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Government · head to head

CentralSquare vs Cosign

CentralSquare logo

CentralSquare

Government

Public Safety and Administration Software

From
$1500/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Cosign logo

Cosign

Cybersecurity

Signs and verifies container images and artifacts, with or without managing keys

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Cosign has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: CentralSquare no pricing information is published on the website; Cosign keyless signing inherits every weakness of the identity provider behind it. Sigstore’s own threat model states that if an identity provider is compromised, Sigstore will issue certificates to those identities, so a compromised account produces perfectly valid signatures.
  • They diverge on capability: CentralSquare covers Computer-Aided Dispatch, Cosign covers Keyless signing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CentralSquare and Cosign actually diverge.

Attributes where CentralSquare and Cosign differ
AttributeCentralSquareCosign
Starting price$1500/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Desktop, Ios, AndroidmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
Founded2018Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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 CentralSquare

  • Computer-Aided Dispatch
  • Records Management
  • Jail Management
  • Fire RMS
  • Community Development
  • Esri ArcGIS
  • FBI CJIS
  • NCIC

Only in Cosign

  • Keyless signing
  • Key and KMS signing
  • Registry-native storage
  • In-toto attestations
  • Offline verification
  • Trusted root and signing config

What people use each for

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

CentralSquare

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

Cosign

  • Signing container images in a build pipeline without managing long-lived private keysnot CentralSquare
  • Attaching a signed bill of materials to a release so consumers can verify its provenancenot CentralSquare
  • Meeting a customer or regulatory requirement for signed artifactsnot CentralSquare
  • Verifying third-party images before they enter an internal registrynot CentralSquare

Where each one falls short

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

CentralSquare

  • No pricing information is published on the website
  • Pricing model is not disclosed; visitors are directed to request a demo or contact sales

Cosign

  • Keyless signing inherits every weakness of the identity provider behind it. Sigstore’s own threat model states that if an identity provider is compromised, Sigstore will issue certificates to those identities, so a compromised account produces perfectly valid signatures.
  • A signature proves who signed, never whether they should have. The documentation is explicit that Sigstore cannot determine authorisation, so every consumer must write and maintain their own identity and issuer policy or verification means nothing.
  • Nothing is enforced without an admission controller. Signing changes what you can prove, not what runs, and the official policy controller has a small maintainer base for a component sitting in a cluster admission path.
  • Upgrades break pipelines. Version 3 changed defaults, version 4 is announced as removing legacy functionality and roughly half the command line flags, and two official client libraries still lacked support for the new log format as of mid 2026.
  • Signatures do not expire. An artifact signed before a maintainer account was compromised and one signed after are indistinguishable unless somebody is actively monitoring the transparency log, and almost nobody is.

Pricing, plan by plan

CentralSquare

$1500/month
  • Public Safety Suite$1500/month
    • CAD
    • Records Management
    • Mobile Solutions

Cosign

Free
  • CosignFree
    • Apache-2.0
    • Public Sigstore infrastructure free to use
    • No usage limits published

Which should you pick?

Choose CentralSquare if

  • You need computer-aided dispatch.
  • You work on Web, Desktop, Ios, Android.
  • You also want records management.
CentralSquare review

Choose Cosign if

  • You need keyless signing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
  • You also want key and kms signing.
Cosign review

Questions people ask

Is CentralSquare or Cosign better?
Neither clearly leads. CentralSquare starts at $1500/month and Cosign at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CentralSquare or Cosign?
Cosign has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $1500/month for CentralSquare and Free for Cosign.
Does CentralSquare or Cosign run on more platforms?
CentralSquare runs on Web, Desktop, Ios, Android. Cosign runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
Can I use Cosign for free?
Yes. Cosign has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. CentralSquare starts at $1500/month.
What is CentralSquare best used for?
CentralSquare is most often used for citizen services, records management, public safety, civic engagement. Of those, citizen services and records management are not what Cosign is typically brought in for.
What can CentralSquare do that Cosign cannot?
CentralSquare covers Computer-Aided Dispatch, Records Management, Jail Management, Fire RMS. Cosign covers Keyless signing, Key and KMS signing, Registry-native storage, In-toto attestations.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CentralSquare: How much does CentralSquare cost?

CentralSquare does not publish pricing on its website. The company directs customers to request a demo or schedule a call with their sales team to discuss pricing.

Source
Cosign: Does Cosign tell me if an image is vulnerable?

No. It has no vulnerability knowledge whatsoever. It can carry an SBOM as a signed attestation but never reads it. Pair it with a scanner.

CentralSquare: What is CentralSquare's pricing model?

The pricing model is not disclosed. CentralSquare appears to use a custom quote or consultation-based approach, as the website does not mention subscription plans or tier-based pricing.

Source
Cosign: Is signing alone enough?

No. Verification is a command somebody runs. Without an admission controller enforcing it, an unsigned image still runs.

CentralSquare: Is there a free tier or trial?

No information about free tiers or trials is available on the website.

Source
Cosign: What does a bare cosign verify actually prove?

Very little. Without a pinned certificate identity and OIDC issuer, it accepts a valid signature from any identity at all.

CentralSquare: How do I get a pricing quote?

Contact CentralSquare through their website to request a demo or schedule a call with their sales team.

Source
Cosign: What is the risk of keyless signing?

Your OIDC provider becomes the root of trust. Compromise of that account yields genuine, verifiable signatures, so account security is the control that matters.

Cosign: Should we expect breaking changes?

Yes. Version 4 is announced to remove roughly half the flags, and a post-quantum migration is named as a further breaking change after that.

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