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Government · head to head

American Legal Publishing vs CKAN

A

American Legal Publishing

Government

Municipal Code Solutions

From
$150/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
CKAN logo

CKAN

Government

Open Source Data Portal Platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only CKAN has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: American Legal Publishing a 2019 recodification contract between American Legal Publishing Corporation and the City of Dry Ridge, Kentucky, publicly posted by a separate Kentucky municipality as a model agreement, sets a base codification cost of $9,485 (USD) plus per-page increase rates of $18 (single column) and $21 (dual column) once the code exceeds the estimated page count, a one-time $550 setup fee to put the code in a searchable online format, $495 per year to host the code online after that, and a five-year supplement plan billed at $18-21 per reprinted page plus $200 per annual statutory update. This is one specific signed municipal contract, not a general price list, and actual costs for other municipalities will scale with code length.; CKAN the package install path requires Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 64-bit specifically; other operating systems must use the source install
  • They diverge on capability: American Legal Publishing covers Code Codification, CKAN covers Dataset Management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which American Legal Publishing and CKAN actually diverge.

Attributes where American Legal Publishing and CKAN differ
AttributeAmerican Legal PublishingCKAN
Starting price$150/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfree
Free tierNoYes
Founded19122006

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Government).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in American Legal Publishing

  • Code Codification
  • Online Publishing
  • Print Services
  • Editorial Support
  • Code Search
  • Legislative Systems
  • Document Management
  • Public Portals

Only in CKAN

  • Dataset Management
  • Data Harvesting
  • API Access
  • Visualization
  • Extensions
  • DataPusher
  • Harvester
  • Third-party Tools

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

American Legal Publishing

  • Citizen Servicesnot CKAN
  • Records Managementnot CKAN
  • Public Safetynot CKAN
  • Civic Engagementnot CKAN

CKAN

  • Publishing open government datasets in a searchable public data portalnot American Legal Publishing
  • Self-hosting a data catalogue with harvesting and an APInot American Legal Publishing

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

American Legal Publishing

  • A 2019 recodification contract between American Legal Publishing Corporation and the City of Dry Ridge, Kentucky, publicly posted by a separate Kentucky municipality as a model agreement, sets a base codification cost of $9,485 (USD) plus per-page increase rates of $18 (single column) and $21 (dual column) once the code exceeds the estimated page count, a one-time $550 setup fee to put the code in a searchable online format, $495 per year to host the code online after that, and a five-year supplement plan billed at $18-21 per reprinted page plus $200 per annual statutory update. This is one specific signed municipal contract, not a general price list, and actual costs for other municipalities will scale with code length.

CKAN

  • The package install path requires Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 64-bit specifically; other operating systems must use the source install
  • Only Solr 9 and Solr 8 are supported, and from CKAN 2.10 they are the only Solr versions supported at all
  • A working deployment requires PostgreSQL, Solr, Redis, nginx, supervisor and uWSGI to be installed and maintained separately
  • Python 3.10 or later is required

Pricing, plan by plan

American Legal Publishing

$150/month
  • Online Code$150/month
    • Online Publishing
    • Code Updates
    • Search

CKAN

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Data Management
    • API Access
    • Visualization

Which should you pick?

Choose American Legal Publishing if

  • You need code codification.
  • You also want online publishing.
American Legal Publishing review

Choose CKAN if

  • You need dataset management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want data harvesting.
CKAN review

Questions people ask

Is American Legal Publishing or CKAN better?
Neither clearly leads. American Legal Publishing starts at $150/month and CKAN at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, American Legal Publishing or CKAN?
CKAN has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $150/month for American Legal Publishing and Free for CKAN.
Does American Legal Publishing or CKAN run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use CKAN for free?
Yes. CKAN has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. American Legal Publishing starts at $150/month.
What is American Legal Publishing best used for?
American Legal Publishing is most often used for citizen services, records management, public safety, civic engagement. Of those, citizen services and records management are not what CKAN is typically brought in for.
What can American Legal Publishing do that CKAN cannot?
American Legal Publishing covers Code Codification, Online Publishing, Print Services, Editorial Support. CKAN covers Dataset Management, Data Harvesting, API Access, Visualization. Both handle Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CKAN: Is CKAN open-source and what license is it available under?

Yes, CKAN is an open-source data management system built on Python and available on GitHub. The license terms are available on their GitHub repository.

Source
CKAN: Does CKAN offer commercial support for organizations?

Yes, CKAN offers commercial support through certified providers including Link Digital and Datopian. Support includes advisory services, application development, integration, managed hosting, and web development.

Source
CKAN: Who is responsible for hosting costs when running CKAN?

Organizations deploying CKAN are responsible for their own hosting infrastructure. Commercial providers like Datopian and Link Digital offer managed hosting services if organizations prefer not to self-host.

Source
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