The price of an EAN barcode can vary a hundredfold depending on the country and the route you choose. This page compares, with sourced figures, the two ways to obtain EAN-13 codes in 8 European countries: membership of your country's official numbering organization (GS1), or a one-time purchase from a reseller.
The essentials in 20 seconds
- Official route (GS1): depending on the country, €0 to €300 in entry fees, then an annual fee of €60 to €285/year — payable for as long as you use the codes.
- Resellers: a one-time payment, from under €0.10 to €9 per code depending on volume and country — but with considerable differences in quality and reliability from one provider to another.
- A special case: in Romania, the official organization itself sells codes individually (~€9), with no subscription.
- Over 5 years, for a small brand, the official route typically costs €400 to €1,400, versus €5 to €60 as a one-time purchase for the same 25 products.
The official route, country by country
Each country has a national numbering organization (part of the GS1 network). The model is the same everywhere: an entry fee, then an annual fee based on your revenue — the amounts below correspond to the lowest tier (small business). The codes stop being “yours” if you stop paying.
| Country | Organization | Entry fee | Annual fee | Sold individually |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇫🇷 France | GS1 France | 120 € | 104-108 €/an | — |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | GS1 Germany | 0-250 € | 60-160 €/an | — |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | GS1 Spain (AECOC) | 100 € | 216 €/an | — |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | GS1 Italy | 300 € | 110 €/an | — |
| 🇵🇹 Portugal | GS1 Portugal (Codipor) | 150 € + 93 € | 160 €/an | — |
| 🇷🇴 Romania | GS1 Romania | 0 € | 120 €/an | 9 €/code (CLB) |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | GS1 Nederland | 0 € | 89 €/an | 37 € (max 5) |
| 🇮🇪 Ireland | GS1 Ireland | 0 € | 85-284 €/an | — |
All amounts excl. VAT, recorded in August 2026 from the organizations' public pricing schedules (sources at the bottom of the page). Fees depend on revenue: the ranges shown correspond to the smallest businesses.
Resellers: one-time payment, but a very uneven market
In every country, resellers offer EAN-13 codes from ranges assigned before 2002 (known as “pre-GS1”), for a one-time payment with no subscription. The differences in price — and in reliability — are enormous: from one site to another, the same service costs anywhere from a few cents to over €100 per code.
| Country | Example local reseller (recorded prices) |
|---|---|
| 🇫🇷 France | CodesMinute : 100 = 39,90 € · 1000 = 165,90 € |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | EAN24 : 100 = 39,90 € · 1000 = 149,90 € |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | CodigosRapidos : 100 = 79,99 € · 1000 = 299,99 € |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | CodiciRapidi : 100 = 79,99 € · codiceabarreitalia.it : 100 = 325 € |
| 🇵🇹 Portugal | codigosean.pt : 9 €/code · codigos-de-barras.pt : 100 = 290 € |
| 🇷🇴 Romania | CodInstant : 100 ≈ 12 € · 1000 ≈ 64 € |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | EANcodeshop.nl : 100 = 11,95 € · 1000 = 23,95 € |
| 🇮🇪 Ireland | Barcodes Talk (US$) : 100 ≈ 41 € · 1000 ≈ 165 € |
For reference, our own pricing (identical across all 8 countries, one-time payment) ranges from €7.90 excl. VAT for a single code to €0.06/code at 10,000 — i.e. €0.49/code at 100 and €0.21/code at 1,000.
The calculation that matters: 5 years, 25 products
Take a small brand with 25 product references. Through the official route, it will pay the entry fee plus five annual fees: depending on the country, between €400 and €1,400 over 5 years — whether its products sell or not. With a one-time purchase from a reputable reseller, the same 25 codes cost between €15 and €30, once, and are yours for life.
This 1-to-50 ratio explains why the resale market exists: for most small e-commerce sellers, the official subscription is sized for industrial manufacturers.
When you do need the official route
- You sell under a registered brand on Amazon (Brand Registry): Amazon checks that the code is registered in your brand's name in the official registries — a resold code does not pass this specific check (our Amazon guide covers the alternatives, including GTIN exemption).
- Large brick-and-mortar retailers sometimes require a company prefix registered in your own name.
- You are planning thousands of product references and EDI exchanges: the official infrastructure is justified.
For everything else — marketplaces (except creating listings under a registered trademark on Amazon), online stores, independent retail, small production runs — resold codes work, provided you choose a supplier that is transparent about the origin of its ranges and the guarantee it offers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why such price differences between countries on the official route?
Each national organization sets its own pricing (entry fees, revenue tiers, included services). The principle is the same everywhere: you are renting a numbering range, not buying it.
Is a code bought from a reseller “less valid”?
The code itself is an authentic EAN-13, scannable everywhere. The difference is administrative: it is registered in the name of the range's original holder, not yours. This has no consequence for most uses, and is only a blocker for registry checks (notably Amazon Brand Registry).
Are the prices on this page up to date?
They were recorded in August 2026 from the public pricing pages listed in the sources, and we review them regularly. If you spot a discrepancy, let us know — we will correct it.
Sources
- GS1 France — Tarifs & conditions générales d'adhésion (2026)
- GS1 Germany — Preisübersicht (SmartStarter10, GS1 Complete)
- GS1 Spain / AECOC — Asóciate (cuotas)
- GS1 Italy — Quote associative 2026 (PDF)
- GS1 Portugal (Codipor) — Condições comerciais
- GS1 Romania — Licența potrivită & Coduri la bucată (CLB)
- GS1 Nederland — Tarieven (Codepakketten, Artikelcode 1)
- GS1 Ireland — Barcode costs & licence fees