Get Ahead of Your EDI Costs with Predictable Pricing

The Problem with Traditional EDI Pricing

Have you ever tried to calculate the actual cost associated with your EDI implementation? Whether you have an in-house team of experts or you contract out the work, your EDI costs are likely through the roof.

EDI is an essential component of your business. However, with rising prices and excessive fees, it's no wonder companies are disgruntled with their EDI expenses. The cost-per-transaction and kilo-character pricing models are unpredictable and inefficient in today's business environment.

You probably pay a monthly fee based on the number of transactions sent and the number of kilo-characters transmitted. On top of that, there are expenses associated with building point-to-point integrations to each of your trading partners. You're under more pressure than ever to increase the frequency of transaction notifications and types, while ensuring they adhere to each trading partner's unique guidelines. That means you need qualified EDI experts who can respond quickly to changes—adding even more cost to your operation.

This article breaks down the unnecessary costs associated with traditional EDI implementations, why they're a burden on your bottom line, and how you can eliminate these costs with Orderful's modern EDI platform.

Understanding Traditional EDI Pricing Models

Traditional EDI pricing has evolved into several models, each with distinct cost structures that significantly impact your bottom line.

Kilo-Character (KC) Pricing: The Most Unpredictable Model

The oldest and most unpredictable pricing model charges $0.05 to $0.50 per kilo-character (1,000 characters). Every space, delimiter, and piece of data counts toward your bill. This creates several problems:

Unpredictable monthly costs that fluctuate with document complexity, not just volume. You might send the same number of transactions each month but pay drastically different amounts based on how detailed those documents are.

Peak season bill shock when transaction details increase. During busy periods, your EDI costs can double or triple simply because purchase orders contain more line items or advance ship notices include more detailed information.

Discouragement from sending beneficial updates. Many companies avoid sending frequent shipment status messages (EDI 214) because each update adds to their character count, even though customers want real-time visibility.

Hidden costs from document complexity. A single detailed advance ship notice (EDI 856) can contain 5-10 KC, costing $0.25 to $5.00 per document depending on your provider's rates.

Transaction-Based Pricing: Volume Penalties

Traditional EDI providers charge $0.30 to $3.00+ per transaction depending on volume tiers. While more predictable than KC pricing, this model still creates significant challenges:

Costs increase with business growth, penalizing your success. As you scale operations and add volume with existing partners, your EDI bills grow proportionally—even though the actual cost to process transactions doesn't increase for the provider.

Volume tier pricing requires constant monitoring to avoid overages. Move from 999 to 1,001 transactions in a month? You might jump to the next pricing tier and pay significantly more for all transactions.

Functional acknowledgments (997s) double your costs since both sending and receiving are charged separately. Every document you send requires a 997 confirmation, which you pay for twice.

Seasonal businesses face crushing peak period costs. Retailers processing holiday season volume or agricultural suppliers during harvest season see their EDI costs spike dramatically, cutting into already thin seasonal margins.

Real-world example: A company processing 25,000 transactions annually might pay a $25,000 subscription fee plus $0.20 per transaction ($5,000), totaling $30,000. That's $1.20 per transaction—far higher than the advertised $0.20 rate. Many businesses don't realize their true per-transaction cost until they do the math.

Trading Partner Fees

Many traditional providers charge $2,000-$5,000 annually per trading partner on top of transaction fees. These charges apply regardless of transaction volume, making it expensive to onboard new retailers or suppliers. Add five new retail partners? That could mean $10,000-$25,000 in additional annual costs before you even exchange a single document.

Why Paying Per Transaction Really Adds Up

The most common EDI cost is the cost-per-transaction model that the majority of EDI providers impose on their customers. The standard billing rate when you use a traditional value-added network (VAN) is a monthly fee based on the number of transactions sent and received, plus the number of kilo-characters per transaction. Charging based on kilo-characters is extremely unpredictable, and your EDI costs will quickly skyrocket.

This may not seem overwhelming as you're starting to build your EDI network with one or two trading partners. However, as you add more partners and exchange additional EDI transactions, your costs accumulate rapidly.

The Hidden Cost of EDI 214 Transactions

Transportation and logistics companies face particularly high costs with traditional EDI pricing due to the EDI 214 (Transportation Carrier Shipment Status Message).

Keep in mind that some transactions like the 214 can be quite noisy. A shipper can request to receive status updates every 15 minutes throughout a shipment's journey. For a 48-hour cross-country shipment, that's 192 status updates per load.

Let's look at a real example: You're dealing with 30 trading partners and sending them 214 transactions. Your monthly EDI cost for this one transaction type alone could potentially cost you upwards of $10,000 with some traditional managed EDI providers.

At $0.50 per transaction with traditional pricing, 20,000 EDI 214 updates monthly costs $10,000. What's frustrating is that within a 214, only a handful of data values change each time it's sent out—for example, the shipment location and timestamp. You're essentially paying to send much of the same data over and over again with each 214 you send.

