Software · buyer guide · GRI
GRI software: how to choose a tool for a GRI report
GRI software is any tool that helps an organisation collect its data and build a report with reference to, or in accordance with, the GRI Standards.
This page is the buyer’s guide: the kinds of product sold for GRI, which platforms say so in their own words, what a GRI licence does and does not mean, and how to choose. The content-index and omission tests a tool must pass are on GRI reporting software.
What you are buying
What is GRI software, and who sells it?
GRI publishes the Standards free to read, but its copyright policy reserves commercial reuse, so a product that builds GRI content into its screens needs GRI’s permission through the Licensing Software & Tools Program.
That gives the market a clear first split: tools in GRI’s own licensed partners directory, and general platforms that name GRI among the frameworks they support.
Either can be the right choice; the licence tells you how GRI content is implemented, not whether your report is right.
| Kind of product | What it does for GRI | Fits when |
|---|---|---|
| GRI-licensed tool | Uses GRI content under licence, verified by GRI for how it is implemented | You want GRI’s own mark on the tool |
| ESG reporting platform | Holds GRI disclosures beside CSRD, ISSB or CDP from one data set | GRI is one report among several |
| Disclosure management software | Assembles the published report and the content index | The annual report team owns the output |
| Spreadsheet and the free Standards | Holds the content index and evidence by hand | A first “with reference to” report |
The platforms, in their own words
Which platforms say they support GRI?
15 of the 73 vendors in this site’s registry use these words about themselves on the pages read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026, listed alphabetically, which ranks nothing.
Each quote is the vendor’s own; check GRI’s licensed partners directory separately for a licence.
Vendors whose own words mention GRI · 15 of 73 vendors · read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026
Each cell is the vendor’s own description of itself, linked to the page it is on. Alphabetical order ranks nothing.
A vendor not listed may still do the job: put the question to it in writing.
Many of these platforms present GRI as one framework among several in a single data model, which suits an organisation reporting to more than one audience.
A licence and a mention are different things: the first is GRI’s verification of how its content is used, the second is the vendor’s description of what it offers.
Mention, licence, report
Vendor mention
Mention, licence, report
GRI licence
Mention, licence, report
Partners in 2024
Order of work
How do you build a GRI software shortlist?
Decide the claim first: “in accordance with” carries nine requirements under GRI 1 and “with reference to” carries three, and the heavier claim needs more from a tool.
Then shortlist against the 2027 switch, because any tool bought now will produce reports published after 1 January 2027.
| Step | What to do | What it settles |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Decide the claim: in accordance with, or with reference to | How much the content index and omissions must do |
| 2 | List the Sector Standard that applies | Whether the tool carries the V1.1 Sector Standards |
| 3 | Check GRI’s licensed partners directory for each candidate | A licence and its scope, or a plain no |
| 4 | Ask each to show GRI 102 and GRI 103 on your data | Readiness for reports published from 1 January 2027 |
| 5 | Ask for an export in the GRI Sustainability Taxonomy | XBRL filing, if you want it |
| 6 | Price three years and the exit | The cost tool beside the next section |
Price
What does GRI software cost?
The GRI Standards themselves are free to download; what costs money is a tool, and most GRI-capable platforms publish no price.
Where a vendor publishes one, the vendor table shows it with a link to the page it is on.
Licensing is a matter between GRI and the vendor, so ask whether any GRI licence cost is inside the quote or passed on.
The calculator beside this compares a three-year quote with the staff time the current process takes.
Your three-year cost · your numbers only
Three-year total £0
Arithmetic on the figures you type, from the vendor’s written quote.
Added entities are counted for an average of one and a half years each. This page states no vendor price and estimates none.
Nothing is stored or sent.
In the demo
What should you ask in a GRI software demo?
These are buying questions; the content-index, omission and statement-of-use tests are on GRI reporting software.
Have last year’s content index loaded before the demo, so every answer is shown on your own report.
GRI software demo questions · tick the ones you need
The pass tests are our reading of the cited provisions.
Nothing you tick is stored or sent.
The 2027 switch
When is GRI software worth buying?
The clearest buying trigger is 1 January 2027: reports published from that date use GRI 102 Climate Change and GRI 103 Energy in place of the older climate and energy standards.
An organisation reporting on a spreadsheet built around the old topic standards will rebuild it anyway, which is the natural moment to compare tools.
Banks, insurers and capital-markets firms have a second date, 1 January 2029, when GRI’s three financial-sector standards apply.
Read the detail and references
GRI’s Standards page gives GRI 102 and GRI 103 as effective for reports published from 1 January 2027.
The Sector Program re-issued GRI 11 to 14 as V1.1 and says earlier versions can be used for climate and energy only until 31 December 2026.
The GRI Sustainability Taxonomy covers the whole suite and allows filing as XBRL or by webform; nothing in GRI 1 requires XBRL.
The financial-sector standards are on GRI’s project page.
GRI dates that change a tool
Old Sector versions end
Spreadsheet or software
Is a spreadsheet enough for GRI?
For a first report “with reference to” the Standards, often yes: the Standards are free and the content index is a table.
