7 Best Compare Your Footprint Alternatives (2026)

Quick answer:The best Compare Your Footprint alternative depends on the size of your business and what you need your carbon data for. Seedling is a strong fit for SMEs and mid-market businesses that want a full-scope footprint, compliance-ready reports and support from a carbon expert. If you're looking for a free starting point, SME Climate Hub is worth considering. Larger businesses with dedicated sustainability teams may be better suited to enterprise platforms such as Watershed or Persefoni.

What is Compare Your Footprint?

Compare Your Footprint (CYF) is a UK carbon accounting and benchmarking platform. Its main point of difference is benchmarking: its plans compare your footprint against more than 700 organisations across 12 UK sectors.

The platform is designed around a self-serve process. Businesses enter their data through the platform, with accounting integrations including Xero, Sage and QuickBooks helping to categorise emissions from business spend. The result is a carbon footprint and benchmarked report, with SECR reporting a key use case.

Its plans are aimed at businesses with roughly 11 to 500 employees, while additional services such as its Implementation Accelerator and commuting and home-working survey are available at an extra cost. CYF also offers tools for consultants managing carbon footprints for their own clients. 

For smaller UK businesses that want to calculate their footprint themselves and see how they compare with similar organisations, CYF is a straightforward option. Businesses that need more hands-on support, more complex data handling or broader reporting requirements may want to look at alternatives.

What are the best Compare Your Footprint alternatives?

1. Seedling

Best for: SMEs and mid-market businesses (up to around 2,000 employees) that want report-ready carbon accounting with expert support included. 

Seedling combines carbon accounting software with one-to-one support from a carbon expert. The platform guides your team through data collection, calculates a full-scope footprint in line with the GHG Protocol, and generates the reports you need. 

Your carbon expert reviews the data, helps with more difficult datasets and works with you to build a reduction plan. The same footprint can then be updated year on year, rather than starting from scratch each time.

Strengths

• Activity-based data wherever possible (kWh, fleet mileage, material weights), such as kWh, fleet mileage and material weights, rather than relying on spend alone.
• Reports and outputs for PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plans, B Corp, SECR, EcoVadis, CDP, ISO 14064 and SBTi-aligned Net Zero targets.
• Supplier and employee surveys that feed directly into your footprint.
• Expert onboarding and data review on every paid plan.
• A free plan, Seedling Starter, for a first look at your emission hotspots.

Limitations

• Designed for businesses up to around 2,000 employees. Very large multinationals with complex group structures may be better served by an enterprise platform.
• Focused on carbon, so it doesn't cover wider ESG areas such as social value or human rights reporting.

2. Planet Mark

Best for: UK businesses that want a recognised certification mark to communicate their progress.

Planet Mark is a UK sustainability certification organisation offering a programme that combines carbon measurement with certification, targets and annual progress tracking. Its Net Zero Certification Programme has four levels: Certified Business, Net Zero Committed, Net Zero Aligned and Net Zero Achieved.

Members get access to a data platform, support sessions with Planet Mark's team, training through the Planet Mark Academy and a member community.

Strengths

• A recognised certification mark that can be used in customer and stakeholder communications.
• A structured programme covering measurement, targets and progress towards Net Zero.
• Training, events and a member community alongside the certification programme.

Limitations

• Certification and membership are central to the offering, so it may be less suitable if you need a carbon accounting software for specific reporting outputs.
• SECR and ESOS are offered separately rather than as part of the core certification programme.

3. Greenly

Best for: businesses with European operations or reporting requirements that need broad carbon and sustainability software.  

Greenly is a Paris-based platform with 4,000 customers across more than 30 countries, and has announced it is joining forces with Normative. Its product range is built around European regulation, with dedicated modules for CSRD, VSME, CBAM, EUDR and Digital Product Passports alongside carbon accounting, life cycle assessment (LCA) and supplier engagement.

Strengths

• Broad coverage of European sustainability regulations and reporting frameworks.
• Carbon accounting alongside product-level LCA and supplier engagement.
• A good fit for businesses operating across multiple European markets.

Limitations

• Its broader European regulatory offering may be more than a UK-only business needs.
• UK-specific requirements, such as PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plans, should be checked against the specific reporting requirements you need

4. Persefoni

Best for: large organisations and financial institutions with complex carbon accounting and disclosure requirements. 

