Most states let you hold a business name for a fee before you file anything else. The price, the length of the hold, and whether you can renew it all change at the state line. This page compares what we have verified against state statutes and fee schedules for 51 states.
A reservation holds a name. It does not create your business and it is not an approval. Georgia's Secretary of State puts the point bluntly in its own guidance: no activity or investment under a name, such as advertising or entering legal transactions, should be conducted on the strength of a reservation. If you are filing your formation documents soon, filing secures the name by itself and the reservation fee adds nothing. Reserving earns its cost when something real stands between you and filing, such as waiting on a partner, a licence, or funding.
Reservation fee range
Days the hold lasts
States verified
The published filing fee tells you little, for two reasons. It buys a different amount of time in every state, and in some states it is not the amount you actually pay. Every figure below is the real out-of-pocket cost on the normal filing path. Georgia costs $35 for 30 days, which works out to $1.17 per day held. Arizona costs $10 for 120 days, or $0.08 per day. That is a 14-fold difference in what a day of hold costs.
6 states on this page charge more than the fee their statute names. Alabama: $25 becomes $28. Georgia: $25 becomes $35. Minnesota: $35 becomes $55. Nebraska: $25 becomes $30. 2 more are flagged in the table. The comparison on this page uses the real total, not the filing fee.
One worked example of that gap. Georgia's official page is typical: read the fee section and the real cost is stated plainly, even though it is higher than the fee the statute names.
30 days: GA, MD60 days: CA, MA, MO, NY, OK90 days: IL, NV120 days: AK, AZ, AR, CO, CT, DE, FL, HI, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NC, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TX, UT, VT, VA, DC, WV, WI, WY180 days: MI, MS, OH, WA
| State | Filing fee | You actually pay | Holds for | Cost per day | Reserve at | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $25 | $28 higher | 1 year | – | Official page | Statute |
| Alaska | $25 | $25 | 120 days | $0.21 | Official page | Statute |
| Arizona | $10 | $10 | 120 days (nonrenewable) | $0.08 | Official page | Statute |
| Arkansas | $22.50 | $22.50 | 120 days | $0.19 | Official page | Statute |
| California | $10 | $10 | 60 days | $0.17 | Official page | Statute |
| Colorado | $25 | $25 | 120 days | $0.21 | Official page | Statute |
| Connecticut | $60 | $60 | 120 days | $0.50 | Official page | Statute |
| Delaware | $75 | $75 | 120 days | $0.63 | Official page | Statute |
| Florida | $25 | $25 | 120 days (non-renewable) | $0.21 | Official page | Statute |
| Georgia | $25 | $35 higher | 30 days | $1.17 | Official page | Statute |
| Hawaii | $10 | $10 | 120 days | $0.08 | Official page | Statute |
| Idaho | $20 | $20 | 4 months | – | Official page | Statute |
| Illinois | $25 | $25 | 90 days | $0.28 | Official page | Statute |
| Indiana | $10 | $10 | 120 days | $0.08 | Official page | Statute |
| Iowa | $10 | $10 | 120 days | $0.08 | Official page | Statute |
| Kansas | $35 | $35 | 120 days (non-renewable) | $0.29 | Official page | Statute |
| Kentucky | $15 | $15 | 120 days | $0.13 | Official page | Statute |
| Louisiana | $25 | $25 | 120 days (non-renewable) | $0.21 | Official page | Statute |
| Maine | $20 | $20 | 120 days (non-renewable) | $0.17 | Official page | Statute |
| Maryland | $25 | $25 | 30 days | $0.83 | Official page | Statute |
| Massachusetts | $30 | $30 | 60 days | $0.50 | Official page | Statute |
| Michigan | $25 | $25 | 180 days | $0.14 | Official page | Statute |
| Minnesota | $35 | $55 higher | 12 months | – | Official page | Statute |
| Mississippi | $25 | $25 | 180 days | $0.14 | Official page | Statute |
| Missouri | $25 | $25 | 60 days | $0.42 | Official page | Statute |
| Montana | $10 | $10 | 120 days | $0.08 | Official page | Statute |
| Nebraska | $25 | $30 higher | 120 days | $0.25 | Official page | Statute |
| Nevada | $25 | $25 | 90 days | $0.28 | Official page | Statute |
| New Hampshire | $15 | $15 | 120 days | $0.13 | Official page | Statute |
| New Jersey | $50 | $50 | 120 days (renewable) | $0.42 | Official page | Statute |
| New Mexico | $20 | $20 | 120 days | $0.17 | Official page | Statute |
| New York | $20 | $20 | 60 days | $0.33 | Official page | Statute |
| North Carolina | $30 | $30 | 120 days (nonrenewable) | $0.25 | Official page | Statute |
| North Dakota | $10 | $10 | 1 year | – | Official page | Statute |
| Ohio | $39 | $39 | 180 days | $0.22 | Official page | Statute |
