Will GSA Begin Charging for SAM.gov? Here’s What You Should Know!

News, Updates & Market Insights
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For years, the General Services Administration (GSA) has consistently emphasized that “There is no cost to use SAM.gov.” That message was featured prominently on the site to reassure contractors and to warn small businesses against predatory third-party services that charge unnecessary fees for registration and renewal. This strong positioning helped protect small firms and ensured that access to federal opportunities remained open and equitable.

However, the legal landscape is forecasting a slightly different story. Under 40 U.S.C. § 321, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has proposed legislative changes that would introduce fees for certain users of the Integrated Award Environment (IAE), including SAM.gov. This is part of a broader effort to ensure the long-term sustainability and modernization of the federal award ecosystem.

The proposal—titled “Common-Sense Fees for the Integrated Award Environment”—would allow GSA to collect initial registration fees and annual account maintenance fees from non-federal users of SAM.gov and related IAE systems.

Key Points of the Proposal:

  1. One-Time Fee: A flat fee (estimated between $75–$125) for new entities seeking a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) through the SAM.gov entity validation process.
  2. Annual Fee: A minimal annual fee (estimated $25–$50) for entities that have been awarded a federal contract or grant and maintain an active registration.
  3. No Exceptions: Unlike earlier versions of the proposal, there will be no exemptions—including for small businesses.
  4. Non-Federal Entities: The fee is explicitly for non-federal users. Federal users performing their jobs are excluded.

Why the Change?
The IAE supports over 780,000 active registrations and processes more than 250,000 new entity validations each year. However, agency contributions have not kept pace with operating costs, resulting in a significant funding gap. GSA aims to shift toward a more sustainable funding model that aligns with actual usage and reduces reliance on taxpayer-funded subsidies.

This proposal is part of a larger legislative package aimed at modernizing federal acquisition processes. Other proposed changes include increases to micro-purchase and simplified acquisition thresholds, permanent Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) authority, and reforms to Cost Accounting Standards (CAS).

What’s Next?
The proposal is currently under congressional review. If enacted, the fees would be implemented in FY2025 or FY2026.

Stay tuned—this proposal could impact everyone seeking to do business with the federal government.

What’s your take?

  • Would nominal fees improve platform sustainability—or risk shutting out small players?
  • Would modest SAM.gov fees be a fair way to fund modernization and sustainability, or could they discourage small and emerging businesses from competing in the federal market?

Additional Resources:

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The shift from a fully taxpayer-funded model to a user-fee system is a fundamental change that every contractor, especially small and new entrants, needs to understand.

Quite rightly, there is a focus on charging a certain amount and its potential to deter the smallest businesses; the more significant long-term implication is the establishment of a funding mechanism that directly links GSA’s resources to user volume.

This is a double-edged sword:

  • On one hand, it could finally provide the stable funding needed to modernize the SAM.gov platform, potentially leading to better stability, usability, and support.
  • On the other hand, it institutionalizes the system’s dependency on having a large number of registered contractors. This could create a perverse incentive where the focus shifts from weeding out inactive or unqualified entities to actively encouraging more registrations to fund the system.

What I’m more concerned about is the value proposition. If users are now meant to be “customers,” what level of service, modernization, and user experience can we expect in return?

Also, as a ripple effect, this will make the decision to pursue federal contracting even more intentional. That $100-$150 initial cost, while small, effectively becomes the first “bid and proposal” expense. It will force nascent businesses to validate their market strategy before registering, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

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