Cartegraph is good software, and it is part of OpenGov now. As of 2026-07-04 it sells as OpenGov Enterprise Asset Management, aimed at cities and counties that want one big government suite covering roads, parks, fleet, buildings, and water all at once. If you run a small water or wastewater system with a handful of people, that is a lot of software to carry. Here is what small systems are doing instead.
For most small systems, it is a field-first app that puts the map and the work in one place, not a city-wide asset system you have to stand up first. Cartegraph can hold every asset you own. The question is whether a three-to-twelve-person crew will ever set it up, learn it, and use it every day.
That is the real problem, and it is not the map. The map sits on a desktop in the office. Out in the field, the crew cannot pull it up. Where the valves are, what got fixed last spring, why the line runs the way it does. That lives in one person's head or on a clipboard in a truck. A small system does not need a city-wide asset system. It needs the map, the work orders, and the asset history together, on a phone, in the field.
Ziptility is built for that. Every main, valve, hydrant, meter, well, and lift station is a point your crew taps to see the whole record and log the work right there. The record stays current because the work rides on the asset, not because someone keeps a second system fed. You can run it yourself.
Cartegraph fits a city or county that wants one government suite covering public works, roads, parks, fleet, and facilities. A small water system by itself does not have most of those departments, and the breadth that makes Cartegraph right for a city is exactly what makes it heavy for a 3-to-12-person crew.
Cartegraph is a serious, mature asset and work-management system built since the 1990s. OpenGov bought it in 2022 to be the operations piece of a whole-government suite. For a city or county with a public works department and GIS staff running roads, parks, fleet, and facilities from one place, it is a strong fit. That breadth is the point.
The trouble starts when a small water system tries to run it. It is built for departments a small system does not have. The product page names who it is for: public works, transportation, facilities, parks and recreation, fleet, plus operations directors and engineers. You have an operator, maybe a couple of techs, and a lot of ground to cover. Setup runs through a project, often with GIS configuration, and the price is by quote, with no published price as of 2026-07-04. In our experience, an asset system this size starts to make sense at around 10,000 to 20,000 connections. A utility that size usually has the departments to share the cost and the configuration work. Below that, the breadth that makes Cartegraph right for a city is exactly what makes it a lot for one small water system.
Cartegraph is the better fit for a whole-city public works shop. Ziptility is the better fit for a small crew that needs to run the work from the field. Here is the honest side-by-side.
| Ziptility | ||
|---|---|---|
| Built for | ZiptilitySmall water and wastewater systems, 3 to 12 staff | Cartegraph (now OpenGov)Whole-city government: public works, roads, parks, fleet, facilities, water |
| Who keeps it current? | ZiptilityThe crew, from the phone they already carry. | Cartegraph (now OpenGov)Usually a dedicated admin. Setup often includes GIS configuration. |
| Getting started | ZiptilityUp and running in under an hour. Start with the map you have. | Cartegraph (now OpenGov)A project. Setup and data work to stand it up. |
| Work orders in the field | ZiptilityBuilt in. Map and work orders in one app. | Cartegraph (now OpenGov)Yes, it does work orders. Built for a public works department, not a small crew. |
| On a phone, in the field | ZiptilityYes. Field-first. Works with no signal. | Cartegraph (now OpenGov)Has iOS and Android apps, but the system is built desktop-first for the office. |
| Pricing | ZiptilityOne yearly price per connection. Unlimited users. | Cartegraph (now OpenGov)By quote; no published price as of 2026-07-04. Third-party listings describe tiers by assets tracked, plus setup. |
| The cost behind the cost | ZiptilityThe yearly price. That is it. | Cartegraph (now OpenGov)Setup and data work up front, and you are buying a city-wide system to run one water utility. |
| Keep your current map | ZiptilityYes. Works alongside it if you want to keep it. | Cartegraph (now OpenGov)Brings in your GIS, but you are moving into a bigger system to do it. |
| Who actually uses it | ZiptilityThe whole crew | Cartegraph (now OpenGov)Usually a public works office and trained staff |
OpenGov prices by quote, with no published price as of 2026-07-04. Competitor figures reflect OpenGov's own product descriptions and third-party listings as of 2026-07-04. Trademarks belong to their owners.
The license is one line on the quote. The real bill is the city-sized machine under it. A whole-government asset system has to be set up and configured before anyone touches it, and the price scales with how many assets you load in. For a city splitting that across roads, parks, fleet, water, and buildings, it pencils out. For a small water system, you are carrying the cost of a city-sized system to run one utility, with no other departments to share it.
We saw this land on a small system directly. One small district was paying roughly $2,500 a year for Cartegraph and got asked to pay more. It still could not run certain reports without extra spreadsheet work. Another tried it and thought it was too complicated. Neither story is a knock on the software. It was just more than a small water system needed. (Both reported to us by small districts; paraphrased and kept anonymized.)
The point is not the exact number. It is that the breadth you are paying for is built for departments you do not have.
No, and the honest trade-off depends on which one you are. If you are a city or county standardizing on OpenGov on purpose, budgeting, permitting, and asset management from one vendor, that is a real reason to stay on OpenGov, and we will tell you so. A tool built to run a whole city is a different thing than a tool built to run your water system. Pick the one that matches the job in front of you.
If you are a small water system, you do not have to throw away your map to move the field work somewhere your crew will use it. You bring your data into Ziptility with an import, and from there Ziptility is where your crew logs the work and the asset history. Or you keep your map of record where it is and use Ziptility for the field side. Either way your data stays yours, and you can export it whenever you want. Be clear on how it works, because we will not oversell it. This is data import and coexistence, not a live two-way sync.
One yearly price based on your number of service connections, with unlimited users. No per-seat licenses, no asset tiers to count, and no big setup project before you can start. Pricing by connection instead of by seat is on purpose: every operator and field tech gets the app on a phone, so the whole crew feeds the map and it stays alive. (Looking at the price? Here is rough pricing.)
And it earns its keep on the admin side, not just the map. At Mogollon Water Management, a water utility in Arizona, running systems on Ziptility saves about 15 hours a week of admin time. Work goes straight from email to the crew in the field instead of routing through the office. A valve exercise logs the turns to close right on the valve. A hydrant flushing logs the chlorine residual and the flow right on the hydrant. The record builds itself out of the work you already do.
Honest about who this is for. Ziptility fits a small system with 3 to 12 staff, often coming off paper, with nobody who has a spare week to stand up a city-wide system. If you are a city or county standardizing budgeting, permitting, and asset management across a lot of departments, OpenGov is probably the better fit, and that is an honest answer. We do less than a whole-city suite on purpose, and we do the part a small crew actually touches.
For a small water system, it can be. You get your map and your work orders in one app the crew will actually use, without standing up a city-wide asset system first. If you are a city tracking roads, parks, and fleet too, Cartegraph or OpenGov may suit you better.
Largely, yes. OpenGov bought Cartegraph in 2022 and has since renamed it. As of 2026-07-04 it sells as Enterprise Asset Management on what OpenGov calls its Public Service Platform, the Cartegraph name no longer appears on OpenGov's product page, and cartegraph.com redirects to OpenGov's site.
No. You set it up and run it yourselves. Start with the map you have. There is no per-seat fee.
One yearly price based on your number of connections, with unlimited users. No per-asset tiers and no big setup project. Cartegraph and OpenGov price by quote, with no published price as of 2026-07-04; third-party listings describe tiers by how many assets you track, plus setup.
Yes. Ziptility starts with the map you have, and a lot of utilities keep their GIS and use Ziptility for field work orders and asset history. Your data stays yours. This is import and coexistence, not a live two-way sync.