Florida personalized plates
Know when your Florida plate frees up.
The plate you want is taken, and Florida will not tell you when it frees up. Tell us the plates you're after: we ask around the clock and email you as soon as we see one free, whatever the hour.
Why is the plate you want already taken?
- 500,000+Florida vehicles carry a personalized plateOur own estimate from the state's revenue report for the year to June 2025, rounded down. Florida does not publish this count.
- 6 yearsof rising income from Florida's personalization feeIt rose in each of the six years to June 2025, almost a quarter in all, in FLHSMV's own revenue reports.
- 1 yearbefore Florida will issue a plate to anyone else, once its owner stops renewing itSection 320.0805(6), Florida Statutes. When a plate that lapsed shows as free, that year is already behind it.
How it works
Add your plates
Up to 20 plates, each up to 7 letters and numbers: GR8 DAY, L8R GTR, your own name. Put the one you actually want on there, and the spellings you would settle for.
We watch around the clock
We check Florida's public lookup day and night, weekends too, working through every plate on your list. You are not the one doing the looking.
You hear early
Our email goes out as soon as we see your plate free, whatever the hour. A released plate is open to everyone in Florida, and you reserve it at your county tax collector.
Florida's free lookup, or us?
| Question | Florida's lookup | PlateRegistry |
|---|---|---|
| Tells you when a plate frees up later | No. It offers no way to be told later | Yes. We email you as soon as we see it free |
| Asks again tomorrow, and the day after | No: you do, by hand | Yes, day and night |
| Cost | Nothing | 3 plates for $3 a month |
“This configuration is available now, but may no longer be available when the reservation is attempted at your local tax collector's office.”
If checking by hand now and then suits you, keep doing it: it is free, and it is the state's own answer. We are for the plate you do not want to miss.
Once it is yours
Yours alone.
Florida issues your personalized plate for your exclusive continuing use, for as long as you keep renewing it.
Section 320.0805(6), Florida Statutes
It follows you, not the car.
The plate is issued to you, and when you replace the car you can move it to the next one.
Sections 320.0609 and 320.0805(7), Florida Statutes
Any time of year.
Florida takes applications for a personalized plate at any time of year, so you do not have to wait for your renewal month to order one.
FLHSMV Procedure RS-27, Rev. 02/2025
Pick a size
Every plan watches the same way. The only difference is how many plates you keep on your list.
Ordering the plate itself costs $51.40 to $81.40 at the tax collector, depending on the design, with your vehicle registration on top. That is the state's charge for the plate, not ours.
Secure checkout by Stripe. Cancel and your list runs to the end of the month, or the year, you paid for; your plates stay saved either way.
Want help finding one?
Tell us the word or the name you are after and we will go looking for spellings, including the ones people miss. It is a paid service, separate from any plan, and we quote you before any work starts. We cannot promise any particular plate, and nobody can.
Not sure what to ask for?
Florida's own application asks what your plate means. Start there: type a word, a name or a nickname, and we will suggest spellings that fit on a plate, up to seven letters and numbers.
Questions
Do you reserve the plate for me?
No. We never touch the state's ordering system on your behalf, and a plate is open to everyone in Florida until someone orders it, so hearing early is what matters. We email you as soon as we see yours free, and you reserve it at your county tax collector.
What if my plate never comes free?
Then nothing happens, and we will not pretend otherwise. Florida will not issue the same plate to anyone else for the year after its owner stops renewing it (section 320.0805(6), Florida Statutes), and someone can hold a plate for years that way. What you can do is keep several spellings on your list, swap them whenever you like, and cancel from your billing page the moment it stops being worth it.
Can a Florida plate have the letter O?
No, and it catches people out. Florida's issuance system converts the letter O to a zero, and the state's own procedure tells staff that it does not manufacture plates with the letter O (FLHSMV Procedure RS-27, Rev. 02/2025). You can see it on the state's own checker: SOCK and S0CK both come back taken, and so do BOAT and B0AT. If you have been typing an O, you have been checking the zero spelling all along.
Can my letters go on a specialty design?
Almost always. Florida has authorized more than 130 specialty designs, most of them on sale, and the state's own plate brochure notes, section after section, that the plates listed can be ordered personalized: the standard designs, the university plates, the wildlife and environmental ones, the military and sports plates.
What happens if I stop paying?
Nothing is deleted. If a payment fails, your list switches off right away; if you cancel, it runs to the end of the month, or the year, you paid for. Your plates stay saved either way, and starting a plan again switches them back on.
Can I change plans?
Any time from your billing page. Move to a smaller plan and your oldest plates stay on; the rest pause. Nothing is deleted.
Does PlateRegistry work outside Florida?
Florida only for now.
Are you part of the DMV?
No. PlateRegistry is independent and not affiliated with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Payments go through Stripe.