EcoVadis or VSME: what your customer is asking for, and what it costs

Two different things

EcoVadis is a commercial rating platform. You pay a yearly subscription, answer a questionnaire, upload documents, and EcoVadis analysts score your company on four themes: environment, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement. Your customers see the resulting scorecard on the EcoVadis platform.

The VSME is a free European reporting standard, recommended by the Commission in 2025. You prepare the report yourself, on energy and emissions, workforce, policies and business conduct, and send it to whoever asks. There is no score. It is also the reference point for the value chain cap, which limits what a customer that reports under the CSRD may require from companies with up to 1,000 employees.

What EcoVadis costs

EcoVadis publishes its prices by company size and country. For a company in the Netherlands, a one-year Basic plan was listed on 4 October 2026 at €449 for up to 25 employees, €759 for 26 to 99 and €1,179 for 100 to 999. Premium, which adds benchmarking and medals, was €889, €1,219 and €1,949. The fee recurs every year you want an up-to-date scorecard, and the work of preparing documents comes on top.

Prices differ per country and change over time, and longer plans are offered as well. Check the EcoVadis pricing page for your own size and country before you budget.

When you need EcoVadis

If a customer’s contract or procurement policy requires an EcoVadis scorecard, or a minimum score or medal, a VSME report does not replace it. Large buyers that manage thousands of suppliers often work this way, because they compare all their suppliers on one platform. Ask whether the requirement is firm and what score is expected before you subscribe.

When a VSME report is enough, and how the two fit together

Many requests ask for sustainability information without naming a platform. A VSME report answers those, costs no subscription and can be sent to every customer, bank and tender that asks. If you do need EcoVadis later, the work is not lost: policies, energy and emissions figures, workforce data and ethics records from your VSME report are the same evidence an EcoVadis assessment asks for.

Greener Ahead does not provide EcoVadis ratings. It helps you prepare the VSME report, €995 per year, and if needed your carbon footprint with Carbon accounting, €1,495 per year, both with unlimited users and a 14-day free trial without a card. Check the pricing page for current details.

EcoVadis and VSME side by side

The comparison below uses EcoVadis’s own published information and the Commission’s recommendation. It is about what each one is, not about which is better: they solve different problems.

Published EcoVadis prices for the Netherlands

These are EcoVadis’s list prices for a one-year plan for a company in the Netherlands, as shown on its pricing page on 4 October 2026. Prices for other countries and for longer plans differ.

Questions to ask your customer first

A short exchange tells you whether you need a subscription at all. Ask in writing and keep the answer with the request.

• Do you require an EcoVadis scorecard, or sustainability information in any form?
• Is there a minimum score or medal, and by when?
• Would you accept a VSME report in the meantime, or instead?
• Is the information for your own CSRD reporting or for procurement?
• Will you ask again every year, and in what form?