shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Open States (by Plural)?

Find Your Legislators. Search for your representatives & look up legislation across the United States. - openstates.org

Worth it. Buy it if you are an individual, student, journalist, or small group needing free legislator and bill lookups. Professional government-affairs teams should not rely on it; pay for AI platforms like Plural, FiscalNote, or Bloomberg Government instead.

Confidence

Low. Based on 8 public sources; user-review evidence was thin and noisy, hence low confidence.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo evidence in sources
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Public access

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Citizens finding their legislators
  • Journalists tracking state bills
  • Students and civic nonprofits
  • Zero-budget advocacy groups

Not for

  • Lobbying firms needing AI bill analysis
  • Enterprise government-affairs teams with big budgets
  • Compliance teams needing vendor SLAs and support contracts
  • Anyone tracking federal rulemaking at scale

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Free access depends on its commercial parent Plural; terms could change without notice.

low

Bookmark the account-migration link; legacy Open States logins now route through Plural.

low

No pricing tiers or support guarantees — this is civic infrastructure, not a vendor contract.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free legislator and bill lookup across all US states
  • Simple address-based search finds your representatives
  • Existing bill-tracking accounts remain accessible after migration
  • Offered free as a courtesy for civic engagement

Cons

  • No published security page
  • No AI summaries or forecasting that paid rivals offer
  • Legacy account migration may confuse returning users

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/20/2026 - 8 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x1review x1security x1news x5

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 8

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free public tool, zero cost
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Address search, simple bill lookup
  • Feature depth: 2/5. Basic tracking; no AI analysis or forecasting
  • Support quality. No evidence in sources
  • Security posture: 2/5. No public security page found
  • Free Price Public civic lookup tool
  • Yes Free tier No payment needed to search or track bills
  • Not found Security page No published security documentation

Pricing

Public access

Free

  • Find legislators by address
  • Search and look up bills
  • Bill tracking with an account

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

No credible user reviews surfaced in reviewed sources; mentions are mostly marketing citations and forum spam.

Full analysis

Based on 8 public sources; user-review evidence was thin and noisy, hence low confidence.

Free civic tool for finding legislators and tracking bills. Citizens yes; professional lobbyists need paid AI platforms.

Methodology

Based on 8 public sources; user-review evidence was thin and noisy, hence low confidence.

Sources

  1. official
  2. security
  3. news
  4. news
  5. news
  6. news
  7. news
  8. review

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