TrusTrace vs Spherity vs Reglyr for Digital Product Passport Compliance

Summary

• The EU's Digital Product Passport (DPP) mandate is fast approaching, with the first requirements for batteries expected around 2027, yet most brands remain unprepared for the complex data governance challenges involved.
• Three distinct types of DPP software have emerged: supply chain traceability specialists (like TrusTrace), technical data infrastructure builders (like Spherity), and holistic regulatory platforms (like Reglyr).
• Most brands face a multi-regulation challenge, needing to manage GPSR, REACH, and CE marking alongside new ESPR requirements, making the choice of software a strategic decision beyond just DPP.
• For teams managing multiple regulations, a unified platform like Reglyr's Physical Goods Compliance platform handles DPP as one output of a system that automates your entire regulatory program, preventing data silos.

"Companies are not ready. At all. Some large fashion brands have been working on it, but the majority of brands are WAYYYY behind. The supply chain is also not ready."

That blunt assessment comes straight from practitioners on Reddit's r/productpassports community, and it captures a sentiment that's spreading fast across compliance, supply chain, and product teams. The EU's Digital Product Passport (DPP) mandate under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is no longer a distant threat — and yet most brands are still asking the most basic question: which software do we actually use to get ready?

Here's the problem that makes answering that question hard: as one supply chain professional put it, "the real challenge isn't the QR code, it's the data governance and accountability behind it." Behind every DPP implementation lies a tangled web of master data definitions, ERP/PLM integration boundaries, supplier documentation gaps, and multi-regulation obligations that no single QR code can paper over.

Three distinct categories of digital product passport software have emerged to tackle this challenge. Each represents a fundamentally different philosophy:

• Reglyr — a holistic regulatory compliance platform where DPP is one output of a broader system
• TrusTrace — a supply chain traceability specialist with deep roots in fashion and textiles
• Spherity — a digital identity and verifiable credentials infrastructure builder

This article runs an honest, structured head-to-head comparison across five practical dimensions so you can make the right call for your team.

What the Digital Product Passport Actually Requires

Before comparing tools, it's worth grounding the discussion in what the DPP actually demands. A Digital Product Passport is a digital record that follows a product through its entire lifecycle — from raw material sourcing to end-of-life disposal. It is designed to enhance transparency across product value chains and empower consumers with reliable product data.

Key data components mandated under the DPP framework include:

• A unique product identifier (machine-readable, typically via QR code or RFID)
• Compliance documentation (certifications, test reports, Declarations of Conformity)
• Information on harmful substances (including REACH/SVHC substance data)
• User manuals and safety instructions
• Guidance on product disposal and circularity

The regulation became effective in 2024, with the first product-specific delegated acts — starting with batteries — expected to introduce mandatory requirements around 2027. Textiles, electronics, and construction products are next in line. The clock is ticking, and the implementation window is shorter than most teams realize.

Three Approaches to DPP Compliance

Reglyr: The Unified Regulatory Layer

Reglyr is an AI-powered regulatory compliance platform built on a single, unified regulatory knowledge graph. It covers food safety, product safety (GPSR, CE Directives, REACH, EN standards), cross-cutting regulations (packaging, EPR, ESPR/DPP, environmental claims), and retailer-specific requirements — all from one system.

For physical goods compliance teams, Reglyr's value proposition is that DPP is not the entire product — it is one output. The same platform that generates your Digital Product Passport data also produces Declarations of Conformity, GPSR risk assessments, REACH/SVHC substance verification reports, and translated labels in 40+ languages. This is critical for compliance teams who, as practitioners note, are struggling to "define master data between PLM and ERP" — Reglyr extracts and verifies compliance data from PIM/PLM/ERP systems and supplier documents to automate document generation end-to-end.

TrusTrace: The Supply Chain Traceability Specialist

TrusTrace was built from the ground up to solve the supply chain data problem. Its core strength lies in capturing granular, verifiable traceability data from raw material to finished product — exactly the kind of audit trail that feeds a credible DPP. For complex textile and apparel value chains with dozens of Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers, TrusTrace offers unmatched depth in data collection, environmental footprint calculation, and chemical safety rating management.

The platform is particularly strong for brands where the DPP's traceability component is the existential challenge — where the question isn't "what documents do I generate?" but "can I even prove where my materials came from?"

Spherity: The Technical Data Infrastructure Architect

Spherity's VERA solution approaches DPP from an entirely different angle: digital identity and verifiable credentials. Rather than focusing on regulatory content or supply chain mapping, Spherity provides the technical backbone — interoperable data templates, cryptographically verifiable credentials, and native integration with the EU Business Wallet — that ensures DPP data can be trusted and exchanged securely across company boundaries.

