GovQA pricing: what the public record shows.
Granicus does not publish pricing for GovQA (now sold as Records Request Management). But governments buy it with public money, so the contracts are public. Here is what real agencies pay, from small cities to state departments, itemized from procurement documents, and how the pricing model works at every size.
Why you cannot find a GovQA price list
Like most government-software vendors, Granicus quotes Records Request Management deal by deal. The base platform is priced low enough to clear procurement thresholds without a bid[7], and the rest of the revenue arrives as add-ons: modules, licenses, environments, and an annual escalator. That is not a criticism; it is how the enterprise govtech market works. It just means the only honest way to answer “what does GovQA cost?” is to read the contracts, and to compare deals of your own size.
Documented small-agency contracts
If you are a local government, this is the band to budget from.
| Organization | Size | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Centralia, WA | ~18,000 residents | $4,300[6] | Citywide expansion (police dept. already on GovQA) |
| City of Mount Vernon, WA | ~35,000 residents | $8,900[6] | Grant-funded purchase |
| Ferry County, WA | ~7,000 residents | $17,000[6] | County-wide |
| Spokane County, WA | 55 departments | $45,000[6] | Enterprise-wide county rollout |
Deal-specific contract prices from public documents, not a vendor price list. Configurations differ and may include scope another quote would not.
Documented state-agency contracts (enterprise scale)
Shown separately on purpose: these are enterprise deployments. No vendor prices a township like a state department, and neither does Dekree. They are here because they are the best-itemized public record of how the pricing model is assembled.
| Organization | Size | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan DNR | State agency | $28,916 → $36,813/yr[2] | Year 1 → Year 5, incl. $5,100 implementation + security add-ons |
| Michigan MDHHS | State agency | $57,062–$58,773/yr[3] | Incl. 50 redaction licenses at $12,000/yr |
| Michigan LARA | State agency | $83,383/yr[4] | Incl. redaction at $318 per named user |
| Michigan EGLE | State agency | $333,585 / 5 yrs[5] | Incl. $21,800 implementation |
Michigan state agencies bought through MiDEAL cooperative contract 180000000650 (aggregate $2,364,151 after its final extension). Its original term ended September 30, 2026; a one-year option now carries four agencies’ licenses through September 30, 2027, and the State awarded its replacement statewide FOIA contract to a different vendor — see the update below.
Update, October 2026: Michigan's next FOIA contract is not GovQA
The cooperative contract documented above is winding down, and it is not being succeeded by another GovQA deal. The State of Michigan awarded a new statewide “Enterprise FOIA System” contract (260000000965) to Armedia, LLC, maker of the FedRAMP-authorized ArkCase platform — effective August 1, 2026, running through July 31, 2031 with five one-year renewal options, at an estimated $6,690,218.84[8]. The GovQA contract, originally set to expire September 30, 2026, was extended one year by Change Notice 26 (effective 8/18/2026): the State exercised the sixth of seven option years, adding $280,969.75 to renew software licenses for four agencies — EGLE, LARA, DHHS, and DNR — through September 30, 2027. That change notice marks extended (MiDEAL) purchasing “No”[1].
The new contract’s public pricing schedule documents the same enterprise pricing anatomy this page describes, at a larger scale: per-user annual licenses from $1,504.80 (first 50 full users, year one) tiering down with volume; a one-time $378,366 platform implementation; department onboarding fees from $28,359 (a “small” department — up to 50 users, no customizations) to $133,640; roughly 3% built-in annual increases; and audio/video redaction (Veritone Redact) as an optional priced add-on starting at $10,450 per year for 100 hours[8]. Even at $6.69 million, redaction is a separate line item.
If you are a Michigan local government that piggybacked on the GovQA MiDEAL vehicle, the path you bought through has closed behind the State’s own agencies: the final extension renews four departments’ licenses, and the current change notice no longer offers extended purchasing. The new vehicle does offer extended purchasing to locals, but its floor is written for state departments, not townships: the smallest documented onboarding fee is $28,359 before a single user license. For scale, five years of Dekree’s full six-product suite for an organization under 5,000 residents costs $29,940 total — about the new state contract’s smallest one-time onboarding fee.
The anatomy of a GovQA bill
Reading the Michigan contract line by line, a GovQA configuration is assembled from: a platform fee (unlimited users, flat per year); redaction licenses billed per named user at $175–$318 per user per year[3] [4]; single sign-on (~$2,500/yr); developer/test environments (~$5,000/yr); storage ($500/mo) and payment connectors (~$200/mo); a one-time implementation fee ($5,100 at DNR, $21,800 at EGLE[2] [5]); and an annual escalator of roughly 3%.
