Leaving a website platform
Leaving Granicus.
What the agreements say about renewal, notice, subscribers and your content, and what moving a Granicus website takes, step by step. Every fact links to the public record it comes from.
Who runs Granicus.
From the company’s own website, and from LFW’s count of local government sites.
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Granicus says it has more than 2,000 employees supporting more than 7,000 public sector organizations, and that 2,500 government websites run on its products.
Source: Granicus, Company, read October 22, 2026
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Granicus and GovDelivery merged in 2017 under the Granicus name. Its products include govAccess and OpenCities for websites, govDelivery for email and text, and Legistar and Peak for agendas.
Source: Granicus, Company, read October 22, 2026
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Granicus says govDelivery gives access to a network of over 300 million subscribers. That network matters when you leave (see the agreements below).
Source: Granicus, govDelivery, read October 22, 2026
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The US contracting company is Granicus, LLC, a Minnesota limited liability company.
Source: Granicus Subscription and Services Agreement, US and Canada (version May 2026), read October 22, 2026
At least 405 of 8,548 local government sites we checked
On October 6, 2026, LFW read the home page of every city, county, district and school site on the federal .gov registry that answered. At least 405 of those 8,548 organizations showed Granicus or OpenCities on the page. Sites on .org, .us and .com addresses were not checked.
Method: LFW’s check of local government sites on the federal .gov registry (CISA), checked October 6, 2026
What Granicus does well, and when staying makes sense.
From the company’s own pages and from public records.
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Reach for new sign-ups: Granicus says govDelivery gives access to a network of over 300 million subscribers.
Source: Granicus, govDelivery, read October 22, 2026
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Granicus sells live and on-demand meeting video with closed captioning alongside its agenda software, in one public portal.
Source: Granicus, Agenda and meeting management, read October 22, 2026
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Moorpark, California compared two other agenda and video vendors in 2025. Its staff found each had its own shortcomings and none offered superior features to offset them.
Source: City of Moorpark, California, agenda report of October 1, 2025, item 10.F, read October 22, 2026
Staying can be the right call when:
- Your Order has more than a year left and the money is already committed.
- Most of your email subscribers came through the network rather than your own pages.
- Years of meeting video sit in the archive, and moving them is not budgeted yet.
- A move would launch during an election, a budget adoption or a storm season.
What the agreements say.
Quoted from the company’s current agreement and product terms, and from agreements in public council records.
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Automatic 12-month renewal
“Each Order will automatically renew for twelve (12) month terms (each, a “Renewal Term”) unless either party gives the other party notice of non-renewal within thirty (30) days of notification of price change as described in Section 4.d., or within sixty (60) days prior to the start of the next Renewal Term, whichever is later.”
Each product is its own Order, so each can renew on its own date.
Source: Granicus Subscription and Services Agreement, US and Canada (version May 2026), read October 22, 2026
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Renewals capped at 10%
“Renewals at the same volume amount will not increase more than ten percent (10%) over the prior year’s fees.”
Source: Granicus Subscription and Services Agreement, US and Canada (version May 2026), read October 22, 2026
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Yearly increases in council records
“automatically increase from the previous term’s fees by three (3) percent per year”
Des Plaines, Illinois agreed to 3% a year in 2021. Duarte, California’s govAccess fee rises from $10,500 in year 2 to $12,155.06 in year 5, about 5% a year.
Source: City of Des Plaines, Illinois, Granicus agreement (January 2021), Exhibit A, read October 22, 2026.
Also in: City of Duarte, California, agenda report of July 13, 2021
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Orders cannot be canceled
“non-cancellable and the fees paid are non-refundable unless otherwise expressly stated in the Agreement”
The agreement allows an exit for lack of appropriated funds at renewal. We found no termination for convenience in it.
Source: Granicus Subscription and Services Agreement, US and Canada (version May 2026), read October 22, 2026
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You own your content
“Granicus does not own the Content submitted by Client”
Source: Granicus Subscription and Services Agreement, US and Canada (version May 2026), read October 22, 2026
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30 days to download it
“Client will have thirty (30) days from the expiration date of a subscription to extract or download any Content stored in the Products.”
After that, the agreement says Granicus has no duty to keep it, and does not extract it for you without a separate paid agreement.
