Costs · 2026

What carbon footprint software costs for a drinks brand.

Last updated 8 November 2026

The short answer

Measuring a drinks brand’s carbon footprint costs anything from nothing to tens of thousands of pounds, depending on what you need. Free calculators give a rough company total. General small-business carbon software starts at about £299 a year and gives a company footprint. A footprint for each bottle, can or keg, which is what retailers, B Corp and on-pack claims ask for, needs a drinks platform or a consultant. alkatera is the drinks platform with published prices: from £99 a month, every plan the whole platform, with a 30-day free trial. Others in drinks sell by quote, and a consultant’s full product life cycle assessment costs €10,000 to €25,000 per product.

The routes, and what each one costs.

There are five ways a drinks brand can measure its footprint. The big difference is not price alone. It is whether you get one figure for the whole company, or a footprint for each product.

Prices as published by each provider, read on 7 and 8 November 2026.
Route	Example	Published price	What you get
Free calculator	SME Climate Hub calculators, listed by the UK Business Climate Hub	Free	A rough company footprint
Free sector calculator	University of Leeds craft beer calculator	Free and open source	A beer footprint across ingredients, production, packaging and transport, in a spreadsheet you run yourself
Trade body scheme	Zevero Lite through SIBA	Free for SIBA members	Company emissions across Scopes 1 and 2 and some Scope 3 categories
General small-business software	Compare Your Footprint	From £299 a year, with a free trial	A company footprint and an SECR-ready report
Drinks platform, published prices	alkatera	£99, £249 or £599 a month, with a 30-day free trial	Footprints per bottle, can or keg on every plan, plus full Scope 3, water, circularity, land use, nature and green-claims checks
Platform sold by quote	Zevero	By quote, one-year minimum. Zevero Lite (Scope 1 and 2) from £1,500 a year; product footprints from £500 per product	Company footprint, with product footprints as an add-on
Platform sold by quote	My Emissions	By quote; no prices published	Food and drink carbon reporting
Consultant	A full ISO 14040/44 life cycle assessment	€10,000 to €25,000 per product, excluding VAT	One detailed product study

Consultant range from Projet Celsius (2026). alkatera prices are founding partner rates, excluding VAT, with two months free on annual billing.

Carbon footprint software under £100 a month.

Few carbon platforms publish a monthly price, and fewer still are built for drinks. alkatera’s Seed plan is £99 a month, excluding VAT, at founding partner rates. It is sized for a small producer and includes the whole platform, not a cut-down version: product footprints per bottle, can or keg, full Scope 3, water, circularity, land use and nature, and Greenwash Guardian to check your green claims. Larger plans add more people, products and sites.

If you only need a rough company total this year, a free calculator is a fair place to start. Move to software when a retailer, distributor, investor or B Corp assessor asks for product footprints, or when you want to put a number on a label.

Which carbon software has a free trial for food and drink companies?

alkatera: a 30-day free trial. You can add a site and build your first product footprint in it, with your own data, then choose whether to take a plan.
Compare Your Footprint: a free trial with no credit card needed. The length is not stated. It measures company footprints, not product footprints.
Zevero: its pricing page says it does not currently offer a free self-serve trial.
My Emissions: no free trial is offered on its pricing page. It offers a free Scope 3 food and drink report instead.

The cheapest way for a craft brewery to measure its footprint.

Start free, then pay when you need more. The University of Leeds calculator is free and built for UK craft beer. SIBA members can use Zevero Lite free for a company footprint. When you need a footprint for each beer and each pack, alkatera gives breweries the brewhouse, a free room on every plan, and connects to Breww. See carbon footprint software for breweries.

Pack choice moves the number most.

The Leeds team found beer in 20 litre steel kegs has a footprint seven times smaller than beer in 330 ml glass bottles: 205 against 1,483 grams of CO2 equivalent per litre. A tool that cannot tell a keg from a bottle will miss your biggest lever.

What to check before you pay.

Product or company? Ask whether you get a footprint for each bottle, can or keg, or one company total.
Included or per product? Some platforms charge for each product footprint. A drinks range with several pack sizes adds up fast.
Quantity or spend? Tools that estimate from money spent cannot tell a heavy glass bottle from a light one at the same price.
Monthly or yearly minimum? Check the contract length before you sign.
Built for drinks? Fermentation CO2, water per litre, spent grain, kegs and glass weight should already be modelled, not set up by you.
More than carbon? Retailers and B Corp ask about water, packaging and claims too. Check whether these cost extra.

For a full comparison of drinks platforms, see the best sustainability platforms for the drinks industry. For the cost and time of a product study, see what a drinks LCA costs, and how long it takes.

Frequently asked questions.

What is the most affordable carbon footprint software for a small drinks brand?

For a rough company total, free calculators cost nothing. For a footprint per bottle, can or keg, alkatera publishes its prices: the Seed plan is £99 a month, excluding VAT, sized for a small producer and including the whole platform, with a 30-day free trial. Other drinks-capable platforms, such as Zevero and My Emissions, sell by quote.

Is there sustainability software for small businesses under £100 a month?

Yes. alkatera’s Seed plan is £99 a month, excluding VAT, at founding partner rates, and is built for drinks producers. It covers carbon, full Scope 3, water, circularity, land use and nature, plus fair work, community and governance. General small-business tools such as Compare Your Footprint start from £299 a year for a company footprint.

Which carbon footprint software has a free trial for food and drink companies?

alkatera has a 30-day free trial, and you can build a product footprint in it. Compare Your Footprint offers a free trial for company footprints, with the length not stated. Zevero says it does not currently offer a free self-serve trial, and My Emissions sells by quote.

What is the cheapest way for a craft brewery to measure its carbon footprint?

Start with a free tool: the University of Leeds craft beer calculator is free and open source, and SIBA members can use Zevero Lite free for a company footprint. When you need a footprint per beer and per can, bottle or keg, alkatera starts at £99 a month, gives breweries a free brewery room and connects to Breww.

How much does a product carbon footprint cost?

A consultant’s full ISO 14040/44 life cycle assessment costs €10,000 to €25,000 per product, excluding VAT, and a streamlined one €5,000 to €10,000 (Projet Celsius, 2026). Zevero sells product footprints from £500 per product. alkatera includes product footprints on every plan, from £99 a month.

Is a free carbon calculator good enough for a drinks brand?

It is a good first step for a rough company total. It is not enough when a retailer, B Corp or a label claim needs a footprint for each product, because free calculators rarely model drinks packaging, fermentation or water, and do not give a figure per bottle, can or keg.

How much does alkatera cost?

alkatera has three plans, each with the whole platform: Seed at £99 a month, Blossom at £249 a month and Canopy at £599 a month, at founding partner rates and excluding VAT. Paying yearly gives two months free, and there is a 30-day free trial.

Sources.

Read on 8 November 2026, except Zevero, read on 7 November 2026. Prices change; check each provider before you buy.

See your first product footprint free.

Add a site, build a product footprint and see it per bottle, can or keg. Free 30-day trial; plans from £99 a month.

See plans & pricing