Affordable Company Registration in Malaysia: The Real Cost, Line by Line

Registering a Sdn Bhd in Malaysia costs at least RM1,010 — the government incorporation fee SSM charges directly, and it's identical no matter which provider handles the paperwork. On top of that sits whatever the provider charges for doing the filing itself. Two separate numbers, and comparing providers only works once you've pulled them apart, because most advertised prices quote the two folded into one figure.

Why do two providers quote such different-looking prices for the same registration?

Because a "company registration price" is almost never one number. It's SSM's government fee plus whatever the provider adds for doing the work, and most headline prices fold the two together. That's not necessarily dishonest — it's just how the category tends to get marketed — but it's exactly why a bundled figure from one provider is hard to compare against a bundled figure from another. Most formation agents quote a single all-in number with SSM's fee already inside it, so there's rarely an independent "their fee alone" figure sitting next to it to check. Separating the two lines is the only way to compare like for like.

What does SSM itself actually charge, and can any provider discount it?

RM1,010, paid to SSM directly, and it's the same RM1,010 whichever company secretary or formation agent you go through. No provider can legally reduce it, and none should be marking it up either — OCTIS, for instance, adds RM0 on top of SSM's fee; it's a straight pass-through. Worth noting too: none of this exists yet until SSM actually approves the application. Reserving a proposed company name is not the same thing as being incorporated, and the RM1,010 buys the application being processed, not a guaranteed outcome on a name SSM might still reject.

What does the provider charge on top of SSM's fee?

Here the numbers genuinely differ by provider, and it's worth naming one concretely rather than talking in the abstract. One structure, from OCTIS: RM200 as a one-off if incorporation is done as a standalone service with no ongoing plan attached, dropping to RM0 the moment any monthly plan is taken alongside it — the filing then rides along with the plan instead of being billed as its own line. Either way, SSM's RM1,010 is unaffected and paid in full, because it was never that provider's fee to begin with.

What actually comes with the plan, if you bundle it?

The plan ladder is Launch at RM80/month, Essential at RM120/month and Professional at RM180/month, all billed annually. Whichever tier, a licensed company secretary appointment, a registered office address, statutory registers, lodgement reminders and e-signature sit inside that monthly fee rather than being billed again the first time something happens to the company. That detail matters for a fair comparison: a cheaper standalone incorporation elsewhere typically buys the filing and nothing past it. The secretary appointment, the registered address and the statutory registers still need arranging afterward, each on its own separately priced engagement.

Does the number of directors or shareholders change the price?

On the plan side, yes — the tiers are built around company size, not just feature count. Launch (RM80/month) covers up to three shareholders and three directors. Essential (RM120/month) covers the same as Launch plus up to five shareholders. Professional (RM180/month) stretches to six directors and eight shareholders. A small founding team fits Launch comfortably; a company bringing in a handful of early investors at incorporation may need to start on a higher tier rather than upgrading later, which is worth checking before assuming the cheapest plan is the one you'll actually be able to run the company on. SSM's RM1,010 government fee doesn't move with any of this — it's flat regardless of how many directors or shareholders are on the application.

What does the first year actually cost, all in?

Two honest ways to add it up, depending on whether a plan is attached:

• Bundled with Launch: RM1,010 (SSM) + RM960 (the plan, RM80 × 12 months) = RM1,970 for the year, with the incorporation service fee itself at RM0.
• Standalone, no plan: RM1,010 (SSM) + RM200 (the one-off incorporation fee) = RM1,210, with no monthly software attached.

The government fee is a one-time cost either way — it doesn't repeat next year. A monthly plan, if you've taken one, does. That's worth sitting with before comparing a first-year total against a competitor's: a lower year-one number sometimes comes from a plan that costs more from year two, or from a provider who simply doesn't mention what the secretary appointment costs once a discounted first year of it ends.

How long does registration take, and does that affect what you pay?

Nothing here files itself, and that matters for cost as much as for timing. Before any fee is actually spent, a provider needs real information from you: director and shareholder identities, a shareholding split, and a proposed company name that SSM might reject and send back for another attempt. Once that's in hand, incorporation typically takes a matter of days — it runs through SSM's own queue, so no provider can promise an exact date, only that it moves once the name is approved and everyone involved has completed onboarding. A rejected name doesn't add to the government fee, but it does add time, which is worth building into a decision if you're weighing "cheapest" against "fastest to actually be trading under the new company."

Common mistakes when comparing incorporation prices

• Comparing a "from RM0" headline against a competitor's all-in figure without checking whether SSM's RM1,010 sits inside either number — sometimes it's included, sometimes it's added on top at checkout.
• Judging year one only. The RM1,010 government fee never repeats, but a monthly plan does, so a low first-year total can still mean a similar or higher number in every year after it.
• Assuming "free incorporation" means free forever. Usually it means the service fee is waived because a paid plan is attached — the plan is where the ongoing cost actually sits, and that's a reasonable trade only if you were going to run the company's compliance and back office somewhere anyway.

Working out your own number, and what a guarantee is actually worth

Start from SSM's RM1,010 — that part is fixed no matter who you use. Then ask any provider two direct questions: what's the one-off fee for the filing itself, and does that fee change if a plan is attached? On OCTIS, that arithmetic is backed by a Lowest Price Guarantee — find the same licensed incorporation or company-secretary service cheaper elsewhere, and the price gets matched, which is a checkable mechanism rather than a bare "we're the cheapest" claim you either trust or don't. Incorporation is also one of only two OCTIS services covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee: a full refund any time up to the point the application is actually lodged with SSM, because that's the moment the government fee has been paid and the process has genuinely started. OCTIS's pricing page lists the Launch, Essential and Professional plans alongside the incorporation fee for both the standalone and bundled scenarios, so the same RM1,010-plus-service-fee arithmetic can be run against whatever else is being quoted.