The Platform Is Free

SDX is completely free for every participant in the data contribution ecosystem. This is not a trial, not a freemium tier, and not a temporary promotion. The free model is a permanent, structural feature of the platform.

Who uses SDX for free

Building owners and operators

Owners and operators of real estate assets pay nothing to:

• Create an account and set up their organisation
• Add properties and buildings (unlimited)
• Submit utility data via manual entry, CSV upload, or automated feeds
• Benchmark buildings against six international standards
• View data quality scores and improvement recommendations
• Generate compliance reports for 16+ frameworks
• Export data in any format
• Invite unlimited team members
• Access the full dashboard and analytics suite

Consultants

Sustainability consultants, energy consultants, and property managers who manage data on behalf of building owners have the same free access. There are no partner programmes, reseller fees, or white-label charges. See the Consultant guide for the delegated-access model.

Third-party integrators

Software platforms that integrate with SDX via the API pay nothing. This includes:

• API key provisioning — free
• API calls (read and write) — free
• Webhook subscriptions — free
• Sandbox environment access — free
• Technical support during integration — free

See Integrator Pricing for further confirmation.

Why is it free?

SDX is a not-for-profit, industry-governed platform. Its mission is to create the largest, most complete dataset of real estate sustainability performance in the world. Charging contributors would create a barrier to participation and reduce the dataset's coverage and value.

Instead, SDX funds itself through the sale of licensed content — aggregate data products derived from contributor data. This creates a virtuous cycle:

1. More contributors means a larger, more representative dataset
2. Better data makes licensed content more valuable to buyers
3. More revenue funds platform development and the Data Dividend
4. Data Dividends attract even more contributors

Will it stay free?

Yes. The free model is enshrined in SDX's governance charter. The board cannot introduce fees for data contribution without a supermajority vote that includes contributor representatives. This structural protection ensures that the platform remains free regardless of future leadership changes.

What about licensed content?

Licensed content products — aggregate benchmarks, market indices, anonymised data packs — are sold to third-party buyers such as investors, lenders, and index providers. These are the only paid products on the platform.

Importantly, data contributors receive all licensed content free for their own internal use. If a licensed product includes data from your buildings, you can access it at no cost. Only third parties who want to use the data commercially pay for it.

Re-licensing or redistributing licensed content to others requires a commercial arrangement. See Licensing Terms.

Comparison with alternatives

Next steps

• Licensed content pricing
• Integrator pricing
• Data Dividend overview