Who this is for
- Neighborhood associations and community groups running a campaign on a specific decision.
- Non-profits and advocacy organizations that want their arguments judged on evidence rather than volume.
- Local newsrooms looking to host a structured debate around their reporting, and to reuse meeting and directory data.
- Universities and civics educators using real local decisions as teaching material.
- Local government offices that want structured public input they can actually read before a hearing.
Plans
| Feature | Resident | Community | Organization | Agency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, forever | Free for qualifying volunteer groups | Subscription | Subscription |
| Debates, votes, petitions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Verified profile badge | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-user team accounts | — | 3 seats | 10 seats | Unlimited |
| Analytics: reach, sentiment by district, argument performance | — | Basic | Full | Full |
| Priority moderation queue | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sponsored (labeled) debates | — | — | ✓ | — |
| Embeddable debate and meeting widgets | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Directory and meeting data export (CSV/JSON) | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Official response tools for petitions | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Support | Community | Email, 1 business day | Named contact |
Pricing is set per jurisdiction size; write to [email protected] for a quote and a pilot.
What analytics actually show
Organization analytics are about the argument, not about individuals. You see: how many residents read and voted on a debate, how support splits by council district, which of your arguments held up under fact-checking and which were disputed, where readers arrived from, and how a petition’s signatures distributed geographically. You never see individual identities, emails or votes — those are not for sale, at any price.
Sponsored debates
A civic organization can sponsor a debate on a topic in its area of work. The rules are fixed:
- Sponsorship is labeled on the debate, permanently and visibly.
- Sponsors do not write, edit, approve or remove arguments — including their own opponents’.
- Sponsors have no access to the moderation queue and no influence on any Verified label.
- Candidates, parties, campaign committees and ballot-measure committees cannot sponsor anything.
- We publish the list of sponsors and what they sponsored.
If those terms make sponsorship less attractive, that is the intended effect: the value of a debate on this platform depends entirely on readers trusting that nobody bought the outcome.
For local government offices
An Agency plan is designed for clerks, council offices and agency communications teams that want structured input in a usable form. It includes:
- A verified official profile so residents know a response is genuine.
- A response tool for petitions addressed to your body, with the response published on the petition page.
- Exports of arguments and votes on debates in your jurisdiction, by district, before a hearing.
- Embeddable meeting and agenda widgets for your own website.
An Agency plan does not include moderation privileges, the ability to remove criticism, or any control over what residents post. We would rather lose the customer than the platform’s credibility.
Data and embedding
Directory data (jurisdictions, governing bodies, meeting schedules, official links) is available as CSV and JSON on paid plans, with attribution required. Non-commercial reuse by libraries, schools and volunteer groups is free — just ask.
Grants and philanthropy
We are seeking philanthropic support for the parts of this work that no subscription will ever pay for: maintaining the directory for smaller jurisdictions, translating guides, and building accessible interfaces for meeting records. Any grant we accept is listed on the about page with its amount and term, and no funder receives editorial influence.