The short answer

Is there a fee for SAM renewal?

No. As of October 12, 2026, renewing a SAM.gov registration is free, and GSA says The government will never ask you to pay to register, update your registration, or renew. To check a notice, type sam.gov into your browser yourself, sign in and look at your own registration.

Key takeaways

  • As of October 12, 2026, renewing in SAM.gov is free. GSA says the government will never ask you to pay to register, update or renew.
  • As of October 12, 2026, a SAM.gov registration must be renewed every 365 days to stay active (SAM.gov).
  • GSA says SAM.gov's renewal reminders come from a .gov email address.
  • To check a notice, go to SAM.gov yourself, sign in and look at your registration, not through a link in the notice.
  • Free help: the Federal Service Desk at fsd.gov and your local APEX Accelerator.

A notice in the mail or in your inbox says your SAM.gov registration is about to expire. It looks official and asks for a fee to renew. You want to know if you have to pay, and if the notice is even about your real registration.

Every rule in this post is as of October 12, 2026, from GSA, SAM.gov and the Federal Service Desk, all linked below.

What GSA and SAM.gov say about renewal fees

There's no fee. In its bulletin on scams that target SAM.gov users, GSA says Registration in SAM.gov is always free. It adds: The government will never ask you to pay to register, update your registration, or renew.

SAM.gov's own Entity Registration Checklist says the same about keeping your record active: There is no charge to get a Unique Entity ID, register your entity, and maintain your entity registration at SAM.gov. GSA's register-your-business page, updated September 21, 2026, puts it plainly: You do not need to pay a third party to complete your registration.

You do have to renew, though. SAM.gov says You must renew your registration every 365 days to keep it active. So a reminder about your date can be real, and the fee is the part to doubt.

For what the registration form itself asks, see our post on what SAM.gov registration involves.

Why the notice looks official

GSA says these scams attempt to use public information to defraud those interested in doing business with the federal government. So a notice with your company's real name on it can still be a scam.

Some companies charge a fee to handle SAM.gov registration. The Federal Service Desk (FSD), SAM.gov's help desk, says in its fraud article that paying one is optional, not a requirement. And if you do pay a service, GSA says you should be aware that any email or website that asks for money, no matter how official it looks, is not a government message or site.

What real SAM.gov messages look like

GSA says SAM.gov will send you several email reminders before your registration expires. It also says All of those emails will come from a .gov email address.

The same bulletin lists what SAM.gov will never do:

FSD adds that emails from the U.S. government generally come from a .gov or a .mil address. It says to check both the sender's display name and the email address. It also warns about addresses built to look like government ones.

SAM.gov also keeps an active alert on phishing that says Do not open unsolicited emails or suspicious attachments/links.

Check it yourself

Is this notice about your real registration?

  1. Don't use the link, phone number or code on the notice. Open a new browser tab and type sam.gov yourself. GSA's advice is to verify claims about your registration by going to SAM.gov (not via an email link), signing in, and checking your registration yourself.
  2. Look at who sent it. For an email, read the sender's actual address, not just the name shown. GSA says If they don't end with .gov, it's not from the government, and warns about look-alike endings such as gov.com.
  3. Look for a fee or a payment link anywhere on the notice. Write down any date it gives for your expiration.
  4. Sign in at SAM.gov and look at your registration yourself. The Entity Registration page sends you to your Entity Workspace to update or renew. If your entity doesn't show up, your account may not be linked to it: SAM.gov's Check Entity Status page notes Non-federal users: You may only check the status of entities linked to your SAM.gov account.
  5. If you can't find your entity, or you still can't tell whether the notice is real, ask the Federal Service Desk at fsd.gov. FSD says All IAE Systems and assistance from the Federal Service Desk are free for public use. Its help articles are open to anyone; to send a ticket or use its live chat, you log in first.

What the results mean

  • If the notice asks for money, it's not SAM.gov asking. GSA lists asking for money among the things SAM.gov will never do, and renewing at SAM.gov costs nothing.
  • If the sender's address or the link doesn't end in .gov, GSA says it's not from the government.
  • If the notice says one thing and your record in SAM.gov says another, go by SAM.gov. That's the check GSA tells you to make.
  • If SAM.gov shows your renewal is coming up, renew there yourself, in your Entity Workspace. It's free.

