Open-Source Issue Reporting Software Compared
FixMyStreet, Klarschiff and Mark-a-Spot: three open-source platforms for councils and cities, side by side.
If you are introducing an issue reporting service, open source gives you a real choice. All three platforms are openly licensed, maintained and speak Open311. They differ in technology, AI and hosting. This comparison gives the facts with sources and clears up five assumptions that often stand in the way of open source in public administration.
FixMyStreet, Klarschiff and Mark-a-Spot
All three are good open-source options. Here is how they differ.
Origin
- Mark-a-Spot
- Civic Patches GmbH, Germany
- FixMyStreet
- mySociety, United Kingdom
- Klarschiff
- City of Rostock, Germany, developed by Büro für praktische Informatik (BFPI), Satow
License
- Mark-a-Spot
- Backend GPL-2.0 or later, citizen frontend MIT. The staff dashboard (Pro) is commercial.
- FixMyStreet
- AGPL-3.0 or later
- Klarschiff
- Back office GPL-3.0, mobile client GPL-2.0
Technology
- Mark-a-Spot
- Drupal 11 and Nuxt 4
- FixMyStreet
- Perl (Catalyst)
- Klarschiff
- Ruby (back office)
API
- Mark-a-Spot
- Open311 GeoReport v2, read and write, with extensions
- FixMyStreet
- Open311 GeoReport v2
- Klarschiff
- CitySDK API based on Open311 GeoReport v2
AI
- Mark-a-Spot
- Category and description suggested from the photo, hazard assessment, sentiment, duplicate check and support for case handling. GDPR-compliant: faces and license plates are blurred before the AI sees the photo. AI provider of your choice, can be switched off.
- FixMyStreet
- No AI features documented in the public source code
- Klarschiff
- No AI features documented in the public source code
Hosting
- Mark-a-Spot
- Managed cloud hosted in Germany, or self-hosted (Docker or Kubernetes)
- FixMyStreet
- Self-hosted, or FixMyStreet Pro as SaaS (SocietyWorks)
- Klarschiff
- Self-hosted, installation guide in the repository
| Criterion | FixMyStreet | Klarschiff | Mark-a-Spot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Origin | mySociety, United Kingdom | City of Rostock, Germany, developed by Büro für praktische Informatik (BFPI), Satow | Civic Patches GmbH, Germany |
| License | AGPL-3.0 or later | Back office GPL-3.0, mobile client GPL-2.0 | Backend GPL-2.0 or later, citizen frontend MIT. The staff dashboard (Pro) is commercial. |
| Technology | Perl (Catalyst) | Ruby (back office) | Drupal 11 and Nuxt 4 |
| API | Open311 GeoReport v2 | CitySDK API based on Open311 GeoReport v2 | Open311 GeoReport v2, read and write, with extensions |
| AI | No AI features documented in the public source code | No AI features documented in the public source code | Category and description suggested from the photo, hazard assessment, sentiment, duplicate check and support for case handling. GDPR-compliant: faces and license plates are blurred before the AI sees the photo. AI provider of your choice, can be switched off. |
| Hosting | Self-hosted, or FixMyStreet Pro as SaaS (SocietyWorks) | Self-hosted, installation guide in the repository | Managed cloud hosted in Germany, or self-hosted (Docker or Kubernetes) |
As of October 2026. Facts taken from the public repositories and project sites (license file, README, code, product page): FixMyStreet, FixMyStreet Pro, Klarschiff back office, Klarschiff client, Klarschiff.HRO, Mark-a-Spot, Mark-a-Spot UI. Pro refers to the Mark-a-Spot staff dashboard. The functions behind it (routing, statistics, AI) are open through the GPL modules and Open311. Is something out of date? Let us know at info@markaspot.org.
See it in action
Report, map and case handling in three screens.
Take a photo, AI does the rest
AI suggests the category, fills the category fields and drafts a description. Everything stays editable before submitting.
Reports on an interactive map
Reports with photo and location, clustered and marked with their category icon. Residents see right away what has already been reported nearby.
Every report with AI hazard level
Staff filter by category and status, see the AI hazard level and type of each report and assign it.
Independent research
Lukas Haas and Florian Knoch compared FixMyStreet, Mark-a-Spot and Klarschiff in 2022 in the AGIT Journal for Applied Geoinformatics, focusing on usability, flexibility and installation. Mark-a-Spot stood out for its usability and the flexible configuration in its admin area. The authors also point out that the right choice depends on the requirements of each administration.
What residents get
A modern interface that works on a smartphone just as well as on a desktop.
18 language versions
Including Easy Read and Arabic with a right-to-left layout. Residents pick their own language.
Web app, no app store
Runs in the browser of any smartphone and can be added to the home screen like an app. Nothing to install, nothing to approve.
A photo is enough
AI suggests the category and a description from the photo. Both stay editable before the report is sent.
Privacy before AI
A service running on the platform itself, not at the AI provider, blurs faces and license plates before the AI analyzes the photo.
Crisis mode
Switch to a reduced interface for emergencies at the push of a button. Reports are also available as a CAP 1.2 feed.
Open API
Every category is an Open311 service. Back-office systems and other apps read and write through the same standard.
Five assumptions about open source
The objections we hear most often in public administration, and what holds up.
“Open source means we have to host it ourselves.”
No. Mark-a-Spot is available as a managed cloud service under contract, hosted in Germany. Self-hosting is an option, not a requirement.
“Open source is insecure.”
Open code can be audited by your IT team, by contractors, by anyone. What makes software secure is regular updates, well-run operations and clear responsibilities. That holds for open and closed software alike.
“There is no support for open source.”
You buy support from a service provider, as with any other software. For Mark-a-Spot that is Civic Patches GmbH, under contract and with named contacts.
“Open source is free.”
The license costs nothing. Hosting, customization and support cost money. The difference: you pay for work done, not for the right to use the software.
“With a small vendor we are locked in.”
The opposite. You keep the code and your data, and Open311 is an open standard. You can switch provider or run it yourselves. With proprietary software, switching depends on the contract, and running it yourselves is not an option.
See it in production
The City of Bonn runs its issue reporting service on Mark-a-Spot (German interface).
anliegen.bonn.de