PublicInput vs CONSUL DEMOCRACY

PublicInput9.2Visit CONSUL DEMOCRACY8.9Visit

Higher score PublicInput #1 in Citizen Engagement Software 9.2/10 Pricing on request ✓ 0 of 1 features Visit PublicInput

vs

CONSUL DEMOCRACY #2 in Citizen Engagement Software 8.9/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 1 features Try CONSUL DEMOCRACY

• PublicInput fits best

  Government teams needing multichannel resident engagement

• CONSUL DEMOCRACY fits best

  Communities seeking open-source digital democracy

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Side by side

Feature	PublicInput 9.2/10 Visit ↗	CONSUL DEMOCRACY 8.9/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.2	8.9
Ranking	#1 in Citizen Engagement Software	#2 in Citizen Engagement Software
Best for	Government teams needing multichannel resident engagement	Communities seeking open-source digital democracy
Pricing model	Paid	Free
Starting price	—	Free plan
Free plan	—	✓ (best)
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Self-hosted
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Email, Live chat, Docs	Community, Docs, Email
Built for	Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features PublicInput 0/1 · CONSUL DEMOCRACY 1/1
Participatory budgeting	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Specs
Participation methods	Not checked yet	debates, citizen proposals, voting, participatory budgeting, collaborative legislation, advanced processes
Supported languages	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Named integrations	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Accessibility standard	Not checked yet	Not_stated
Our review
Pros	Resident CRM unifies custom fields, participation, and community organization tracking Multichannel outreach spans email, SMS, social media, phone, and in-person channels Maps, dashboards, equity analysis, and AI comment tools deepen feedback analysis	Supports debates, proposals, voting, budgeting and collaborative legislation Configurable processes let administrators enable or disable modules Multilingual content, automatic translation and multi-tenancy
Cons	Pricing requires contacting sales No free plan is available Support channels do not include 24/7 coverage	Organizations must implement and operate their own platform Self-hosting calls for internal administration and technical capacity No accessibility standard is stated
Our verdict	PublicInput is a public-sector engagement platform from Cityzen Solutions, Inc., designed for local governments, transportation agencies, and consultants. It combines resident CRM, online surveys, interactive maps, project websites, public… Read the review →	CONSUL DEMOCRACY is configurable, open-source software for public institutions and organizations that want to run online citizen participation. It brings debates, citizen proposals, voting, participatory budgeting, collaborative… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• PublicInput — where it wins

  • Resident CRM unifies custom fields, participation, and community organization tracking
  • Multichannel outreach spans email, SMS, social media, phone, and in-person channels
  • Maps, dashboards, equity analysis, and AI comment tools deepen feedback analysis

  Where it doesn't

  • Pricing requires contacting sales
  • No free plan is available
  • Support channels do not include 24/7 coverage

• CONSUL DEMOCRACY — where it wins

  • Supports debates, proposals, voting, budgeting and collaborative legislation
  • Configurable processes let administrators enable or disable modules
  • Multilingual content, automatic translation and multi-tenancy

  Where it doesn't

  • Organizations must implement and operate their own platform
  • Self-hosting calls for internal administration and technical capacity
  • No accessibility standard is stated

• PublicInput9.2/10 · Pricing on request

  A broad government engagement suite combining resident records, outreach, meetings, mapping, and analytics.

  Visit PublicInputFull verdict →
• CONSUL DEMOCRACY8.9/10 · Free plan

  A configurable, self-hosted platform for public participation across multiple civic processes.

  Try CONSUL DEMOCRACYFull verdict →