PIM pricing comparison 2026: what you really get for your money

If you search for "PIM software cost", you quickly hit a wall: most vendors show a contact form instead of a price. And even when a subscription price is published, the bigger question often stays open: what does it cost to get the system running, who does the work, and how long until your team actually uses it? For a B2B manufacturer or distributor, that second part frequently decides whether a PIM project pays off.

This article gives you a method for comparing value, applies it to seven PIM vendors that mid-market buyers typically shortlist, and works through an example for a manufacturer with 40,000 SKUs. Subscription and onboarding are always shown separately, because one combined number hides the differences that matter. For general cost ranges, read our PIM cost overview (in German).

Key takeaways

• Most PIM vendors publish no prices, and almost none publish what implementation costs. Implementation is usually billed separately by partners and often exceeds the first year's license cost.

• To compare value, look at six things side by side: recurring cost, one-time onboarding, what the entry plan includes, time to value, dependency on partners for changes, and price transparency.

• entitys publishes every price, including all add-ons: from €1,590 per month (subscription, net, annual billing) plus a one-time Launch Pack from €14,000, at a fixed price with a money-back guarantee.

• entitys is productive after about 5 weeks; a full implementation including integrations takes 6 to 13 weeks. Industry-typical PIM implementations take 5 to 12 months.

• Other vendors are the better fit in some cases: Plytix for small B2C brands with a D2C or Shopify shop, Pimcore for companies with their own developers, Akeneo if you want a large partner and app ecosystem.

Why PIM pricing is so hard to compare

Three things make PIM pricing opaque. First, most vendors quote only on request. Of the seven vendors in this comparison, only entitys, Akeneo (for its entry cloud package), Pimcore and Plytix publish any subscription prices at all. Second, the price you see covers the software, not the project. Data modelling, imports, exports, ERP and shop integrations and training are typically delivered by an implementation partner and billed separately. Our market overview (in German) shows that implementation costs frequently exceed the license costs of the first year; a common rule of thumb for classic PIM projects is two to three times the annual license price in year one.

Third, entry plans differ in scope. One vendor counts SKUs, another users, a third sells DAM, connectors or datasheets as modules. A low entry price can become expensive once you add what B2B needs: several languages, a media library, ERP integration and formats such as BMEcat, ECLASS and ETIM.

A note on fairness: because entitys publishes its onboarding price and most vendors do not, entitys can look more expensive at first glance. In the comparison below, a missing onboarding figure does not mean zero. It means the cost exists but is not published, and it is usually billed separately by partners. More on this in our article on hidden PIM costs (in German).

A method for comparing PIM value for money

Value for money means: what you get, how fast you get it, and how much you depend on others to keep it running. These six criteria make offers comparable:

1. Recurring cost: the subscription or license per month or year, including add-ons you will need (extra languages, storage, connectors, automations).

2. One-time onboarding: setup, data model, imports, exports, integrations and training. Ask who delivers it, whether it is a fixed price, and what happens if goals are missed.

3. What the entry plan includes: SKUs, users, languages, DAM storage, integrations and automations, hosting and support. Compare against your real requirements, not the vendor's headline.

4. Time to value: how many weeks until your team maintains product data in the system and the first channel is fed from it.

5. Dependency on partners for changes: can your team adjust the data model, imports and exports itself, or does every change become a paid ticket?

6. Price transparency: can you calculate your costs today, including growth (more SKUs, languages, users), without a sales call?

PIM pricing comparison 2026: seven vendors side by side

All figures as published by the vendors (status October 2026). entitys prices are net, annual billing (monthly billing +5%), in EUR; Pimcore publishes in USD. "Entry" means the lowest published paid plan relevant for a mid-market B2B company.

Two vendor notes. Akeneo's Community Edition is free, but its last major version (v7) dates from 2023 and its support ended on 30 September 2026, so most companies looking at Akeneo today compare cloud packages. Pimcore's Professional edition is free for companies below 5 million in annual revenue; a mid-market manufacturer is typically above that threshold. For details, see our articles on Akeneo pricing (in German) and Pimcore costs (in German).

Worked example: a B2B manufacturer with 40,000 SKUs

Assume a mid-market manufacturer with 40,000 SKUs, 8 users in product management and marketing, 4 languages and an integration with its ERP system (not SAP). The goal: maintain product data centrally, feed the web shop and deliver BMEcat catalogues to wholesalers.

