Costdata
Costdata provides product-cost calculation software, proprietary market-data licenses, API integrations, and cost-engineering consulting for procurement, controlling, engineering, operations, and pricing teams at industrial and manufacturing enterprises, including automotive, aerospace, electronics, chemicals, logistics and energy sectors.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersCologne, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Costdata does
Costdata is a privately held cost-engineering software, data, and consulting company based in Cologne, Germany. It helps industrial enterprises analyze product and service costs, validate supplier prices, determine target costs, run should-cost and design-to-cost analyses, and support decisions across procurement, cost engineering, controlling, product development, operations, and pricing. Public customer evidence is enterprise-heavy, with logos across automotive, aerospace, electronics, chemicals, logistics, energy, retail, and industrial manufacturing.
The company’s product stack combines a proprietary market and cost database with calculation software, cloud and on-premises deployment options, API access, and specialist analytical tools. Its Market Data product covers benchmark records for materials, wages, machines, overheads, location factors, commodities, and other cost drivers; the Calculation software applies this data to product-cost modeling; the Commodity Price Tracker analyzes historical product and product-group price developments; and the Enterprise API and SAP integration embed benchmark data into third-party enterprise systems. The cloud version adds an AI-powered chatbot interface, while consulting offerings include should-costing, supplier negotiation support, controlled profit management, and training through the Institute of Cost Engineering.
Costdata monetizes through annual or multi-year market-data licenses, calculation-software licenses, enterprise API subscriptions, individual pay-as-you-go data purchases, professional consulting services, and training. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and appears quote-based for enterprise buyers. Go-to-market is direct and sales-led, supported by customer demos, trade fairs, cold and warm outbound activity, inbound website inquiries, and a free initial assessment used as a lead-generation mechanism.
Costdata firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Costdata
- Legal name
- costdata GmbH
- Website
- https://costdata.de
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Costdata provides product-cost calculation software, proprietary market-data licenses, API integrations, and cost-engineering consulting for procurement, controlling, engineering, operations, and pricing teams at industrial and manufacturing enterprises, including automotive, aerospace, electronics, chemicals, logistics and energy sectors.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Costdata industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cost Engineering Software
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821), Educational Support Services (61171)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Management Services (8741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Spend Analytics & Reporting Support (BPAAAJAJ)
Keywords
Where Costdata is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cologne
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Costdata business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Market Data Licensing: Annual or multi-year licenses for access to the costdata market data database. Available in four tiers: Classic (on-premises), Cloud (AI-powered app/desktop), Enterprise (API integration), and Individual Data records purchased à la carte. This is a recurring subscription revenue stream for enterprise clients.
- Calculation Software Licenses: Licenses for the costdata calculation software, which provides transparent product cost calculation across all industries. Sold alongside market data as a combined solution or standalone. Subscription or perpetual license model implied.
- Professional Consulting Services: Expert consulting services delivered by cost analysts and manufacturing experts for should-costing analyses, supplier negotiation support, and cost optimization. Includes 'Free Initial Assessment' as a lead generation funnel into paid consulting engagements.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Classic (On-Premises) Market Data |
| Subscription | Annual | Smart AI Cloud Solution |
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise API Solution |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Individual Data Records |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels13 records
Costdata product offering
Product offeringCore offering
costdata is a full-service provider that delivers product cost calculation software and the world's largest proprietary cost and price database, available as On-Premises, Cloud (AI-powered), and Enterprise API deployments. The offering is complemented by professional consulting services for should-costing, the Controlled Profit Management (CPM) methodology, the Commodity Price Tracker, and cost engineering training through the Institute of Cost Engineering.
Product overview
costdata is a full-service provider offering the world's largest price and cost database combined with proprietary software tools and consulting services. The portfolio consists of three deployment options for costdata Market Data: the On-Premises Solution (standalone classic version), the Smart AI Cloud Solution (with AI chatbot), and the Enterprise Solution (API-based integration). These are complemented by costdata Calculation software for product cost calculation and the Commodity Price Tracker for analyzing percentage price developments. Professional consulting services include Should Costing Calculation, Controlled Profit Management (CPM) methodology, and Free Initial Assessment. Training is delivered through the Institute of Cost Engineering. Individual data records can also be purchased separately. The offering serves procurement, cost engineering, controlling, and product development across all industries.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Institute of Cost Engineering: The company's cost engineering training center that offers professional courses and workshops in cost engineering, electronics cost engineering, manufacturing technologies, and AI cost optimization.
