I've started corporate entities in several countries, and Switzerland wasn't exactly hard. People seem to confuse the cost of doing it with the initial capital

I've started corporate entities in several countries, and Switzerland wasn't exactly hard. People seem to confuse the cost of doing it with the initial capital required. In Switzerland, as in Germany, there's a little version and a big version, GmbH and AG. Speaking for Switzerland, you need CHF20K to do the GmbH and 100K for the AG. But you actually only need 50K cash for the AG because it doesn't all have to be paid up. In terms of legal difference, there isn't really any, according to a couple of my Swiss accountants. It's more that if you risk 100K (it's still at risk even though it's not paid up) your business partners might see you differently. Having said that Google went for the little one. Now if you are starting a business, chances are you are going to need 20K in some bank account anyway. Even a very small business needs some funds. The cost is simply the notarizing cost, ie the cost of making it official, and whatever your legal guy charges. Not much, and it gets done pretty fast. More than 100USD though, for sure. The UK was super easy as well. Here you just pay the accountant and he does the Companies House stuff for you. You can probably DIY it to save a couple hundred quid, plus the capital requirement is £1 or some trivial amount. Other European countries don't make it a whole lot harder. I think the difference is greater in how easy it is to establish your new business as a viable entity. Customers, suppliers need to be open to doing business with you, and that varies a lot across locations and industries.