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Government · head to head

ShotSpotter vs Sigstore

ShotSpotter logo

ShotSpotter

Government

Gunshot Detection Technology

From
$5000/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Sigstore logo

Sigstore

Cybersecurity

Free public signing and transparency infrastructure for open source artifacts

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Sigstore has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: ShotSpotter shotSpotter now trades as SoundThinking and shotspotter.com redirects to soundthinking.com; Sigstore the security model depends on somebody watching the log. The documentation states that compromise of an identity provider or of Fulcio itself is detectable only if third parties monitor the transparency log, the monitoring tool is a community-tier rather than core project, and almost no consumer runs one.
  • They diverge on capability: ShotSpotter covers Gunshot Detection, Sigstore covers Fulcio.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ShotSpotter and Sigstore actually diverge.

Attributes where ShotSpotter and Sigstore differ
AttributeShotSpotterSigstore
Starting price$5000/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, public instance free to use
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
Founded1996Unknown

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 ShotSpotter

  • Gunshot Detection
  • Location Triangulation
  • Real-time Alerts
  • Forensic Analysis
  • Historical Data
  • CAD Systems
  • 911 Centers
  • Camera Systems

Only in Sigstore

  • Fulcio
  • Rekor
  • Keyless signing
  • Multi-language clients
  • Timestamp authority
  • Neutral governance

What people use each for

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

ShotSpotter

  • Gunshot detection and location alerting for police departmentsnot Sigstore
  • Directing patrol response to outdoor firearm dischargesnot Sigstore
  • Building incident data for law enforcement analysisnot Sigstore

Sigstore

  • Open source projects signing releases without running a certificate authoritynot ShotSpotter
  • Organisations meeting a signed-artifact requirement without buying a signing productnot ShotSpotter
  • Publishing provenance that a consumer can verify independently of younot ShotSpotter
  • Self-hosting the same components where a public log is unacceptablenot ShotSpotter

Where each one falls short

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

ShotSpotter

  • ShotSpotter now trades as SoundThinking and shotspotter.com redirects to soundthinking.com
  • No pricing is published; the site routes to contact and demo requests with no published rate, minimum or cost driver
  • The service depends on an acoustic sensor array installed across a defined coverage area rather than being software alone

Sigstore

  • The security model depends on somebody watching the log. The documentation states that compromise of an identity provider or of Fulcio itself is detectable only if third parties monitor the transparency log, the monitoring tool is a community-tier rather than core project, and almost no consumer runs one.
  • It is a 99.5 percent objective with no service level agreement, which permits several hours of downtime a month and offers no remedy. A pipeline that signs on every build has taken a hard dependency on a free service with no contract behind it.
  • Log scale is a live engineering problem rather than a theoretical one. The active shard holds billions of entries, the log has already been sharded twice, and sharding version 1 requires stopping traffic, which is why a replacement was built.
  • Ten-minute certificates make trust depend on log availability. Verifying an older signature relies on the log entry proving it was made inside that window, so a lost or unreachable entry can render a valid artifact unverifiable.
  • Migration debt is substantial and ongoing. Version 2 of the log is generally available but not the public default, the signing client has an announced breaking release ahead, some official clients lag the new log format, and a post-quantum migration is named as the next break after that.

Pricing, plan by plan

ShotSpotter

$5000/month
  • Detection Service$5000/month
    • Gunshot Detection
    • Real-time Alerts
    • Forensic Reports

Sigstore

Free
  • Public good instanceFree
    • Free to everyone with no contract
    • 99.5 percent availability objective, not an agreement
    • 100KB cap per attestation upload
  • Self-hostedFree
    • Apache-2.0
    • Run your own Fulcio and Rekor
    • Rekor v2 available for self-hosters

Which should you pick?

Choose ShotSpotter if

  • You need gunshot detection.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want location triangulation.
ShotSpotter review

Choose Sigstore if

  • You need fulcio.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted.
  • You also want rekor.
Sigstore review

Questions people ask

Is ShotSpotter or Sigstore better?
Neither clearly leads. ShotSpotter starts at $5000/month and Sigstore at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ShotSpotter or Sigstore?
Sigstore has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $5000/month for ShotSpotter and Free for Sigstore.
Does ShotSpotter or Sigstore run on more platforms?
ShotSpotter runs on Web, Ios, Android. Sigstore runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted.
Can I use Sigstore for free?
Yes. Sigstore has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. ShotSpotter starts at $5000/month.
What is ShotSpotter best used for?
ShotSpotter is most often used for gunshot detection and location alerting for police departments, directing patrol response to outdoor firearm discharges, building incident data for law enforcement analysis. Of those, gunshot detection and location alerting for police departments and directing patrol response to outdoor firearm discharges are not what Sigstore is typically brought in for.
What can ShotSpotter do that Sigstore cannot?
ShotSpotter covers Gunshot Detection, Location Triangulation, Real-time Alerts, Forensic Analysis. Sigstore covers Fulcio, Rekor, Keyless signing, Multi-language clients.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ShotSpotter: Does SoundThinking publish ShotSpotter pricing?

No. SoundThinking does not disclose ShotSpotter pricing on their website. Interested municipalities and organizations must request a consultation, contact the sales team, or book a demo.

Source
Sigstore: Is the public instance really free?

Yes, with no contract and no paid tier. That is also the weakness: a 99.5 percent objective with no agreement, no remedy and support through Slack.

ShotSpotter: How do I get a ShotSpotter quote?

SoundThinking directs prospects to book a demo, contact them directly, or request a consultation through their website. No self-serve pricing, calculator, or trial is available.

Source
Sigstore: Has the public log moved to Rekor v2?

No. Version 2 reached general availability in October 2025 and self-hosters can use it, but the public instance still defaults to version 1 and the project has said it will for the foreseeable future.

ShotSpotter: Who is ShotSpotter for?

ShotSpotter is a gunshot detection system designed for law enforcement and municipalities to improve public safety response.

Source
Sigstore: Does Sigstore make my dependencies safe?

No, and this is a category error worth avoiding. It tells you who published something. It has no knowledge of what the artifact contains or whether it is vulnerable.

Sigstore: What are the rate limits?

Not published. Only the 100KB cap per attestation upload is documented, so do not design a high-volume pipeline around assumed throughput.

Sigstore: Should we self-host it?

If a public record of every signature is unacceptable, or if a free service with no agreement cannot sit in your build path, then yes. Otherwise the public instance is what most projects use.

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