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Government · head to head

MuckRock vs Very Good Security

MuckRock logo

MuckRock

Government

FOIA Filing and Research Platform

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 MuckRock has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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; 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: MuckRock covers FOIA Filing, 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 MuckRock and Very Good Security actually diverge.

Attributes where MuckRock and Very Good Security differ
AttributeMuckRockVery Good Security
Starting priceFree$1000/month
Pricing modelfreemiumPer month
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, API
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
Founded2010Unknown

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 MuckRock

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

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.

MuckRock

  • 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 MuckRock
  • A merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoreticalnot MuckRock
  • A fintech collecting bank account and identity documents that wants sensitive fields absent from logs, backups and analytics warehouses by constructionnot MuckRock
  • A card issuer that must display a full PAN in its own mobile app without the app or its backend touching cardholder datanot 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

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

MuckRock

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

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 MuckRock if

  • You need foia filing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want request tracking.
MuckRock 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 MuckRock or Very Good Security better?
Neither clearly leads. MuckRock 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, MuckRock or Very Good Security?
MuckRock has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for MuckRock and $1000/month for Very Good Security.
Does MuckRock or Very Good Security run on more platforms?
MuckRock runs on Web. Very Good Security runs on Web, API.
Can I use MuckRock for free?
Yes. MuckRock has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Very Good Security starts at $1000/month.
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 Very Good Security is typically brought in for.
What can MuckRock do that Very Good Security cannot?
MuckRock covers FOIA Filing, Request Tracking, Document Archive, Collaboration. Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy, PCI scope reduction, Network tokenisation, Processor optionality.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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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