In short: an Estonian private limited company (OÜ) and a Cyprus private company limited by shares (Ltd) are both limited-liability companies that one person can own. They differ in where they are registered and taxed, in how a company is formed and how its shares change hands, and in what is filed each year. This page sets the official facts of both side by side; it does not say which is better for you.

The facts side by side

Register: Estonian OÜ: Commercial register (e-Business Register); Cyprus Ltd: Registrar of Companies (Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property, page "Applying to incorporate a Company", read on 11 October 2026)
Forming a new company: Estonian OÜ: At a notary in Tallinn or by power of attorney; online without a notary for a founder with an e-residency card or Estonian ID card; Cyprus Ltd: Through the Registrar's e-filing system or by hand or post, with "a statutory declaration (form HE1) signed and sworn before the court by the entrusted lawyer" (Registrar of Companies, page "Applying to incorporate a Company", read on 11 October 2026)
Official registration fee: Estonian OÜ: The state fee is included in our formation packages; Cyprus Ltd: €165 for the incorporation of a company with share capital; €100 more for the accelerated procedure (Registrar of Companies, page "Applying to incorporate a Company", read on 11 October 2026)
How fast: Estonian OÜ: This page states no number of days for the register's entry; Cyprus Ltd: Not stated on the official pages used here
Minimum share capital: Estonian OÜ: One cent since 1 February 2023; Cyprus Ltd: "For private companies there is no minimum share capital requirement" (Registrar of Companies, page "Members and Share Capital", read on 11 October 2026)
Transfer of a share: Estonian OÜ: Notarised; the notary sends the notice to the register within two days (Commercial Code § 149); Cyprus Ltd: Notified to the Registrar on form HE57 "within the fourteen (14) days, from the date of change", with a fee of €20 (Registrar of Companies, page "Form notifying the transfer of shares of a private company", read on 11 October 2026)
Yearly filing: Estonian OÜ: Annual report within six months after the end of the financial year (Commercial Code § 179); Cyprus Ltd: Annual return (form HE32) through the e-filing system, "accompanied by the financial statements relating to the previous financial year", with a filing fee of €20 (Registrar of Companies, pages "How do I file an Annual Return" and "Annual Return Filing Fee", read on 11 October 2026)
Tax registration: Estonian OÜ: Corporate income tax is paid only on distributed profit; Cyprus Ltd: "Every company is obliged, within sixty (60) days from the date of its incorporation, to apply for Taxpayer's registration with the Tax Department and to obtain a tax number" (Registrar of Companies, page "After Incorporation", read on 11 October 2026)
How company profit is taxed: Estonian OÜ: When the profit is distributed, at 22/78 of the net amount paid out; no income tax is paid on profit while it stays in the company (Estonian Tax and Customs Board, pages "Income and social taxes" and "Taxation of dividends", read on 10 October 2026); Cyprus Ltd: For each tax year as the profit is earned, at 15% from 1 January 2026 (Tax Department, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Cyprus, presentation "Tax Reform 2026 – Income Tax", read on 10 October 2026)
VAT number: Estonian OÜ: An Estonian VAT number is an EU VAT number that customers can check in VIES; Cyprus Ltd: VAT registration is required when taxable supplies exceed €15,600 in the last twelve months or will exceed it in the next thirty days (Registrar of Companies, page "After Incorporation", read on 11 October 2026)

This is general information, not tax advice: in Estonia the tax becomes due when profit is distributed, and LexorCorp Global does not provide tax advice. The rule and its official sources are in the guide How Estonia taxes company profit.

What each route requires

Estonia. Customer due diligence by the service provider, a registered address in the commercial register and, if the company's address is abroad, a contact person in Estonia (Commercial Register Act § 24). A ready-made company or a formation at a notary needs no e-residency.
Cyprus. The statutory declaration (form HE1), the memorandum and articles of association, the registered office address (form HE2) and the first directors and secretary (form HE3); a private company has at least one member and no more than fifty (Registrar of Companies).

How an Estonian company is obtained

Choose the route: a ready-made company that already exists, a new company formed at a notary or by power of attorney, or online formation with an e-residency card.
Order online and pay by card; the order form shows the total before you pay.
Identification. As a provider licensed by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU000117) we identify every client first.
Signing at a notary in Tallinn, by a power of attorney signed in your country, or digitally on the online route.
Register entry and documents in PDF by email.

Documents

For an Estonian company you are asked for an identity document and proof of address of the board members and beneficial owners; on the remote route a power of attorney signed before a notary in your country, as a rule with an apostille.

Prices of the Estonian routes

ready-made company: €900 Registered address and contact person service for one year are included. in person, €1,200 remote; with a VAT number €1,150 and €1,450;
new company: €950 Registered address and contact person service for one year are included. in person, €1,250 remote;
online formation for an e-resident: €950 Registered address and contact person service for one year are included..

The Estonian notary fees and state fees, the registered address and the contact person for the first 12 months are included in these prices. We do not form Cyprus companies; the Cyprus fees above are the official fees of the Registrar of Companies, in euros.

Timeline

The official Cyprus pages used here state no number of days for a registration, only that an accelerated procedure exists. For Estonia this page states no number of days either: the time depends on the notary's appointment, on customer due diligence and on the register. A ready-made company already exists, so only the transfer has to be done.

Limits of this comparison

It compares formation and yearly filing, not the tax result: where a company is taxed depends on where it is managed and where its owner lives — check it with a tax adviser in your country.
The Cyprus corporate income tax rate is taken from the Tax Department's own presentation of the 2026 tax reform, read on 10 October 2026; the Tax Department's web pages could not be read on 11 October 2026.
Opening a bank or payment account is decided by the bank or payment institution in both countries.
The Cyprus figures are those of the official pages on the day they were read (11 October 2026) and can change.

Which route fits whom

The Estonian route gives a company in the Estonian commercial register, formed at a notary, by power of attorney or online; the Cyprus route gives a company in the register of the Registrar of Companies, formed with a declaration sworn by a lawyer. Which suits a particular business depends on facts this page does not cover — above all where the company is managed and where its owner is tax resident.

Related service

If the Estonian route fits, start with the ready-made company packages or the list of companies for sale; the steps are under how the purchase works, and ready-made or new compares the two Estonian routes.

Official sources

Cyprus: Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property (companies.gov.cy), the pages named in the table, read on 11 October 2026;
Estonia: Commercial Code § 149 and § 179, Commercial Register Act § 24 — Riigi Teataja; company data — e-Business Register.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice for your specific situation. LexorCorp Global does not provide tax advice, and we provide services for Estonian companies only.

To see which of our services your company needs, open the Business Navigator.

Estonian company (OÜ) or Cyprus Ltd: the official facts compared