Why carbon credit quotes differ, and how to compare them

Ask three suppliers for a quote on 1,000 tonnes of carbon credits and you can get back EUR 7, EUR 25 and EUR 140 per tonne. None of the suppliers is necessarily wrong. They are quoting different products under the same name.

A carbon credit quote is a bundle of choices: which type of credit, which project, which year, delivered when, with which costs included, from whom. Change one of those and the price moves. Change all of them and two quotes for “1,000 tonnes” have little in common beyond the number.

This guide explains the eight reasons carbon credit quotes differ and gives a method to compare them on equal terms.

The short answer. Quotes differ because they price different credit types, projects, vintages, delivery dates and cost structures, and because suppliers price buyers differently. Compare them by converting each to an all-in price per tonne in euros, grouping like with like, and asking the same questions of every supplier.

Eight reasons carbon credit quotes differ

1. The type of credit

The biggest driver by far. Avoidance and reduction credits, such as cookstoves or forest protection, trade at a few euros to around twenty. Nature-based removals cost more, and durable removals such as biochar or direct air capture cost from around EUR 135 to over USD 500 per tonne. MSCI put the 12-month average for reduction credits at around USD 3.6 per tonne in July 2026; our overview of carbon removal credit prices gives the removal side.

A quote that mixes types, a “portfolio” of 80% avoidance and 20% removal for example, should show the price per type as well as the blended average.

2. The project type within a category

Even within avoidance credits, project types are priced very differently, and not always in line with their climate impact. A study by MIT Sloan and partners, based on more than 7,200 transactions between 2018 and 2024, found that forest protection and cookstove credits sold for two to more than four times the price of waste management or industrial efficiency credits.

3. Quality signals

Credits with the ICVCM CCP label, or with higher independent ratings, usually cost more. The gap can be large: Sylvera’s data for the first half of 2026 shows high-rated reforestation credits at more than three times the price of low-rated ones (USD 28.55 against USD 9.12). Ask every supplier whether the credits carry the CCP label and whether the project is rated.

4. Vintage

The vintage is the year the reduction or removal took place. Older vintages are usually cheaper, partly because some buyers’ claims policies exclude them. A quote with an attractive price on a vintage from many years ago is pricing a different product than a recent vintage. Regreener’s quote comparer flags vintages more than seven years before the year you need the credits as a point to check. Our guide to carbon credit vintages explains when an older vintage says something about quality.

5. Delivery: now or later

Credits that already exist and can be retired today are priced differently from tonnes to be delivered in the future. Forward and offtake prices can be lower per tonne in exchange for commitment, or higher for scarce durable removals, but they carry delivery risk. A quote should state when each tonne will be delivered and what happens if delivery fails. Our guide to spot, forward and offtake pricing explains the trade-offs.

6. What is included

Some quotes are all-in; others leave out retirement fees, registry costs, admin fees or VAT, or quote in dollars. Two quotes of EUR 10 per tonne can end up EUR 2 apart once costs and currency are added. Ask for the price per tonne excluding VAT with all other costs on a separate line.

7. The supplier’s role

A project developer selling its own credits, a reseller holding credits it bought earlier and a broker matching you with a seller all add different margins. That is not a problem in itself, since brokers can add value, but it explains part of the spread and is worth knowing. Ask each supplier what its role is and whether it holds the credits today. Our comparison of carbon credit brokers, marketplaces and developers shows how each channel earns its margin.

8. Who you are

The least visible driver. The MIT Sloan study found that buyer identity alone explained 62% of price variation. The 20 biggest buyers paid 16% to 23% less than everyone else, and financial-sector and consumer-goods companies paid 9% to 22% more than industrial manufacturers. Most prices in this market are negotiated, so a comparison of several quotes is your best protection.

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How to compare carbon credit quotes fairly

Step 1: Ask every supplier for the same information

Comparable quotes start with comparable questions. Ask each supplier for the project name and registry ID, standard, credit type, vintage, volume, delivery date, price per tonne excluding VAT and all other costs, and confirmation that the credits will be retired in your name. Our list of questions to ask every carbon credit supplier covers the full set.

Step 2: Convert every offer to an all-in price per tonne in euros

Use one formula for every offer:

all-in price per tonne = (price per tonne × exchange rate) + (other costs ÷ volume)

Then check how much of the volume you need each offer actually covers.

Step 3: Group like with like

Compare avoidance with avoidance, removals with removals, recent vintages with recent vintages, and spot with spot. A price difference between groups tells you about the market; a price difference within a group tells you about the offer.

Step 4: Check the points that change the picture

For each offer, check:

• Is the price unusually low for this credit type? Ask why.

• Is the vintage more than seven years before the year you need the credits?

• Is there a registry project ID, and is the standard stated?

• Will the credits be retired in your name?

• Are all other costs confirmed?

• Is delivery later than the year you need the credits, and what happens if it fails?

A high price says nothing about quality on its own either. Treat price and quality as two separate questions.

An example: three quotes for 1,000 tonnes

An illustrative comparison, with made-up offers and an example exchange rate of 0.92 euro per dollar:

Offer B looks cheapest but cannot be compared until the costs are confirmed, and it is the only offer with a vintage older than seven years. Offer C costs more because it is a removal, a different product from A and B, and it delivers a year later. The useful comparison is A against B, once B’s costs are known; C belongs in a separate decision about how much removal you want in your portfolio.

Tip from Bernard de Wit, Co-founder of Regreener: “When a client sends us three quotes, the first thing we do is put them on the same basis: euros per tonne, all costs in, same type, same vintage window. Half the time the ‘cheapest’ offer stops being the cheapest once the fees and the currency are in. The other half, it turns out to be a different product.”

What the price cannot tell you

An all-in price makes quotes comparable. Two credits at the same price can still differ in additionality, permanence, safeguards and how they would look in a journalist’s article. That is why every project Regreener offers is assessed against our 100+ datapoint quality framework before it reaches a client, and why our article on why cheap carbon credits deserve scrutiny is worth reading next to any low quote.

Compare your own quotes

Regreener’s free quote comparer does steps 2 to 4 for you: enter up to five offers and you get an all-in price per tonne in euros for each quote side by side, the cost for the volume you need and the points to check per offer. It does not rank offers or pick a winner, and your offer details stay in your browser.

If you would like a counter-offer to compare against, ask a Climate Strategist; we reply within 48 hours on working days.