Which state should I form in?
Usually, the state you actually live in.
The honest answer is boring: form where you live or operate. Delaware and Wyoming earn their fame for specific cases — most founders aren't in them.
a "tax haven" you've never visited usually just means two filings instead of oneThe rule: form where you are.
A company does business where its owner lives and works, not where the paperwork was filed. If you form in Nevada but run everything from California, California will treat you as a business operating in California anyway — and you'll end up registered in both states, paying for both.
That's the trap the "form in a tax-free state" advice never mentions. The state where you actually operate will still want its registration and its fees. The tax-free state just becomes a second, redundant one you pay to keep alive.
The two real exceptions.
Form where you live if
You're a US resident with a real footprint
- –You have a physical presence, employees, or customers in one state
- –You want one registration, not two
- –You don't have a specific reason to be in Delaware or Wyoming
- –You value keeping the annual fees simple and local
Pick Delaware or Wyoming if
You have a reason, not a hunch
- –You're raising venture capital — Delaware, full stop
- –You're a bootstrapped or remote founder who wants low fees and privacy — Wyoming
- –You're a non-US founder with no US presence at all — either, by reputation
- –You've actually read the trade-offs and still want the state's ecosystem
If you're outside the US, the math changes.
A non-US founder has no "where I live" to honor, so Delaware and Wyoming genuinely become the sensible shortlist. Delaware if US investors are in your future; Wyoming if you're bootstrapping and want low fees and privacy. Our price is the same shape either way: $449 — $349 Corppy + $100 Wyoming filing fee, or $508 — $399 Corppy + $109 Delaware filing fee.
For the full comparison of those two, read Delaware vs Wyoming. And before you commit, check what the state will ask of you every year: the state annual fee, looked up properly.
We currently form in Delaware, Florida, Nevada, Texas, and Wyoming.
Pick the state that actually makes sense for you — we'll file it there, all-in pricing, no surprises.
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