What Is ESG Software? Definition, Types and the Market

The definition

ESG software, in one sentence

ESG software is software that collects an organisation’s environmental, social and governance data, calculates the metrics a framework or a customer asks for, and produces the disclosure with the evidence behind each figure.

The company is both the subject and the user: it measures itself, which is what separates ESG software from the ratings and data that investors buy about it.

The environmental part is usually the deepest, because emissions under the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard are where the numbers and the methods are most defined.

The social and governance parts are mostly indicators and narrative, mapped to whichever framework asks for them.

What ESG means as a subject — the three pillars and the UK duties behind them — is on what is ESG; this page is about the software.

Read what the definition covers, part by part

Each part of the definition is a job, and a product can do one well and another badly.

Sources: UK SRS S1 · UK SRS S2 · GHG Protocol · ISSA (UK) 5000. The middle column is this site’s reading.
Part of the definition	The job	Where the rule comes from
Collects	Pull data in by entity, site and period, and keep the source record beside each line	UK SRS S1 ¶20: the same reporting entity as the financial statements
Calculates	Apply a method, such as emission factors for the activity year, and record which one	GHG Protocol Corporate Standard; UK SRS S2 ¶29(a)
Asks for	Map one figure to each framework or questionnaire that uses it	UK SRS, the ESRS, GRI, CDP, customers’ questionnaires
Produces	Draft the disclosure, route it for review and sign-off	The framework or rule that creates the output
Evidence	Keep who changed what, when and why, as the work happens	ISSA (UK) 5000, where assurance is obtained

A spreadsheet can do every one of these jobs for a small boundary; software earns its cost when the entities, sites, suppliers and frameworks multiply.

Three data sets, one recordExplore

Module 01 / 04

Environmental

Energy, emissions by scope, water, waste and materials, by entity and period.

Read the primary source

Environmental

Energy, emissions by scope, water, waste and materials, by entity and period.

Read the primary source

Social

Workforce, health and safety, supply-chain and community data, as a framework defines it.

Read the primary source

Governance

Board oversight, policies, controls and who approved the figures.

Read the primary source

Evidence

The source record, the method, the factor year and the change history behind every figure.

Read the primary source

Where the category comes from

An investor’s word, turned into a company’s tool

ESG began as an investor’s term, and the software exists because standards and rules have since asked companies to publish the data themselves.

Each date below is cited to the body that set it.

December 200401
Who Cares Wins
Recommendations by the financial industry to integrate environmental, social and governance issues in analysis, asset management and securities brokerage.
UN Global Compact report
3 November 202102
The ISSB is formed
The IFRS Foundation announces the International Sustainability Standards Board at COP26.
IFRS Foundation
June 202303
IFRS S1 and S2 issued
The global baseline that UK SRS is built on.
IFRS Foundation
25 February 202604
UK SRS S1 and S2 published
Published by the Department for Business and Trade for voluntary use.
DBT
Periods from 1 January 202705
Listed companies: comply or explain
Under PS26/19, companies in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22 report against UK SRS or explain what is missing.
FCA PS26/19

The term was set out in Who Cares Wins, a December 2004 report of recommendations by the financial industry, published by the UN Global Compact.

For most of the years since, ESG data was something investors bought about companies; the software category grew as companies were asked to produce it themselves, to a standard.

Types of ESG software

7 types, counted from the registry

ESG software comes in 7 types, named here as this site’s vendor registry names them: carbon accounting, esg reporting, ehs, lca and product footprint, supply chain, real estate, financed emissions.

The commonest are carbon accounting (60 vendors) and ESG reporting (51), and most vendors sell more than one type.

The type tells you where a product started, which is where it is usually strongest, and so which tests to run hardest on the rest.

The measurement layer underneath most of it is covered on carbon accounting software, and the wider disclosure map on sustainability reporting software.

