- 1SaaS software costs €2,000 to €9,000 per year, and autonomy comes at the cost of internal time.
- 2A consultancy costs €10,000 to €30,000 excl. VAT depending on complexity, or a remaining cost of €6,000 excl. VAT through Diag Décarbon'Action.
- 3The so-called "hybrid" offering, platform and consultant, is how a consultancy normally operates.
- 4The assessment’s quality depends mainly on the method, scope 3 collection and analysis.
To complete a Bilan Carbone®, the market currently offers 2 main options. SaaS platforms (Greenly, Carbo, Sami, Traace and many others) automate collection, calculation and reporting. Consulting firms take on the complete assignment, with their own tools; some, such as Celsius, still work in Excel or bespoke tables when the client’s context justifies it. None of these choices is inherently bad, and each has strengths and limitations, which this guide reviews. In every case, a Bilan Carbone®’s value depends mainly on what you do with it: a file full of figures is useless until someone translates it into a decarbonisation plan that management takes ownership of.
Three models for completing your Bilan Carbone®
None is universally better: each meets a different need.
The right choice depends less on the budget than on what you expect from the deliverable. Decision quiz at the end of the article.
The choice between software and a consultancy depends less on the budget than on what you expect from the deliverable. We review each model’s strengths and weaknesses, including our own, and a quiz at the end of the article helps you decide. For the option without a tool or consultancy, see our article on a Bilan Carbone® carried out internally.
1The Bilan Carbone® landscape in 2026
In France, there are 3 groups of providers in the Bilan Carbone® market, although the third largely overlaps with the second. None is better in absolute terms: each meets a different need, and it is not unusual for a company to move from one to another as it progresses on climate issues.
SaaS platforms: the quick, independent model
Emerging around the turn of the 2020s, Bilan Carbone® platforms such as Greenly (2019), Sweep (2020) and Sami (2020) offer an online tool where companies enter their data, often through bank or accounting connectors, and obtain a semi-automated assessment. The business model generally relies on an annual subscription of €2,000 to €9,000, depending on company size and the level of support included. Results arrive within a few weeks, the interface enables year-on-year tracking, and the company in principle retains control of its approach.
Consulting firms: the bespoke model
Specialist consulting firms support companies with a dedicated consultant, often Bilan Carbone®-certified by ABC. Data collection is scoped and guided, scope 3 is calculated with physical factors when the data allow, and the action plan is built in the organisation’s actual context. The budget generally ranges between €10,000 and €30,000 excl. VAT depending on complexity, or a remaining cost of €6,000 excl. VAT when the company is eligible for Diag Décarbon'Action. The assignment takes 3 to 6 months, with several team workshops and an executive committee presentation.
So-called "hybrid" offerings: what most consultancies already do
In practice, almost all consultancies use a tool for collection and calculation, whether internal, commercial or supplied by ABC (the Bilan Carbone® spreadsheet or Bilan Carbone+ software), with public emission factors from ADEME’s Base Empreinte. A "hybrid offering" therefore describes how a serious consultancy normally operates, rather than a third category. The useful question concerns tool ownership and what happens when you want to leave.
Choosing a model means setting a level of support, according to the complexity of your activity and your budget.
2What platforms have changed (and what they have not resolved)
Platforms have brought a great deal to the Bilan Carbone® market. They have democratised measurement, made the exercise accessible to organisations that would never have taken the step with a consultancy, and pushed the whole ecosystem to standardise its collection practices.
What they do well, what they do less well
Celsius analysis of the carbon SaaS market in France, April 2026.
What platforms do well
- A first assessment can be delivered in a few weeks, compared with 3 to 6 months through a consultancy
- For a service company with standard emission sources, a €3,000 subscription can replace a €12,000 assignment
- The tool remains available to update the assessment each year without placing a new order
- Bank and accounting connectors simplify collection, greatly helping companies without a dedicated CSR manager
The 3 blind spots to check before signing
Platforms mainly rely on spend-based ratios, which give a useful but blurred picture: a euro of Chinese steel and a euro of European recycled steel carry the same weight in the calculation, although their actual footprints can differ by a factor of 3. For an industrial company or an activity with complex scope 3, this approximation can distort the reading of the sources that matter. Before signing, check 3 points:
- Not all providers are viable in the long term. The market has developed through funding rounds and consolidation has begun: some platforms have been acquired, others have pivoted, and others might not survive a tightening of venture capital. Changing platforms along the way requires collecting data again and loses the historical record
- Dependence on the platform: if the subscription stops, access to methodologies, historical data and detailed exports often stops too. This must be checked from the outset
- Scope 3 precision: complex sources (multimodal freight, material purchases and use of sold products) require physical factors that bank connectors do not provide
3What consultancies provide (and what they charge for)
The consultancy model also has weaknesses, and we are well placed to know them because Celsius is a consultancy. It appears more expensive, takes longer and creates a form of dependence on the consultant for updates.
What they do well, what they do less well
With Diag Décarbon'Action (Bpifrance and ADEME): €6,000 excl. VAT remaining cost for full support, if the company is eligible.
Celsius analysis, April 2026.
What you pay for at a consultancy
- Sector expertise: a consultant who has supported 10 companies in your sector knows which measures work and which mistakes to avoid
- Scope 3 treated in greater detail, with guided collection, physical emission factors when the data allow and real work on complex sources such as multimodal freight
- A quantified, prioritised action plan aligned with the company’s actual constraints, rather than a generic list of good practices
- Internal engagement (executive committee workshops, coordinating contributors and management ownership), which often moves an assessment from the shelf to the action plan
3 limitations of the consultancy model
First, the advertised price: €12,000 for an assessment is 3 to 4 times an annual SaaS subscription. The calculation changes with Diag Décarbon'Action: for an eligible SME, Bpifrance and ADEME cover 40% of a €10,000 excl. VAT package, bringing the bill down to €6,000 excl. VAT, sometimes cheaper than a SaaS subscription accumulated over 2 years.
