Switching to a different provider of the digital product passport costs more than just the new subscription or new implementation. The bulk of the bill is in the transfer itself: exporting existing data, re-linking the QR codes to a different address, and the time your own staff spend verifying that everything is correct. Exactly how much that will be depends on how many products are involved, how your current contract is structured, and whether the old provider transfers the data easily or not.
There is no fixed amount to state, and it would not be fair to claim otherwise. What can be said is: the costs of a switch are made up of a few recognizable components, and you can map out those components in advance before you commit to anything.
Why a switch sometimes becomes relevant
Companies change providers for various reasons: the current provider is shutting down, the price is rising, the service is no longer meeting expectations, or the business is expanding into product groups that the current provider does not support. None of those reasons is a problem in itself, but a switch does affect something sensitive: the passport must remain accessible via the same QR code during the change. A product passport that fails to load temporarily is more than a technical inconvenience.
What the costs are composed of
The first item is data transfer: transferring product data, documentation and history to the new environment. The more structured the old provider delivers this, the less manual work it costs. The second item is technical linking: the QR code must continue to point to a working page, which often requires an interim step where both systems run briefly in parallel. The third item is internal: someone at your organization must verify the new data, and that takes time, even if the provider handles most of the work. A fourth, often overlooked item is the notice period and any remaining obligations with the old provider; these sometimes continue while the new contract has already commenced.
What determines the final amount
The number of products and product groups carries the most weight. Transferring one hundred items is different from ten thousand, and multiple product groups each with their own mandatory data require more investigation work than a single homogeneous line. The contract form of the current provider also plays a role: some contracts specify that data will be provided in a standard format upon termination, others leave this open, with all the resulting negotiation. It also matters whether hosting is with the provider or whether you host yourself; those who host themselves have greater control over the transfer in principle, but also bear their own responsibility for the continuity of the QR data carrier. If you want to compare that, you will find in the explanation of where the data comes from an overview of how such a linking works technically.
What you can establish in advance
The best way to avoid surprises is not to wait until the switch comes up, but to arrange this now in your current contract. Think of an agreement on the format in which data will be provided upon termination, a reasonable transfer period, and clarity about who manages the QR code while the old and new environments exist side by side. These points belong in the discussion you are already having with your software provider anyway, and they can be added to an existing contract with little effort. A comparison of providers and what they standardly agree on can be found in the knowledge base with topics per situation.
Costs that are often overlooked
In addition to the direct switching costs, there is an indirect cost item: the time between the decision to switch and the moment when everything is fully operational again. During that period, someone internally must keep track of which products have already been transferred and which have not yet, especially if you supply in multiple countries and thus have to deal with different language versions or national particularities. If you want to estimate this in advance for your own product portfolio, you can do so on the basis of a brief scan that shows in a few questions where you stand.
What is concretely at issue for your company when switching depends on your current contract and the product groups you carry; only your own adviser or the competent supervisory authority can provide definitive answers on this. If you first want an impression of the costs and obligations that apply to your products, take the free quick-scan or browse through the topics in the frequently asked questions about the digital product passport.