Read the types in full

Types and counts: this site’s registry, read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026. The middle columns are this site’s reading; the third names the standard each type implements.
Type	What it does	Answers to	Vendors
Carbon accounting	Builds the greenhouse gas inventory: activity data × emission factors, by Scope 1, 2 and 3.	GHG Protocol Corporate and Scope 3 Standards	60
ESG reporting	Maps one dataset to several frameworks, drafts the disclosure and manages review and sign-off.	UK SRS S1 and S2, the ESRS, GRI, CDP	51
EHS	Environment, health and safety records: incidents, permits and site environmental data, with reporting added.	ISO 14001:2026 for the environmental management system	11
LCA and product footprint	Product footprints and life cycle assessment, on a product boundary rather than the company’s.	ISO 14040 and 14044; GHG Protocol Product Standard	29
Supply chain	Collects suppliers’ data through questionnaires and portals, usually for Scope 3.	GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard	41
Real estate	Building-level energy, emissions and benchmark submissions across a property portfolio.	Benchmarks such as GRESB, which rates rather than certifies	5
Financed emissions	The emissions of loans and investments, attributed to a lender’s or investor’s portfolio.	PCAF Part A, third edition (December 2025)	16

Vendors in each type, of 73

Carbon accounting60

60 of 73 vendors carry this category

ESG reporting51

51 of 73 vendors carry this category

EHS11

11 of 73 vendors carry this category

LCA and product footprint29

29 of 73 vendors carry this category

Supply chain41

41 of 73 vendors carry this category

Real estate5

5 of 73 vendors carry this category

Financed emissions16

16 of 73 vendors carry this category

Counted from this site’s registry, read on each vendor’s own site 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026.

A vendor can carry several types, so the bars overlap and do not sum to 73.

Each type, its standard

Different products, different rulebooks

Each type of ESG software implements a different standard, so a claim in one type tells you little about another.

Carbon accounting answers to the GHG Protocol; ESG reporting to UK SRS, the revised ESRS and GRI; supply-chain tools to the Scope 3 Standard, which asks a company to account for all Scope 3 and justify any exclusion.

Product footprints sit on a different boundary again, under ISO 14040 and 14044 and the GHG Protocol’s Product Standard, set out on LCA software.

Read the detailed guidance and references

EHS suites grew from environment, health and safety compliance; their environmental modules usually sit around a management system certified to ISO 14001, whose 2026 edition ISO published on 15 April 2026.

Real-estate platforms often feed benchmarks such as GRESB, which issues a score and a one-to-five-star rating by quintile among paying participants; there is no such thing as “GRESB certified”.

Financed-emissions software follows PCAF Part A, now in its third edition of December 2025, which attributes the emissions of loans and investments to the lender or investor.

Supplier data, which usually arrives through questionnaires and portals, is covered on Scope 3 emissions software.

What each type implementsExplore

Module 01 / 07

Carbon accounting

GHG Protocol Corporate and Scope 3 Standards

Builds the greenhouse gas inventory: activity data × emission factors, by Scope 1, 2 and 3.

GHG Protocol Corporate Standard

Carbon accounting

GHG Protocol Corporate and Scope 3 Standards

Builds the greenhouse gas inventory: activity data × emission factors, by Scope 1, 2 and 3.

GHG Protocol Corporate Standard

ESG reporting

UK SRS S1 and S2, the ESRS, GRI, CDP

Maps one dataset to several frameworks, drafts the disclosure and manages review and sign-off.

UK SRS S1 and S2

EHS

ISO 14001:2026 for the environmental management system

Environment, health and safety records: incidents, permits and site environmental data, with reporting added.

ISO 14001:2026

LCA and product footprint

ISO 14040 and 14044; GHG Protocol Product Standard

Product footprints and life cycle assessment, on a product boundary rather than the company’s.

ISO 14040:2006

Supply chain

GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard

Collects suppliers’ data through questionnaires and portals, usually for Scope 3.

Scope 3 Standard

Real estate

Benchmarks such as GRESB, which rates rather than certifies

Building-level energy, emissions and benchmark submissions across a property portfolio.

GRESB

Financed emissions

PCAF Part A, third edition (December 2025)

The emissions of loans and investments, attributed to a lender’s or investor’s portfolio.

