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Government · head to head

DemandStar vs NEOGOV

DemandStar logo

DemandStar

Government

Bid distribution network that is free for government agencies and charges the suppliers instead

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
NEOGOV logo

NEOGOV

Government

Public sector HR suite covering civil service recruiting, onboarding, training and policy management

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only DemandStar has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: DemandStar coverage is opt-in by agency, so a supplier paying for a state tier receives only participating agencies and must still monitor other portals for the rest.; NEOGOV each module is shallower than the specialist product it competes with, so agencies buying the full suite for coherence accept weaker performance management and learning than they would get separately.
  • They diverge on capability: DemandStar covers Free for agencies, NEOGOV covers Civil service recruiting.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DemandStar and NEOGOV actually diverge.

Attributes where DemandStar and NEOGOV differ
AttributeDemandStarNEOGOV
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree for agencies, per year by geographic coverage for suppliersquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: 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 DemandStar

  • Free for agencies
  • Commodity code matching
  • eBidding
  • Plan holder lists
  • Supplier registration
  • Geographic subscription tiers

Only in NEOGOV

  • Civil service recruiting
  • Veterans preference handling
  • GovernmentJobs.com posting
  • Onboarding workflows
  • Learning and training records
  • Policy management

What people use each for

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

DemandStar

  • A city purchasing officer who wants wider bid distribution without running a procurement to buy softwarenot NEOGOV
  • A contractor who works in three adjacent counties and wants notifications only for that footprintnot NEOGOV
  • An agency needing sealed electronic bid submission to replace paper deliveries to the clerknot NEOGOV
  • A supplier testing whether public sector work is viable before committing to a national subscriptionnot NEOGOV

NEOGOV

  • A city or county HR department that must run scored examinations and ranked eligibility listsnot DemandStar
  • A public safety agency needing policy acknowledgement records that stand up in litigationnot DemandStar
  • An agency replacing a commercial applicant tracking system that cannot handle veterans preferencenot DemandStar
  • A school district or university consolidating recruiting, onboarding and mandated training recordsnot DemandStar

Where each one falls short

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

DemandStar

  • Coverage is opt-in by agency, so a supplier paying for a state tier receives only participating agencies and must still monitor other portals for the rest.
  • The free supplier tier charges around 5 US dollars per bid document download, which turns an apparently free plan into a metered one as soon as you actually pursue opportunities.
  • State pricing ranges from roughly 100 to 1,499 US dollars with the variation driven by agency density, so suppliers cannot predict cost from geography alone.
  • Because agencies pay nothing, they have little leverage over the roadmap and features are driven by what makes supplier subscriptions sell.
  • The brand is being folded into Euna OpenBid following the Euna Solutions consolidation, so suppliers and agencies should expect the name and portal to change.

NEOGOV

  • Each module is shallower than the specialist product it competes with, so agencies buying the full suite for coherence accept weaker performance management and learning than they would get separately.
  • Policy management arrived through the PowerDMS acquisition rather than being built in, and the join between it and the rest of the suite still reads as two products.
  • Implementation is long and configuration heavy because the civil service rules that make the product valuable have to be encoded for your jurisdiction, and that work is billed.
  • Pricing is not published and scales with headcount, so a large agency can pay several times what a comparable one pays without knowing it unless someone reads the public contracts.
  • Private equity ownership since the Warburg Pincus investment has coincided with an acquisition led strategy, and buyers should expect further products bolted on rather than deeper integration of the existing ones.

Pricing, plan by plan

DemandStar

Free
  • Government agencyFree
    • Post unlimited solicitations
    • Access the supplier network
    • eBidding and plan holder lists
  • Supplier freeFree
    • Bid notifications for one agency of your choice
    • Bid document downloads charged around 5 USD each
    • Supplier profile and registration
  • Supplier county$60/year
    • All participating agencies within one county
    • Unlimited bid document access for that county
    • Approximate rate, varies by county
  • Supplier state$100/year
    • All participating agencies within one state
    • Priced from around 100 to 1,499 USD depending on agency density

NEOGOV

On request
  • NEOGOV Suite$undefined/year
    • Quoted per module and scaled by employee headcount
    • Implementation and data migration priced separately from the subscription
    • Available through cooperative purchasing and state term contracts

Which should you pick?

Choose DemandStar if

  • You need free for agencies.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want commodity code matching.
DemandStar review

Choose NEOGOV if

  • You need civil service recruiting.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want veterans preference handling.
NEOGOV review

Questions people ask

Is DemandStar or NEOGOV better?
Neither clearly leads. DemandStar starts at Free and NEOGOV at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DemandStar or NEOGOV?
DemandStar has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for DemandStar and On request for NEOGOV.
Does DemandStar or NEOGOV run on more platforms?
DemandStar runs on Web. NEOGOV runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use DemandStar for free?
Yes. DemandStar has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. NEOGOV starts at On request.
What is DemandStar best used for?
DemandStar is most often used for a city purchasing officer who wants wider bid distribution without running a procurement to buy software, a contractor who works in three adjacent counties and wants notifications only for that footprint, an agency needing sealed electronic bid submission to replace paper deliveries to the clerk, a supplier testing whether public sector work is viable before committing to a national subscription. Of those, a city purchasing officer who wants wider bid distribution without running a procurement to buy software and a contractor who works in three adjacent counties and wants notifications only for that footprint are not what NEOGOV is typically brought in for.
What can DemandStar do that NEOGOV cannot?
DemandStar covers Free for agencies, Commodity code matching, eBidding, Plan holder lists. NEOGOV covers Civil service recruiting, Veterans preference handling, GovernmentJobs.com posting, Onboarding workflows.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

DemandStar: Is DemandStar free for governments?

Yes, entirely. Agencies post solicitations and access the supplier network at no cost; suppliers fund the platform.

NEOGOV: Why not use a commercial applicant tracking system?

Because civil service rules such as ranked eligibility lists, rule of three certification and veterans preference are not expressible in commercial products, so the statutory steps end up in spreadsheets.

DemandStar: What do suppliers pay?

Free for one agency with roughly 5 USD per document download, about 60 USD a year per county, 100 to 1,499 per state, and 2,699 for national coverage.

NEOGOV: Can I find out what other agencies pay?

Yes. These are public procurements, so executed contract values appear in council agenda packets and state term contract listings. Read several before negotiating.

DemandStar: Who owns DemandStar?

Euna Solutions, the public sector portfolio formerly known as GTY Technology, which also absorbed Bonfire and Ion Wave.

NEOGOV: What did NEOGOV acquire?

PowerDMS, a policy management and accreditation product, in 2021, which is now sold as the policy module of the suite.

DemandStar: Does it cover every agency?

No. Only agencies that have opted in, which is the main limitation for suppliers buying wide coverage.

NEOGOV: Is it only for the United States?

Effectively yes. The value is in encoding US civil service and public safety requirements.

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