Then the timeframe: a consultancy assignment takes 3 to 6 months, compared with a few weeks for independent SaaS use. For a first Bilan Carbone®, this is not necessarily a drawback, because thorough collection and team engagement take that time, whatever the tool.
4The question of dependence on the tool
Whether you choose SaaS or a consultancy, the tool question always arises, but differently. With SaaS, the tool is proprietary and data access depends on the subscription. With a consultancy working in ABC’s Bilan Carbone® spreadsheet or a tool whose files you retain, the data stay in your information system and the methodology is documented. This determines your autonomy when you want to take control, change provider or train your internal contact in Bilan Carbone®.
The value of your methodology when it is not proprietary
A Bilan Carbone® built in ABC’s Bilan Carbone® spreadsheet or a tool whose files you retain remains reusable, even without your original provider. The emission factors are public and the method documented: your team can take over the assessment or pass it to a new provider without collecting everything again. An assessment on a proprietary platform, however, lives as long as the subscription: if you leave, you often lose access to detailed exports and historical data. This does not disqualify platforms, but you need to know before signing.
What a consultancy assignment looks like
Take an industrial SME with 80 employees. The consultant starts with scoping to understand the activity, strategic issues and the team’s maturity. This is often when the actual need becomes clearer: the director who wanted "a figure for a tender" discovers they are actually seeking a reduction pathway, or vice versa. Scopes 1 and 2 are then collected in a spreadsheet or dedicated tool, using ERP and bank data. Scope 3 is treated in detail, with physical emission factors where spend-based ratios are insufficient.
- Initial scoping to understand the activity, context and actual request, rarely the one initially stated
- Collection in ABC’s Bilan Carbone® spreadsheet or a dedicated tool, from ERP and bank data, in a few weeks
- Scope 3 treated with physical factors for complex sources (material purchases, multimodal freight and use of sold products)
- 2 to 3 executive committee workshops to prioritise reduction measures and build the action plan
- A budget of €10,000 to €30,000 excl. VAT depending on size and complexity (€6,000 excl. VAT remaining cost through Diag Décarbon'Action), over 3 to 5 months
A good consultancy understands your context and helps you see that what you want at the start is not always what you will need at the end.
What human support changes over time
A consultancy supporting you over time understands your context, challenges you when you move too fast, tells you when your priorities are wrong and sees you evolve from year to year. The first assessment is rarely the most important: it is often the second, when the scope widens, when BEGES becomes mandatory or when an investor asks for an SBTi pathway. Having a contact who already knows your activity then saves weeks and avoids errors in priorities. This is the approach we defend at Celsius, and for eligible SMEs, Diag Décarbon'Action makes this support accessible for a remaining cost of €6,000 excl. VAT.
53 variables to decide
After supporting more than 120 assignments, we see clear patterns in the profiles choosing each model. 3 variables weigh in the decision, and keeping them in mind avoids choosing the wrong partner, which costs dearly in wasted time, data to collect again or an action plan left aside.
Which approach for your context?
Click the answer that suits you; the score is calculated in real time.
Indicative result. If in doubt, a scoping call is better than a tool choice.
Activity complexity is the first criterion. A single-site service company with standard emission sources (offices, commuting and IT purchases) can certainly manage its Bilan Carbone® independently on a SaaS platform. As soon as activity becomes industrial, multi-site or logistical, or scope 3 contributes heavily (material purchases, multimodal freight and use of sold products), support brings precision that automated spend-based ratios do not offer.
The team’s maturity matters as much as technical complexity. An experienced CSR manager who has already managed 1 or 2 assessments and knows the Bilan Carbone® method can make the most of a SaaS tool and challenge the results themselves. For a first assessment without a trained internal contact, a consultant avoids the usual interpretation errors, which cost dearly because they distort action plan priorities.
The third variable, often underestimated, is the aim of the exercise. To produce a figure in response to a client questionnaire, quick SaaS works very well. To build a reduction pathway that commits management and leads to investment, support makes the difference, because the result then depends mainly on internal engagement.
A euro of Chinese steel and a euro of European recycled steel carry the same weight in a spend-based calculation, although their footprints can differ by a factor of 3.
6Key takeaways
Software or consultancy, each model has its place and neither deserves to be caricatured. What determines whether a Bilan Carbone® leads to action is management commitment, the quality of scope 3 collection and the ability to translate the assessment into decisions.
- SaaS costs €2,000 to €9,000 per year and suits service SMEs with a trained CSR contact; its limitations concern scope 3 precision and platform dependence
- A consultancy costs €10,000 to €30,000 excl. VAT depending on complexity, or €6,000 excl. VAT through Diag Décarbon'Action. It is appropriate for a first Bilan Carbone®, complex scope 3 or a strategic approach, and often works in ABC’s Bilan Carbone® spreadsheet or a tool whose files you retain, limiting dependence
- The "hybrid" offering (tool and consultant) is how a serious consultancy normally operates; the question to ask concerns tool ownership
- Beyond the tool, what matters is management commitment, the quality of scope 3 collection and the partner’s ability to anticipate how your need evolves
The right model in year 1 is not necessarily the one for year 3. Many companies start independently on SaaS, then move to consultancy support when they become subject to BEGES, start an SBTi pathway or an investor asks for more detail. A good partner knows how to increase or reduce its support over time. And an imperfect first Bilan Carbone® carried out with them will be more useful than an ideal tool still waiting in its box 6 months later.