PCAF Part A

What ESG software is not

Not a rating, not an assurance, not a compliance guarantee

ESG software is a tool for producing a company’s own data, and three things are often sold or searched as if they were the same thing.

It is not an ESG rating, which is an investor-facing opinion about a company; it is not assurance, which is a practitioner’s engagement; and it does not make a company compliant with anything.

Each of the three has its own rule in UK law or standards, set out in the next three sections.

ESG
software

Not a rating

A rating is an opinion about you formed for investors; the software produces your own data.

SI 2025/1349, from 29 June 2028

Not an assurance

Assurance is a practitioner’s engagement; software can only keep the evidence they sample.

ISSA (UK) 5000, voluntary

Not a compliance guarantee

The company decides what it discloses and explains; a vendor’s regime claim is the vendor’s statement.

UKLR 6.6.6R(7A), (7B)

Not a rating

Ratings are about you; the software is yours

An ESG rating is someone else’s opinion of your company; ESG software is the tool you use to produce your own figures.

The ESG Ratings Order, SI 2025/1349, defines an ESG rating as “an assessment regarding one or more ESG factors, which is produced as an opinion, score, or combination of both using established methodology and a defined ranking system”.

It brings providing such a rating within the FCA’s perimeter from 29 June 2028, with the rules consulted on in CP25/34; until then a rating is an unregulated private opinion.

Some ESG software pre-fills a rater’s questionnaire from data the company already holds, which saves time and is not a rating capability.

ESG Ratings Order

SI 2025/1349Made 15 December 2025

FCA perimeter

29 June 2028Main commencement; authorisation needed from then

Rules

CP25/34Consulted on; the FCA’s final rules are to follow

Certification ratings

ExcludedArt. 63Z3: ratings made only for accreditation or certification

Not an assurance

Software keeps the evidence; a practitioner gives the assurance

No software provides assurance: assurance is an engagement carried out by a practitioner, and in the UK no rule requires a company to obtain it.

The FRC issued ISSA (UK) 5000 on 12 November 2025 for voluntary use, effective for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2026.

A listed company that does obtain assurance says who provided it, which disclosures were assured and which standards were used, under UKLR 6.6.6R(8)(d) as made by PS26/19.

What software can do is keep the evidence chain as the work happens; the UK position in full is on sustainability assurance.

The evidence a practitioner samplesExplore

Module 01 / 04

Source record

The bill, extract or supplier response behind each figure.

Read the primary source

Source record

The bill, extract or supplier response behind each figure.

Read the primary source

Method

The standard, the factor year, the boundary.

Read the primary source

Change history

Who entered or altered a figure, when and why.

Read the primary source

Disclosure

The published figure, traceable to all of the above.

Read the primary source

Not a compliance guarantee

The duty is the company’s, whatever the vendor claims

No ESG software makes a company compliant, because the duties fall on the company and are framed around what it discloses.

Under the FCA’s PS26/19, listed companies in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22 report against UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, and UK SRS S1 and S2 remain voluntary for everyone else.

SECR applies to quoted companies and to large unquoted companies and LLPs, a company being large only when it exceeds two of £36m turnover, £18m balance sheet and 250 employees, under Schedule 7; the full test is on SECR reporting requirements.

Of the 73 vendors in this site’s registry, 62 mention CSRD or ESRS on the pages read and 8 mention UK SRS: a mention is the vendor’s statement, not a capability this site has tested.

The filter beside this separates the frameworks published comparisons score from the duties a UK company actually files.

