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Government · head to head

Trimble Unity Maintain vs TunnelBear

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
T

TunnelBear

Cybersecurity

Consumer VPN with a limited free tier and a bear-themed, beginner-friendly app

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only TunnelBear has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; TunnelBear free plan's data cap is small compared to competitors offering more generous free allowances.
  • They diverge on capability: Trimble Unity Maintain covers Built on ArcGIS, TunnelBear covers Encrypted VPN tunnel.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Trimble Unity Maintain and TunnelBear differ
AttributeTrimble Unity MaintainTunnelBear
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, Windowswindows, mac, linux, ios, android
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity

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 Trimble Unity Maintain

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

Only in TunnelBear

  • Encrypted VPN tunnel
  • Server location switching
  • GhostBear obfuscation
  • Browser extensions
  • Teams account management

What people use each for

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

Trimble Unity Maintain

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

TunnelBear

  • Casual browsing protection on public Wi-Finot Trimble Unity Maintain
  • Occasional geo-unblocking with a light free allowancenot Trimble Unity Maintain
  • Bypassing network-level VPN blocking via obfuscationnot Trimble Unity Maintain
  • Managing VPN access for a small team with centralized billingnot Trimble Unity Maintain

Where each one falls short

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

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.

TunnelBear

  • Free plan's data cap is small compared to competitors offering more generous free allowances.
  • Lacks advanced features like dedicated IP addresses or split-tunneling controls found in some rival VPNs.
  • Server network is smaller than large competitors like NordVPN or ExpressVPN.
  • No standalone router-level app, limiting whole-network protection options.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

TunnelBear

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 2GB of data per month
    • Access to VPN servers
    • Unlimited devices
  • Unlimited$9.99/month
    • Unlimited monthly data
    • All server locations
    • Cheaper on annual/3-year billing
  • Teams$undefined/month
    • Unlimited data
    • 5 connected devices per user
    • Dedicated account manager

Which should you pick?

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

Choose TunnelBear if

  • You need encrypted vpn tunnel.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on windows, mac, linux, ios, android.
  • You also want server location switching.
TunnelBear review

Questions people ask

Is Trimble Unity Maintain or TunnelBear better?
Neither clearly leads. Trimble Unity Maintain starts at On request and TunnelBear at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Trimble Unity Maintain or TunnelBear?
TunnelBear has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Trimble Unity Maintain and Free for TunnelBear.
Does Trimble Unity Maintain or TunnelBear run on more platforms?
Trimble Unity Maintain runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows. TunnelBear runs on windows, mac, linux, ios, android.
Can I use TunnelBear for free?
Yes. TunnelBear has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Trimble Unity Maintain starts at On request.
What is Trimble Unity Maintain best used for?
Trimble Unity Maintain is most often used for a water utility wanting valve exercising and hydrant flushing recorded against the same gis features the engineering team maintains, a city consolidating a citizen service request line, work orders and inspections into one location-based system, a state transportation department managing pavement and bridge assets with linear referencing rather than point assets, a public works department that has already licensed arcgis enterprise and wants to avoid rekeying its asset inventory. Of those, a water utility wanting valve exercising and hydrant flushing recorded against the same gis features the engineering team maintains and a city consolidating a citizen service request line, work orders and inspections into one location-based system are not what TunnelBear is typically brought in for.
What can Trimble Unity Maintain do that TunnelBear cannot?
Trimble Unity Maintain covers Built on ArcGIS, Service requests, Work order management, Permits and licensing. TunnelBear covers Encrypted VPN tunnel, Server location switching, GhostBear obfuscation, Browser extensions.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Trimble Unity Maintain: Do I need Esri ArcGIS?

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

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.

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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