How it works
PlatePing checks whether a vanity plate idea can work in a given state. Depending on the state, that is either a live availability check against the DMV, or a format check against known plate rules.
Live availability
For New Hampshire, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, PlatePing checks the state’s own public availability tool in real time. The result is whatever that DMV tool reports at that moment — available, taken, or not allowed — not a guess or a cached list.
Format checking
For every other state, PlatePing only checks the plate against that state’s known character rules: length limits and which letters or numbers are allowed. It does not know whether the plate is already taken. A passing format check means the idea is validly formed, not that it is free.
Why not every state?
Most states do not offer a public online availability tool, and there is no official nationwide API for vanity plate checks. PlatePing only does live checks for states that publish a genuine DMV tool that can be queried programmatically. Everywhere else, format checking is the honest limit of what we can do.