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Cybersecurity · head to head

HashiCorp Boundary vs Trimble Unity Maintain

HashiCorp Boundary logo

HashiCorp Boundary

Cybersecurity

Identity-aware session broker for infrastructure access without distributing credentials

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Trimble Unity Maintain logo

Trimble Unity Maintain

Government

GIS-centric public asset and work management, the product formerly sold as Cityworks

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only HashiCorp Boundary has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: HashiCorp Boundary hashiCorp was acquired by IBM in February 2025 and Enterprise licensing now runs through IBM Passport Advantage; IBM has already retired HCP Vault Secrets, so Boundary's roadmap depends on IBM portfolio decisions rather than HashiCorp's own product strategy.; Trimble Unity Maintain esri ArcGIS is a hard prerequisite, so an organisation without it faces a second substantial licence and a GIS programme before the maintenance system can be used at all.
  • They diverge on capability: HashiCorp Boundary covers Identity-based access, Trimble Unity Maintain covers Built on ArcGIS.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which HashiCorp Boundary and Trimble Unity Maintain actually diverge.

Attributes where HashiCorp Boundary and Trimble Unity Maintain differ
AttributeHashiCorp BoundaryTrimble Unity Maintain
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, WebWeb, iOS, Android, Windows
CategoryCybersecurityGovernment

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 HashiCorp Boundary

  • Identity-based access
  • Just-in-time credentials
  • Dynamic host catalogues
  • Session recording
  • Transparent sessions
  • Multi-hop workers
  • Audit logging
  • Terraform provider

Only in Trimble Unity Maintain

  • Built on ArcGIS
  • Service requests
  • Work order management
  • Permits and licensing
  • Mobile field access
  • Storeroom and inventory
  • Operational Insights
  • AgileAssets convergence

What people use each for

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

HashiCorp Boundary

  • A platform team replacing shared SSH keys and a bastion host so that leavers lose access the moment they are removed from the identity providernot Trimble Unity Maintain
  • Granting contractors time-boxed database access without ever issuing them a credential they could keepnot Trimble Unity Maintain
  • An estate where autoscaling replaces hosts continuously and a static access list is always out of datenot Trimble Unity Maintain
  • Producing session recordings as evidence for an audit that requires proof of who touched production and what they rannot Trimble Unity Maintain

Trimble Unity Maintain

  • A water utility wanting valve exercising and hydrant flushing recorded against the same GIS features the engineering team maintainsnot HashiCorp Boundary
  • A city consolidating a citizen service request line, work orders and inspections into one location-based systemnot HashiCorp Boundary
  • A state transportation department managing pavement and bridge assets with linear referencing rather than point assetsnot HashiCorp Boundary
  • A public works department that has already licensed ArcGIS Enterprise and wants to avoid rekeying its asset inventorynot HashiCorp Boundary

Where each one falls short

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

HashiCorp Boundary

  • HashiCorp was acquired by IBM in February 2025 and Enterprise licensing now runs through IBM Passport Advantage; IBM has already retired HCP Vault Secrets, so Boundary's roadmap depends on IBM portfolio decisions rather than HashiCorp's own product strategy.
  • Enterprise pricing is not published anywhere, and the features most organisations actually need for compliance, notably session recording, are Enterprise only, so the free community edition is rarely the version you end up buying.
  • It solves access to infrastructure, not to applications; browser-based internal tools, SaaS admin consoles and APIs need a separate control, so Boundary is one component of a zero-trust programme rather than the whole thing.
  • Running it yourself means operating controllers, worker nodes and a Postgres database in a highly available configuration, and if that control plane is down nobody can reach production, which makes it a new critical dependency.
  • It is materially easier to adopt if you already run Vault and Terraform; teams without that ecosystem face a steeper learning curve than a device-based mesh product like Tailscale, for a similar access outcome.

Trimble Unity Maintain

  • Esri ArcGIS is a hard prerequisite, so an organisation without it faces a second substantial licence and a GIS programme before the maintenance system can be used at all.
  • The product is mid-rename from Cityworks to Trimble Unity Maintain with transition timelines Trimble has not committed to publicly, leaving contracts, documentation and integrator experience split between two names.
  • CVE-2025-0994, a deserialisation flaw in Cityworks, was exploited in the wild and listed by CISA in February 2025, which makes on-premise deployments a patching obligation rather than a set-and-forget install.
  • Because assets live in the GIS, changing the asset model is a GIS division change, so maintenance teams cannot restructure their own hierarchy without another department in the loop.
  • It is built for North American public sector practice, and the permitting, funding source and reporting models do not map cleanly onto other countries or onto private industrial estates.

