Decidim
Citizen engagement software
Public sector software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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What is Decidim
Decidim is an open-source digital participation platform used by public institutions and civic organizations to run participatory processes such as consultations, proposals, debates, participatory budgeting, and assemblies. It supports end-to-end workflow from collecting citizen input to publishing outcomes and tracking implementation. The platform emphasizes transparency features (e.g., traceability of proposals and decisions) and can be self-hosted or delivered via service providers. Typical users include municipalities, regional governments, and public-sector teams responsible for public participation and community engagement.
Open-source and self-hostable
Decidim is released as open-source software, which allows organizations to inspect code, adapt functionality, and avoid mandatory vendor lock-in. Public-sector IT teams can deploy it in their own infrastructure to meet internal security, data residency, or procurement requirements. A service-provider ecosystem can also implement and operate Decidim for organizations that do not want to self-host.
Broad participation process coverage
The product supports multiple engagement formats in one platform, including proposals, debates, meetings/assemblies, consultations, and participatory budgeting. This reduces the need to stitch together separate tools for different engagement methods. It is designed for recurring civic processes where publishing results and maintaining an auditable record matters.
Transparency and traceability features
Decidim is built around documenting participation and decision-making, including publishing process phases, outcomes, and links between proposals and resulting actions. These capabilities help public bodies demonstrate how input is handled and what decisions follow. The approach aligns with governance needs where accountability and public reporting are core requirements.
Implementation requires technical capacity
Self-hosting and customizing Decidim typically requires in-house engineering skills or a qualified implementation partner. Organizations without technical resources may face longer deployment timelines and higher total effort than with fully managed SaaS offerings. Ongoing maintenance (updates, security patches, performance tuning) remains the operator’s responsibility when self-hosted.
Feature depth varies by module
While Decidim covers many participation workflows, depth can vary across modules compared with specialized point solutions for specific engagement channels or communications. Some advanced capabilities may depend on configuration, extensions, or custom development. Buyers should validate required workflows (e.g., complex moderation, analytics, or integrations) in a proof of concept.
Integration work may be needed
Connecting Decidim to existing government systems (identity providers, CRM/case management, GIS, mass notification, or records systems) often requires integration development. Out-of-the-box connectors may not match the breadth of integrations available in larger commercial government platforms. Data migration and reporting across systems can add project scope.
Plan & Pricing
Decidim (official vendor site: decidim.org) — No paid plans published on the official site.
Summary:
- Decidim is free, libre, open-source software licensed under the AGPL; the official site and docs present it as software you can install and run yourself. No tiered subscription, usage-based pricing, or hosted-product pricing is published on decidim.org.
- The official site provides documentation for self-installation, an online demo, and information about becoming a Decidim Partner (a voluntary contribution mechanism for organisations), but it does not list commercial hosting or paid plan prices.
Notes & evidence location (official site): Decidim home & FAQ, Decidim documentation (install/configure), Partnership policy.
Seller details
Decidim Association
Barcelona, Spain
2016
Open Source
https://decidim.org/
https://x.com/decidim
https://www.linkedin.com/company/decidim