| Oklahoma | $10 | $10 | 60 days | $0.17 | Official page | Statute |
| Oregon | $100 | $100 | 120 days (nonrenewable) | $0.83 | Official page | Statute |
| Pennsylvania | $70 | $70 | 120 days (non-renewable) | $0.58 | Official page | Statute |
| Rhode Island | $50 | $52.50 higher | 120 days | $0.44 | Official page | Statute |
| South Carolina | $25 | $25 | 120 days (non-renewable) | $0.21 | Official page | Statute |
| South Dakota | $25 | $25 | 120 days | $0.21 | Official page | Statute |
| Tennessee | $20 | $20 | 4 months | – | Official page | Statute |
| Texas | $40 | $41.08 higher | 120 days | $0.34 | Official page | Statute |
| Utah | $22 | $22 | 120 days | $0.18 | Official page | Statute |
| Vermont | $25 | $25 | 120 days | $0.21 | Official page | Statute |
| Virginia | $10 | $10 | 120 days | $0.08 | Official page | Statute |
| Washington | $30 | $30 | 180 days | $0.17 | Official page | Statute |
| Washington, D.C. | $50 | $50 | 120 days | $0.42 | Official page | Statute |
| West Virginia | $15 | $15 | 120 days | $0.13 | Official page | Statute |
| Wisconsin | $15 | $15 | 120 days (renewable) | $0.13 | Official page | Statute |
| Wyoming | $60 | $60 | 120 days | $0.50 | Official page | Statute |
Cost per day is our calculation: the real out-of-pocket cost divided by the days the hold lasts. "You actually pay" adds service charges and card fees to the filing fee where a state applies them, so the states can be compared on the same basis. Only the linked official sources are authoritative, and fees change.
The fee table hides the rules that actually change decisions: service charges on top of the fee, paper-only filing, and whether the clock can be restarted. Four examples cover the patterns; each state's own page tells its full story.
The statute names $25, the office charges $35, and the fee is kept even when the name is rejected. Processing runs 7 business days online and 15 by mail against a 30 day hold, so much of the period is spent waiting for the reservation itself.
$10 buys 120 days, filed online through Hawaii Business Express, with a $25 expedite if review needs to move faster. At $0.08 per day held, it is the floor of the national range.
Most states run the clock once. Colorado lets the hold renew for another $25 online, and Texas renews on Form 501, where paying by card adds 2.7 percent to the $40 fee. Renewability changes the strategy: a renewable hold can bridge a long gap that a single term cannot.
Form NR is printed, signed, and mailed or faxed, and its instructions say plainly that the reservation is not a name registration. A new reservation submitted before the current one expires is rejected, which closes the back-to-back renewal path other paper states leave open.
Every fee and hold period on this page is read from the statute or the official fee schedule of the state it describes, never from a secondary source, and the newest verification pass ran on 2026-07-25. The table's Statute column links each state's primary law, and the full per-state source list, with access dates, lives on that state's own page under its official sources section.
No. A reservation holds a name against later filings for a set period. It is not an approval of the name and it does not create your business. The state makes its final decision when you file your formation documents, and it can still refuse the name at that point.
No state requires it. Reservation is optional in every state on this page. If you are filing your formation documents within the next few days, the reservation fee usually buys you nothing, because filing itself secures the name.
The name returns to the available pool and anyone can file it. Some states let you reserve the same name again after a gap; others treat the reservation as non-renewable. The comparison table links each state's own page, which records which rule applies where we have verified it.
No. A name reservation only affects that one state business registry. It gives you no trademark rights, no rights in other states, and no protection against a business using a similar name outside the registry.
Generally not. Georgia states plainly that the fee is nonrefundable and that the filing fee still applies when the requested name is unavailable, though it will let you submit another request without paying again. Check the state page before assuming a rejected request costs you nothing.
Not in practical terms, because the clock starts at filing while the state is still processing. Georgia publishes 7 business days for an online reservation and 15 business days by mail against a 30-day hold, so a large part of the period is spent waiting for the reservation itself.
Check whether your name looks free first, then decide whether to hold it or file for it.