Read each UK duty and what it asks the software for

Sources: PS26/19 · UK SRS · Schedule 7 · ESOS Phase 4 · PPN 006 · Directive 2013/34/EU.
Duty and status	Who	What it takes from the software
UK SRS (listed) · comply or explain from 1 Jan 2027, PS26/19	Companies in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22	S1 and S2 disclosures, or what is missing, why and what is being done, under UKLR 6.6.6R(7A) and (7B)
UK SRS (voluntary) · DBT, 25 Feb 2026	Any UK entity that chooses it	As above, by choice
SECR · in force, SI 2008/410 Sch 7	Quoted companies; large unquoted companies and LLPs	kWh, emissions, an intensity ratio, the methodology, comparatives
ESOS Phase 4 · in force, SI 2014/1643	Large undertakings and their groups	Total energy in kWh by purpose, with evidence; notification by 5 Dec 2027
PPN 006 · procurement policy	Bidders for in-scope central government contracts	A Carbon Reduction Plan: Scope 1 and 2 and five named Scope 3 categories
CSRD and the ESRS · EU law	A UK group with an in-scope EU entity: above 1,000 employees and €450m turnover	A sustainability statement under the revised ESRS, with a double materiality assessment

PPN 006 binds contracting authorities, not companies, and the Technical Standard sets what a plan contains.

The UK SRS standards themselves, and how they differ from the ISSB’s, are on UK SRS S1 and S2.

Two scorecards, one overlap

ESRS and CSRDscored by comparisons
Reaches a UK group only through an EU entity or listing in scope of CSRD as narrowed in 2026: above €450 million turnover and 1,000 employees, for financial years from 1 January 2027. Directive (EU) 2026/470
GRIscored by comparisons
A voluntary standard-setter’s framework; no UK law requires it. GRI Standards
SASBscored by comparisons
A voluntary set of industry standards, now held by the IFRS Foundation; no UK law requires it. SASB Standards
CDPscored by comparisonsa UK company files it
Voluntary, answered when a customer or investor asks. The one framework that is both scored and filed. CDP, how to disclose
SECRa UK company files it
In force every year: the directors’ report of a quoted company, or a large unquoted company or LLP. SI 2008/410 Sch 7
ESOS Phase 4a UK company files it
In force, four-yearly: qualification on 31 December 2026, notification by 5 December 2027. Environment Agency ESOS
UK SRS, listed companya UK company files it
Comply or explain for periods from 1 January 2027 under the FCA’s final rules. FCA PS26/19
UK SRS, voluntarya UK company files it
Voluntary for any entity that chooses it; published by DBT on 25 February 2026. DBT guidance
PPN 006 plana UK company files it
A condition of bidding for in-scope central government contracts above £5 million a year. PPN 006 Technical Standard

“Scored by comparisons” is our reading of the columns in published vendor and directory tables; “a UK company files it” is the status of the instrument cited.

Nothing is stored or sent.

Platform, tool, system

ESG software, ESG platform, ESG tool — what the words signal

The names overlap, and none is a regulated term; each signals a different scope, which is worth testing rather than trusting.

This site’s reading of how vendors use the words; none is defined in law or in a standard.
The word	Usually signals	Test it by asking
ESG software	The whole category, the least specific label	Which outputs it produces, from which data
ESG platform	A system: connections, entities, permissions, framework mapping, an audit trail	Whether it holds your group structure and the accounts’ year end
ESG tool	A single-purpose calculator or template	Whether its result can be reproduced next year
ESG management software	Targets, actions and data owners, seen from operations	Whether it can still produce the disclosure you owe
ESG reporting software	The disclosure layer: drafting, mapping, review, sign-off	Whether the number underneath has a method and a factor year
ESG data management	Collection, validation and storage before any report	Who owns each feed, and how gaps are flagged

The practical side of holding the data, before any software, is on ESG data management.

Where “carbon” appears instead of “ESG”, the product is usually narrower: carbon reporting software produces the emissions outputs each UK regime asks for.

The ESG software market

One estimate, two benchmarks, each with its date

There is no official count of the ESG software market, only analyst firms’ estimates, each drawn around its own boundary.

MarketsandMarkets estimates the global ESG reporting software market at USD 1,313.2 million in 2026, rising to USD 2,930.9 million by 2031, a compound annual growth rate of 17.4%, on its report page read on 11 October 2026, which dates the report November 2026.

Its boundary is wide: software and services together, the services being consulting, integration and deployment, and support and maintenance, across environmental, social and governance software types that run from carbon emissions tracking to enterprise risk management and internal audit.

