FRS and GMRS walkie-talkies: what each one is and which to buy

FRS and GMRS walkie-talkies: the short answer

FRS and GMRS are two radio services for walkie-talkies in the United States. They share the same 22 channels. FRS needs no license. GMRS needs a $35 license that lasts ten years and covers your whole family, and in return it allows more power and repeaters.12

Pick the two types below to see them side by side.

If you want radios today and no paperwork, buy FRS. If you hike far from the trailhead, drive in a convoy, or live in range of a GMRS repeater, buy GMRS and get the license first. The rest of this page explains why, one step at a time.

What FRS is

FRS stands for Family Radio Service. The FCC defines it as short-distance voice radio between low-power hand-held radios, for individual, family, group, recreational and business use.3 You do not need a license. FRS is "authorized by rule", which means the rule itself is your permission.4

An FRS radio must be FCC-certified and must have an antenna that cannot be taken off. It can transmit only on the 22 FRS channels.5

What GMRS is

GMRS stands for General Mobile Radio Service. It covers hand-held radios, car radios and base stations, and the FCC defines it as voice radio, with limited data, for the license holder and family members.6 A GMRS radio may talk with FRS radios.7

Radios that were both FRS and GMRS no longer come as new products. The FCC stopped certifying those combination hand-helds in December 2017 and banned making, importing or selling new ones from September 30, 2019. Existing models were reclassified as one or the other.8 The box and the manual say which service your radio belongs to.

FRS and GMRS channels: the 22 they share

Both services use 22 channels with the same numbers and the same frequencies. A GMRS radio on channel 3 and an FRS radio on channel 3 are on one frequency.910 Channels 1-7 and 15-22 sit near 462 MHz and channels 8-14 near 467 MHz.9

GMRS has eight more channels, the repeater input channels from 467.5500 to 467.7250 MHz. They are the rows marked R in the table. An FRS radio cannot use them.105 The power column shows the highest limit for any kind of GMRS radio, car radios and base stations included. Hand-held limits are in the next section.

Set the same privacy code on both radios as well as the same channel. A privacy code is a quiet tone that opens the speaker only for your group. It does not scramble anything, so anyone with the code off still hears you.11 Matching codes across brands is covered in channels and privacy codes, and the code matcher does it for you.

FRS and GMRS power limits

Power is measured as ERP, the power at the antenna, in watts. FRS allows 2 W on channels 1-7 and 15-22 and 0.5 W on channels 8-14.12 GMRS hand-helds may use 5 W on channels 1-7 and 0.5 W on channels 8-14. For channels 15-22 the rule gives car radios, repeaters and base stations up to 50 W and names no figure for hand-helds.13

Cobra says GMRS hand-helds can run up to 5 W on channels 1-7, and car radios up to 50 W on channels 15-22.14

FRS and GMRS range: what to expect

The FCC says the usual range of an FRS radio on channels 8-14 is less than half a mile, and longer on channels 1-7 and 15-22 depending on conditions.15 For GMRS it says one to twenty-five miles, depending on the kind of station, the terrain and whether a repeater is used.16

Cobra's table for 2 W radios is the easiest to read:14

The "up to 35 miles" on a box describes that last row. Motorola's T600 H2O claim says "mountain to valley".17 Plan on the rows above it.

GMRS license: $35, ten years, covers your family

The FCC gives a GMRS license to one person who is 18 or older. That person's immediate family can use the radios under it: spouse, children, grandchildren, stepchildren, parents, grandparents, stepparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and in-laws.1 People outside the family need their own license.

The fee is $35 for a new license, a change or a renewal, and the license runs ten years.21 There is no exam. Rocky Talkie's manual puts it plainly: the license costs $35 and does not require a test.18 Companies can no longer get new GMRS licenses.1

Say your call sign, the letters the FCC gives you, at the end of a conversation and at least every 15 minutes during a long one.19 FRS needs none of this. Pick the United States in the checker to see which services need a license.

The page do you need a license for a walkie-talkie covers other countries.

GMRS repeaters: how a hilltop extends your range

A repeater is a radio on a hill or tower. It listens on one channel and sends what it hears out on another, so a hand-held in a valley can reach a friend far beyond its own range.

On GMRS, repeaters send on the eight 462 MHz main channels, 15-22. Your hand-held reaches them by transmitting on the paired 467 MHz channels, the repeater inputs.10 Repeaters ask for the right tone before they open.20 The owner of a repeater may let anyone use it or limit it to chosen users.1

FRS radios cannot transmit on the 467 MHz main channels, so they cannot use a GMRS repeater.5 That is the main reason to choose GMRS if a repeater covers your area.

Which FRS or GMRS radio to buy for which trip

FRS and GMRS radios compared

The table shows the six radios in our data with the longest range claims. A range claim is the maker's best case, so use it to compare radios and not to plan a trip. The table also lists battery claims, power, water rating and an approximate price with its date.

For more models see longest-range walkie-talkies, and for the radio types around these two, types of two-way radio.

Questions

Sources

1. 47 CFR 95.1705, GMRS individual licenses · eCFR
2. 47 CFR 1.1102, FCC fees · eCFR
3. 47 CFR 95.503, FRS definitions · eCFR
4. 47 CFR 95.305, authorization of Personal Radio Services · eCFR
5. 47 CFR 95.587, FRS additional requirements · eCFR
6. 47 CFR 95.1703, GMRS definitions · eCFR
7. 47 CFR 95.1731, permissible GMRS uses · eCFR
8. Personal Radio Service Reform, Federal Register 2017-17395 · Federal Register
9. 47 CFR 95.563, FRS channels · eCFR
10. 47 CFR 95.1763, GMRS channels · eCFR