Spherity is the answer for organizations asking "how do we make our DPP data technically credible and interoperable within ecosystems like Catena-X?" rather than "what regulations do I need to comply with?"

Head-to-Head Comparison: Five Dimensions That Matter

Dimension	Reglyr	TrusTrace	Spherity
Regulatory Coverage Breadth	Industry-leading. DPP/ESPR alongside GPSR, REACH, CE Directives, EN standards, packaging/EPR, and 40+ languages — all from a single knowledge graph.	Specialized. Deep focus on ESPR and supply chain regulations pertinent to textiles, fashion, and footwear. Limited breadth outside that domain.	Modular. Supports ESPR, REACH, and Battery Regulation. Built for extensibility but centered on data models, not a comprehensive regulatory content engine.
ESPR-Specific Features	Compliance as an Output. Auto-maps products to regulations, generates Technical Files, and auto-generates Declarations of Conformity required under ESPR.	Data Collection at Scale. Market-leading traceability for capturing material sources, chemical safety ratings, and environmental risks to populate the DPP.	Technical Data Backbone. Provides interoperable data templates, verifiable credentials, and EU Business Wallet integration for secure DPP identity.
ERP/PLM Integration	Deep & Action-Oriented. Extracts and verifies compliance data from PIM/PLM/ERP and supplier documents to automate document generation. Directly addresses the master data boundary challenge.	Traceability-Focused. Integrates to pull and centralize supply chain data, ensuring a high-quality, verifiable audit trail from source systems.	Ecosystem-Focused. Prioritizes interoperability with external data ecosystems like Catena-X for secure cross-company data exchange.
Document & Label Generation	Comprehensive. Auto-generates DoCs, Technical Files, and Risk Assessments. Label translation engine for 40+ languages with approved regulatory wording. Includes Adobe Illustrator and InDesign plugins.	Audit-Focused. Generates reports and documentation to verify supply chain traceability claims and prove data integrity for audits.	DPP-Focused. Generates the QR code and the underlying digital data record. Less emphasis on traditional static compliance documents.
Pricing Model Transparency	Transparent models designed for scaling regulatory operations across multiple product categories and markets.	Clear pricing structures that vary based on traceability depth and feature set required.	Subscription model with tiered pricing, scalable based on product volume and feature needs.

Breaking Down the Key Dimensions

Regulatory Coverage Breadth is where the fundamental philosophy gap becomes impossible to ignore. TrusTrace and Spherity are purpose-built for DPP — which is their strength in pure DPP terms, but also their constraint. A compliance team managing toys, textiles, and electronics simultaneously doesn't just face an ESPR challenge; they face GPSR, REACH, CE marking, and country-specific labeling requirements all at once. Reglyr's unified knowledge graph covers all of these from a single platform, meaning your DPP readiness work doesn't happen in isolation from the rest of your regulatory program.

ESPR-Specific Features reveal the three platforms' core differentiation clearly. TrusTrace wins on the data collection problem — if you don't know where your materials came from, no tool can fix that without serious supply chain mapping capability. Spherity wins on the data credibility problem — if your DPP data needs to be cryptographically verifiable and interoperable across the EU ecosystem, VERA provides the technical infrastructure. Reglyr wins on the compliance output problem — if you need the DPP to result in compliant documents, labels, and legal files that satisfy ESPR requirements alongside your other regulatory obligations, Reglyr's automated document generation is the answer.

Document and Label Generation is a decisive differentiator for retail and brand compliance teams. The ability to auto-generate a Declaration of Conformity, a complete Technical File, and market-specific translated labels in one workflow — without switching systems — is a qualitative leap over point solutions. Reglyr's Adobe plugin integration is particularly notable for teams where labels flow through design workflows before reaching compliance review.

The Decisive Differentiator: Most Companies Don't Have a DPP Problem

Here's the reframe that changes the entire buying decision: most brands and retailers don't have a DPP problem. They have a multi-regulation problem — and DPP is just the newest, most visible item on a very long list.

Consider TrusTrace. If your primary challenge is proving a complex textile supply chain — tracing a yarn back through twelve Tier 2 suppliers across three continents — the platform's depth is notable. This focus reflects years of real-world engagement with exactly that problem.

Spherity, for its part, addresses a different need. If you're building the technical DPP data infrastructure that needs to interoperate with EU Business Wallets and data ecosystems like Catena-X — particularly in automotive or industrial supply chains — Spherity's verifiable credentials approach is designed as a foundation for that.

