Registering a limited company costs £100 online at Companies House, doubled from £50 on 1 February 2026, and that £100 is the number every formation service is quoting around. The only way to pay less is a bank that swallows the fee to win your account, which is exactly what Tide's £14.99 package does. The agents advertising formation for £2.99 add the £100 straight back on at checkout, so their real cost is about £103, justified only by the extras they bundle. Here are the six routes, and who each one actually suits.
| Route | Total cost | £100 fee | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tide | £14.99 all in | Included | cheapest genuine route to a limited company in the UK, by a wide margin |
| Companies House (direct) | £100 | Included | official route, and the true cost every agent is quoting around |
| 1st Formations | From £103.59 inc VAT | Added on top | cheapest agent, with genuine London registered-office addresses on the paid tiers for privacy |
| Rapid Formations | From £103.59 inc VAT | Added on top | Near-identical to 1st Formations but with lifetime phone support included |
| ANNA Money | From £119 (base plan) | Added on top | Formation bundled with a genuinely free pay-as-you-go business account |
| Osome | From £339 + VAT (all-in-one) | Included | Formation packaged with a real accounting service for a company that means to grow |
The cheapest genuine route to a limited company in the UK, by a wide margin
£14.99 one-off, or £1 if you take the Company Secretary service at £12.50 plus VAT a month. Both are set against the usual £100, because Tide absorbs the Companies House fee. Company registration and the £100 Companies House fee, plus a free business current account. Certificate usually within one business day.
Register your company with TideThe official route, and the true cost every agent is quoting around
£100 for online incorporation, up from £50 on 1 February 2026. No VAT. Same-day service is £156; paper filing is £124 and takes 8 to 10 days. Bare incorporation: the Certificate of Incorporation and your company on the register, usually within 24 hours. No address service, no bank account, no support.
Register directly at Companies HouseThe cheapest agent, with genuine London registered-office addresses on the paid tiers for privacy
The Digital package is £2.99 plus VAT with the £100 Companies House fee added on top. Privacy is £17.99 plus VAT and All Inclusive £39.99 plus VAT, each still plus the £100. Company registration with identity verification, a free .co.uk or .com domain, an online company manager, first confirmation statement filing and the full document set.
See 1st Formations packagesNear-identical to 1st Formations but with lifetime phone support included
The Basic package is £2.99 plus VAT plus the £100 Companies House fee. Privacy is £14.99 plus VAT and All Inclusive £39.99 plus VAT, each plus the £100. Company formation with identity verification, the full document set, a free domain, first confirmation statement filing, a client portal and lifetime telephone support.
See Rapid Formations packagesFormation bundled with a genuinely free pay-as-you-go business account
The £19 Just Register plan does not include the £100 Companies House fee, so the real base cost is £119. The fee is only absorbed on the Business Launch (£100) or Total Support (£399/year) plans. Limited company filing with identity verification, registration within about a working day, and a free pay-as-you-go account. Higher tiers add VAT and PAYE registration.
Register a company with ANNAFormation packaged with a real accounting service for a company that means to grow
The £100 Basic tier is really the Companies House fee passed through with minimal service. The All-in-one package for UK residents is £339 plus VAT and bundles proper accounting. Formation with the £100 fee on every tier; the all-in-one adds bookkeeping and accounting from a team, aimed at companies that want the admin handled.
See Osome formation packagesThe £2.99 in the adverts is the agent's own fee, and the £100 Companies House charge sits on top of it, added at checkout, so the true cost of a "cheap" formation is around £103 plus VAT. That is more than registering directly with Companies House for £100, not less. The agent fee buys extras, a service address, a free domain, VAT registration, and those can be worth having, but the formation itself is not discounted. The genuine discount comes from a different place: Tide and ANNA are banks, not formation agents, and they absorb the £100 fee because a formed company that banks with them is worth far more than £100 to them over time. That is why Tide at £14.99 undercuts a £100 government fee.
A bare incorporation gives you a company and nothing else, so decide which extras you need before paying for a package. If you work from home, a service address and registered office keep your home address off the public register, and that is the single most common reason to use an agent rather than going direct. If you will cross the VAT threshold soon, having VAT and PAYE registration handled saves a fiddly afternoon. If you want banking sorted in the same motion, the bank-linked routes settle formation and account together. Everything else, a company seal, printed certificates, premium document binders, is decoration you can skip.
£100 to file online directly with Companies House, up from £50 on 1 February 2026, with no VAT. The only way to pay less is a bank that absorbs the fee to win your account: Tide registers your company for £14.99 all in, including the £100. Formation agents advertising £2.99 add the £100 back on at checkout, so their real cost is about £103.
Directly is £100 flat. Most agents charge a small fee on top of that £100, so they cost more, not less, and you pay for extras like a registered office address or a free domain. The exception is bank-linked formation: Tide and, on its higher plans, ANNA absorb the £100 fee to bring you on as a banking customer.
No. You can register directly at gov.uk for £100 in about 24 hours. Agents are worth it only for what they add: a service address that keeps your home off the public register, VAT and PAYE registration done for you, or a bundled bank account. If you need none of those, go direct.
A registered office is the company's official public address for government post; a service address is the director's public address. Both go on the Companies House register, which anyone can search, so people running a company from home often buy both from an agent to keep their home address private.
Usually within 24 hours when you file online, whether directly or through an agent. Companies House offers a same-day service for £156 if you file before mid-morning. Paper filing costs £124 and takes 8 to 10 days, so almost nobody should use it.
Figures checked 4 July 2026; confirm details with the provider before applying. We may earn a commission through links on this page.