Cityworks Cost: What Water Utilities Actually Pay in 2026
Cityworks doesn't publish a price list. So if you want to know the Cityworks cost for your water utility, you have two choices: ask for a quote, or read the contracts other cities have posted publicly. We did the second one.
This post walks through Cityworks pricing in three layers: the license, the implementation, and the Esri stack it runs on. Every dollar figure below comes from a public municipal record, and we name the source each time. If we couldn't trace a number to a document, we left it out.
Why Cityworks pricing is hard to pin down
Three things make it tricky.
It's priced on population. Cityworks licenses are sold by population band, not by meters or connections. The City of Aurora, Ohio's March 2026 contract says the annual fee is based on a 10,001 to 25,000 population range, and that Trimble can adjust it to match the city's actual population range.
"Cityworks" is several products. AMS is asset management: work orders, inspections, and assets. PLL adds permitting, licensing, and land. Tiers and bundles vary, so two quotes for "Cityworks" can cover very different things.
The license is often missing from price lists. Texas has a state cooperative contract (DIR-CPO-4771) for a Cityworks partner, NewEdge Services. Its January 2026 price list publishes hosting, integrations, assessments, and hourly labor. It doesn't list the core license.
One more thing: Cityworks is now sold by Trimble as Trimble Unity Maintain, so newer quotes may carry that name.
Layer 1: License and maintenance
Here are two Cityworks Online license quotes from public records.
| Utility | Date | Population band | Product | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Logins included |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora, OH | March 2026 | 10,001 – 25,000 | AMS Custom ELA | $25,011 | $26,262 | $27,575 | 25 |
| Whitestown, IN | June 2022 | 1 – 10,000 | AMS/PLL Premium ELA | $35,000 | $40,000 | $47,000 | 50 |
What to notice:
The discount fades. Whitestown's quote takes 25% off in year one, 15% in year two, and nothing in year three. So the $47,000 year-three number is the full rate. When you compare quotes, compare year three to year three.
The product tier matters as much as size. Whitestown is in the smaller population band but pays more. Its bundle is a Premium tier that includes permitting (PLL). Aurora's AMS Custom quote is the closer match for a utility that mainly needs work orders.
Logins are capped. Aurora includes 25 hosting logins and Whitestown 50. Both quotes say more logins can be added for an additional fee. The Greater Salt Lake Municipal Services District's agreement says its initial license fee covers 50 logins. We haven't found a public price for extra login packs.
It's often a citywide cost. Aurora funds Cityworks from its General Fund, Water Fund, and Sewer Fund. If you're the water utility, ask what share of the bill is yours.
Layer 2: Implementation
Cityworks license quotes don't include setup. Whitestown's quote says implementation services, such as installation, configuration, and training, are priced separately. Here's what three public projects paid.
| Utility | Year | Amount | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitestown, IN | 2022 | $39,000 core, plus an optional $11,802 WinCan interface | Workflow review, database setup, admin and end-user training, rollout |
| Savannah, GA | 2024 | $189,758 (Woolpert) | Move an existing on-premise Cityworks to Cityworks Online |
| Indio Water Authority, CA | 2022 | $247,610 plus 10% contingency (Timmons) | Esri Utility Network implementation plus Cityworks AMS reconfiguration |
Be fair with these numbers. The two big ones include work beyond a plain Cityworks setup. Savannah was a migration. Indio bundled an Esri Utility Network project. Whitestown's $39,000 is the cleanest example of a small-town deployment.
Outside firms often do this work. Savannah used Woolpert and Indio used Timmons. The Texas price list above shows partner labor at $186.39 an hour for a project manager and $163.09 an hour for a developer.
Layer 3: The Esri stack
Cityworks runs on Esri ArcGIS. Whitestown's quote is direct about it: buying, installing, and running Esri software is the customer's responsibility.
Small governments often buy Esri through a Small Municipal and County Government Enterprise Agreement. Two public records:
| Source | Population | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| New Port Richey, FL | Under 25,000 | $25,000 a year |
| East Peoria, IL (March 2022) | About 23,000 | $27,500 a year, after holding at $25,000 for six years |
That agreement covers a lot: ArcGIS desktop and enterprise software, plus 50 Level 1 and 50 Level 2 named users.
Here's the honest part. Many cities already own Esri for planning, mapping, and other departments. If yours does, Esri isn't a new Cityworks cost, and you shouldn't count it as one. If your utility has no GIS today, it's a real new cost, plus the staff time to run it. Know which one you are before you add anything up.
The extras around a deployment
The Texas DIR price list (NewEdge Services, January 2026) shows what else can get added:
- Cityworks AMS hosting (bring your own license): $22,367 to $51,527 a year, by tier
- Cityworks PLL hosting: $32,618 a year
- Cityworks to Munis billing integration: $7,456 to $22,367 the first year, then $1,864 to $5,592 a year
- A Cityworks assessment engagement: $15,750
Not every utility needs these. But they show how a Cityworks budget can grow past the license.
How to estimate your own Cityworks cost
Someone else's contract can't give you an honest number. Pull these five things from your own files:
- Your renewal quote. Find the product tier, population band, and year-three price.
- Your login count. How many are included, and how many people actually need one?
- Your Esri position. Already owned citywide, or a new purchase for this?
- Your implementation scope of work. What was scoped, what it cost, and over how many years you're spreading it.
- Your share. If Cityworks is citywide, what portion does the water fund pay?
Those five answers give you a real number.
What Fluvio Field costs, for comparison
Fluvio Field is our work order and field operations software for water utilities. It's $15,000 a year at 4,000 connections, unlimited users, no Esri license required, with implementation credited back in full on a 12-month commit. It's priced per connection, with a declining rate as you grow.
No Esri license doesn't mean no maps. Fluvio reads your ArcGIS feature services if you have them, imports shapefiles or GeoJSON, and can be your GIS if you don't have one. Writing back to Esri is on our roadmap and isn't available today.
We won't give you a "percent of Cityworks" number. Too much depends on your band, modules, Esri position, and implementation. Instead, put your Cityworks renewal quote on the table and we'll walk the two line by line.
See Fluvio Field and our pricing page. If you're weighing options, read our honest take on choosing a Cityworks alternative and our work order software checklist.
The bottom line
Cityworks cost comes in three layers: a license priced on population with capped logins, implementation quoted separately, and an Esri stack that's your responsibility. At comparable size, the most recent published contract, City of Aurora, Ohio, March 2026, is $25,011 in year one rising to $27,575 by year three, for the asset-management license alone. Get your own number for each layer before your next renewal. Then you'll know what you're really paying.
Fluvio is work order, resident portal, and water-loss software for small and mid-size water utilities, built by DB Utility, a water meter installation company. Unlimited users, no Esri license required, live in weeks. Book a walkthrough at getfluvio.com →