Source: Granicus Subscription and Services Agreement, US and Canada (version May 2026), read October 22, 2026
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Network subscribers stay behind
“Network Subscribers will not transfer to Client upon termination of Client’s subscription, and Client must delete all information related to Network Subscribers within fifteen (15) days”
People who signed up through your own pages are Direct Subscribers and remain your agency’s property.
Source: Granicus Communications product terms (version September 2025), read October 22, 2026.
Also in: City of Des Plaines, Illinois, Granicus agreement (January 2021), Exhibit A
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A lapse costs a setup fee
“A lapse in the Term of each Order or SOW will require the payment of a setup fee to reinstate the subscription.”
If the new site is late and the old order has lapsed, getting the old one back costs a setup fee.
Source: Granicus Subscription and Services Agreement, US and Canada (version May 2026), read October 22, 2026
These are the terms in the records we could open. Ask for a copy of every Order your agency has signed, and put each renewal date and notice date on one calendar.
What moves, what stays.
The website moves to LFW. The systems in the second list stay on their own contracts, or move to another vendor.
LFW builds, runs and replaces today
- The website and its content management
- Agendas and minutes, published as pages with the PDF attached
- Public notices
- Forms
- Alerts and the emergency page
- Email subscriptions
- Search
- The accessibility record
LFW does not replace today
- Meeting video and its captioned archive
- The agenda workflow behind the dais: packets, motions and votes
- Records-request tracking
- 311 and permitting
Each Granicus Order renews on its own twelve-month term, so ending the website Order leaves the others in place.
Source: Granicus Subscription and Services Agreement, US and Canada (version May 2026), read October 22, 2026
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Meeting video and its captioned archive
Keep it on its own contract. Granicus sells live and on-demand meeting video, with video closed captioning, as part of its agenda and meeting products.
Source: Granicus, Agenda and meeting management, read October 22, 2026
Or move the video to YouTube and embed each meeting on the new meetings page. YouTube’s automatic captions may misrepresent what was said, so a person reviews and corrects them before the video is linked as the record.
Source: YouTube Help, “Use automatic captioning”, read October 22, 2026.
LFW: not built.
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The agenda workflow behind the dais: packets, motions and votes
Keep it on its own contract. Granicus sells agenda software that automates agenda creation, approvals and minutes.
Source: Granicus, Agenda and meeting management, read October 22, 2026
Or move it to another agenda vendor. Either way, the new site publishes each agenda and its minutes as a page with the PDF attached.
LFW: not built.
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Records-request tracking
Keep it on its own contract. Granicus sells public records request management.
Source: Granicus, Public records and compliance, read October 22, 2026
Or move to another records-request service. The new site links to the request portal from every page that mentions records.
LFW: not built.
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311 and permitting
Keep it on its own contract. Granicus sells permitting and licensing software (SmartGov and AMANDA).
Source: Granicus, Permitting and licensing, read October 22, 2026
Or move to another 311 or permitting vendor. The new site links to the request and permit portals and lists what each one is for.
LFW: not built.
What leaving involves, step by step.
What the platform gives you at each step, what it does not and what LFW does.
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Content: the pages
What Granicus gives you. Thirty days after a subscription expires to download your content, and no extraction on your behalf without a separate paid agreement. We found no public help article for exporting govAccess or OpenCities pages.
Source: Granicus Subscription and Services Agreement, US and Canada (version May 2026), read October 22, 2026
What LFW does. We read every page from the live site while it is still running, so the move does not depend on an export, and give each page an owner and a decision to keep, merge or retire.
Weeks 1 to 2.
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Documents and media
What the agreement asks of you. Granicus’s agreement asks the client to keep its own backup of the data and files it gives Granicus.
Source: Granicus Subscription and Services Agreement, US and Canada (version May 2026), read October 22, 2026
What LFW does. We download every document and image while your access lasts, keep each file’s name and old address, and check that the count on the new site matches the count on the old one.
Weeks 1 to 3, depending on the number of files.
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Forms
What LFW does. We rebuild each form with the same fields, rules and recipients, tested with a keyboard and a screen reader. Download past submissions from the old admin before the term ends.
Weeks 2 to 4.
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Subscribers and notifications
What Granicus gives you. Direct Subscribers remain your property. Network Subscribers do not transfer, and you may send them one email inviting them to subscribe in the last 10 days of the term.
