Cheapest Way to Register a Company in Australia 2026

How to register a company in Australia for the cheap fee

If you are setting up a Pty Ltd company, the price you see advertised is rarely the price you pay. Some providers lock you into an annual subscription. Others quote a low service fee, then charge separately for the constitution, share certificates and registers you legally need. This guide breaks down the genuinely cheapest way to register a company in Australia in 2026, DIY, online service providers, accountants and SMSF trustee companies compared, honestly, so you can register once, own every document, and not overpay.

The one fee nobody can discount: the ASIC government fee

Every company registered in Australia pays the same statutory fee to ASIC. For the 2026–27 financial year that fee is $636 for a standard proprietary limited company, indexed each 1 July. It’s non-negotiable, it goes straight to the regulator, and no provider can waive or discount it.

So when people ask how much does it cost to register a company in Australia in 2026, the honest answer is: $636 to the government, plus whatever service fee your provider charges on top anywhere from $0 (DIY) to $1,500 (an accountant or lawyer). The $636 buys your ACN, name registration, certificate of registration and legal existence. It does not buy you a constitution, share certificates, member registers, director consents, an ABN or a TFN. Those are separate and they are exactly where price-shopping founders get caught.

So to compare “cheapest” properly, compare two things only: the service fee on top of the $636, and what documents that fee actually includes.

Option 1: DIY directly through ASIC — $636

The cheapest possible number is filing yourself through the government’s Business Registration Service. You pay only the $636 statutory fee.

The catch is everything the $636 doesn’t cover. Your own constitution (or adopt the replaceable rules under the Corporations Act and hope they suit you), prepare consent forms for every director and shareholder, lodge the application, then build your member register and issue share certificates yourself. Most first-time founders spend the better part of a day on it, and a wrong entry gets the application rejected, meaning time spent with nothing to show for it. Note too that ASIC no longer accepts paper company registrations, so every lodgement must be made electronically.

Option 2: Online registrars — the real battleground

This is where most founders land, and where the differences are small but the fine print isn’t. Here’s how the main options compare in 2026, all on top of the same $636 ASIC fee.

Provider	Service fee	Total to register	Locked into a subscription?	Constitution included?
Cheap Company Setup	$60	$696	Never	Yes — free, incl. SMSF

Sleek	from $180	$816+	Plans recommended	Bundled in plan
Lawpath	Bundled in plan	$725+	Yes — annual plan	In plan
Accountant	$200–$1,500	$836–$2,136	No	Usually

Competitor pricing checked July 2026 from public websites. Verify current pricing before you rely on it.

Two things to take from this. First, the standalone registrars cluster within a few dollars on service fee so the real question is what’s bundled. A company registration with a free constitution included (rather than sold as a $60–$120 add-on) is worth more than a couple of dollars off the service fee. Second, watch for subscription lock-in: a “$180 essential plan” or an annual-plan requirement isn’t a cheaper way to register a company, it’s a recurring cost. If you want company registration with no subscription, the flat-fee providers are the only real option.

At $60 service fee + $636 ASIC = $696 total, Cheap Company Setup is one of the cheapest and simplest standalone registrations in Australia flat fee, no subscription, constitution and full document pack included, and your ACN and certificate usually the same day for standard names.

Option 3: Accountant or lawyer — most expensive, most hand-holding

An accountant typically charges $200–$1,500 on top of the ASIC fee; a lawyer more. What you’re paying for isn’t the lodgement, it is advice on structure, tax and whether a company is even the right vehicle. That advice has real value if your situation is complex (multiple share classes, trusts, unusual ownership). For a straightforward single-director Pty Ltd, it’s money spent on something an online registrar automates for a fraction of the price.

SMSF trustee companies: the specialist case worth getting right

If you’re registering a company to act as trustee of a self-managed super fund, the SMSF trustee company registration cost deserves special attention because a cheap-but-wrong setup costs you every year afterwards.

An SMSF trustee company needs a special purpose constitution that restricts the company to acting solely as a superannuation fund trustee. Done correctly, that qualifies the company for ASIC’s reduced annual review fee of $70 currently a fraction of the standard company review fee which is $342, saving you money every single year the fund exists. Register it as an ordinary company with a generic constitution and you pay the full annual review fee for the life of the company.

Not every cheap registrar includes an SMSF-appropriate special purpose constitution, most only have a standard constitution some charge extra for it, some don’t offer it at all. Cheap Company Setup includes the special purpose SMSF constitution free with every SMSF trustee company setup, at the same $60 service fee. For anyone setting up an SMSF, that combination correct special purpose constitution, reduced annual fee eligibility, no premium for the specialist document is among the cheapest genuinely-correct options available.

So what’s the cheapest way to register a company in Australia?

If you want the lowest possible dollar figure and have a day to spare, DIY through ASIC at $636 wins with the caveats above.

If you want your company registered properly, with the constitution, share certificates, registers, consents and minutes all done for you, the cheapest way is a flat-fee online registrar. At $696 total, Cheap Company Setup is one of the cheapest and simplest standalone registrations in Australia and until 30 August 2026, every setup also includes free ABN and TFN registration, the two registrations most new companies need next, at no extra cost.

What to watch for when comparing “cheap”

Subscriptions. A low headline fee that requires an annual plan isn’t cheap it’s a recurring cost. Check you can cancel any time and walk away.
Add-ons at checkout. The constitution, share certificates and registers are legal essentials, not extras. If they’re priced separately, add them back before you compare.
Renewal traps. Some “free” trials convert to paid plans. Read what happens after registration.
The annual review fee. Separate from setup, every company pays ASIC an annual review fee each year (reduced for special-purpose SMSF trustee companies). It’s not a setup cost, but budget for it.

Register your company today

The cheapest way to register a company in Australia, with everything included, is a flat $60 service fee plus the $636 ASIC fee $696 total, usually registered the same day, no subscription, every document in your account, free ABN and TFN until 30 August 2026.

Set up my company now →

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. ASIC fees are current for the 2026–27 financial year and are indexed annually. Verify current fees at asic.gov.au before registering.

Start your $60 company registration

Ready to go? Register a company in Australia for a flat $60 service fee plus the $636 ASIC government fee. Every document is included and companies with a standard name are usually registered the same day.

A Cheap & Simple Way to Register a Company in Australia (2026)