Hypothetical example

A four-person roofing company gets a postcard headed "registration expiration notice." It shows the company's real name and a renewal fee, with a website to pay at. The owner leaves the website alone, types sam.gov into her browser, signs in and checks the registration herself.

SAM.gov shows the registration is active. The postcard asked for a renewal fee, and GSA says the government will never ask you to pay to renew. When renewal time comes, she renews at SAM.gov at no charge.

If you already paid or clicked

FSD's fraud article, writing about paid registration companies, says Any payments made to the 3rd party can be disputed with your bank. Your bank can tell you how its dispute process works.

For reporting, FSD points emails that pose as the government to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. For incidents, it points to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and your local law enforcement. GSA's bulletin names both places as well.

Did you type your SAM.gov sign-in on a page the notice sent you to? FSD says to verify your user account and entity registration whenever you believe someone has gained unauthorized access. Contact FSD if something in your record changed that you didn't change.

The free route, and the next step

Rather than asking around and waiting for answers, you can check a notice yourself. Sign in at SAM.gov and look at your own record, and ask FSD when something doesn't match. Both are free.

Your local APEX Accelerator is another free option. It says it offers no-cost guidance and support services to help your business succeed in the government marketplace.

Once you've checked your record in SAM.gov, the next question is what the rest of it says. See your registration gaps in one check with the free Autopsy below. It reads a monthly copy of SAM.gov's public data, so it can be up to about a month behind.

BidWatchHQ doesn't change, renew or file anything in SAM.gov. You renew there, yourself, at no charge.

Questions people ask

Does SAM cost money?

No. As of October 12, 2026, SAM.gov's checklist says there's no charge to get a Unique Entity ID, register your entity or maintain your registration at SAM.gov.

Is SAM.gov a real website?

Yes. SAM.gov describes itself as an official website of the U.S. General Services Administration. Type the address yourself rather than following a link in a notice.

How to renew SAM registration for free?

Sign in at SAM.gov and renew in your Entity Workspace. As of October 12, 2026, the Entity Registration page says you must renew every 365 days to keep your registration active. If you get stuck, FSD says its help is free.

How do I know if my SAM.gov registration is active?

Sign in at SAM.gov and check it yourself. SAM.gov's Check Entity Status page says you must be signed in, and that non-federal users can only check entities linked to their own SAM.gov account.

Check any notice that asks for money against SAM.gov itself. The free check below reads your public SAM.gov record, which can be up to about a month behind, so use it to spot gaps, and go to SAM.gov for your renewal date.

Sources

  1. Don't Take the Bait: Beware of Misleading Marketing, Imposters, and Phishing. U.S. General Services Administration, May 4, 2023; checked October 12, 2026.
  2. Fraud: What should I do if I receive unsolicited contact from someone claiming to be a SAM.gov rep? (KB0017709). Federal Service Desk (FSD.gov), checked October 12, 2026.
  3. Entity Registration. SAM.gov, checked October 12, 2026.
  4. Check Entity Status. SAM.gov, checked October 12, 2026.
  5. Entity Registration Checklist (PDF). SAM.gov, file dated November 2024; checked October 12, 2026.
  6. Register your business. U.S. General Services Administration, last updated September 21, 2026.
  7. Recognize and Avoid Phishing Emails. SAM.gov, last updated February 4, 2025; checked October 12, 2026.
  8. ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Federal Trade Commission, checked October 12, 2026.
  9. Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Federal Bureau of Investigation, checked October 12, 2026.
  10. APEX Accelerators. APEX Accelerators, checked October 12, 2026.
  11. Federal Service Desk. U.S. General Services Administration, checked October 12, 2026.

Last reviewed: , by Kyle Phillips-Thomas

About the author

Kyle Phillips-Thomas

Kyle Phillips-Thomas is the founder of BidWatchHQ and builds it himself. Every rule and record in these posts links to its public source, so you can check it.

I built BidWatchHQ, so weigh what I say about it with that in mind.

BidWatchHQ is a private company. It is not affiliated with SAM.gov, GSA, SBA or any government agency.

Registration in SAM.gov is free. GSA says it "is always free" and that the government "will never ask you to pay to register." Register and renew only at SAM.gov.

This post is general information about public rules and records, not legal advice. Rules change, so check the linked sources and the solicitation itself before you act.