HigherGov Pricing 2026
Short answer: HigherGov publishes its prices. As of Oct 17, 2026, Starter costs $500 per year (1 user), Standard costs $2,500 per year (up to 10 users) and Enterprise is quoted (highergov.com/pricing). That works out to about $42 a month for Starter.
HigherGov plans at a glance
| Plan | Price | Users |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $500/year | 1 |
| Standard | $2,500/year | Up to 10 |
| Enterprise | Quote | Custom |
Free trial
HigherGov offers a 2-week trial, and a business email is required (gngo.app). Public pages show a limited number of free views. Some APEX Accelerator training programs bundle a longer trial: Govology's Florida Procurement Readiness Academy includes a 10-week HigherGov trial (govology.com).
What HigherGov does that AwardWatchdog doesn't
HigherGov is a much broader platform. Its public pages and sitemaps cover contract forecasts, awardee (vendor) profiles, contracting-office people pages, contract vehicles, SBIR/STTR and grants, state and local (SLED) opportunities, NSN and PSC pages, subcontract records, pipelines, an API (10,000 records a month) and Zapier (highergov.com robots.txt, pricing page). If you need any of those, it's worth the money and AwardWatchdog is not a replacement.
When a free tool is enough
If you only chase federal small-business set-asides in a few NAICS codes and states, you may not need a paid platform yet. AwardWatchdog is free: no login is needed to search, and the weekday email digest is free with double opt-in. Today it tracks 1,234 open small-business set-aside and early-stage notices from SAM.gov and 1,939 set-aside recompetes from USAspending.gov, scored 0-100. Every bid page has a one-line plain-English summary, and the recompete tracker explains each score.
| HigherGov Starter | AwardWatchdog | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $500/year | Free |
| Federal set-aside opportunities | Yes | Yes (set-asides and sources sought only) |
| Forecasts, grants, SLED | Yes | No |
| Vendor profiles, API | Yes | No (free CSV/JSON feeds instead) |
| Recompete list with score and reasons | Has expiring-contract data | Yes, 0-100 score with reasons |
| Email alerts | Yes | Yes, weekday digest |
Frequently asked questions
How much does HigherGov cost?
According to HigherGov's pricing page (checked Oct 17, 2026), Starter is $500 per year for 1 user, Standard is $2,500 per year for up to 10 users, and Enterprise is priced on request.
Does HigherGov have a free plan?
HigherGov offers a 2-week trial (a business email is required, per gngo.app's comparison) and limited free views of its public pages, but no permanent free plan, as of Oct 17, 2026.
What is a free alternative to HigherGov for small-business set-asides?
For small-business set-asides specifically, SAM.gov saved searches are free, and AwardWatchdog is free with a daily digest, recompete scores and plain-English summaries. Neither matches HigherGov's breadth (forecasts, grants, state and local bids, vendor profiles, API).