But here's the reality most compliance teams are living: the same person managing the upcoming DPP rollout is also responsible for ensuring every new product has a CE mark, a GPSR-compliant risk assessment on file, REACH/SVHC substance verification, and correct translated labels for twelve European markets. Buying a specialized DPP tool doesn't make those other obligations disappear. It just adds another silo.

Reglyr is architected around a fundamentally different premise: compliance is a domain-agnostic evaluation pipeline. A product enters the system. The platform maps it against every applicable regulation in every target market simultaneously. It produces compliance verdicts, gap analyses, and generated outputs — including DPP-ready data, Technical Files, Declarations of Conformity, and translated labels — in one workflow. The same platform handles GPSR, REACH, CE marking, EPR, and ESPR. Not as bolt-on modules, but as native outputs of the same regulatory knowledge graph.

This is the rational choice for compliance teams who are already stretched thin and cannot afford the cost, complexity, and data fragmentation of deploying a separate tool for every regulation. As the industry conversation is shifting "from compliance to opportunity," having one unified system means every compliance investment also strengthens your overall regulatory posture — not just one checkbox.

The Bottom Line: Which Platform Is Right for You?

Choose TrusTrace if: Your primary, existential challenge is supply chain traceability — specifically mapping and verifying material origins across a complex, multi-tier textile or fashion supply chain. DPP data quality depends on supply chain data quality, and TrusTrace is built to solve that problem at depth.

Choose Spherity if: Your organization needs to build technically interoperable, cryptographically verifiable DPP data infrastructure from the ground up — particularly if you operate in ecosystems like Catena-X or need to integrate with the EU Business Wallet at a technical level.

Choose Reglyr if: You're a compliance team at a brand or retailer managing DPP as one of many active regulatory obligations — alongside GPSR, REACH, CE marking, EPR, and multi-market labeling. Reglyr's Physical Goods Compliance platform is the only digital product passport software where DPP readiness is built into a system that simultaneously handles the rest of your regulatory programme, eliminates the multi-vendor compliance stack, and generates the fix — not just the gap analysis.

The DPP is coming. The brands and retailers that will navigate it most effectively are those that treat it not as an isolated compliance project, but as one component of a mature, unified regulatory infrastructure. That's a problem tailor-made for a platform, not another point solution.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Digital Product Passport (DPP)?

A Digital Product Passport is a digital record providing detailed information about a product's entire lifecycle, from raw material sourcing to its end-of-life. Mandated by the EU's ESPR, its goal is to enhance transparency for consumers, regulators, and businesses by making data on sustainability, compliance, and circularity easily accessible, typically through a QR code or RFID tag on the product.

When do the Digital Product Passport requirements become mandatory?

The first mandatory DPP requirements are expected to apply around 2027, starting with specific product categories like batteries. The ESPR framework regulation became effective in 2024. Following the initial rollout for batteries, other product categories such as textiles, electronics, and construction products will be phased in, making it crucial for companies in these sectors to begin preparations now.

Which products will require a DPP first?

The first product category that will require a Digital Product Passport is batteries, with enforcement expected around 2027. Following batteries, the EU plans to expand the DPP mandate to other high-impact sectors. Textiles, electronics, and construction products are among the next priority categories identified in the regulation.

What is the main difference between DPP software like Reglyr, TrusTrace, and Spherity?

The main difference lies in their core focus: Reglyr is a holistic compliance platform, TrusTrace specializes in supply chain traceability, and Spherity provides technical data infrastructure. Reglyr handles DPP as one output of a unified system that also manages GPSR, REACH, and CE marking. TrusTrace excels at mapping complex supply chains for data collection. Spherity focuses on making DPP data cryptographically secure and interoperable within the EU's technical ecosystem.

Why is choosing DPP software more than just a technical decision?

Choosing DPP software is a strategic decision because for most companies, the DPP is part of a much larger, interconnected web of regulatory obligations. The data required for a DPP often overlaps with what's needed for other regulations like REACH, GPSR, and CE marking. Opting for a point solution for DPP can create data silos and increase complexity, whereas a unified platform can streamline all compliance activities, reducing costs and risks.

What are the first steps my company should take to prepare for DPP?

Your company can start preparing for the DPP by assessing your data governance and identifying where product and supply chain information is currently stored across your ERP, PLM, and PIM systems. The key challenge is not generating a QR code but ensuring the data behind it is accurate, complete, and auditable. Start by mapping your data landscape, identifying gaps in traceability and compliance documentation, and evaluating software solutions that can unify this information rather than creating another isolated system.

Ready to manage DPP compliance without adding another silo to your compliance stack? Explore Reglyr's Physical Goods Compliance Platform and see how a unified approach can prepare your entire catalogue for ESPR — and every regulation that comes after it.