But it gets worse. On top of that, as a shipper, every time you receive a 214 you're expected to send back a 997 transaction (Functional Acknowledgment), which is an additional cost. So now you're paying $20,000 monthly for data that's largely repetitive.

This pricing structure forces companies to choose between customer service (frequent updates that retailers demand) and cost control (fewer updates to save money), when modern technology should enable both.

What Are Hidden EDI Costs?

Beyond the obvious per-transaction or kilo-character fees, traditional EDI implementations come with numerous hidden costs that add up quickly:

VAN Connectivity Fees: $500-$2,000 monthly for VAN mailbox setup, ongoing connectivity, and data transmission infrastructure.

Trading Partner Onboarding: $750-$2,500 per partner for setup, mapping, and testing. With multiple partners, these one-time fees become substantial recurring costs as you grow.

Archive and Data Retrieval Charges: $50-$200 monthly to access historical EDI transactions beyond a limited retention period.

Document Validation Costs: Some providers charge extra to validate transactions against trading partner specifications before sending.

Integration Customization: $150+ per hour to build and maintain point-to-point integrations for each trading partner relationship.

Overage Fees: Penalties when you exceed volume tiers, often charged retroactively on all transactions for the month.

Support Charges: Extended hours support, dedicated account managers, or priority troubleshooting often come with additional monthly fees.

Compliance Penalties: Failed transactions that result in chargebacks from retailers—often $50-$500 per violation.

Soft Costs: Employee time spent on manual tracking, troubleshooting failed transactions, matching functional acknowledgments, and managing multiple point-to-point integrations. These indirect costs often exceed direct EDI fees but rarely appear on expense reports.

How Orderful's Transparent Pricing Eliminates EDI Cost Surprises

With a modern platform like Orderful, you don't have to worry about fluctuating costs, hidden fees, or bill shock. Orderful offers transparent, predictable pricing models designed for businesses at every stage.

Web EDI: $189/month per trading partner

Perfect for businesses just getting started with EDI or managing low transaction volumes.

What's included:

• 100% EDI compliance with all major retailers
• Easy-to-use webforms for processing documents without integration
• UCC-128 compliant shipping labels
• 24/7 EDI support from industry experts
• All communication channels supported (AS2, FTP, SFTP, VAN)
• Real-time transaction validation
• Certified network buildout (we add any trading partner within 24 hours)
• Business rules engine for transforming data
• Unlimited transactions—no per-transaction fees
• 997/999/TA1 acknowledgments included at no charge
• Transaction retention and notifications

No hidden costs. No VAN fees. No per-transaction charges. No kilo-character counting. Just $189 per month per trading partner, regardless of how many documents you exchange.

Integrated: Starting at $1,999/month

Designed for growing businesses ready to automate EDI through API integration with their ERP, WMS, or TMS systems.

Everything in Web EDI, plus:

• RESTful API for EDI integration
• Single API connects to all trading partners
• Integration Assistance that aggregates all partner requirements
• SAML-based single sign-on (SSO)
• Role-based access control
• Interactive training sessions
• Integration support from Orderful's team
• Email troubleshooting and reprocessing

The Integrated plan eliminates:

• Point-to-point integration costs (one API for all partners)
• Multiple VAN connections (we handle all communication protocols)
• Ongoing mapping maintenance (automatic updates through Integration Assistance)
• Per-transaction fees (unlimited volume included)
• 997 acknowledgment charges (always free with Orderful)

Enterprise: Custom Pricing

For large-scale operations with 20+ trading partners needing white-glove service.

Everything in Integrated, plus:

• Multiple organizations within Orderful
• Dedicated Slack communications with your account team
• Rule writing support for complex business logic
• Managed testing services (we test all partners on your behalf)
• Managed integration services (we build integrations to your systems)
• Priority support and dedicated resources

Enterprise pricing scales with your business needs while maintaining cost predictability. Contact our team for custom pricing based on your specific requirements.

Cost Comparison: Traditional EDI vs Orderful

Let's break down what a mid-sized logistics company might actually pay with traditional EDI versus Orderful's transparent pricing:

*Exact Orderful pricing depends on your specific configuration, number of trading partners, and plan selection (Web EDI, Integrated, or Enterprise). Contact Orderful for a customized quote based on your needs.

Real Customer Results

KBX Technology Solutions: 70% Reduction in EDI Onboarding Efforts

Jim Bruckert, EDI Team Leader at KBX, saw immediate impact after switching to Orderful:

"We have reduced onboarding time by 50% with Orderful. If we're not moving loads, we're not making money. Orderful gives us the real-time data and notifications we need to keep everything moving."

