A GMRS license costs $35 and lasts 10 years. You apply online with the FCC, there is no exam, and once it is granted any member of your immediate family can use your GMRS radios, whatever their age. You need one to transmit on a GMRS radio. You do not need one for a license-free FRS radio, a CB radio, or a network push-to-talk radio, which runs on the carriers' licensed networks.
Key Takeaways
- The fee is $35 for a new license and $35 to renew, with no regulatory fee on top (47 CFR 1.1102 and the FCC's fee filing guide). The term is 10 years.
- You must be 18 or older. Once licensed, "any family member, regardless of age, can operate GMRS stations and units within the licensed system" (FCC).
- You apply online: an FCC username and FRN in CORES, then Form 605 in the Universal Licensing System.
- After the grant, you say your call sign at the end of a transmission, and every 15 minutes during a long exchange (47 CFR 95.1751).
- Transmitting without an authorization carries a $10,000 base forfeiture in the FCC's guidelines, which the FCC can raise, lower or drop (47 CFR 1.80).
What the GMRS license costs and how long it lasts
The fee comes from the FCC's own schedule. Under "Personal license application", a new license costs "$35" and a renewal costs "$35" (47 CFR 1.1102, retrieved 2026-09-28), and the same section lists GMRS among the personal licenses. Some services also carry a regulatory fee, and the FCC's fee filing guide lists it for GMRS as "N/A", for a new license and for a renewal, so $35 is the whole cost (FCC, Personal Service and Amateur Application Fees, page updated May 23, 2025, retrieved 2026-09-28).
The term is 10 years, and it renews. The FCC's GMRS page says licenses "are issued for a ten-year term and can be renewed between 90 days prior to the expiration date and up to the actual expiration date of the license. After a license expires, an individual must request a new GMRS license" (FCC, General Mobile Radio Service, page updated August 14, 2024, retrieved 2026-09-28). Put the renewal window in your calendar, because a lapsed license means applying from scratch.
What the license lets you do
Two things an FRS radio cannot do. First, more power: FRS radios are capped at 2 W of effective radiated power on most channels and 0.5 W on channels 8 to 14 (47 CFR 95.567), while under GMRS "The transmitter output power of mobile, repeater and base stations must not exceed 50 Watts" on the main channels (47 CFR 95.1767). On the seven 462 MHz interstitial channels (channels 1 to 7 on an FRS radio), a GMRS radio may run up to 5 W of effective radiated power, where FRS is held to 2 W (47 CFR 95.1767, 95.567).
Second, repeaters: a repeater on a hill or a tower retransmits what it hears, so two handhelds that could not reach each other directly can talk through it. That is the main practical gain the license buys.
A repeater is someone's station, though. Using one means an arrangement with whoever owns it, and running your own means a site, power and the hardware. The GMRS vs FRS guide sets out the channels and power limits side by side, and the range explainer shows what the extra power does and does not buy in distance.
Who the license covers
One person holds it. Their immediate family uses it. The FCC's GMRS page sets the eligibility: "You may apply for a GMRS license if you are 18 years or older and not a representative of a foreign government. If you receive a license, any family member, regardless of age, can operate GMRS stations and units within the licensed system."
The rule spells out who counts as family: "the licensee's spouse, children, grandchildren, stepchildren, parents, grandparents, stepparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and in-laws" (47 CFR 95.1705). A grandparent, a parent and a child on the same trip are covered by one license. Take a family of five at a lake cabin: one parent applies and pays $35 once, and all five can use the GMRS radios for the next 10 years under the one call sign. The family radio guide covers which radios suit a family trip.
A club, a church team or a business is not on that list. Unrelated people each need their own license, or a different kind of radio. The guide to security team radios covers the choice for a volunteer or church team.
How to apply for a GMRS license
It takes two FCC systems and one application.
- Create an FCC username in CORES, the FCC's registration system, with an email address and a password.
- Register your FRN, the 10-digit FCC Registration Number you will use on the application. CORES is where you create and manage it (FCC, CORES, retrieved 2026-09-28).
- Apply in the Universal Licensing System (ULS) on FCC Form 605, the form the rules name for GMRS: "FCC Form 605 is used to apply for Amateur, Ship, Aircraft, and General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) authorizations" (47 CFR 1.913). The FCC's GMRS page gives the radio service code as ZA.