The same firm’s June 2024 release had put the market at USD 0.9 billion in 2024 and USD 2.1 billion by 2029, which shows how far one firm’s estimate moves between editions.

Read the analyst benchmarks, and how to read them

Verdantix says its Green Quadrant: Enterprise Carbon Management Software (2026), dated 11 March 2026, benchmarked 21 providers across 12 capability and nine momentum categories and named eight Leaders.

Forrester says its Wave for sustainability management software, Q2 2024, evaluated 13 providers against 24 criteria; it describes a market two years before the Verdantix report, and the two do not describe the same moment.

Each placing is the analyst’s statement on its own date, behind a paywall, and not a finding of this site; this page repeats no placing for any vendor.

A market-size figure is a model, not a count: before quoting one, read whether it includes services, which software types it counts, and which year is the base.

MarketsandMarkets, 2026

USD 1,313.2mIts estimate for ESG reporting software and services, global

MarketsandMarkets, 2031

USD 2,930.9mIts forecast, at a 17.4% compound annual growth rate

Verdantix, 11 March 2026

21 providersBenchmarked in its carbon management Green Quadrant

Forrester, Q2 2024

13 providersEvaluated against 24 criteria in its sustainability management Wave

The 2025–26 consolidation

11 ownership changes since February 2025

The ESG and carbon software market consolidated while the standards moved: each event below is dated from the acquirer’s or target’s own announcement.

Before signing, check who you would be contracting with and what a change of owner would do to your data and your contract.

11 February 202501
Ecologi acquires Net Zero Now
Ecologi announced that it has acquired Net Zero Now; the combined business operates under the Ecologi brand.
Ecologi’s announcement
July 202502
Green Project Technologies buys the Emitwise software
Green Project Technologies acquired Emitwise’s software solution; Emitwise “is no longer sold as a standalone product or brand”.
Emitwise’s announcement
2 September 202503
SimaPro and PRé join One Click LCA
One Click LCA announced that SimaPro and its developer PRé Sustainability “have joined the One Click LCA family”; both products continue as distinct products.
One Click LCA’s announcement
4 September 202504
Position Green acquires Greenomy
Position Green announced that it has acquired Greenomy; Euroclear, Greenomy’s majority investor, stays on as a shareholder in Position Green.
Position Green’s announcement
22 October 202505
Diligent and Persefoni form a partnership
Diligent will transition its carbon accounting clients to Persefoni’s platform and take an equity position in Persefoni. It is a partnership, not an acquisition.
Diligent’s announcement
21 November 202506
SGS takes a majority stake in Sami
SGS announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Sami, a Paris-based carbon accounting platform.
SGS’s announcement
2 December 2025 – 14 January 202607
Diginex acquires Plan A
A non-binding memorandum on 2 December 2025, a definitive agreement signed on 31 December 2025, and closing announced on 14 January 2026, for 100% of PlanA.earth GmbH.
Diginex’s announcement
31 March 202608
Novisto acquires Minimum
Novisto announced that it has acquired Minimum, a London-based carbon management software company.
Novisto’s announcement
14 July 202609
Green Project Technologies acquires Optera
Green Project Technologies announced the acquisition of Optera, an enterprise carbon accounting and reporting platform.
Green Project Technologies’s announcement
19 August 202610
osapiens buys the Nasdaq Metrio platform
osapiens announced that it has completed the acquisition of the Nasdaq Metrio platform and customers from Nasdaq.
osapiens’s announcement
September 202611
Greenly and Normative announce a merger
Greenly and Normative announced that they are merging; the owners’ three announcements carry datelines of 10, 15 and 17 September 2026.
Greenly’s announcement

Two of the events joined ESG reporting platforms rather than carbon tools: Position Green’s acquisition of Greenomy, and osapiens’ purchase of the Nasdaq Metrio platform and its customers.

The latest, announced in September 2026, is read in full on the Greenly–Normative merger page.

What it costs

Most prices are unpublished; build a three-year figure

Most ESG software vendors do not publish a price.

