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EDI service provider, clearing centre or your own software?

You do not necessarily need an EDI service provider, but for most small and mid-sized companies it is the usual way in. There are four options: a web EDI portal, a clearing centre or managed EDI provider, your own in-house EDI software and, as a newer model, software at a fixed price on your own server. Which option pays off depends mainly on the number of partners and message types. All prices on this page come from public price lists and articles, retrieved on 16 October 2026; most of them are German providers' prices.

Last updated 18 October 2026 · fokus it solutions, Jens Musleh

Web EDI portal

With web EDI, you enter documents by hand in a portal, which passes them on to the partner as an EDI message. Your ERP system is not connected. Setup is usually free or cheap, and running costs are low:

  • cctop WebEDI: €60 to €110 per month, no set-up fee, regardless of the number of messages
  • TrueCommerce Hub: from €85 per month for the connection to one retailer
  • Transus: €79 to €249 per month, or €99 to €299 with monthly cancellation, with unlimited trading partners and documents and a focus on suppliers to retailers

Web EDI is a good fit if you exchange few documents with one or two customers. The difference from real EDI is explained on EDI, web EDI and e-invoicing.

Clearing centres and managed EDI

A clearing centre translates between your format and your partners' formats and handles transmission. The messages pass through its systems, and the service provider maintains the mappings. Managed EDI providers go further and take on setup, testing and operation; Retarus, for example, writes “We handle the setup, mapping, validation and operations”.

Smaller providers usually charge per relationship, meaning per partner and message type:

Provider Setup Ongoing per month
cctop €850 per converter table, €450 per additional partner €70 including 3 relationships, €9.80 for each additional one
EDI+EXPERTS €800 per message type, €400 per additional partner €60 including 3 relationships, €10 for each additional one
COMPLAVIS €249.95 per partner, plus conversion, testing and go-live per document type €34.95 per partner, €9.95 per document type

Other providers charge in packages by number of partners (TrueCommerce: from €430 per month for up to 5 partners, from €850 for 6 to 19 partners, setup not stated) or by message volume (Babelway: €99 per month for 200 messages up to €35,000 per month for 2.5 million).

It is worth reading the small print for additional costs. According to its price list, cctop charges €100 for a mapping change requested by the partner and €150 for one requested by the customer. EDI Center's terms and conditions provide for a one-off onboarding fee per service profile, a minimum term of two years and customer-specific mappings charged by effort. Other providers, such as COMPLAVIS, can be cancelled monthly. On timing, providers say “in a few weeks” (EDI Center, our translation) or “live within a few weeks” (Retarus).

Your own in-house EDI software

With your own software, conversion and transmission run on your servers. Large platforms such as SEEBURGER, Lobster or Axway do not publish prices; they are usually introduced as a project with a licence and consultancy. Trade articles put the first project for a mid-sized supplier at €10,000 to €40,000 (HDX Solutions) and the connection to a major customer at “at least 20,000+ EUR” over three to four months (dasistweb, quoted in translation). These are the authors' estimates, not price lists.

At the other end are individual components you run yourself, such as transmission software for OFTP2 or AS2. mendelson charges from €1,949 per licence for this, plus maintenance. Mappings, ERP integration and operation are then down to you or a consultant.

The advantage of your own software: data and mappings stay with you, and additional partners do not incur a fee per relationship. The disadvantages are project costs and the need for in-house expertise.

A fixed price on your own server

The fourth model combines your own software with a fixed monthly price. The software runs on your server; setup, partner connections and mapping changes are included in the price, and the price does not depend on the number of partners or messages. In return, you run the server yourself, including backups and network access for incoming connections. edi-service.eu is based on this model (details below).

EDI service providers and alternatives compared

Criterion Web EDI portal Clearing centre / managed EDI Own software (project) Fixed price on own server
Pricing model low monthly fee set-up and fees per relationship, packages or volume licence and project, plus maintenance fixed monthly price
Additional partners depends on the portal set-up and ongoing costs effort, but no fee per relationship included
Data storage with the portal operator with the service provider in-house in-house
Mappings not applicable with the service provider with you with you
ERP integration none often charged separately part of the project included
Your own effort typing in documents low high (operation, expertise) running the server
Changes up to the portal often charged per change own effort or consultant included
Contract term depends on the provider, some cancellable monthly from monthly cancellation to two years licence purchase, maintenance extra minimum term, then cancellable monthly

Which option suits which number of partners?

The following assessment is based on our own calculation using the list prices above. Assumption: three message types per partner, set-up costs spread over 36 months, without ERP integration and without mapping changes. The detailed calculation is on What does an EDI connection cost?.

  • One customer, few documents: web EDI for €60 to €110 per month or a flat-rate offer for suppliers to retailers is the cheapest.
  • 3 to 5 partners: small clearing centres work out at around €250 to €410 per month and are usually the cheaper choice.
  • Around 10 partners: costs in the per-relationship model reach around €700 to €750 per month, still without ERP integration. At this point, it is worth comparing with a fixed price and your own software.
  • 20 partners or more: the per-relationship model comes to around €1,300 to €1,400 per month. A fixed price or your own software is then usually cheaper, because additional partners cost nothing extra.

Besides price, formats and transmission methods matter. If a partner requires OFTP2 or VDA, pure retail portals are often ruled out; if a partner can only be reached via X.400 or a VAN, you need a provider that offers it. More on this under Transmission methods.

Where edi-service.eu fits

edi-service.eu follows the fourth model: a subscription licence for your own Debian 13 server, €890 per month, excl. VAT, regardless of partners and messages, with a minimum term of six months. An AI sets up the connections from your partners' documents, in test mode first. Not included are X.400, VAN mailboxes, a web EDI portal for partners and Peppol; the OFTP2 component is not Odette-tested. You will find further answers in the FAQ. If you would like to work through your own case, you can send an enquiry.

Frequently asked questions

What is a clearing centre in EDI?

A clearing centre is a service provider that translates and transmits EDI messages between you and your partners. You send your data in a format your ERP system can produce, and the clearing centre delivers it in the partner's format. Charges are usually per partner and message type.

How much does an EDI service provider cost per month?

With small clearing centres, the base fee according to their price lists starts at €60 to €70 per month for three relationships, and each additional one costs around €10 per month. On top of that come one-off set-up fees of €400 to €850 per relationship. Packages by number of partners start at €430 per month for up to five partners at TrueCommerce.

Can I switch EDI service provider later?

Yes, but check the contract term and the mappings first. Some contracts run for two years, and the mappings stay with the service provider. If you switch, they then have to be rebuilt and tested with every partner.

Do I have to use the service provider my customer recommends?

Not always. Often the customer only specifies the format and transmission method; then you are free to choose. Some customers, however, prescribe a particular portal. Ask before you request quotes; see also My customer requires EDI.

Sources

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