Comparison · Dods vs Emily · August 2026
Dods Political Intelligence vs Emily
Dods is the heritage supplier of UK political monitoring: expert-curated coverage, research support and the Dods People contacts database, sold by consultation. Emily is an AI public affairs agent with published pricing (£69 or £149 a month) that cites the official record for every claim. This page sets out what each is, what public buyers pay Dods where the record shows it, and what Dods offers that Emily deliberately does not.
Written by the Emily Politics team, so read our side with that in mind. Every claim about Dods comes from its own public website or from published UK public contract awards, dated and sourced in the methodology note below. Spotted something out of date? Email hello@emilypolitics.com and we’ll correct it.
| Dods | Emily | |
|---|---|---|
| Published price | Not published (checked July 2026) | £69 or £149 a month, published |
| Observed public awards, annualised | 16 awards: £5,000 to £42,070 a year | — |
| Contract length | Observed awards run 24 to 48 months | Monthly. Cancel in one click |
| Trial | On request | 7 days, self-serve |
| Human analysts | Yes: policy experts and consultants | No: an agent that logs what it checked |
| Contacts database | Dods People | None, by design |
| EU coverage | Yes | No: Westminster and the devolved legislatures |
What Dods is
Dods Political Intelligence traces its history to 1832 and is the longest-established name in this market. It sells monitoring curated by policy experts, research and briefing support from a consultant team, and the Dods People database of political contacts.
Its own homepage leads with "200 Years of Heritage Powered By The Latest Technology" and describes the service as "Curated by Dods' policy experts and powered by AI". That is their wording, observed August 2026, and worth reading in their words rather than anyone else's.
What buyers pay, where the record shows it
Dods does not publish a price list; its site sells via a trial request (checked July 2026).
The public record is more forthcoming. On Contracts Finder, 16 public awards to Dods with a disclosed value and term annualise to between £5,000 and £42,070 a year, with a median around £10,200. The buyers are public bodies: Ofwat, Ofsted, HM Land Registry, HS2, the Information Commissioner's Office, the Food Standards Agency, Historic England and the Equality and Human Rights Commission among them. Each figure is the disclosed contract total divided by the disclosed term.
Across the market as a whole, UK public awards in this category with a disclosed value and term typically annualise to a band with a centre of £10,000 to £12,000 a year. Two caveats travel with that band: the VAT basis of the notices is unresolved, and Contracts Finder cannot see contracts below its publication threshold, so it describes the visible institutional lane only.
Two structural notes on that record. Every valued award is quoted as a contract total, never per seat and never per year, and most contracts run long: of the 70 awards carrying a term, 54 are for 24 months or more.
Published per-seat prices do exist in the wider market: EU-focused Policy-Insider.AI, for example, advertises from €129 per user per month.
What Emily does differently
Emily is an AI public affairs agent rather than a monitoring feed. You ask questions in plain English and she searches the parliamentary record, writes the briefing or the letter, and tracks your stakeholder engagement. Every claim is cited back to the official record, each answer carries a log of what she checked (the searches that found nothing included), and you can ask her at any time for a dated, evidenced account of the work she has done on your subscription.
The contract is the other difference. Prices are published: £69/month Standard or £149/month Professional, each with a 7-day trial and billing by the month. There is no minimum term and no auto-renewal into a longer contract. Notice is symmetric: we cannot lock you in for longer than we lock ourselves in.
No auto-renewal. No minimum term. If you leave, it takes one click and we part as friends. We would rather earn next month than own it.
Emily is currently in invite-only beta: join the waitlist. The free surfaces are open to everyone now: the daily Westminster read, the live bill tracker and the developer API.
Run both, then decide
You do not need to cancel anything to find out. Run Emily alongside Dods until your renewal date, then decide with both sets of output in front of you. Running two suppliers at once has precedent in the public record: through 2025, Historic England held concurrent contracts for Dods political monitoring (£12,500 a year annualised) and Vuelio media and database services (£15,568 a year annualised), both published on Contracts Finder.
Whatever you choose, read your current contract’s term and notice clause and put the notice date in your diary. Knowing the date costs nothing.
What Dods has that Emily does not
An honest list. If one of these is the job, Dods is the better buy.
Named human analysts
Dods sells expert curation: policy specialists reading and shaping your coverage, plus consultants for research and briefings. Nobody at Emily reads your feed. The work is done by an agent that shows what it checked, and if you want a named analyst on the account, Dods is the better buy.
The contacts database
Dods People is a maintained directory of political contacts. Emily does not sell contact data and will not: she watches the public record instead. If a directory is the job, you need Dods or a similar supplier.
EU coverage and heritage
Dods sells EU monitoring alongside UK coverage and has been in this market since 1832. Emily covers Westminster and the devolved legislatures only, and launched in 2026. If Brussels is half your job, you need a second tool.
Common questions
How much does Dods political monitoring cost?
Dods does not publish pricing; its website sells via a trial request (checked July 2026). On Contracts Finder, 16 public awards to Dods with a disclosed value and term annualise to between £5,000 and £42,070 a year, with a median around £10,200. UK institutional political-monitoring contracts in general centre on £10,000 to £12,000 a year annualised, and that sample describes the visible institutional lane only: Contracts Finder cannot see contracts below its publication threshold.
What is the difference between Dods and Emily Politics?
Dods sells expert-curated monitoring with research support and the Dods People contacts database, a model built on named analysts. Emily is an AI public affairs agent: you ask questions in plain English and she searches the parliamentary record, writes the briefing or the letter, and tracks your stakeholder engagement, with every claim cited back to the official record and a per-answer log of what was checked. Emily publishes its prices (£69 or £149 a month); Dods sells via consultation.
What does Dods have that Emily does not?
Named human analysts and consultants, the Dods People contacts database, EU coverage, and nearly two centuries of heritage. Emily has none of those, by design: the work is done by an agent that shows what it checked, and coverage is Westminster and the devolved legislatures only.
Can I try Emily without cancelling Dods?
Yes. Run both until your renewal date and compare the output. Concurrent suppliers have precedent in the public record: through 2025, Historic England held contracts with Dods for political monitoring and with Vuelio for media monitoring at the same time, both published on Contracts Finder.
Also compared: DeHavilland vs Emily, PolicyMogul vs Emily, and the full seven-tool comparison of UK political monitoring.
Methodology: descriptions of Dods Political Intelligence come from its own public website, checked in July 2026; quoted phrases are its own wording. Contract figures are UK public awards published on Contracts Finder, compiled on 11 August 2026; each annual figure is the disclosed contract total divided by the disclosed term, and awards without a value or a term are excluded. “Not published” means we could not find pricing on the provider’s public site at the check date; it may be available on request. This page is maintained by Sinatra AI Ltd, the company behind Emily.