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Government & Public Sector · head to head

CitizenLab vs MuckRock

CitizenLab logo

CitizenLab

Government & Public Sector

Digital Democracy Platform

From
$500/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
MuckRock logo

MuckRock

Government & Public Sector

FOIA Filing and Research Platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only MuckRock has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: CitizenLab citizenLab has rebranded to Go Vocal and the product now sells under govocal.com; MuckRock muckRock's core platform, Squarelet identity service, and DocumentCloud are licensed AGPL-3.0, which requires anyone running a modified version as a network service to release their source code
  • They diverge on capability: CitizenLab covers Participatory Budgeting, MuckRock covers FOIA Filing.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CitizenLab and MuckRock actually diverge.

Attributes where CitizenLab and MuckRock differ
AttributeCitizenLabMuckRock
Starting price$500/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb
Founded20152010

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Government & Public Sector).

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 CitizenLab

  • Participatory Budgeting
  • Idea Management
  • Online Consultations
  • Surveys & Polls
  • AI-powered Analysis
  • Single Sign-On
  • Open Data Portals
  • GIS Systems

Only in MuckRock

  • FOIA Filing
  • Request Tracking
  • Document Archive
  • Collaboration
  • Agency Directory
  • DocumentCloud
  • News Organizations
  • Research Tools

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

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

CitizenLab

  • Running community consultation and participatory budgeting for a citynot MuckRock
  • Collecting resident input through surveys, ideation, mapping and votingnot MuckRock
  • Centralising engagement data across multiple municipal departmentsnot MuckRock

MuckRock

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

Where each one falls short

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

CitizenLab

  • CitizenLab has rebranded to Go Vocal and the product now sells under govocal.com
  • No prices are published on the plans page; every tier requires scheduling a demo
  • The Essential plan allows only 1 active project and 1 admin seat, with no project manager seats
  • Standard is limited to 4 admin seats and 5 project manager seats, and Premium to 8 admin seats and 25 project manager seats
  • Standard restricts Sensemaking to Light, capped at 30 inputs; auto-insights require Premium
  • The integrated Konveio document annotation and Echo blended engagement methods are excluded from Standard and require Premium
  • Auto-translation on Premium is limited to 3 languages
  • Custom fonts and other premium styling options are Premium only
  • Priority support is Premium only
  • Plans are split by population band, with separate ladders for cities under and over 100K population

MuckRock

  • MuckRock's core platform, Squarelet identity service, and DocumentCloud are licensed AGPL-3.0, which requires anyone running a modified version as a network service to release their source code

Pricing, plan by plan

CitizenLab

$500/month
  • Government$500/month
    • Participatory Budgeting
    • Idea Collection
    • Surveys

MuckRock

Free
  • BasicFree
    • FOIA Filing
    • Request Tracking
    • Document Archive

Which should you pick?

Choose CitizenLab if

  • You need participatory budgeting.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want idea management.
CitizenLab review

Choose MuckRock if

  • You need foia filing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want request tracking.
MuckRock review

Questions people ask

Is CitizenLab or MuckRock better?
Neither clearly leads. CitizenLab starts at $500/month and MuckRock at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CitizenLab or MuckRock?
MuckRock has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $500/month for CitizenLab and Free for MuckRock.
Does CitizenLab or MuckRock run on more platforms?
CitizenLab runs on Web, Ios, Android. MuckRock runs on Web.
Can I use MuckRock for free?
Yes. MuckRock has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. CitizenLab starts at $500/month.
What is CitizenLab best used for?
CitizenLab is most often used for running community consultation and participatory budgeting for a city, collecting resident input through surveys, ideation, mapping and voting, centralising engagement data across multiple municipal departments. Of those, running community consultation and participatory budgeting for a city and collecting resident input through surveys, ideation, mapping and voting are not what MuckRock is typically brought in for.
What can CitizenLab do that MuckRock cannot?
CitizenLab covers Participatory Budgeting, Idea Management, Online Consultations, Surveys & Polls. MuckRock covers FOIA Filing, Request Tracking, Document Archive, Collaboration. Both handle Web support.
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