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Government · head to head

Citizen vs Very Good Security

Citizen logo

Citizen

Government

Real-time Safety Alerts

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Very Good Security logo

Very Good Security

Cybersecurity

Tokenisation proxy that keeps card and personal data out of your own systems and out of PCI scope

From
$1000/month
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; Very Good Security vGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • They diverge on capability: Citizen covers Real-time Alerts, Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Citizen and Very Good Security actually diverge.

Attributes where Citizen and Very Good Security differ
AttributeCitizenVery Good Security
Starting priceFree$1000/month
Pricing modelfreemiumPer month
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsIos, AndroidWeb, API
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 Very Good Security

  • Aliasing proxy
  • PCI scope reduction
  • Network tokenisation
  • Processor optionality
  • Card issuing data
  • Vault and access controls
  • Data residency options
  • Compliance artefacts

What people use each for

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

Citizen

  • Citizen Servicesnot Very Good Security
  • Records Managementnot Very Good Security
  • Public Safetynot Very Good Security
  • Civic Engagementnot Very Good Security

Very Good Security

  • A marketplace facing its first PCI DSS Level 1 assessment that wants to keep card data off its own estate rather than harden a dozen servicesnot Citizen
  • A merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoreticalnot Citizen
  • A fintech collecting bank account and identity documents that wants sensitive fields absent from logs, backups and analytics warehouses by constructionnot Citizen
  • A card issuer that must display a full PAN in its own mobile app without the app or its backend touching cardholder datanot 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

Very Good Security

  • VGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • Token portability is the whole selling point yet leaving VGS means migrating tokens back out, a project the vendor has no incentive to streamline, so the lock-in you removed from your acquirer partly moves to VGS.
  • Entry pricing at around one thousand US dollars a month is real money for a pre-revenue fintech, and it buys volume-limited throughput, so cost scales with exactly the growth that made you buy it.
  • Scope reduction is not scope elimination: your QSA still assesses how you integrate, and teams regularly discover that a support tool or an internal admin screen pulled plaintext back in and dragged systems into scope again.
  • Proxy-based interception constrains how you design request flows, and non-standard payloads, streaming uploads or binary formats often need custom routing rules that make debugging production issues noticeably harder.

Pricing, plan by plan

Citizen

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

Very Good Security

$1000/month
  • Starter$1000/month
    • Aliasing proxy
    • Vault storage
    • PCI scope reduction
  • Growth$undefined/month
    • Network tokenisation
    • Multiple processors
    • Data residency options
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom vault architecture
    • Dedicated support and SLA
    • Contractual compliance coverage

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 Very Good Security if

  • You need aliasing proxy.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want pci scope reduction.
Very Good Security review

Questions people ask

Is Citizen or Very Good Security better?
Neither clearly leads. Citizen starts at Free and Very Good Security at $1000/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Citizen or Very Good Security?
Citizen has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Citizen and $1000/month for Very Good Security.
Does Citizen or Very Good Security run on more platforms?
Citizen runs on Ios, Android. Very Good Security runs on Web, API.
Can I use Citizen for free?
Yes. Citizen has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Very Good Security starts at $1000/month.
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 Very Good Security is typically brought in for.
What can Citizen do that Very Good Security cannot?
Citizen covers Real-time Alerts, 911 Monitoring, Live Video, Safety Map. Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy, PCI scope reduction, Network tokenisation, Processor optionality.

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
Very Good Security: Does VGS make me PCI compliant?

No. It removes cardholder data from your systems so your assessment covers a far smaller boundary, but you still complete an assessment and your integration is part of it.

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
Very Good Security: Can I move to another processor without re-collecting cards?

Yes, that is a core reason people buy it. The vault reveals stored credentials to whichever processor you route to.

Very Good Security: What does it cost?

Published entry pricing is about one thousand US dollars per month; growth and enterprise tiers are quoted.

Very Good Security: Is it only for card data?

No. The proxy handles any sensitive field, including bank details, national identifiers and documents, though payments is where the product is now focused.

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