Of the 51 ESG reporting vendors in this site’s registry, 3 publish a figure on their own pages and 3 publish a free tier or plan; the rest are recorded as Enterprise level · TBD, read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026.

The licence is rarely the largest cost: implementation, added entities, integrations and the cost of getting your data out can each exceed it over three years.

The worksheet beside this totals your own written quotes and holds no vendor’s price.

Your three-year cost · your numbers only

Year-one licence (£)

Annual uplift (%)

Implementation and migration, once (£)

Training and support, per year (£)

Cost of adding one entity, per year (£)

Entities you expect to add in three years

Cost of getting your data and evidence out (£)

Three-year total £0

Licences, three years£0

Implementation and migration£0

Training and support£0

Added entities£0

Exit£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.

Do you need it?

Find the failing layer before buying a type

Whether you need ESG software depends on which layer is failing — the data, the measurement or the disclosure — not on the category name.

If the data is missing, no software fixes it; if the number cannot be defended, the gap is measurement; if the number is sound but the report is not, the gap is disclosure.

The three questions beside this decide it in under a minute and name no product.

Once you know the layer, the ESG software comparison turns the duties you carry into demo questions to put to every vendor in writing.

Which layer is your problem?

Do you hold meter, fuel and travel data for every entity in your boundary, by site and month?YesNo, or not for every site

Three yes/no questions; the first “no” decides.

Nothing is stored or sent.

In short

ESG software, defined and bounded

1
Define it
Software that turns a company’s own E, S and G data into disclosures, with the evidence kept.
2
Type it
7 types, each answering to its own standard.
3
Bound it
Not a rating, not an assurance, not a compliance guarantee.
4
Date it
Market estimates and analyst placings are the analyst’s statements, with their dates.
5
Test it
Against the outputs you owe, on your own data.

This site has tested no products

Nothing on this page is a rating, ranking or recommendation of any product.

Every vendor appears alphabetically in its own words, and every count on this page is computed from the registry.

Frequently asked

What is ESG software? Answered

What is ESG software?

ESG software is software that collects an organisation’s environmental, social and governance data, calculates the metrics a framework or a customer asks for, and produces the disclosure with the evidence behind each figure.

In the UK the outputs it is most often asked for are UK SRS S1 and S2, the SECR lines in the directors’ report, CDP responses and customers’ supplier questionnaires.

What does ESG software mean?

ESG stands for environmental, social and governance, a term set out in the 2004 report Who Cares Wins for investors.

ESG software is the name the market gives to tools a company uses to measure and report those three areas about itself; it is not the investor’s ESG data or rating about the company.

What is the definition of an ESG platform?

An ESG platform is ESG software sold as a system rather than a single tool: data connections, an entity model, permissions, framework mapping and an audit trail around the calculations.

“Platform” is a vendor’s word, not a regulated term, so test what it holds rather than what it is called.

What are the types of ESG software?

This site’s vendor registry files products in 7 types: carbon accounting (60), esg reporting (51), ehs (11), lca and product footprint (29), supply chain (41), real estate (5), financed emissions (16).

A vendor can carry several, so the counts overlap.

Each type answers to a different standard: the GHG Protocol for carbon accounting, UK SRS, the ESRS and GRI for ESG reporting, ISO 14040 and 14044 for LCA, PCAF for financed emissions.

Is ESG software the same as an ESG rating?

No. A rating is an opinion about a company formed for investors; ESG software is a tool a company uses to produce its own data.

SI 2025/1349 brings providing an ESG rating within the FCA’s perimeter from 29 June 2028, defining a rating as an assessment produced as an opinion, score or both using an established methodology and a defined ranking system.

Does ESG software make a company compliant?

No product can.

Listed companies in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22 report against UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027 under the FCA’s PS26/19, and the company, not its software, decides what it discloses and explains.

A vendor’s claim to cover a regime is the vendor’s own statement.

Does ESG software provide assurance?

No. Assurance is an engagement by a practitioner, and in the UK it is voluntary: the FRC issued ISSA (UK) 5000 for voluntary use, effective for periods from 15 December 2026.

