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Government · head to head

MuckRock vs Osano

MuckRock logo

MuckRock

Government

FOIA Filing and Research Platform

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Osano logo

Osano

Cybersecurity

Consent management and data privacy platform with a published self-serve tier

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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; Osano the published visitor ceilings are low, with the paid self-serve tier stopping around 30,000 monthly visitors, so any consumer facing site with real traffic leaves published pricing immediately and negotiates a quote with no public anchor.
  • They diverge on capability: MuckRock covers FOIA Filing, Osano covers Consent banner.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which MuckRock and Osano actually diverge.

Attributes where MuckRock and Osano differ
AttributeMuckRockOsano
Pricing modelfreemiumPer month by monthly website visitors
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
Founded2010Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web), 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 MuckRock

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

Only in Osano

  • Consent banner
  • Pre-consent tag blocking
  • Consent record
  • No fines guarantee
  • Subject rights requests
  • Data mapping
  • Vendor privacy monitoring
  • Cookie scanning

What people use each for

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

MuckRock

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

Osano

  • A mid market company selling into the EU and California that needs one banner honouring different consent rules by visitor regionnot MuckRock
  • A privacy counsel who wants a vendor that will contractually stand behind its consent product rather than disclaim all liabilitynot MuckRock
  • A marketing team that needs Google Consent Mode signals wired correctly so analytics and ads degrade rather than break when consent is refusednot MuckRock
  • A company with a handful of brand domains wanting one consent record and one scanning schedule across all of themnot MuckRock

Where each one falls short

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

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

Osano

  • The published visitor ceilings are low, with the paid self-serve tier stopping around 30,000 monthly visitors, so any consumer facing site with real traffic leaves published pricing immediately and negotiates a quote with no public anchor.
  • The no fines guarantee is bounded and conditional on configuring the product as instructed, so it is a marketing differentiator with an indemnity cap rather than the insurance policy the name suggests, and the limits should be read before it influences a decision.
  • Everything beyond consent, including subject rights automation, data mapping and vendor monitoring, is enterprise quoted, so the transparent pricing that attracts buyers covers only the cheapest part of the platform.
  • Tag blocking depends on tags being loaded through the mechanisms Osano can intercept, and marketing teams that inject scripts directly into templates or through server side tagging routinely leak trackers past the banner without anyone noticing.
  • It is a privacy platform rather than a security compliance one, so organisations that also need SOC 2 or ISO 27001 evidence collection run it alongside a separate tool and duplicate parts of the vendor and asset inventory.

Pricing, plan by plan

MuckRock

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

Osano

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1 user
    • 1 domain
    • 5,000 monthly visitors
  • Plus$199/month
    • 2 users
    • 3 domains
    • 30,000 monthly visitors
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Unlimited domains and higher visitor volumes
    • Subject rights request automation
    • Data mapping and assessments

Which should you pick?

Choose MuckRock if

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

Choose Osano if

  • You need consent banner.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want pre-consent tag blocking.
Osano review

Questions people ask

Is MuckRock or Osano better?
Neither clearly leads. MuckRock starts at Free and Osano at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, MuckRock or Osano?
MuckRock starts at Free and Osano at Free.
Does MuckRock or Osano run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use MuckRock for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is MuckRock best used for?
MuckRock is most often used for citizen services, records management, public safety, civic engagement. Of those, citizen services and records management are not what Osano is typically brought in for.
What can MuckRock do that Osano cannot?
MuckRock covers FOIA Filing, Request Tracking, Document Archive, Collaboration. Osano covers Consent banner, Pre-consent tag blocking, Consent record, No fines guarantee.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Osano: Does the free tier include the no fines guarantee?

No. The guarantee attaches to paid use of the consent product, and the free tier is capped at one domain and 5,000 monthly visitors.

Osano: How is Osano priced?

By monthly website visitors, number of domains and tier. The self-serve path stops at a low visitor ceiling and everything above is quoted.

Osano: Can it handle US state privacy laws as well as GDPR?

Yes, with region aware rule sets covering GDPR, ePrivacy and the US state regimes, so an EU visitor sees an opt-in banner and a US visitor sees the applicable opt-out.

Osano: Does Osano do subject access requests?

Yes, but in the enterprise tier rather than the published plans, and it is quoted separately from consent.

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