Source: Granicus Communications product terms (version September 2025), read October 22, 2026
What to clean. Granicus’s API notes that people who unsubscribed from your bulletins remain in the system as subscribers.
Source: govDelivery Communications Cloud API, Subscribers, read October 22, 2026
What LFW does. We import the Direct Subscribers into a sending service in your agency’s name, leave out anyone who unsubscribed, and draft the invitation email for the last 10 days. Sign-up forms go live on the new site.
Weeks 3 to 4, and the invitation in the last 10 days.
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Agendas, minutes and meeting video
What Granicus gives you. The public Legistar Web API returns matters, events and votes marked public, up to 1,000 items a reply. Some clients need an API token.
Source: Legistar Web API, Examples (Granicus), read October 22, 2026
What it can cost to move. Moorpark, California’s 2025 staff report, asking for two more years of its Granicus agenda and video service, names the cost of converting 20 years of agendas, staff reports and video as a significant factor.
Source: City of Moorpark, California, agenda report of October 1, 2025, item 10.F, read October 22, 2026
What LFW does. We copy the published agendas, packets and minutes into your document library with an index by meeting, through the API where your agency has one. If you keep the agenda software, the new site links to it.
Weeks 2 to 4.
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Domain and DNS
What LFW does. We find out who holds the domain, the registrar login and the DNS, then set up DNS in an account in your agency’s name with the same records before any notice goes out. Launch is a record change on a day you approve.
Week 1, then launch day.
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Redirects
What LFW does. Every old address, including document and media links, gets a permanent redirect to its new page or file. We test them all before launch and watch for broken links after.
Weeks 4 to 6, and on launch day.
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The overlap period
Why it matters. Notice is due 60 days before renewal, and a lapsed order costs a setup fee to reinstate. Launching early keeps both dates safe.
Source: Granicus Subscription and Services Agreement, US and Canada (version May 2026), read October 22, 2026
What LFW does. We launch first, check every page, form and redirect on the live site, and only then does your agency send its notice, on the date its Order sets.
The new site launches 8 to 12 weeks after we start.
What it costs.
Fixed prices a department can approve with a single quote. Care from $250 a month.
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Website rebuild for a town or district
$9,500 fixed price
A new accessible site on WordPress with your pages and documents moved over, an agenda link on the home page, a legal notices page and an accessibility statement, launched in your name.
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Website rebuild for a city or county
$14,500 fixed price
Everything in the town rebuild, plus up to 500 pages and 300 PDFs moved and fixed, department sections and editor training.
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Website care
$250 a month
Updates and security patches, off-site backups, uptime checked every minute and broken links found daily.
The domain, the DNS account, the subscriber list and the code stay in your agency’s name. Care covers updates, backups and monitoring after launch.
Questions.
When should we send the non-renewal notice?
Under the current agreement, at least 60 days before the renewal date, or within 30 days of a price-change notice if that is later. Send it after the new site is live and checked.
Source: Granicus Subscription and Services Agreement, US and Canada (version May 2026), read October 22, 2026
Do we keep our email subscribers?
You keep the Direct Subscribers, the people who signed up through your own pages. Network Subscribers do not transfer, so the last-10-days invitation is the one chance to ask them to follow you.
Source: Granicus Communications product terms (version September 2025), read October 22, 2026
Can we keep Legistar or govDelivery and move only the website?
Yes. Each product is its own Order and renews on its own, so a website move does not have to touch the others.
Source: Granicus Subscription and Services Agreement, US and Canada (version May 2026), read October 22, 2026
Has a city left Granicus for WordPress?
Nixa, Missouri did in 2021. Granicus offered to update its govAccess site; the city chose a WordPress firm, with a yearly cost of $7,980 against Granicus’s $55,648.
Source: City of Nixa, Missouri, Resolution 2021-107 and staff memo (October 2021), read October 22, 2026
What happened to Civica?
Granicus retired its older Civica website platform at the end of 2021. Duarte, California’s report from that July says so, and Duarte moved to govAccess on a five-year term.
Source: City of Duarte, California, agenda report of July 13, 2021, read October 22, 2026
What does the new site run on?
WordPress, with the code in a repository your agency owns. Any firm that knows WordPress can take it over.
Plan the move before the renewal date.
Send the RFP or your site’s address. We reply within one business day with what moves, how long it takes and a fixed price.