For entitys, every line of this example can be calculated from the public price list (in German) or the machine-readable price list. Advanced covers the scenario with headroom, and BMEcat export, 250 GB of DAM storage and API access are included. A sixth language would cost €30 per month, each additional named user €15 per month. On Professional (€2,490 per month), ERP-Connect and DAM+ are included, with 25 named users, 10 languages, 100,000 SKUs and 500 GB of storage. SAP integrations are not part of ERP-Connect.

For the other vendors, the one-time line is where budgets usually move, and it is exactly the line that is not published. Ask every vendor for both numbers in writing.

Why entitys offers strong value for B2B mid-market companies

Built for B2B. entitys grew out of B2B master data consulting (founded in 2005 as IfCC GmbH, brand entitys since 2022). BMEcat, ECLASS and ETIM are core formats, not add-ons. entitys is an ECLASS Gold Preferred Partner. Many large PIM systems come from retail and B2C and treat these formats as integration projects.

Every price is public. Subscriptions, add-ons and onboarding packages are listed on the pricing page (in German), so you can calculate growth scenarios yourself.

Fixed-price onboarding with a guarantee. Launch Packs cost €14,000 (Pro), €19,000 (Plus) or €27,000 (Platinum, with the most operational support), one-time, net. They are done with you: we set up the data model, imports and exports together with your team, coach you and enable you to maintain everything yourself afterwards. The Mission Complete guarantee: if the agreed onboarding goals are not reached within three months, you can exit and get the Launch Pack costs back.

In-house onboarding. We implement entitys ourselves and therefore know every interface. Our incentive is a long-term subscription, not consulting hours. No implementation partner is required, and you do not need hardware or installation.

Self-service as an important advantage. After onboarding, your team adjusts the data model, imports and exports without a developer or a partner ticket. That keeps running costs predictable. Published results include up to 70% less time spent on data maintenance and up to 99% fewer data errors; at FHB, processing time dropped by 60% and inconsistencies by 100% (see our success stories (in German)).

Rated by users. On OMR Reviews, entitys holds 4.9 out of 5 from 68 reviews and is rated "Leader Product Information Management Q4/2026". More verified facts are on our facts page.

When entitys is not the right fit

• Small B2C brands with one shop: if you run a D2C brand with a few hundred or a few thousand SKUs and a single Shopify shop, Plytix is the cheaper and better-suited option, and its free and low-cost plans get you started quickly.

• Corporate groups with many brands, countries and an in-house development team: if you want to build a heavily customised platform and have the developers to run it, Pimcore offers maximum flexibility, and Centric PXM offers enterprise feature depth for large brands and retailers.

• Ecosystem first: if a large marketplace of apps and implementation partners is your top priority, Akeneo's ecosystem is hard to beat.

Frequently asked questions

How much does PIM software cost for a mid-market company?

SaaS subscriptions for mid-market companies typically range from about €500 to €4,000 per month. On top of that comes one-time setup or onboarding, which in the market often ranges from €10,000 to €50,000 and can be much higher for partner-led projects. entitys starts at €1,590 per month (subscription, net, annual billing) plus a one-time Launch Pack from €14,000.

Akeneo vs Pimcore pricing: which is cheaper?

On license price alone, Pimcore looks cheaper: Professional costs USD 9,900 per year, while Akeneo's cloud package Growth starts at €35,000 per year. But Pimcore requires hosting, implementation and usually development on top, often via an agency. Akeneo's cloud includes hosting, but implementation is also usually billed separately by partners. Compare both on subscription and onboarding separately.

What is the best value PIM software for B2B manufacturers?

It depends on your catalogue size, channels and team. For B2B manufacturers and distributors that need BMEcat, ECLASS or ETIM, several languages and ERP integration, a PIM with published prices, fixed-price onboarding and self-service usually offers the best value, because both cost lines are predictable. That is the profile entitys is built for.

Why does the onboarding cost matter so much?

Because implementation costs frequently exceed the license costs of the first year. If a vendor publishes only the subscription, you are comparing half the picture.

How long does a PIM implementation take?

Industry-typical PIM implementations take 5 to 12 months. With entitys, you are productive after about 5 weeks, and a complete implementation including integrations takes 6 to 13 weeks in five sprints.

Compare your own numbers with our team

Tell us your SKU count, languages, channels and systems, and we will show you what entitys costs for your case, with subscription and onboarding on separate lines and no surprises later. Talk to our team.