KBX Results:

• 100% partner self-service onboarding
• 50% decrease in time to onboard new trading partners
• 70% reduction in EDI onboarding efforts
• Predictable monthly costs regardless of seasonal volume fluctuations

Why Orderful's Pricing Model Works Better

Unlimited Transactions

Send as many documents as needed without per-transaction fees. Whether you send 10 or 10,000 EDI 214 updates monthly, your cost remains the same. This enables you to provide the level of service your trading partners demand without worrying about cost implications.

No Character Count Charges

Document complexity doesn't affect pricing. Detailed advance ship notices with extensive line items cost the same as simple acknowledgments. You're never penalized for providing complete, accurate information.

Free 997 Acknowledgments

With Orderful, we don't charge you to send or receive 997 transactions. Functional acknowledgments are included at no charge, eliminating the hidden cost that doubles transaction fees with traditional providers.

No VAN Fees

Cloud-based infrastructure eliminates traditional VAN charges, mailbox fees, data retrieval costs, and archive access fees. Everything is included in your monthly rate.

Predictable Monthly Costs

Your bill only changes when you add or remove trading partners—not when your business grows, not during seasonal peaks, not when documents become more detailed. Budget with confidence.

Included Support and Updates

Ongoing maintenance, system updates, partner guideline changes, and 24/7 technical support from EDI experts are included without additional charges. No surprise bills for necessary support.

Certified Network Buildout

Need to connect with a new trading partner? Orderful will add any trading partner requirements and connectivity not already on our network within 24 hours—included in your subscription.

Real-Time Transaction Validation

Get instant feedback showing you what to resolve before sending to any partner. Catch compliance issues before they result in costly chargebacks.

Calculate Your Potential EDI Savings

Step 1: Audit Your Current EDI Costs

Gather your last 12 months of EDI invoices and calculate:

• Base subscription or software fees
• Per-transaction charges (multiply your monthly transactions by your rate)
• Kilo-character fees
• VAN connectivity and mailbox charges
• 997 acknowledgment costs (often hidden in transaction fees)
• Trading partner setup and onboarding costs
• Archive access and data retrieval fees
• Support and maintenance contracts
• Integration customization and IT labor
• Chargeback penalties from failed transactions

Hidden costs to include:

• Employee hours spent troubleshooting EDI issues
• Time managing point-to-point integrations
• Opportunity cost of delayed partner onboarding

Step 2: Estimate Your Orderful Cost

For Web EDI users: Count your active trading partners × $189/month

For Integrated users: Base platform starting at $1,999/month (covers multiple partners)

For Enterprise users: Contact us for custom pricing based on your specific needs

Step 3: Calculate Your Savings

Total current annual EDI costs - Orderful annual cost = Your savings

Most businesses see 50-70% cost reduction within the first year, with even greater savings as they scale due to Orderful's flat-rate model.

How to Switch to Predictable EDI Pricing

Migration is Seamless

Worried about the hassle of switching EDI providers? Orderful makes migration easy:

Your trading partner IDs stay the same. No need to recommunicate with partners or update their systems.

Your existing maps work. We migrate your current EDI mappings or help you take advantage of Orderful's Integration Assistance for automatic mapping.

Zero downtime. We manage the technical transition while your business continues operating normally.

Faster than you think. Most migrations complete in 2-4 weeks, not the months required for traditional EDI implementations.

Support Every Step of the Way

Orderful's team handles:

• Current state assessment and savings calculation
• Technical migration planning
• Data and integration transfer
• Trading partner notification (if needed)
• Testing and validation
• Ongoing optimization and support

Stop Overpaying for EDI

Traditional EDI pricing models with per-transaction fees, kilo-character charges, and hidden VAN costs made sense decades ago when data transmission was expensive. Today, they're simply barriers to growth that punish success and create unpredictable expenses.

Orderful's transparent, flat-rate pricing aligns with how modern businesses actually operate:

• Predictable costs that enable accurate budgeting and forecasting
• Unlimited transactions that let you serve customers without cost concerns
• Included support that ensures success without surprise bills
• Fast implementation that gets you operational in days, not months
• Scalable platform that grows with your business affordably

Whether you're just starting with EDI or looking to escape expensive legacy systems, Orderful offers a better way forward.

Get Started with Orderful's Transparent Pricing

Ready to eliminate unpredictable EDI costs and save up to 70% on your EDI expenses?

Book a demo to see how Orderful's platform delivers 100% EDI compliance with predictable, transparent pricing. Our EDI experts will:

• Review your current EDI costs and identify hidden fees
• Calculate your potential savings with Orderful
• Show you how our platform eliminates complexity
• Answer your questions about migration and implementation

Visit our pricing page to explore all plans and features, or talk to an EDI expert to discuss your specific needs and get custom pricing for Enterprise requirements.

Get started today with Web EDI at just $189/month per trading partner—no per-transaction fees, no VAN charges, no hidden costs. Just simple, predictable pricing that lets you focus on growing your business instead of managing EDI expenses.