If you are budgeting for a small government, the practical takeaway: the sticker your neighbor quotes is rarely the number you will pay, because your configuration will differ. Ask any vendor for the five-year total, itemized.
How Dekree prices instead
Dekree publishes the whole price list at dekree.ai/pricing, priced per product and scaled by the population you serve. FOIA is $199/mo for organizations under 5,000 residents and $599/mo for 5,000–25,000. Each product is bought a la carte, and the full six-product suite (FOIA, Open Meetings, Records & Retention, the Public Document Portal, Reports, and free Payments) is capped at $499/mo and $1,499/mo respectively. The two line items that inflate a GovQA bill are free or included here: online fee payments cost nothing extra, where the Michigan contract bills a payment connector, and redaction is included at every tier, where GovQA licenses it per named user at $175 to $318 per user per year. There is no implementation fee and no per-user charge. Billed annually, quoted to the dollar before you ever talk to us.
Do not take a comparison table’s word for it. Ours included.
The product is public. Watch it run, do the math on your own numbers, and click through the same screens a clerk uses, before you ever book a call.
Common questions
How much does GovQA cost per year?
There is no public price list, and price scales with the size of the deployment. Documented small-agency contracts range from $4,300 to $45,000 per year depending on scope, before implementation fees and add-ons. Documented state-agency configurations run $29,000 to $83,000 per year. A small local government should budget from the small-agency band, not the state figures.
What add-ons does GovQA charge for?
Public contracts document per-named-user redaction licenses ($175–$318 per user per year), single sign-on (~$2,500/yr), developer/test environments (~$5,000/yr), extra storage ($500/mo), payment connectors (~$200/mo), and one-time implementation fees from $5,100 to $21,800.
Does GovQA pricing increase each year?
The Michigan cooperative contract carries an escalator of roughly 3% per year, and the DNR configuration grows from $28,916 in year one to $36,813 by year five.
Is GovQA still on Michigan's MiDEAL cooperative contract?
Nominally through September 30, 2027, but the cooperative door for locals has closed. The contract's original term ended September 30, 2026; Change Notice 26 (effective 8/18/2026) exercised a one-year option adding $280,969.75 to renew licenses for four state agencies (EGLE, LARA, DHHS, and DNR) and marks extended purchasing "No." Michigan's go-forward statewide Enterprise FOIA System contract (260000000965) went to Armedia, LLC, maker of the ArkCase platform, effective August 1, 2026, a five-year deal estimated at $6.69 million, with extended purchasing available to local governments. Its smallest documented department onboarding fee is $28,359, before per-user licenses.
How does Dekree price compare?
Dekree publishes every price. FOIA starts at $199/mo for organizations under 5,000 residents and $599/mo for 5,000–25,000; the full six-product suite is capped at $499/mo and $1,499/mo respectively. No implementation fee, no per-user charges, redaction included.
Sources
- [1] State of Michigan MiDEAL contract 180000000650, "Public Records Request System (FOIA)," GovQA/Granicus: aggregate value $2,364,151 after Change Notice 26 (effective 8/18/2026), which exercised a one-year option renewing EGLE, LARA, DHHS, and DNR licenses through 9/30/2027 and marks extended purchasing "No"
- [2] Michigan DNR configuration, contract 180000000650 (Change Notice 10)
- [3] Michigan MDHHS configuration, contract 180000000650
- [4] Michigan LARA configuration, contract 180000000650
- [5] Michigan EGLE configuration, contract 180000000650 (Change Notice 2): $333,585 over five years including $21,800 implementation
- [6] Washington Secretary of State, local records-technology grant awards (2025)
- [7] NFOIC, "Portal to Compliance": pricing-mechanics study of records-request portals
- [8] State of Michigan Notice of Contract 260000000965, "Enterprise FOIA System," Armedia, LLC (ArkCase): effective 8/1/2026 through 7/31/2031 plus five one-year options, estimated value $6,690,218.84 at execution, extended (MiDEAL) purchasing available. Schedule B pricing
Competitor pricing reflects publicly available procurement documents and published materials as of the date above. Contract pricing varies by configuration; confirm current figures with each vendor. Dekree pricing is published in full at dekree.ai/pricing.