What it is
Every state, and the District of Columbia, keeps a public register of the LLCs, corporations and partnerships formed or registered there. Each register has its own website, its own search and its own vocabulary: Florida's is known as Sunbiz, Texas has two public lookups, one at the Secretary of State and one at the Comptroller, and a business behind on its state taxes can show as "forfeited" in one state and "revoked" in another.
Open State Index gives each state one page: a search, the state's main fees and status words, and a direct link to the official search. Around the state pages are guides to forming and running a business entity: how to start an LLC in each state, EINs, DBAs, annual reports, and the choice between an LLC and a corporation.
What it does
- Searches official records live in the states that publish them openly or allow other sites to search them, and names the source under every result.
- Sends you to the official search in every other state. It never gets around a state's access rules or its bot checks.
- Shows each state's fees and rules with a link to the official page they came from and the date they were checked.
What it does not do
- It is not a government site and not an official record. For any official purpose, confirm with the state.
- It keeps no database of companies or people and publishes no page about any business. A search answer is kept for at most 24 hours, then it is gone.
- It does not find EINs, owners' personal details or credit information, and it is not a consumer reporting agency.
- It does not give legal or tax advice, and it does not file anything with a state for you.
Where the information comes from
Search results come from state business registries and the open data some states publish, named on each state page; where a source's license asks for credit, the state page gives it. Fees, deadlines and rules come from state filing offices, state tax agencies, state statutes and federal agencies such as the IRS and the SBA. How we check our facts covers how each figure is sourced and dated, how often it is re-checked and how corrections work.
Independent
Open State Index is not affiliated with, endorsed by, operated by or paid by any state, federal or local government agency. No business pays to be listed or to change what a guide says; if links that earn a commission are ever added, each will be marked where it appears, as the affiliate disclosure explains. The terms and disclaimer say what the data may and may not be used for.
Contact
Questions and error reports go through the contact and corrections page.