Choosing product carbon footprint software: 8 things to check

1. A stated method

The tool should say which standard it follows (usually ISO 14067) and show, requirement by requirement, what is met. "Built to ISO 14067" with no detail is not enough.

2. A PACT data file

If your buyers use supplier portals or Scope 3 software, they need a PACT v3 file that passes their checks, not just a PDF.

3. Every source shown

Each emission factor should come with its source, year, geography and licence. If you cannot see where a number comes from, neither can your buyer.

4. Data quality and primary data share

Look for data quality ratings and the primary data share on every result, so buyers can judge it.

5. You confirm before it calculates

Tools that read product pages or files with AI should show what they read and let you confirm each value. A tool that silently guesses produces figures you cannot defend.

6. Licences that allow sharing

Some databases do not allow their values to be shown or passed on. Check that you are allowed to send the result and its breakdown to your customer.

7. Honest limits

Good software tells you what a footprint is not: not a certificate, not reviewed by a third party unless it was, not valid for public comparisons. Be wary of tools that promise "verified" results without a named reviewer.

Questions to ask in a demo

• Show me one line of the calculation with its factor, source and licence.
• What happens when a value is missing?
• Can I export a PACT v3 file that passes required-field checks?
• How do you show data quality and the primary data share?
• What can I share with my customers under your licences?
• How are prices set as my catalogue grows?

Red flags

• Results with no sources or no way to see the calculation.
• Claims of verification or certification with no named reviewer or standard.
• A footprint that never changes when you add your own data.
• Language that turns a footprint into a marketing claim about the product.

Test product carbon footprint software with one of your own products

The best way to judge a tool is to run a product you know well through it. Pick a bestseller with a clear bill of materials, and have its weight, country of manufacture and a year of factory energy to hand.

Start with the minimum: a product name, composition and weight. Watch what the tool reads and whether it asks you to confirm. Note which values it fills with defaults and whether it tells you so.

Then add your own energy data and see what moves. A good tool shows the footprint change by stage and the primary data share rise. If nothing changes, your data is not being used.

Finally, export everything a buyer would receive: the report and the data file. Read them as your customer would. Can you trace each line to a source? Is the boundary clear? Would you be comfortable answering questions about it?

Run the same product through more than one tool if you are comparing. Differences in the result are normal, since factors and defaults differ. What matters is whether each tool can explain its own figure, line by line, in a way your customer would accept.

What apparel, footwear and packaging suppliers need from software

The checklist above applies to every supplier, but the details of what you make change what the software must handle well. Look for these when you try a tool:

• Apparel: fibre blends read from care-label style compositions, fabric weight, and energy split by spinning, knitting or weaving, wet processing and sewing.
• Footwear: support for many components per product, each with its own material and weight, and a per-pair unit.
• Packaging: flexible units such as per item or per kilogram, and materials like board, paper and plastics with their own factors.
• All three: bulk upload of a product list, a clear way to fill gaps row by row, and footprints you can compare across your range.
• Your customers' formats: if several buyers send their own templates, check that the tool's report and data file hold every field they ask for, so you are not retyping figures by hand.

Glossary of terms in product carbon footprint software

Software screens and reports use a small set of terms again and again. Knowing them makes demos faster and helps you answer buyer questions with confidence.

• Boundary: which life stages are included, for example cradle to gate. See cradle to gate versus cradle to grave.
• Declared unit: what one footprint describes, such as one garment or one pair.
• Emission factor: the emissions per unit of a material, energy or transport, taken from a published source.
• Primary data: data from your own operations or suppliers, such as your energy bills.
• Secondary data: published averages used where your own data is missing.
• Allocation: sharing a factory's energy between the products it makes.
• Data quality rating: a score for how well each input matches your product, place and time.
• Sensitivity check: rerunning the footprint with an alternative choice to see how much the result moves.
• PACT data file: a structured file that buyers' systems can read directly.
• Screening estimate: a first footprint built mostly on published averages, useful for seeing size and hotspots before you add your own data.
• Hotspot: the stage or input that makes up the largest part of a footprint, and so the best place to add your own data first.

8. Pricing that fits your range

If you have hundreds of products, check the cost per footprint and whether you can upload a whole catalogue. See what a footprint costs.

Our tool was built around this checklist. Try a free estimate or join the waitlist for launch.

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