Software can keep the evidence a practitioner samples, and a listed company that obtains assurance says who provided it under UKLR 6.6.6R(8)(d).

How big is the ESG software market?

This site has no estimate of its own.

MarketsandMarkets estimates the global ESG reporting software market at USD 1,313.2 million in 2026, rising to USD 2,930.9 million by 2031, on its report page read on 11 October 2026; its boundary includes services such as consulting and integration as well as software.

Its own June 2024 release had put the market at USD 0.9 billion in 2024.

Who are the main ESG software companies?

This site does not rank vendors.

Its registry lists 73 carbon and ESG software vendors alphabetically, 51 of them in the ESG reporting category, each in its own words.

Analyst benchmarks exist, and each is the analyst’s statement on its own date: Verdantix says it benchmarked 21 carbon management software providers in March 2026, Forrester says it evaluated 13 sustainability management software providers in Q2 2024.

What is the best ESG software?

This site names no best and has tested no products.

The better question is which outputs you owe — SECR lines, a UK SRS report, an ESRS statement, a CDP response — and which product produces each from one dataset, with the evidence, on your own data.

The criteria are set out on the ESG software comparison page.

Is ESG software the same as sustainability reporting software?

They describe the same market.

“ESG” stresses the three pillars an investor scores; “sustainability reporting” stresses the disclosure a company publishes.

Both include carbon accounting platforms, ESG reporting platforms, EHS suites and modules from enterprise software companies.

Do small businesses need ESG software?

Not usually to meet a legal duty.

SECR applies to quoted companies and to large unquoted companies and LLPs, and a company is large only when it exceeds two of £36m turnover, £18m balance sheet and 250 employees.

A small business is more often answering customers’ questionnaires; in this site’s registry 13 vendors say on their own pages that they serve small or mid-sized businesses.

How much does ESG software cost?

Most vendors do not publish a price.

Of the 51 ESG reporting vendors in this site’s registry, 3 publish a figure on their own pages and 3 publish a free tier or plan; the rest are recorded as Enterprise level · TBD.

Ask for a written three-year cost that includes implementation, entities, integrations and exit.

Has the ESG software market consolidated?

Yes.

Since February 2025 the owners’ own announcements record 11 ownership changes among vendors in this site’s registry, from Ecologi acquiring Net Zero Now to the Greenly–Normative merger announced in September 2026, including Position Green’s acquisition of Greenomy and osapiens’ purchase of the Nasdaq Metrio platform.

Sources

Primary sources

Every rule on this page traces to the provision listed here.

The market estimate and the analyst benchmarks are each firm’s own statement about its own work, dated.

Vendor descriptions, prices and ownership events are cited on each vendor’s profile to the vendor’s or acquirer’s own page.

Checked against 26 sources fromUN Global Compact (World Bank repository copy)IFRS FoundationDepartment for Business and TradeFinancial Conduct Authoritylegislation.gov.ukFinancial Reporting Council