- Pay the $35 fee. CORES is also where you "Retrieve and pay ULS fees".
- Once the license is granted, use the call sign the FCC assigns with it.
If a step stalls, the FCC's licensing hotline is (877) 480-3201, option 1.
No exam, and one rule to follow on the air
There is no exam. The GMRS rule, 47 CFR 95.1705, asks for an eligible applicant aged 18 or older and the fee, and sets no test. Compare the amateur radio rules, where "Each applicant must pass an examination for a new amateur operator license grant" (47 CFR 97.501).
Every new licensee should know one on-air rule: identification. "Each GMRS station must be identified by transmission of its FCC-assigned call sign at the end of transmissions and at periodic intervals during transmissions", and during a long series of transmissions that means "After 15 minutes and at least once every 15 minutes thereafter", said "using voice in the English language or international Morse code" (47 CFR 95.1751). Say it at the end of a chat and every quarter of an hour.
What happens if you transmit without a GMRS license
FCC forfeiture guidelines list a base amount of $10,000 for "Construction and/or operation without an instrument of authorization for the service" (47 CFR 1.80, Table 1 to paragraph (b)(11), retrieved 2026-09-28). The same rule leaves room either way: the Commission "retain[s] the discretion to issue a higher or lower forfeiture than provided in the guidelines, to issue no forfeiture at all, or to apply alternative or additional sanctions".
The $10,000 is a starting point, not a prediction for any one case, and for $35 and one form the risk is easy to remove.
Which radio needs which license
| Radio | License | Fee | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| FRS (license-free family radios) | None | None | 47 CFR 95.305 |
| CB | None | None | 47 CFR 95.305 |
| GMRS | Individual license, covers immediate family | $35 for 10 years, no regulatory fee | 47 CFR 1.1102, 95.1705; FCC fee filing guide |
| Business UHF | Part 90 business license, with frequency coordination | $105 application fee, plus a regulatory fee and coordination | 47 CFR 1.1102, 1.1152, 90.35 |
| Amateur (ham) | Individual license after an exam | $35 application fee | 47 CFR 1.1102, 97.501 |
| Network push-to-talk radio, such as the Echo radio | None for the user; the carriers hold the licenses | None | 47 CFR 1.903 |
Sources: 47 CFR 1.1102, 1.903, 90.35, 95.305, 95.1705 and 97.501, retrieved 2026-09-28; 47 CFR 1.1152, checked 2026-09-29; FCC, Personal Service and Amateur Application Fees, page updated May 23, 2025, retrieved 2026-09-28.
FRS and CB are authorized "without individual licenses" (47 CFR 95.305). A network radio's user needs none because "Authority for subscribers to operate mobile or fixed stations in the Wireless Radio Services ... is included in the authorization held by the licensee providing service to them" (47 CFR 1.903). The guide to GMRS, FRS and cellular push-to-talk also answers why truckers stayed with CB.
Frequently asked questions about the GMRS license
Is it hard to get a GMRS license?
No. You need to be 18 or older, an FCC username and FRN, and one online application with a $35 fee. There is no exam. The license lasts 10 years.
What happens if I use a GMRS radio without a license?
Transmitting without an authorization breaks the FCC's rules. The FCC's forfeiture guidelines set a $10,000 base amount for operating without an authorization, and the Commission can go higher, lower or issue none.
Do I need a license for a walkie talkie?
It depends on the radio. A GMRS radio needs the $35 license before it transmits. FRS radios and CB radios need none, and neither does a network push-to-talk radio, because it runs on the carriers' licensed networks.
Can a GMRS radio be used as a police scanner?
Not for police traffic. A GMRS radio works on the GMRS channels around 462 and 467 MHz that the rules set out (47 CFR 95.1763). Police agencies run their own licensed land-mobile systems under Part 90, on frequencies assigned to them.
Which license, if any, you need
If you want a GMRS radio's extra power and access to repeaters, the license is $35 for 10 years and one form, and it covers your family. If a license-free FRS pair reaches far enough, you need none. If the people you need to reach are across a city or farther, a network push-to-talk radio needs no license either, because it runs on the carriers' licensed networks, and its reach is its network's coverage rather than a distance. The Echo radio is the example of that kind on this site.