Revize alternative
Five years is a long time to be wrong about a website.
Municipal web contracts in this category commonly run a multi-year term with setup fees and a balance due if you leave early. That structure is great for the vendor and hard on a village board. Mainfolk Civic is $99 a month, month to month: no term, no setup fee, no exit penalty, and you can export everything on any day you like. We would rather earn it every month.
No card, no account, no RFP. A PO and a W-9 on request.
- No multi-year term
- No setup fee
- Accessibility included, not an overlay
- Export everything, anytime
First, the fair part.
Revize has served small municipalities for a long time, and plenty of clerks are perfectly happy with what they have. If your current site is accessible, current, and easy for your staff to update, the honest advice is to stay put. Switching a website is work, and nobody should do it for a marketing page.
This page is for the other conversation. The one where the renewal is coming, the term is long, the accessibility story is an overlay widget, and updating the notices page still means emailing the vendor and waiting. If that is your situation, the structure below is worth comparing.
Side by side
What you're actually comparing.
For a small entity, the deciding factors are rarely features. They are term, total cost, how accessibility is delivered, and who can edit the site.
| Option | Typical cost / yr | Contract & lock-in | Accessibility | Who can edit | Who answers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revize | ~$5,900 (+ setup) | 5-year term; early exit = balance due | Overlay widget | Licensed seats | Ticket queue |
| CivicPlus | $8,000–$25,000 | Multi-year + ~5–7% escalator | ~$4,200/yr overlay add-on | Licensed seats | Ticket queue |
| A volunteer's WordPress build | $0–$2,000 | No continuity when they move on | None, and no compliance story | Whoever has the password | Nobody, really |
| Mainfolk Civic | ~$1,188 | Month to month, export anytime | WCAG 2.1 AA by construction, included | Unlimited staff editors | The engineer who built it |
Figures from vendors' published pricing and municipal procurement records, 2024–2026. Re-verify at contract time, since quotes vary by population, module mix, and state contract vehicle. Product names are trademarks of their respective owners, and Mainfolk is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of them.
The term is the product
A long contract is a bet that nothing will change for five years.
Between now and the end of a five-year municipal web term, your board will turn over, the ADA Title II deadlines will land, and the way residents find you will keep shifting toward AI assistants that did not meaningfully exist a few years ago. Locking in the vendor is easy. Locking in the outcome is not. Month to month keeps the pressure where it belongs, on us.
No term, no auto-renewal trap
Nothing to give ninety days' written notice about, no balance due if you leave in year two, and no renewal that quietly escalates while nobody is watching.
Export on any day
Your pages, words, images, documents, and form submissions, downloadable in full, free, whenever you want them. Leaving is a button, not a negotiation.
Unlimited staff editors
The clerk, the chief, and the PIO each get their own login. Nobody buys another seat, and nobody shares one password taped inside a desk drawer.
Switching
Mid-contract is the right time to start, not the wrong one.
Tell us your renewal date. We build your Mainfolk site alongside your current contract so it is finished, reviewed, and board-approved before your term ends. No gap in service, and no month where the village is paying two vendors for one website.
Read your termination and auto-renewal clauses first, since many require written notice a set number of days ahead of the renewal date. Missing that window is the single most common way an entity ends up serving another full term it did not want.
- We move the content. Agendas, minutes, notices, staff pages, and documents come across as part of onboarding, free.
- Old links keep working. Redirects so a resident's bookmark, or a URL printed in a state filing, does not break on switch day.
- You approve it live first. The real site, on a real address, in front of your board before a dollar is spent.
- Board-ready paperwork. A written quote, a W-9, and a PO-ready document, without opening an account or handing over a card.
- Emergency alert banner. A boil order, a road closure, a storm shelter opening. Posted in seconds by whoever is on duty.
- No exit penalty, ever. If it stops being worth $99, you leave and take the whole site with you.
The honest price
$99 a month. No term. No setup fee.
Cancel in month three or stay for ten years. The number does not change either way.
About $1,188 a year, all in: hosting, the security certificate, worldwide fast delivery, updates, unlimited staff editors, the emergency alert banner, an auto-published accessibility statement, free migration, and search and AI-assistant optimization. Under every state's competitive-bid threshold, so your board approves it on the consent agenda instead of running an RFP.
★ Need a PO, a W-9, or a written quote for a board vote? Ask, and you will have one. No card, no account.Also weighing CivicPlus, Granicus, a WordPress build, or Wix and Squarespace?
Questions
Asked and answered.
What is the main difference between Mainfolk and Revize?
The commitment and the price. Municipal website contracts in this category commonly run a five-year term with setup fees and a balance due if you leave early. Mainfolk Civic is $99 a month, month to month, with no term, no setup fee, no early-exit balance, and free export of everything at any time. Accessibility is also included in the build rather than delivered as an overlay widget.
We're mid-contract. Can we still talk to you?
Yes, and that is usually the right time. Tell us your renewal date and we build your Mainfolk site alongside your current contract so it is finished, reviewed, and approved before your term ends. There is no gap in service and no month where you are paying two vendors. Read your termination and auto-renewal clauses carefully first, since many require written notice a set number of days before renewal.
Is an accessibility overlay widget enough for ADA Title II?
The accessibility community has been consistent that overlay widgets do not make a site conformant, and the DOJ Title II rule points at WCAG 2.1 AA itself. Mainfolk builds contrast, keyboard navigation, semantic structure, and alt text into the markup at every tier, at no extra cost. We engineer to the standard, and your counsel advises on your entity's specific obligations. See how we build it.
Do we need to run an RFP?
Almost certainly not. At roughly $1,188 a year, Mainfolk Civic sits under every state's competitive-bid threshold, so most boards approve it on the consent agenda instead of running a formal procurement. Confirm your entity's threshold and purchasing policy with your attorney or clerk, and we will supply whatever documentation they need.
Will we lose our content and our links?
No. On the Civic tier we move your current site over for you as part of onboarding, free, including agendas, minutes, notices, staff pages, and documents, and we set up redirects so existing bookmarks and links in state filings keep working. You approve the rebuilt site live before you pay anything.
Can our own staff update the site, or do we email the vendor?
Your staff update it, and unlimited staff editors are included. Click a block, change the words, hit publish, and it is live worldwide in under a minute. Posting a public notice should not require a support ticket and a two-day wait. The user guide walks a new clerk through it with screenshots.
For town hall & Main Street
Earn it monthly. That's the whole deal.
See the finished site before you pay anything, and take a written quote to your next board meeting.