Wyoming vs Delaware for non-resident founders
The internet gives you two slogans: Delaware is prestigious, Wyoming is cheap. Both are true and neither answers the question a non-resident founder is actually asking.
The cost difference is real but small
Wyoming charges a $60 annual report fee for most small LLCs; Delaware charges a flat $300 franchise tax regardless of profit. That’s roughly a $240 gap per year — over $1,200 across five years — before registered-agent fees, which both states require.¹ Neither state taxes the income of an LLC that doesn’t operate inside it.²
Privacy is closer than the marketing suggests
Neither Delaware nor Wyoming lists member or manager names on the articles filed with the state, so baseline formation privacy is comparable.³ Wyoming adds one tool — a lifetime proxy / nominee arrangement — for founders who want an extra layer of separation. If anonymity is the whole reason you’re choosing a state, the delta is smaller than most guides imply.
Entity type usually matters more than state. VCs want a Delaware C-Corp — not a Delaware LLC.
The question that actually decides it
Are you raising venture capital? If yes, investors and their counsel will typically require a Delaware C-Corporation, and the Court of Chancery’s body of corporate case law is the reason.⁴ If you’re a non-resident running a single-member LLC — e-commerce, consulting, a services business with no US employees — Wyoming’s lower cost and charging-order protection make it the better default.⁴
The part nobody mentions
Whichever state you pick, a foreign-owned US LLC still owes federal filings — Form 5472 with Form 1120 — with steep penalties for missing them.¹ The state is a small decision; the compliance system around it is the real work. That’s what FormBridge runs end to end: formation, banking, tax and compliance, with licensed human partners on tap.