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Government · head to head

PublicInput vs WireGuard

PublicInput logo

PublicInput

Government

Inclusive Community Engagement

From
$400/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
WireGuard logo

WireGuard

Cybersecurity

Modern, minimal-complexity VPN protocol with state-of-the-art cryptography

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only WireGuard has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: PublicInput all three plans, Listen, Engage and Engage Plus, are listed as Request Pricing with no published rate, minimum or cost driver; WireGuard manual key management required; WireGuard does not provide automated peer discovery or key distribution mechanisms
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which PublicInput and WireGuard actually diverge.

Attributes where PublicInput and WireGuard differ
AttributePublicInputWireGuard
Starting price$400/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionopen-source
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidLinux, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, FreeBSD, OpenBSD
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
Founded2014Unknown

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 PublicInput

  • Virtual Public Meetings
  • Online Surveys
  • Comment Management
  • Multi-language Support
  • Engagement Analytics
  • Zoom
  • Microsoft Teams
  • GovDelivery

Only in WireGuard

Nothing recorded that PublicInput does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

PublicInput

  • Civic engagementnot WireGuard
  • Government consultationnot WireGuard
  • Public input collectionnot WireGuard

WireGuard

  • Site-to-site VPN connectivity for datacentres and branch officesnot PublicInput
  • High-performance VPN applications requiring minimal latency and CPU overheadnot PublicInput
  • Embedded systems and IoT devices with strict memory and storage constraintsnot PublicInput
  • WireGuard-based managed services (Tailscale, Mullvad VPN) providing abstraction over raw protocolnot PublicInput
  • Kernel module for Linux-based VPN appliances and firewallsnot PublicInput
  • Research and development in cryptographic protocol designnot PublicInput

Where each one falls short

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

PublicInput

  • All three plans, Listen, Engage and Engage Plus, are listed as Request Pricing with no published rate, minimum or cost driver
  • HTML and CSS customization, custom workflows and approvals, and external system integration with Accela and ESRI are listed as Enterprise Capabilities rather than core platform features
  • Public meetings functionality is sold under a separate Meetings plan rather than being included with the Engagement plans
  • Getting a plan requires booking a consultation and a tailored demo rather than self serve signup

WireGuard

  • Manual key management required; WireGuard does not provide automated peer discovery or key distribution mechanisms
  • No built-in support for address allocation or DHCP; all IP assignments must be manually configured
  • Limited to UDP; TCP encapsulation requires wrapper tools, making it unsuitable for environments blocking UDP
  • Stateless protocol design means lost packets trigger peer disconnection rather than transparent reconnection
  • Requires operational expertise to securely configure and deploy; not suitable for non-technical users without wrapper tools (Tailscale, Mullvad)

Pricing, plan by plan

PublicInput

$400/month
  • Enterprise$400/month
    • Virtual Meetings
    • Surveys
    • Comment Management

WireGuard

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the WireGuard review.

Which should you pick?

Choose PublicInput if

  • You need virtual public meetings.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want online surveys.
PublicInput review

Choose WireGuard if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, FreeBSD, OpenBSD.
WireGuard review

Questions people ask

Is PublicInput or WireGuard better?
Neither clearly leads. PublicInput starts at $400/month and WireGuard at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, PublicInput or WireGuard?
WireGuard has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $400/month for PublicInput and Free for WireGuard.
Does PublicInput or WireGuard run on more platforms?
PublicInput runs on Web, Ios, Android. WireGuard runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, FreeBSD, OpenBSD.
Can I use WireGuard for free?
Yes. WireGuard has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. PublicInput starts at $400/month.
What is PublicInput best used for?
PublicInput is most often used for civic engagement, government consultation, public input collection. Of those, civic engagement and government consultation are not what WireGuard is typically brought in for.
What can PublicInput do that WireGuard cannot?
PublicInput covers Virtual Public Meetings, Online Surveys, Comment Management, Multi-language Support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

PublicInput: How much does PublicInput cost?

PublicInput does not publish pricing on their website. Customers must request a demo or book a meeting to receive a quote based on their specific needs.

Source
WireGuard: Is WireGuard free?

Yes, WireGuard is free and open-source software. The Linux kernel module is licensed under GPLv2; implementations for other platforms use MIT or Apache 2.0 licences. There are no licensing fees.

Source
PublicInput: What pricing plans does PublicInput offer?

PublicInput offers Engagement Plans and Meetings Plans, but specific pricing for each plan is not publicly available and requires contacting their sales team.

Source
WireGuard: How does WireGuard differ from IPsec and OpenVPN?

WireGuard replaces complex negotiation protocols and state machines with simple public-key cryptography. Its code is roughly 100 times smaller than IPsec, making it faster to audit, deploy, and maintain. It uses modern cryptographic primitives rather than legacy algorithms.

Source
WireGuard: Can I use WireGuard for a commercial VPN service?

Yes. Several commercial VPN services (Mullvad, IVPN, ProtonVPN) use WireGuard as their underlying protocol. You must implement peer management, key distribution, and endpoint selection on top of the WireGuard protocol.

Source
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