UN Global Compact (World Bank repository copy)
Who Cares Wins — Connecting Financial Markets to a Changing World (December 2004)
The financial industry’s recommendations that set out environmental, social and governance issues as one term.
IFRS Foundation
International Sustainability Standards Board
Formed 3 November 2021; IFRS S1 and S2 issued June 2023.
Department for Business and Trade
UK Sustainability Reporting Standards S1 and S2
Published 25 February 2026 for voluntary use.
Financial Conduct Authority
PS26/19 — final rules on UK SRS reporting by listed companies
Comply or explain for UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22, periods from 1 January 2027.
Financial Conduct Authority
PS26/19 (PDF), Appendix 1 Annex C: UKLR 6.6.6R(7A), (7B) and (8)(d)
Disclose or explain; the statement about any assurance obtained.
legislation.gov.uk
The FSMA 2000 (Regulated Activities) (ESG Ratings) Order 2025, SI 2025/1349
Made 15 December 2025; main commencement 29 June 2028; RAO art. 63Z7 definition.
Financial Conduct Authority
CP25/34 — ESG ratings: proposed approach to regulation
The FCA’s consultation on the rules for ESG ratings providers.
Financial Reporting Council
ISSA (UK) 5000
Issued 12 November 2025 for voluntary use; effective for periods from 15 December 2026.
Department for Business and Trade
UK SRS S1 General Requirements (PDF), ¶20
The same reporting entity as the financial statements.
legislation.gov.uk
SI 2008/410, Schedule 7 Parts 7 and 7A
The SECR lines and the size test.
Environment Agency
How to comply with ESOS Phase 4
Qualification on 31 December 2026; notification by 5 December 2027.
Cabinet Office
PPN 006 Technical Standard for completion of Carbon Reduction Plans
Procurement policy: Scope 1 and 2 plus five named Scope 3 categories.
EUR-Lex
Directive 2013/34/EU as amended by Directive (EU) 2026/470
CSRD scope after Omnibus I: 1,000 employees and €450m net turnover.
GHG Protocol (WRI, WBCSD)
A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard
The method under almost every emissions figure ESG software produces.
GHG Protocol
Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, §6.2
Account for all Scope 3; disclose and justify exclusions.
GHG Protocol
Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard
Product footprints, a different boundary from the corporate inventory.
ISO
ISO 14040:2006 — Life cycle assessment, principles and framework
The framework standard for LCA, read with ISO 14044.
ISO
ISO 14001:2026 published (15 April 2026)
The environmental management system standard behind most EHS environmental modules.
PCAF
The Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard, Part A: Financed Emissions, third edition
December 2025; the method for financed-emissions software.
GRESB
What is the GRESB Rating?
A quintile rating of paying participants, not a certification.
GRI
The GRI Standards
The voluntary impact-materiality framework most ESG reporting platforms map to.
EUR-Lex
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563 — the revised ESRS
Published 21 September 2026; applies to financial year 2027.
MarketsandMarkets
ESG Reporting Software Market — Global Forecast to 2031 (report page)
The firm’s own estimate and the boundary it drew; read 11 October 2026.
Verdantix
Green Quadrant: Enterprise Carbon Management Software (2026)
Dated 11 March 2026; 21 providers benchmarked.
Forrester Research
The Forrester Wave: Sustainability Management Software, Q2 2024
24 criteria, 13 providers; a 2024 evaluation.
Greenly
Greenly and Normative are joining forces (September 2026)
The latest ownership change in the timeline; owner’s own announcement.

What is ESG software? The definition, the types and the market

ESG software, in one sentence

Environmental

Social

Governance

Evidence

An investor’s word, turned into a company’s tool

Who Cares Wins

The ISSB is formed

IFRS S1 and S2 issued

UK SRS S1 and S2 published

Listed companies: comply or explain

7 types, counted from the registry

Different products, different rulebooks

Carbon accounting

ESG reporting

EHS

LCA and product footprint

Supply chain

Real estate

Financed emissions

Not a rating, not an assurance, not a compliance guarantee

Not a rating

Not an assurance

Not a compliance guarantee

Ratings are about you; the software is yours

Software keeps the evidence; a practitioner gives the assurance

Source record

Method

Change history

Disclosure

The duty is the company’s, whatever the vendor claims

ESG software, ESG platform, ESG tool — what the words signal

One estimate, two benchmarks, each with its date

11 ownership changes since February 2025

Ecologi acquires Net Zero Now

Green Project Technologies buys the Emitwise software

SimaPro and PRé join One Click LCA

Position Green acquires Greenomy

Diligent and Persefoni form a partnership

SGS takes a majority stake in Sami

Diginex acquires Plan A

Novisto acquires Minimum

Green Project Technologies acquires Optera

osapiens buys the Nasdaq Metrio platform

Greenly and Normative announce a merger

51 ESG reporting vendors, in their own words

Most prices are unpublished; build a three-year figure

Find the failing layer before buying a type

ESG software, defined and bounded

Define it

Type it

Bound it

Date it

Test it

What is ESG software? Answered

Primary sources

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ESG software comparison

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