Products and services
- costdata Market Data (Classic / On-Premises) Standalone on-premises cost and price database containing thousands of benchmark records covering agricultural products, construction materials, chemistry, electronics, salaries, overheads, plastics, wages, machines, metals, floor space costs, raw materials, standard components, social data, location factors, textiles, packaging, and currencies; updated regularly; designed for organizations with strict IT security requirements.
- costdata Market Data Cloud Solution (Smart AI Cloud) Cloud-based version combining the costdata market database with an AI-powered chatbot, available on desktop or via mobile app, providing intelligent conversational guidance through the application and answers to specific market data questions in seconds.
- costdata Market Data Enterprise Solution (API) API-based solution integrating costdata market data into existing enterprise systems (including SAP environments via the official SAP partnership), providing up-to-date market, cost, and benchmark data directly in third-party applications to support cost analysis, procurement optimization, and cost forecasting.
- costdata Calculation Software Product cost calculation software combining proprietary calculation logic with the costdata benchmark database; supports should costing, target costing, design-to-cost, value engineering, supplier price analyses, product cost optimization, make-or-buy decisions, and location comparisons; intended for cost engineers and analysts across all industries.
- Costdata Commodity Price Tracker Tool for analyzing percentage price developments of products and product groups worldwide using historical data and detailed cost trends; considers cost drivers including materials, packaging, transportation, labor, energy, and overhead costs and profits; enables scenario analysis comparing claimed price increases against market-based trends.
- Should Costing Calculation Consulting Data-based bottom-up should-cost analyses performed by costdata's expert cost analysts and manufacturing specialists, integrated with real market data and customized should-costing methods, providing a reliable foundation for target prices, bid evaluations, and supplier negotiations.
- Controlled Profit Management (CPM) Proprietary holistic cross-departmental methodology, developed by CEO Frank Weinert, that enables companies to optimize business processes, increase profits, and set standards in cost control across purchasing, controlling, product development, sales, and company management.
- Professional Consulting Services Expert consulting services in which costdata's cost analysts and manufacturing experts develop customized solutions with transparent overviews of savings and optimization potential for industrial clients across procurement, controlling, product development, and cost engineering functions.
- Institute of Cost Engineering Training Training center offering professional development courses and workshops in cost engineering, including electronics cost engineering, manufacturing technologies, AI and cost engineering, DFMA, TRIZ, and purchasing excellence workshops, delivered via partnerships with Maindtec, evi: One, MIS Analytics, and AI Navigator.
- Individual Data Purchase Unit-priced offering that lets customers purchase individual benchmark data records from the costdata market database without subscribing to a full plan, for quick answers on cost estimates, negotiations, and analyses.
Quantifiable outcome
- Average 12% cost savings for clients using the costdata approach (from 'Modern Cost Engineering' book by CEO Frank Weinert)
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Costdata
Customer profileNamed customers68 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Costdata technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
AI capability2 records
Feature6 records
Costdata partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- SAPcoreOfficial SAP partnership enabling integration of costdata market data and calculation software with SAP's enterprise solutions. This partnership provides connectivity for precise cost calculation within SAP environments, enabling accurate cost analysis and control, optimized procurement processes, and cost savings for shared enterprise clients.
- Institute of Cost EngineeringcoreThe Institute of Cost Engineering is costdata's own training center for cost engineering professional development. It offers courses and workshops in areas such as electronics cost engineering, manufacturing technologies, AI & cost engineering, DFMA, TRIZ, and purchasing excellence.
- evi: One (DFMA and TRIZ workshops)minorPartnership with evi: One for delivering Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) workshops and TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) workshops as part of costdata's professional training offerings.
- Maindtec (AI & Cost Engineering)minorPartnership with Maindtec for AI & Cost Engineering workshop delivery, exploring the future of cost optimization using artificial intelligence.
- MIS Analytics (Variant Management)minorPartnership with MIS Analytics for variant management and cost analysis workshops, helping companies optimize product variety and associated costs.
- AI Navigator (AI & Cost Analysis in SCM)minorPartnership for AI Navigator workshop on AI & Cost Analysis in Supply Chain Management, helping companies apply AI techniques to SCM cost optimization.
- IOCE (Institute for Operations Excellence)minorPartnership with IOCE for operations excellence consulting and methodologies that complement costdata's cost engineering approach.
- eTIT (Expertise in Technical Education)minorPartnership with eTIT for technical education and training support in the cost engineering domain.
- Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University Heilbronn (DHBW Heilbronn)minorAcademic partnership producing whitepapers and joint academic papers available for download. Students benefit from practical cost engineering insights.
- Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University Stuttgart – Horb CampusminorAcademic cooperation with lecturer Philip Stephan. costdata supports teaching with keynote speeches on cost analysis, providing students with practical cost engineering insights.
- Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts (FH Dortmund)minorAcademic partnership with Prof. Dr. Boehle for knowledge transfer through impulse lectures in teaching.
- Koblenz University of Applied Sciences (HS Koblenz)minorAcademic cooperation with Prof. Dr. Bräkling in the context of courses. CEO Frank Weinert is a guest lecturer at this university.
- Munich University of Applied Sciences (HM)minorAcademic cooperation with Prof. Dr. Weber providing practical impulses for students in cost engineering.
- Nürtingen-Geislingen University for Economy and Environment (HfWU)minorCooperation with Prof. Dr. Thomas Hofmann supporting teaching through keynote lectures and joint projects.
- Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences (THI)minorAcademic partnership with Prof. Dr. Hecht for regular impulse lectures in cost engineering courses.
- Turkish-German University (TAÜ) IstanbulminorCooperation with Prof. Dr. Thomas Hofmann extending cost engineering teaching beyond European borders to Turkey through keynote lectures and joint projects.
- University of BathminorInternational academic partnership with Prof. Linda Newnes supporting cost engineering lectures to provide students with practical insights.
- Marche Polytechnic University (Università Politecnica delle Marche)minorPartnership with Prof. Marco Mandolini, Ph.D. providing lectures on data, software, and projects from daily cost analysis practice.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights8 records
Costdata competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- PTC (Windchill): PTC's Windchill PLM platform addresses product cost and configuration management for discrete manufacturers, providing an indirect competitive alternative to costdata in product development cost workflows.
- Coupa Software: Coupa provides a broad business spend management platform with procurement, sourcing and supplier analytics capabilities that partially overlap with costdata's cost transparency and supplier price validation use cases.
- Siemens Digital Industries Software (Teamcenter Cost Management): Siemens' Teamcenter PLM suite includes product cost management modules that compete with costdata in design-to-cost and manufacturing cost estimation for large industrial customers.
- Roland Berger: Roland Berger's procurement and operations consulting practice overlaps with costdata's consulting services around supplier cost optimization, should-costing, and operational excellence for industrial clients.
- SAP Ariba: SAP Ariba is the dominant procurement and spend management platform; it embeds cost intelligence and supplier collaboration features that increasingly overlap with costdata's procurement-oriented offerings.
Direct peers
- Facton: Facton (now part of the DXP group) delivers product cost management software used by automotive and industrial manufacturers for should-costing, very similar in target use case and customer profile to costdata's calculation software.
- aPriori: aPriori provides product cost management and should-costing software for manufacturers, directly overlapping with costdata's calculation software and design-to-cost capabilities for industrial customers.
- Tsetinis Cost Management: Tsetinis offers product cost management consulting and tools for industrial companies, competing with costdata in the should-costing and target-costing services market across Europe.
- DfX Consulting: DfX Consulting provides Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) and cost optimization services, directly comparable to costdata's cost engineering consulting and DFMA workshop offerings.
Emerging players
- Makersite: Makersite applies AI and product data intelligence to product cost engineering and sustainable design, emerging as a next-generation competitor to costdata in should-costing and supplier cost transparency.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Costdata social profiles
Digital presenceCostdata compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Costdata financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Costdata leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Costdata funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Costdata M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Costdata
What does Costdata do?
costdata is a full-service provider that delivers product cost calculation software and the world's largest proprietary cost and price database, available as On-Premises, Cloud (AI-powered), and Enterprise API deployments. The offering is complemented by professional consulting services for should-costing, the Controlled Profit Management (CPM) methodology, the Commodity Price Tracker, and cost engineering training through the Institute of Cost Engineering.
Is Costdata a public or private company?
Costdata is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Costdata founded?
Costdata was founded in 2007. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Costdata based?
Costdata is headquartered in Cologne, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Costdata make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Market Data Licensing is the primary driver. The others are calculation Software Licenses and professional Consulting Services.
Who are Costdata's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are PTC (Windchill), Coupa Software, Siemens Digital Industries Software (Teamcenter Cost Management), Roland Berger and SAP Ariba. Direct peers are Facton, aPriori, Tsetinis Cost Management and DfX Consulting. Makersite is listed as an emerging player.
Does Costdata have an API?
Yes. Enterprise Solution (API) integrates costdata market data directly into existing systems. Makes up-to-date market, cost, and benchmark data available in third-party applications via API interfaces, creating a unified data foundation for informed decision-making. Data can also be integrated into third-party tools via APIs or custom interfaces. Developer documentation is at www.costdata.de/en/market-data-enterprise.
What industry is Costdata in?
Costdata's product category is Cost Engineering Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAAAJAJ, Spend Analytics & Reporting Support. Its NAICS code is 518 and its SIC code is 7372.