Florida custom license plates: the real yearly cost, and how to get one
Florida custom license plates, the personalized kind, cost $15 a year on top of your registration, plus a $28 new plate fee the first year. So the first year runs $43 extra and every year after that $15. You order it in person at a motor vehicle service center, it takes about 60 days to arrive, and if you want your letters on a specialty design (a sea turtle, a team, a university), that plate’s own $20 to $30 yearly fee comes on top.
What a Florida personalized plate costs you over time
Section 320.0805 of the Florida Statutes sets the yearly part: a $10 prestige plate use fee and a $5 processing fee, paid with every renewal. Add the one-time $28 for the new plate and this is the extra you pay, beyond your normal registration:
| Keep the plate for | Extra you pay in total | Works out to, per year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | $43 | $43 |
| 2 years | $58 | $29 |
| 3 years | $73 | $24.33 |
| 5 years | $103 | $20.6 |
| 10 years | $178 | $17.8 |
Five years in, the new plate fee has mostly washed out and you’re paying close to the bare $15. Your normal registration and any county fees come on top of every figure here; those are on our Florida registration cost page.
Check the date on the fee sheet you find. Search for Florida personalized plate fees and an FLHSMV fee schedule, form HSMV 83145, tends to come up first, with all-in prices from $49.60 to $94.60 for a car. Look at its bottom corner: it is dated 01/02, January 2002. Those totals bundle in the registration taxes of the time, so budget from the breakdown above, not from that sheet.
Personalizing a specialty plate
Florida sells more than 100 specialty plates, and the money from each goes to the organization on it. Each specialty plate has its own annual use fee, between $20 and $30 a year. Put your own letters on one and you pay both: the specialty fee and the $15 for personalizing.
Buying for someone else? FLHSMV runs a specialty plate gift certificate. You pay the plate’s annual use fee at any motor vehicle office, a credit goes in the recipient’s name, and they redeem it with their Florida driver license or ID when they buy the plate. It can’t be refunded, because the money goes straight to the sponsoring organization. Since most Florida registrations renew on the owner’s birthday, it lines up nicely as a birthday present.
How many characters can you use?
It depends on where the plate’s design sits. A plate with the design in the center takes up to seven characters, plus one extra space or hyphen. A plate with the design on the left takes five. FLHSMV keeps the right to cancel any reservation it finds objectionable or obscene.
How to order one
- Check your letters. Run each idea through FLHSMV’s personalized plate check. It shows whether a combination is free now, though that can change before you apply.
- Fill in form HSMV 83043, the application for a personalized plate.
- Take it to a motor vehicle service center in person and pay the fees. FLHSMV lists personalized plates as an in-person order.
- Wait about 60 days for the plate, and keep using your current one meanwhile.
Which vehicles can get one
Private or company-owned cars, trucks, motorcycles and manufactured homes, and leased vehicles too. The statute leaves out two groups: vehicles registered under the International Registration Plan, and commercial trucks that have to carry two plates.
Selling the car or buying a new one
Florida plates belong to the person, not the vehicle, under Section 320.0609. So your personalized plate isn’t lost when you sell: take it off and move it to your next car. The transfer fee is listed with the other plate fees on the Florida registration page.
Questions people ask
How many letters can be on a personalized license plate in Florida?
Up to seven characters on a plate with a center design, plus one space or hyphen. Plates with the design on the left side hold five. That makes the plate you pick part of the decision: a long word can rule out some specialty designs.
How long does it take to get a personalized plate in Florida?
About 60 days, according to the Sarasota County Tax Collector. The plate is made to order after FLHSMV approves your letters, so keep driving on your current plate until it arrives.
What are the new license plate options in Florida in 2026?
New specialty designs only appear after the Legislature approves them, and then each one has to sell 3,000 pre-sale vouchers within 24 months before it goes into production. FLHSMV publishes the running voucher counts on its specialty plates page, so that is where to see what is close to launching.
Do you pay for a Florida personalized plate every year?
Yes. The $15 comes back with every renewal, and in Florida most registrations renew on the owner’s birthday. Only the $28 new plate fee is a one-off.
Are custom plates worth it?
Run the numbers first: your own letters on a Florida plate come to $103 over five years, about $20.6 a year. Whether that is worth it is up to you. One thing in its favor: the plate belongs to you, so the letters can follow you to your next car.
Sources: FLHSMV, Personalized and Specialty License Plates; FLHSMV, Personalized License Plate Check; Florida Statutes 320.0805; Sarasota County Tax Collector, Personalized/Specialty Plates; FLHSMV form HSMV 83145 (01/02).