Government Site Builder vs LocalGov Drupal
Government Site Builder
produkt.gsb.bund.deLocalGov Drupal
localgovdrupal.orgSide by side
| Figure | Government Site Builder | LocalGov Drupal |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 4 |
| Spec score · Government Website Builders | 7.6 (#14) | 8.9 (#1) |
| Accessibility | GSB 11 meets the requirements of Germany’s BITV 2.0 accessibility regulation. | The CMS content and functionality are designed to meet or exceed WCAG 2.1 AA, with the administration interface also targeted at that level. |
| Purpose | GSB is a web content management solution for creating, reviewing, approving, and publishing content on internet, intranet, and extranet sites. | LocalGov Drupal is an open source publishing platform built and maintained by councils and suppliers for local government. |
| Search integration | The listed extensions include Solr integration and a GSB extension that adapts Solr search to ITZBund hosting requirements. | The optional localgov_search module uses Drupal Search API with database search by default and can be switched to Apache Solr. |
Plans
Government Site Builder
- GSB 11 Open Source distributionFree
- GSB 11 ITZBund hostingPriced on request
LocalGov Drupal
- LocalGov Drupal CMSFree
- LocalGov Drupal CMSFree
- LocalGov Drupal flying solo£9,999, paid once
- Council subscriptionPrice not published
In their own words
Government Site Builder
Government Site Builder (GSB) is a web content management solution for creating, reviewing, approving, and publishing material on internet, intranet, and extranet sites. Its current release, GSB 11, is based on TYPO3 and intended for modern, accessible websites. Federal authorities required or choosing to participate in Dienstekonsolidierung are its primary users; states and municipalities can also reuse it. GSB 11 meets Germany’s BITV 2.0 accessibility requirements. Its modular editorial system has extensions for consent management, content modules and templates, website logins, metadata cleaning during uploads, and site configuration import and export. Search extensions include Solr and an adaptation for ITZBund hosting requirements. The product page describes regular updates and security checks by the federal government’s BSI, along with configurations intended to improve security and data protection. Authorities in Dienstekonsolidierung are generally hosted at ITZBund, though self-hosting is possible. Self-hosting or an external provider makes the authority responsible for updates, upgrades, and patches. The Open Source distribution is free under GPL 3.0; hosting, support, training, and custom development may cost extra.
LocalGov Drupal
LocalGov Drupal is an open-source publishing platform built and maintained by councils and suppliers for local government. It is designed for local councils in the UK and Ireland, with tools for subsites, news, events, alerts, directories, service pages, guides, step-by-step pages, HTML publications and elections. Publishing features include flexible page components, patterns, styles, callouts, workflows, revisions, service contacts and shareable preview links. Optional workflow tools add roles, permissions, moderation, approval dashboards, scheduled publishing, review dates and revision records. Councils can use LocalGov Drupal Microsites to operate distinct websites from one platform; more than 50 microsites are live. The project supplies a scalable base theme and sample Scarfolk subtheme, along with quick-start installation, modular architecture, automated testing and coding-standards checks. Drupal REST and JSON:API tools and its module ecosystem can connect it with forms, payments, CRM, case management, identity providers, mapping and directories. Content and functionality are designed to meet or exceed WCAG 2.1 AA. The software is free, but installation and preparation require development resources, appropriate hosting and ongoing security updates.