How much does it actually cost to start a limited company?
People often ask this expecting one number, the Companies House filing fee, when the real answer involves several costs that show up in the first year, not just on day one.
The registration fee itself
Registering directly online with Companies House costs a small, fixed fee, check the current amount on GOV.UK since it does get reviewed periodically. Several providers, Tide, ANNA, Revolut among them, will cover this fee entirely if you open a business account with them.
Costs that follow shortly after
An accountant for annual filings typically runs a few hundred to over a thousand pounds a year depending on complexity. A registered office address, if you don’t want your home listed publicly, usually carries its own small annual cost. And depending on your industry, you might need business insurance from early on.
Costs people forget entirely
Your annual confirmation statement filing (a small recurring Companies House fee), and potentially payroll costs if you’re paying yourself a salary through PAYE rather than dividends alone.
What it actually adds up to
The registration itself can be free or close to it. Realistically running a small limited company properly for a year, accountancy, filings, a basic level of compliance, often lands somewhere in the low thousands rather than the headline filing fee alone. Our cost of a limited company calculator breaks this down against your actual situation rather than a generic average.
Some links here are referral links, if you sign up we may earn a fee at no cost to you, it never changes the order we list things in. Fees and terms change, always check Companies House and the provider’s own site for the current numbers. This is information, not legal advice.