Montana Anonymous LLC: The Lowest-Cost Privacy Alternative to Wyoming

By Jillian Dupree · April 20, 2026 · State LLC Service

Full disclosure: I write for State LLC Service. We help founders form LLCs in all 50 states. This article is educational content, not legal advice.

The $35 question

Montana charges thirty-five dollars to form an LLC. Wyoming charges a hundred. New Mexico is in the middle. Delaware is higher still.

So the question answers itself, right? Pick the cheapest one and move on?

Not quite. Price is the easiest variable to compare and the most misleading one to optimize for. A $35 LLC in the wrong state can cost you more in the long run than a $100 LLC in the right one. The question is not "what does formation cost," it is "what am I getting for the price, and what am I giving up."

This article walks through what Montana actually offers, where it holds up against Wyoming, and where it does not. If you are a cost-sensitive founder, a digital nomad with Montana residency, or a consultant running an online business, Montana may be exactly right for you. If you are building a real-estate holding structure or need the strongest available creditor protection, you will probably land on Wyoming after reading this.

We also flag one thing Montana is famous for that is not what you may think. The vehicle-titling play, the one where out-of-state buyers registered exotic cars through Montana LLCs to avoid sales tax, is a separate use case and, by our read, a dead end in 2026. More on that below. This article is about the business LLC, not the vehicle.

What Montana actually offers

Three things stand out when you look at Montana side by side with the other privacy-friendly states.

1. The lowest formation fee in the country

Montana's Secretary of State charges $35 to file Articles of Organization under the Montana Limited Liability Company Act, MCA Title 35, Chapter 8. The annual report runs another $20, due by April 15 each year, filed through the Montana Secretary of State business services portal.

By comparison, Wyoming's formation fee is $100 and its annual report is $60 minimum. Over a ten-year hold period, a Montana LLC's state fees come in at roughly $235 total. A Wyoming LLC runs closer to $700. For a bootstrapper or a founder testing an idea, that gap is real money.

2. No state sales tax

Montana is one of a small handful of states with no general sales tax. This matters for online businesses and service businesses that invoice clients nationally. It does not matter for out-of-state vehicle titling in the way people often assume, which we address below.

It also matters indirectly. Montana has a state personal income tax that flows through to LLC members (Montana LLCs are pass-through entities for tax purposes, same as in every other state). The top individual rate is in the mid-to-high single digits as of 2026 (verify current figure at filing time, the legislature has adjusted brackets in recent years). You can confirm current Montana LLC tax treatment through the Montana Department of Revenue.

3. A privacy-friendly filing process

Montana's Articles of Organization do not require member or manager names to be disclosed on the public formation document. A registered agent is required, and the agent is a matter of public record. That means a Montana LLC can be formed in a way that keeps the owner's name off the initial SoS filing.

This is where the phrase "anonymous LLC" enters the picture. In our view, "anonymous" is a strong word that deserves context. Montana's public-record privacy on day one is real. The federal beneficial ownership reporting regime (Corporate Transparency Act, in whatever form it currently exists when you read this) still applies, as it does everywhere else. FinCEN filings are confidential to the government, not public record. So Montana protects your name from the SoS website, not from federal compliance obligations.

Montana vs Wyoming: the side-by-side

Here is the honest comparison. Both states are privacy-friendly. They are not interchangeable.

The pattern: Montana wins on price and on indirect tax (no sales tax). Wyoming wins on statutory depth and charging-order strength. Neither one is wrong. They are built for different founders.

The Montana vehicle loophole is a dead end

This article is specifically about using a Montana LLC for a legitimate business purpose (consulting, online services, a holding vehicle for business assets, a registered operating entity for a digital product). That is a different use case, and it holds up.

When Montana is actually the right pick

Four profiles where we think Montana makes the most sense.

1. The cost-sensitive bootstrapper. You are testing an idea. You want an LLC, not a DIY Schedule C, but you do not want to over-pay on formation for a business that may pivot in six months. Montana's combined ten-year cost is the lowest in the country.
2. The online consultant or service provider. Your clients are national or international. You are not selling a physical product into Montana. No state sales tax means less sales-tax-nexus anxiety (though nexus rules still apply state-by-state where your clients are located).
3. The digital nomad with Montana residency. You live in Montana for part of the year, or Montana is your legal residence for licensing or driver's-license purposes. Forming the LLC in the state where you already pay taxes simplifies your life. No foreign qualification. No duplicate fees.
4. The privacy-conscious founder who values cost over statutory depth. You want your name off the SoS public record on day one. You do not plan to stack this LLC inside a larger asset-protection structure. Montana gives you that privacy at $35, which is objectively a good deal.

Where Montana comes up short

We promised an honest read, so here it is.

Montana's charging-order statute exists, but it is less tested. Wyoming has years of case law and legislative reinforcement around W.S. 17-29-503 and its charging-order exclusivity. Montana's statute is on the books, but the body of cases interpreting it is thinner. If a creditor challenges a charging order against a Montana LLC member, there is less precedent to rely on. For a real-estate stack, a cash-generating holding company, or any structure where asset protection is the point, Wyoming's depth is a meaningful edge.

Membership changes can surface on the annual report. Montana's annual report asks for information that can include updates to members or managers, depending on your filing choices. That is a different privacy profile than a state that requires no public ownership disclosure ever. If your goal is never-updated permanent anonymity, this is a factor to weigh.

Federal BOI still applies. No state-level privacy choice exempts you from the federal beneficial ownership reporting regime (whatever form it takes at the moment you are reading). FinCEN information is confidential to the government, not public record, but it is still a filing you have to make. Montana does not change that.

Out-of-state operations still need to foreign qualify. If you form a Montana LLC and then operate the business primarily in California or New York, you will likely need to register as a foreign LLC in the state where you are actually doing business. That adds cost and often pulls your name into the foreign-qualification state's public record anyway. This is not a Montana-specific limitation, but it catches people off guard.

Our opinion, clearly labeled as opinion

In our view, Montana is the budget privacy state and Wyoming is the asset-protection state. They are different tools.

If the main thing you want is a privacy-friendly LLC at the lowest possible sticker price, and your business is operational rather than structural (you are selling services, running a small online shop, consulting), Montana may be the best answer on the table.

If the main thing you want is charging-order strength backed by deep case law, or you are building a holding structure that will own real estate or multiple operating LLCs, Wyoming is worth the extra fee. The marginal cost per decade is a few hundred dollars. The marginal statutory strength is harder to put a number on, but our read is that for asset-protection purposes it is worth paying for.

And for anyone chasing the vehicle-titling angle, our opinion is simple. That play is mostly over. The risk-adjusted expected value on it has been negative for a while.

What to do next

If Montana looks right for you, here is the short version of the road ahead.

1. Confirm the name is available. Search the Montana Secretary of State business search for name conflicts before committing to a brand.
2. Appoint a registered agent in Montana. Montana requires a registered agent with a physical address in the state. The agent's name is public. If you value privacy, use a commercial registered agent rather than listing yourself.
3. File Articles of Organization. The $35 filing is done through the SoS online portal. Members are not required on the public document.
4. Write an operating agreement. This is private, not filed with the state. It is where member names, ownership percentages, and management structure live.
5. Get an EIN from the IRS. Free. Takes about fifteen minutes.
6. Plan for federal BOI (if applicable). Confirm current Corporate Transparency Act filing obligations at the time of formation. The rule has moved several times.
7. Calendar the April 15 annual report. Miss it and penalties start accruing. Put it on the same calendar as your federal tax deadline so you cannot forget.