Softwr

Government · head to head

American Legal Publishing vs mySidewalk

A

American Legal Publishing

Government

Municipal Code Solutions

From
$150/month
Rated
-
mySidewalk logo

mySidewalk

Government

Community data dashboards for local government and public health, prewired to federal datasets

From
On request
Rated
-

The short version

  • 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.; mySidewalk it produces analysis and presentation rather than operational change, so the value has to be re argued at every renewal against services with more visible outputs.
  • They diverge on capability: American Legal Publishing covers Code Codification, mySidewalk covers Prewired federal datasets.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where American Legal Publishing and mySidewalk differ
AttributeAmerican Legal PublishingmySidewalk
Starting price$150/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Founded1912Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 mySidewalk

  • Prewired federal datasets
  • Margin of error handling
  • Custom geographies
  • Published dashboards
  • Local data integration
  • Report generation

What people use each for

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

American Legal Publishing

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

mySidewalk

  • A public health department producing a community health needs assessment on deadlinenot American Legal Publishing
  • A city applying for federal funding that requires demographic and disparity evidence for a service areanot American Legal Publishing
  • An agency that lost its only analyst who understood American Community Survey margins of errornot American Legal Publishing
  • A council wanting published neighbourhood indicator dashboards residents can browsenot 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.

mySidewalk

  • It produces analysis and presentation rather than operational change, so the value has to be re argued at every renewal against services with more visible outputs.
  • Budget frequently comes from a grant, which means the subscription is exposed when the grant cycle ends rather than being protected as core infrastructure.
  • The prewired datasets are American, so the platform has effectively no value outside United States federal statistical sources.
  • Analytical depth is bounded by what the platform exposes, so an agency with a genuine analyst will hit the ceiling and move to a statistical environment.
  • Small area estimates remain small area estimates, and presenting them as polished dashboards can lend unwarranted confidence to figures whose error bars overlap.

Pricing, plan by plan

American Legal Publishing

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

mySidewalk

On request
  • mySidewalk$undefined/year
    • Quoted annually by agency scope and dataset needs
    • Custom geography and local data integration work priced separately
    • No public price list, though agency contracts are public records

Which should you pick?

Choose American Legal Publishing if

  • You need code codification.
  • You also want online publishing.

Choose mySidewalk if

  • You need prewired federal datasets.
  • You also want margin of error handling.

Questions people ask

Is American Legal Publishing or mySidewalk better?
Neither clearly leads. American Legal Publishing starts at $150/month and mySidewalk at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, American Legal Publishing or mySidewalk?
American Legal Publishing starts at $150/month and mySidewalk at On request.
Does American Legal Publishing or mySidewalk run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
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 mySidewalk is typically brought in for.
What can American Legal Publishing do that mySidewalk cannot?
American Legal Publishing covers Code Codification, Online Publishing, Print Services, Editorial Support. mySidewalk covers Prewired federal datasets, Margin of error handling, Custom geographies, Published dashboards.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

mySidewalk: What problem does it actually solve?

Correct use of American Community Survey and federal health data for small geographies, which is difficult and is usually held by one person in an agency.

mySidewalk: Is it useful outside the United States?

No. Its value is the maintained pipeline into US federal statistical datasets.

mySidewalk: Who buys it?

Mostly public health departments and city planning or performance teams, often funded from a grant that requires the evidence it produces.

mySidewalk: Can we see comparable contract values?

Yes. Agency contracts are public records and appear in council and health board agenda materials.

Share

Related pages

Other head to heads