Pricing, plan by plan

HashiCorp Boundary

Free
  • Boundary Community EditionFree
    • MPL 2.0 open source
    • Self-hosted controllers and workers
    • Identity-based target access
  • Boundary Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Session recording and playback
    • Multi-hop and transparent sessions
    • Multi-tenancy via scopes

Trimble Unity Maintain

On request
  • Trimble Unity Maintain$undefined/year
    • Annual subscription sized by population served, asset volume and user count
    • Esri ArcGIS Enterprise or ArcGIS Online licensing required separately
    • Hosted and on-premise deployment priced differently

Which should you pick?

Choose HashiCorp Boundary if

  • You need identity-based access.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Web.
  • You also want just-in-time credentials.
HashiCorp Boundary review

Choose Trimble Unity Maintain if

  • You need built on arcgis.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
  • You also want service requests.
Trimble Unity Maintain review

Questions people ask

Is HashiCorp Boundary or Trimble Unity Maintain better?
Neither clearly leads. HashiCorp Boundary starts at Free and Trimble Unity Maintain at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, HashiCorp Boundary or Trimble Unity Maintain?
HashiCorp Boundary has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for HashiCorp Boundary and On request for Trimble Unity Maintain.
Does HashiCorp Boundary or Trimble Unity Maintain run on more platforms?
HashiCorp Boundary runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Web. Trimble Unity Maintain runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
Can I use HashiCorp Boundary for free?
Yes. HashiCorp Boundary has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Trimble Unity Maintain starts at On request.
What is HashiCorp Boundary best used for?
HashiCorp Boundary is most often used for a platform team replacing shared ssh keys and a bastion host so that leavers lose access the moment they are removed from the identity provider, granting contractors time-boxed database access without ever issuing them a credential they could keep, an estate where autoscaling replaces hosts continuously and a static access list is always out of date, producing session recordings as evidence for an audit that requires proof of who touched production and what they ran. Of those, a platform team replacing shared ssh keys and a bastion host so that leavers lose access the moment they are removed from the identity provider and granting contractors time-boxed database access without ever issuing them a credential they could keep are not what Trimble Unity Maintain is typically brought in for.
What can HashiCorp Boundary do that Trimble Unity Maintain cannot?
HashiCorp Boundary covers Identity-based access, Just-in-time credentials, Dynamic host catalogues, Session recording. Trimble Unity Maintain covers Built on ArcGIS, Service requests, Work order management, Permits and licensing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

HashiCorp Boundary: Is Boundary open source?

The community edition is, under MPL 2.0. Boundary Enterprise is commercial and is now sold through IBM Passport Advantage.

Trimble Unity Maintain: Is Cityworks discontinued?

Not discontinued, renamed. It is becoming Trimble Unity Maintain, converging with AgileAssets, and Trimble has not published a final transition date.

HashiCorp Boundary: Does it replace a VPN?

For infrastructure access, largely yes. It grants a session to a specific target rather than putting the user on a network, but it does not cover browser-based internal applications.

Trimble Unity Maintain: Do I need Esri ArcGIS?

Yes. The product is built on ArcGIS and cannot be deployed without an Esri licence.

HashiCorp Boundary: What does Boundary Enterprise cost?

HashiCorp does not publish Boundary pricing. It is quoted, and since the IBM acquisition it is transacted on IBM licensing paper.

Trimble Unity Maintain: Was there a security incident?

Yes. CVE-2025-0994 in Cityworks was exploited in the wild and added to the CISA known exploited vulnerabilities catalogue in February 2025.

HashiCorp Boundary: Do I need Vault to use it?

No, but the just-in-time credential brokering that makes Boundary worthwhile depends on Vault or an equivalent secrets store.

Trimble Unity Maintain: Can it handle roads and pavement as well as pipes?

Yes, through the AgileAssets lineage now inside the Unity Maintain family, which adds linear referencing for transportation assets.

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