About GovtLicense
A free, independent guide to the business licenses and permits you need in every US state.
Last updated Nov 7, 2026.
Who we are
GovtLicense is an independent publisher of free guides to business licenses and permits. The US guide covers all 50 states and Washington, DC. It is run by Piyush Chawla.
Why we built the US guide
Starting a business in the US means checking the state, the county and the city, and every one of them has its own website, forms and fees. Most guides that rank on Google are written by companies that sell filing services, and few of them show where a fee comes from or when it was checked.
We put the official facts in one place: what you need, who issues it, what it costs, and a link to the official page with the date we checked it.
Independent and free
- GovtLicense is not a government website and is not affiliated with any government agency.
- Our guides are free. We never charge for government services and we do not file paperwork for you.
- No agency, filing company or advertiser decides what we publish.
How we make money
Today there are no ads and no affiliate links on our US pages.
Later, we plan to earn money from affiliate links to services some owners choose to use, such as LLC formation help, registered agents or business insurance. If you buy through one of those links, the company may pay us a commission at no extra cost to you. Our rules for that:
- Every affiliate link is labeled "Affiliate link" and the page carries a disclosure, as the Federal Trade Commission requires.
- The free official way to do it always comes first.
- Affiliate links never appear in the short answer or change what a page says.
Read our disclaimer and affiliate disclosure.
How we check our facts
Every fee and rule comes from an official government page. We copy the exact wording, a second reviewer checks it again, and an automatic check re-opens every source before a page goes live. If an official page does not confirm a value, we show no number and mark it Not yet verified.
Contact us
Found a mistake or have a question? Contact us or email [email protected].