Methodology
In mid-2025, 1EdTech and Credential Engine jointly conducted a survey of badge platform providers to assess:
- The number of badges available and awarded;
- Adoption and implementation of digital credential standards: Open Badges 3.0, Comprehensive Learner Record Standard™ (CLR Standard®);
- Emerging trends and challenges in the badging landscape.
Contacts at 97 known badge platform providers that support Open Badges were invited to participate in this initiative. The survey included both quantitative and qualitative questions about badges available for earning, the number awarded, adoption of standards, and open-ended perspectives on trends and needs.
Respondents
Of the 97 badge platform providers invited, 24 responded to the survey, yielding a 25% response rate. Respondents included: Accredible, CertifyMe, D2L, Digital Knowledge, Digital Promise, EBSCO, eLumen, Give My Certificate, Idaho Division of Career Technical Education (SkillStack), idcert, Instructure, Level Data, Open Badge Factory, OYOclass, Participate, Pearson, Procertif, Proof of Knowledge, Schoolinks, Sertifier, Skybridge Skills, Territorium, Trebol-IT, and Virtualbadge.io.
Respondents represent a diverse set of organizations headquartered across 10 countries: Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Turkey, and the United States.
Terminology
To avoid confusion, the following distinctions apply:
Badge Platform Providers
Survey respondents who provide badging technology platforms.
Issuers
Organizations (e.g., high schools, colleges, universities, certification bodies, licensing boards, etc.) that use those platforms to issue badges.
Earners
Individuals who are awarded badges.
Data Considerations
Note: Comparative trends across different years of the Badge Count survey reports should be interpreted cautiously, considering changes in response rates, participation by badge platform providers, and shifts in overall market share.
All data were self-reported and not independently verified.
Reported totals may include duplication if the same issuers use multiple badge platforms or if badges are offered through more than one system.
Survey questions have evolved slightly across different years of the survey to reflect updates in standards and terminology. In addition, more badge platform providers have been identified for inclusion in the Badge Count survey over time. This increase may represent both growth in the number of badge platform providers in the market and higher engagement with 1EdTech Consortium and Credential Engine. These factors collectively influence the representativeness and comparability of badge data across the different years of the Badge Count survey reports.