It stops coping when several sites feed the data, when the same figures must go to CSRD or ISSB as well, or when the 2027 switch means rebuilding every climate and energy line.
The worksheet beside this compares a quote with the hours the current process takes.
Platform against the way you work now
Current process £0 a year · quote £0 a year
Fill in all three to see the break-even hours.
Arithmetic on your own inputs.
The quote’s implementation, uplift and exit terms are in the three-year worksheet on the carbon reporting software page.
Nothing is stored or sent.
After signature
How does a GRI software roll-out run?
Start from last year’s content index: it is the map every disclosure in the new tool must land on.
GRI sets no implementation time, and a vendor’s estimate depends on how much data already sits in other systems, so ask for a dated plan against your publication date.
Build the GRI 102 and GRI 103 lines first if the next report is published on or after 1 January 2027, because that is the part a spreadsheet cannot carry forward.
Keep the published content index outside the tool as well, so a change of vendor never loses it.
From signature to first report
Load the index
From signature to first report
Assign owners
For the board
GRI software organises the report, and the organisation still makes the GRI claim.
Buy against the claim you intend to make and the 1 January 2027 switch, and keep the content index portable.
Takeaways
GRI software, in five facts
| What is true | What to do |
|---|---|
| Reusing GRI content commercially needs GRI’s permission | Check each tool’s licence in GRI’s directory |
| GRI reported 100 licensed partners in 2024 | Expect a licensed option in most shortlists |
| A GRI licence does not assess your data or report | Test the tool on your own content index |
| GRI 102 and GRI 103 apply to reports published from 1 January 2027 | Make the switch part of the demo |
| The GRI Standards are free to download | A first report can start on a spreadsheet |
Next: the ten output tests a GRI tool must pass are on GRI reporting software, and the Standards themselves on GRI Standards.
Frequently asked
GRI software, answered
What is GRI software?
A tool that helps an organisation collect data and build a report with reference to, or in accordance with, the GRI Standards, including the content index GRI 1 requires.
Is GRI software free?
The GRI Standards are free to download.
Tools are usually paid, and most GRI-capable platforms publish no price.
Does GRI certify software?
GRI licenses it.
Its licensing programme verifies how GRI content is implemented and grants a licensing mark; GRI says the licence does not assess user data or guarantee reporting outcomes.
Why does software need a GRI licence?
GRI’s copyright allows its Standards to be reproduced for preparing a sustainability report; building GRI content into a commercial product needs GRI’s written permission.
How many GRI-licensed tools are there?
GRI reported 100 licensed software and tools partners in 2024, up from 38 in 2022.
Its own directory lists the current partners.
Which software supports GRI?
The table on this page lists every vendor in this site’s registry whose own words mention GRI, alphabetically and quoted. This site has tested none of them.
When should we buy GRI software?
Before rebuilding for GRI 102 and GRI 103, which apply to reports published from 1 January 2027.
Do we need XBRL for a GRI report?
No. The GRI Sustainability Taxonomy, launched on 19 June 2025, lets a report be filed in XBRL, but GRI 1 does not require it.
Can one tool produce GRI and CSRD reports?
Many platforms hold one data set for several frameworks.
Ask which version of GRI’s ESRS mapping the tool uses.
Is GRI reporting mandatory in the UK?
No UK law requires a GRI report.
Organisations use GRI by choice or because a stakeholder asks for it.
What is the difference between GRI software and GRI reporting software?
This page is the buyer guide.
The tests a tool’s content index, omissions and statement of use must pass are on the GRI reporting software page.
Sources
Primary sources
Every figure, date and status on this page traces to the instrument’s owner.
Secondary commentary is never the source for a number.
- GRIGRI 1: Foundation 2021
The two claims, the content index and the notification to GRI.
- GRIThe GRI Standards
GRI 102 and GRI 103 for reports published from 1 January 2027.
- GRIGRI Sector Program
V1.1 Sector Standards; earlier versions for climate and energy to 31 December 2026.
- GRIGet your software and tools licensed
What GRI licensing verifies, and what it does not.
- GRICopyright policy
Commercial reuse of GRI content needs written permission.
- GRIA mark of trust (29 April 2025)
100 licensed partners in 2024, up from 38 in 2022.
- GRIGRI Licensed Software & Tools Partners
GRI’s own directory of licensed products.
- GRIGRI Sustainability Taxonomy
XBRL for the whole suite; filing by XBRL or webform.
- GRIA digital leap forward for sustainability reporting (19 June 2025)
The taxonomy’s launch.
- GRIGRI 2: General Disclosures 2021
The general disclosures every report carries.
- GRIGRI 3: Material Topics 2021
The process for determining material topics.
- GRIStandards for Banking, Capital Markets and Insurance
GRI 16, 17 and 18, from 1 January 2029.
- GRIGRI–ESRS Interoperability Index, V1 (November 2024)
Mapped to the 2023 ESRS.
- GRIGRI 102 and IFRS S2: equivalence for GHG emissions
IFRS S2 Scope 1, 2 and 3 figures can meet GRI 102.
- GRIGlobal alignment: linkage documents
GRI’s mappings to other frameworks.
- GRIGRI Standards download centre
The Standards are free to download.