How Much Should EDI Really Cost in 2026? Benchmarks by Volume and Partners

If you lead finance, IT, or operations in an organization that leans on EDI, there is a good chance you have spent too much time trying to decode your EDI VAN bill. The question most of us want answered is straightforward: what should you really expect to pay for EDI in 2026, and how do those costs scale as your business grows with more data and trading partners?

The Current EDI Pricing Landscape

EDI has long been known for pricing models that are anything but transparent. Most organizations end up on one of three structures:

• Per-document or per-transaction fees: These are charged on each EDI document, sometimes with a base or platform charge.
• Per-partner monthly fees: Some platforms charge a fixed fee for each trading partner, which can add up as your network grows.
• Usage-based (per kilo-character or KC) pricing: With this approach, your bill is tied to the actual volume of EDI data you exchange every month. There are no extra charges for partner counts or mailboxes.

Many legacy contracts also have setup fees, mailbox charges, and separate costs for onboarding or support. Modern platforms like Nexus VAN have eliminated these, letting you focus purely on data volume when budgeting.

Key Numbers That Drive Your EDI Spend

To benchmark your own costs, start by collecting three pieces of data:

• The number of EDI documents you send and receive monthly
• The number of active trading partners you connect with
• The average size (in kilo-characters) of a typical EDI document

Multiply your average monthly document count by the average KB size to estimate total kilo-characters. This single number is a clear, apples-to-apples way to evaluate modern EDI VAN costs.

What Are Typical 2026 EDI Costs by Volume?

Let us look at all-in monthly benchmarks for 2026, focusing on real marketplace pricing, not legacy rates inflated by hidden fees.

Up to 3,000 KC per Month (Small Suppliers)

• This range is common for businesses with a few trading partners and several hundred transactions monthly.
• Legacy pricing, including document and mailbox fees, often falls between $150 and $700 per month.
• With per-partner models, you might pay about $500 or more when working with just three or four partners.
• On transparent usage-based plans, like those from Nexus VAN, the entry plan covers up to 3,000 KC monthly for $250. There are no setup, onboarding, or mailbox fees.

If your volumes are here and you are paying beyond $250-$400 monthly, it is worth reviewing your actual cost per KC and cost per partner closely.

Up to 35,000 KC per Month (Growing Manufacturers & Distributors)

• This is typical for companies with regional or national footprints and 5 to 30 trading partners.
• Legacy pricing, especially with recurring per-document fees, can be between $2,700 and over $5,000 per month, particularly if onboarding or mapping extras are common.
• Modern usage-based pricing is $2,499/month for the same data threshold, with unlimited numbers of mailboxes, partners, and support included.

Up to 75,000 KC per Month (Mid to Large EDI Users)

• Organizations managing tens of thousands of documents monthly, typically with supply chain or marketplace complexity, often see legacy bills between $4,000 and $10,000 per month. This is due to the stacking of transaction and partner fees.
• Usage-based pricing, instead, remains predictable at $4,499 for 75,000 KC, even as the number of partners or integration shifts upward.

Up to 150,000 KC per Month (Enterprise & High-Volume Programs)

• At this level, many EDI users operate globally, with dozens to hundreds of partner relationships and heavy integration with ERP and WMS systems.
• Legacy costs can exceed $10,000, sometimes approaching $30,000 per month when all extras are included.
• Usage-based models are straightforward—$7,500/month up to 150,000 KC. Above that, enterprise pricing is customized to actual data used, not arbitrary volume tiers.

Measuring Costs by Trading Partners

You should also sanity-check your costs by calculating spend per partner:

• With only a few partners, your all-in monthly EDI spend should usually be well below $500 if volumes are modest. If your provider tacks on per-partner and per-document fees, you're likely paying above market.
• With more partners, the per-partner average should come down, especially with a usage-based model. In 2026, competitive rates usually land between $100 and $300 per partner monthly.
• If you consistently add new retailers or carriers, per-partner pricing can become a tax on company growth. With usage-based pricing, you just pay for what you actually send, regardless of partner count.

Watch for Hidden EDI Costs

Headline rates tell only part of the story. Here are the hidden costs to look out for and what we see frequently on the bills customers share with us:

• Mailbox and ID fees: Charging for each additional mailbox or test ID is still common in older contracts.
• Mapping and change fees: Anytime your ERP, retailer, or trading partner requests an update, you could be billed again.
• Migration and onboarding fees: Unexpected charges for connecting new retailers or onboarding extra suppliers.
• Monthly commitments: Many providers put you in a higher tier than you actually use, and you pay for capacity you do not need.
• Rounding practices: Some bill based on rounded-up document sizes, so you pay for more usage than you actually send. At Nexus VAN, we only count the actual kilo-characters transmitted—no rounding.

For a closer look at how these hidden charges add up, see our in-depth guide: Common EDI VAN Fees Explained.

Auditing Your EDI Spend in Less Than an Hour

You can conduct your own audit to see if your 2026 EDI costs are within market benchmarks:

• Collect all EDI-related invoices for the past year and note platform fees, per-document or per-KC charges, mailbox or mapping fees, and onboarding costs.
• Calculate your true monthly spend and divide it by your total documents and estimated KCs. If your effective cost per document is above 25 cents, or your per-KC is much higher than published rates, there is room for savings.

If you're curious about the details behind confusing bills, dig into our post: Why Are EDI VAN Bills So Confusing?

Is Switching to a New VAN Still Risky?

For many CFOs and IT leaders, the biggest barrier to switching is fear of disruption. This is not an unreasonable concern—no one wants to jeopardize ongoing transactions, shipments, or payments by taking risks with EDI migration.

The reality is that migrations today are standard practice and highly controlled. We have developed robust migration dashboards for transparency, use experienced EDI specialists to guide every step, and guarantee a successful cutover. All protocols are supported, global interconnects come standard, and you can run in parallel with your old VAN during a 90-day free trial to verify all connections and compare invoices before committing.

Our customers regularly report 40 to 80 percent savings compared to their previous providers, with no disruption to operations.

What Does Fair EDI Pricing Really Mean in 2026?

Based on current technology and market expectations, fair EDI pricing includes:

• Clear, usage-based tiers with no rounding up of document sizes
• No setup, implementation, mailbox, compliance, migration, or per-message fees
• Support and migration included as part of your subscription
• High reliability with strong security standards and uptime (99.998 percent)
• Flexible scaling as your business adds new partners and volume, without penalties

This predictable structure lets you plan, budget, and grow without getting blindsided by added costs as you expand. If your current bill is much higher than these published benchmarks, you have a substantial and actionable opportunity to reduce spend in IT and operations.

Next Steps: Using These Benchmarks in Your 2026 Budget

To make use of these numbers in your planning process:

• Map your actual volume and partner counts to the ranges above
• Calculate effective cost per document and per kilo-character
• Compare your numbers against transparent, usage-based pricing
• Highlight the savings potential in your next budget review
• If you decide the delta is significant, ask your VAN provider to clarify every fee or see what a parallel trial with another provider looks like

Interested in breaking down your actual costs? The team at Nexus VAN is happy to review a sample invoice and offer a transparent, apples-to-apples pricing plan that scales with your business. If you’re evaluating change, or if you’ve just decided it is time to stop paying for extras you do not use, you can reach us with questions or to schedule a hands-on walkthrough.