Softwr

Government · head to head

Citizen vs Teleport

Citizen logo

Citizen

Government

Real-time Safety Alerts

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Teleport logo

Teleport

Cybersecurity

Certificate-based access to servers, Kubernetes, databases and apps, replacing shared credentials and VPNs

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Citizen has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Citizen no premium or paid features mentioned; Teleport pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.
  • They diverge on capability: Citizen covers Real-time Alerts, Teleport covers Short-lived certificates.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Citizen and Teleport actually diverge.

Attributes where Citizen and Teleport differ
AttributeCitizenTeleport
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsIos, AndroidLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
Founded2016Unknown

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 Citizen

  • Real-time Alerts
  • 911 Monitoring
  • Live Video
  • Safety Map
  • Personal Safety
  • Emergency Services
  • Social Media
  • Location Services

Only in Teleport

  • Short-lived certificates
  • Protocol coverage
  • Session recording and replay
  • Access Requests
  • Device Trust
  • Identity provider integration
  • Machine identity
  • FIPS and FedRAMP builds

What people use each for

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

Citizen

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

Teleport

  • Removing long-lived SSH keys and shared database passwords so that offboarding an engineer takes one action in the identity providernot Citizen
  • Producing session recordings and per-user database audit trails as direct evidence for SOC 2 or FedRAMPnot Citizen
  • Giving contractors or on-call engineers time-boxed, approved access to production instead of standing admin rightsnot Citizen
  • Replacing a flat VPN with per-resource authorisation across servers, Kubernetes and internal web appsnot Citizen

Where each one falls short

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

Citizen

  • No premium or paid features mentioned
  • App is completely free with no monetization model disclosed
  • No in-app purchases or premium tier mentioned
  • Subscription or paid features may exist but not disclosed

Teleport

  • Pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.
  • The proxy is a hard dependency on reaching production, so it needs its own high availability deployment and a tested break-glass path or an outage in Teleport becomes an outage in your ability to respond to outages.
  • The open source Community Edition omits Access Requests, Device Trust and the FIPS builds, which are exactly the controls an auditor asks about, so the free tier rarely survives a compliance review.
  • Self-hosting means running and upgrading a certificate authority and its backing store, and Teleport releases frequently enough that upgrade work becomes a standing operational commitment.
  • Coverage across protocols is uneven in depth, so teams with legacy systems, unusual databases or bespoke network appliances find gaps that still require the old VPN to remain in place alongside it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Citizen

Free
  • BasicFree
    • Real-time Alerts
    • Incident Feed
    • Safety Map

Teleport

On request
  • Teleport Community Edition$undefined/year
    • Open source, self-hosted
    • SSH, Kubernetes, database and app access
    • Session recording
  • Teleport Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Cloud-hosted or self-hosted
    • Access Requests and approval workflow
    • Device Trust and hardware key enforcement

Which should you pick?

Choose Citizen if

  • You need real-time alerts.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Ios, Android.
  • You also want 911 monitoring.
Citizen review

Choose Teleport if

  • You need short-lived certificates.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want protocol coverage.
Teleport review

Questions people ask

Is Citizen or Teleport better?
Neither clearly leads. Citizen starts at Free and Teleport at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Citizen or Teleport?
Citizen has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Citizen and On request for Teleport.
Does Citizen or Teleport run on more platforms?
Citizen runs on Ios, Android. Teleport runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use Citizen for free?
Yes. Citizen has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Teleport starts at On request.
What is Citizen best used for?
Citizen is most often used for citizen services, records management, public safety, civic engagement. Of those, citizen services and records management are not what Teleport is typically brought in for.
What can Citizen do that Teleport cannot?
Citizen covers Real-time Alerts, 911 Monitoring, Live Video, Safety Map. Teleport covers Short-lived certificates, Protocol coverage, Session recording and replay, Access Requests.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Citizen: How much does Citizen cost?

Citizen is available as a free app download for iOS and Android. The app includes core safety and alert features at no cost.

Source
Teleport: Is the open source edition usable in production?

Yes, but it lacks Access Requests, Device Trust and FIPS builds, which most compliance programmes end up requiring.

Citizen: Are there paid features or premium subscriptions in Citizen?

Citizen's website does not mention paid features, premium subscriptions, or in-app purchases. All advertised features appear to be included in the free app.

Source
Teleport: How is it priced?

Not publicly. The vendor prices on active users and protected resources and provides a quote after a sales conversation.

Teleport: What happens if Teleport goes down?

Nobody reaches the resources behind it, so you need a highly available deployment and a documented break-glass procedure.

Teleport: Does it replace our VPN?

For anything you put behind it, yes. Legacy systems and appliances it does not support will keep the VPN alive.

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