Persefoni is an enterprise carbon management platform used by organisations with more complex reporting needs. Its offering covers corporate carbon accounting, disclosure and financed emissions, with support for frameworks including CSRD, ISSB and California's climate disclosure requirements. 

Strengths

• Strong capabilities for financed emissions, making it particularly relevant to banks, investors and private equity firms.
• Designed for large organisations with complex carbon accounting and disclosure requirements.
• Broad international framework coverage.

Limitations

• Its enterprise focus may make it more than smaller businesses need.
• Some reporting, reduction planning and support capabilities are part of paid plans or higher tiers.

5. Watershed

Best for: large companies with complex global operations, supply chains and in-house sustainability teams. 

Watershed is an enterprise carbon management platform used by large companies including Walmart, FedEx, Dell and Shopify. It offers carbon accounting, supplier engagement, product footprints and reporting across multiple frameworks, alongside tools for supply chain decarbonisation and clean power procurement. 

Strengths

• Built to handle large volumes of data across suppliers, products and global operations.
• Strong supply chain decarbonisation and supplier engagement capabilities.
• Broad reporting and carbon management functionality for large organisations.

Limitations

• Designed primarily for enterprise organisations with dedicated teams to manage the platform.
• Likely to be more functionality than a smaller or mid-market business needs for annual carbon reporting.

6. Anthesis

Best for: large or international organisations that need carbon expertise alongside wider sustainability and environmental consultancy. 

Anthesis is a global sustainability consultancy covering areas including net zero and decarbonisation, carbon accounting, LCA, nature, supply chains, packaging and sustainability reporting. It combines consultancy services with its own digital products through Anthesis Intelligence. 

Strengths

• Access to specialists across carbon, LCA, nature, supply chains and wider sustainability topics.
• Global team and experience supporting international organisations.
• A good fit for businesses looking for strategic consultancy as well as carbon measurement. 

Limitations

• Carbon accounting is one part of a much broader consultancy offering rather than the core product.
• Project-based consultancy can be less predictable in cost than a software subscription.
• May be more support than a mid-market business needs if its main requirement is an ongoing carbon footprint and reporting.

7. SME Climate Hub

Best for: small businesses looking to measure their emissions and start taking climate action at no cost. 

SME Climate Hub is a non-profit initiative providing free tools and resources for small businesses. Its Small Business Carbon Calculator helps businesses calculate their emissions, while its Advanced Calculator is designed for businesses with more complex or multi-site needs. UK businesses can also use the UK Business Climate Hub.

Strengths

• Free to use, making it an accessible starting point for small businesses.
• Includes tools for creating a Climate Action Plan and tracking progress.
• Useful resources and guidance for businesses beginning their climate journey.

Limitations

• Self-serve, with guidance and resources rather than one-to-one expert support.
• The small business calculator is designed for smaller, simpler organisations, while the advanced tool is spreadsheet-based.
• Businesses that need specific formatted reports for tenders, procurement or certification may need a more specialised platform.

How do you choose the right carbon accounting software? 

Four questions usually settle it.

What's the footprint for? A client questionnaire, a PPN 006 bid, B Corp certification and SECR disclosure can all require different outputs. Check that the provider can produce the report or data you need, and whether it's included in the price. 

How complex is your data? Multiple sites, remote teams, suppliers and large volumes of purchase data can all add work. If your data is complex, consider how much of the process you'll need to manage yourself and whether expert support is available. 

What will it cost overall? Look beyond the headline subscription price. Expert support, employee surveys and specific reports may be sold as add-ons. A cheaper platform can become more expensive once you add the support or functionality you need. 

How much time does your team have? Carbon reporting often sits with someone who has other responsibilities. A platform that combines software with expert support can reduce the amount of work your team has to manage themselves. 

For more, see our guides to the best carbon accounting software and the best consultants for carbon accounting.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Seedling can help

We built Seedling for the businesses in the middle: too complex for a self-serve calculator, and not big enough to justify an enterprise platform or a consultancy retainer.

You get a platform that guides your team through data collection, calculates a full-scope footprint in line with the GHG Protocol, and generates the reports you need for PPN 006, B Corp, SECR, EcoVadis, CDP, ISO 14064 and SBTi. Alongside it, a carbon expert scopes the work, solves the tricky data problems, checks your calculations and helps you build a reduction plan.

More than 500 businesses use Seedling, over 500,000 tonnes of CO2e have been measured on the platform, and 95% of clients stay with us year on year.

Book a demo with one of our carbon experts, or start for free with Seedling Starter.