LobbyScape vs LobbyTools

A modern alternative to
LobbyTools

LobbyTools is the legacy incumbent for Florida bill tracking. LobbyScape is what you'd build if you started today: intelligence-powered search across every bill and statute, committee hearings transcribed and searchable, the full Florida budget pipeline including the offer-and-counteroffer history between the chairs, and a native iOS & Android app — all in one place.

The honest TL;DR

LobbyTools is a legacy product. The work has moved past it.

LobbyTools has been the default for FL bill tracking for a long time — but "default" and "best" aren't the same. The product hasn't materially modernized in years. The way Florida policy moves now (conference-driven, transcript-dependent, proviso-heavy, alert-and-respond instead of read-the-summary) has outpaced what LobbyTools can do.

LobbyScape was built ground-up for the Florida lobbyist who needs to know when their bill moves, what got said about it in committee, how the conference offers shaped it, and whether it survived the GAA and the veto pen — without spending Sunday night reading 800-page appropriations bills.

Side by side

LobbyScape vs LobbyTools — feature by feature

Capability LobbyScape LobbyTools
Every Florida bill, every session
Full text, sponsors, committee history, votes, amendments
Committee hearing transcripts
Searchable; click any word to jump to that moment in the Florida Channel video
Triggered transcript alerts
Get pinged when your topic surfaces in any committee discussion, even off-agenda
Full budget pipeline
D-3A → House PCB → Senate SPB → conference offers → GAA → veto, line by line
Partial
Conference offer + counteroffer history
The chair-to-chair offer trail that decides how budget items get shaped
Proviso analysis
Every GAA proviso parsed and structured: who benefits, what conditions, which programs
LobbyScape Intelligence
Natural-language Q&A over bills, statutes, transcripts, budget items — sourced answers
Watchlists with team-level routing ✓ Unlimited
Real-time alerts
In-app push, email, and SMS for the moments you can't miss
Email
Native mobile app (iOS + Android)
Push from a committee room, notes from your car, full offline search
✓ iOS + Android iPhone only, basic
Client portfolios + read-only client portals
Each client's bills, appropriations, committees — shareable with the people paying the retainer
Florida Statutes & FAR
Full text searchable, with annotations and cross-references to amending bills
Transparent tiered pricing
Published rates, all features included at every tier
✓ from $2.5K Quote-based
Direct line to the product team
Cell numbers, quarterly check-ins, custom data work at no extra cost
✓ Founding

Feature listings are based on public product documentation and direct customer feedback. If you spot something we got wrong about LobbyTools, let us know — we'll update.

Why Florida lobbyists are switching

Four things LobbyTools doesn't give you

LobbyScape Intelligence search across everything

Ask "what's happening with HB 1234 and who opposed it in committee?" and get a sourced answer in seconds — citations to the bill text, the hearing transcript, and the budget line. LobbyTools requires you to know exactly where to look. LobbyScape lets you ask the question in plain English.

Hearing transcripts with video jumps

Every committee hearing transcribed and searchable. Click any word and jump to that exact moment in the Florida Channel video. Set keyword triggers so when your topic comes up in a hearing you weren't watching, you get pinged. LobbyTools doesn't transcribe hearings.

The full budget pipeline

Track every appropriation request from D-3A submission through House PCB, Senate SPB, conference offers and counteroffers, the enacted GAA, and the Governor's veto pen. We surface the chair-to-chair offer history — the most important signal in Florida budgeting — that no other platform exposes.

A real mobile app — on both platforms

Native iOS & Android. Push notifications from the committee room when your bill moves. Pull up a vote at lunch. Add a client note from your car. Offline search of your watchlists. The whole platform in your pocket. LobbyTools has a basic iPhone app and nothing on Android — half the lobbyists in Tallahassee carry Pixels and Samsungs and are locked out.

Pricing

Published rates, no surprises

LobbyTools pricing isn't published publicly — you have to call for a quote. LobbyScape's Founding Member pricing is on our website, in writing. Pick the tier that matches your headcount and you're done.

1–3 users

$2,500

per year

11–15 users

$6,500

per year

16–20 users

$8,500

per year

Lobbying as a sole practitioner? Individual plans available at reduced ratescontact us for details.

Everything is included at every tier. No upsells, no locked features, no premium tier you have to buy later. Founding Members lock their rate for life and get direct access to the product team.

Common questions

If you're already on LobbyTools

Can I switch mid-session?

Yes. We migrate your watchlists, client portfolios, and team setup ourselves — typically a one-hour working session and you're live the same day. No data loss, no double-tracking.

Is the data as complete as LobbyTools?

Every Florida bill, every committee, every legislator, every lobbyist registration, every appropriation request, the full Florida Statutes, and the Florida Administrative Register — yes. We also layer transcripts, LobbyScape Intelligence search, and the conference-offer budget pipeline that LobbyTools doesn't have.

What's the catch with Founding Member pricing?

There isn't one — but Founding Members do get one perk: their tier price is locked for life, guaranteed below whatever the published rate becomes. We close Founding Member spots when we hit the cap. The trade-off is that we ask for honest feedback so we can keep shaping the product around the people who actually use it.

Will my clients see a difference?

Yes. You can build a read-only client portal showing the bills, appropriations, and committee activity that matter to that client — branded, polished, no logins required for them. It's the kind of deliverable most lobbyists wish they could send weekly without spending all day in Word.

See it on your portfolio

Thirty minutes with us, and you'll see Florida differently.

We'll pull up your bills, your principals, your budget items, and your alerts — live, on a real screen. No deck, no demo data. If LobbyTools is doing everything you need, we'll tell you. Otherwise, we'll show you what you've been missing.