepted.

    All of the graded services provide a registered agent.

    Textbook page: Look at capitol.hawaii.gov for yourself; we read it in October 2026

  3. Assignment
    3

    Choose how the filing gets made

    Skip the service and you pay the state $51. Use one of the graded services and you pay $199 more to skip the forms.

  4. Assignment
    4

    Complete, sign and file the Articles of Organization for Limited Liability Company

    This is the big filing, the one that creates the company: the Articles of Organization for Limited Liability Company (Form LLC-1), handed to the Hawaii Secretary of State with $51 (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 428-203).

    Textbook page: Look at cca.hawaii.gov for yourself; we read it in October 2026

  5. Assignment
    5

    Take care of the EIN

    Approval first, IRS number second. Mainstay Filing files the EIN application as part of the package.

  6. Assignment
    6

    Get the owners' agreement signed

    Think of the operating agreement as the owners' rulebook. The company keeps it; the state never asks for a copy.

  7. Assignment
    7

    Stay in good standing in Hawaii

    The filing that comes around again is the Domestic Limited Liability Company Annual Report ($12.50, every year, by last day of the quarter in which the LLC was organized). Filing late costs $10 more.

    Textbook page: Look at files.hawaii.gov for yourself; we read it in October 2026

Costs, assignment by assignment

ItemWho gets paidAmount
The formation assignmentState office$51
State reportState office$12.50 every year
Late feeState office$10
Optional serviceThe service$199 for year one
State fees for the first three yearsState office$76
Rows for the state use Hawaii's published fee schedules (see the textbook pages beneath the table), and each service row uses that company's own price. Over three years the state row adds the filing, the year-two report, the year-three report and any minimum tax.

The reasoning behind the grades

On tuition across three years (30% of the grade) came out on top, with close behind.

HI Registered Agent.org comes to $397 across three years, a saving of $200 next to Mainstay Filing.

Hawaii pop quiz

How much does Hawaii charge to start an LLC?

Hawaii bills $51. A graded service adds $199 in year one.

Which form creates the LLC?

Assignment 4 shows how to fill out the Articles of Organization for Limited Liability Company (Form LLC-1) and where it goes: the Hawaii Secretary of State.

Is a registered agent required?

Every LLC must name a registered agent with an in-state street address.

What does Hawaii require each year?

Once a year the LLC sends the state its Domestic Limited Liability Company Annual Report: $12.50, due last day of the quarter in which the LLC was organized.

Can I form the LLC without a service?

Nothing stops you. Hawaii wants $51, and the LLC has to name a registered agent, which you can do yourself or hire out.

Which LLC service should a first-time founder use?

The grade order is HI Registered Agent.org, Hawaii Registered Agent.co and Mainstay Filing, and HI Registered Agent.org is first since $199 above the state fee, with year one of the agent covered, then $99 a year.

Keep learning

Textbook pages and extra reading

  1. Study tip for Hawaii DCCA Business Registration Division release of July: everything above comes from cca.hawaii.gov, which we reread in October 2026. Open it and follow along.
  2. Study tip for Hawaii yearly filing: Annual report: fee, official source: everything above comes from files.hawaii.gov, which we reread in October 2026. Open it and follow along.
  3. Study tip for Hawaii formation fee: Filing fee, official source: everything above comes from cca.hawaii.gov, which we reread in October 2026. Open it and follow along.
  4. Study tip for Hawaii formation fee: Filing fee, official source: everything above comes from cca.hawaii.gov, which we reread in October 2026. Open it and follow along.
  5. Study tip for Hawaii registered agent statute: everything above comes from capitol.hawaii.gov, which we reread in October 2026. Open it and follow along.
  6. Tuition figures from HI Registered Agent.org (pricing page), November 13, 2026
  7. Tuition figures from Hawaii Registered Agent.co (pricing page), November 13, 2026
  8. Tuition figures from Mainstay Filing (Hawaii service page), November 13, 2026