Amazon Transparency vs Brand Registry: What's the Difference?
By Todd Welch, founder of T-Code Manager. Published October 13, 2026.
Brand Registry is Amazon's free program for brand owners. It gives you tools to protect and manage your brand on Amazon. Transparency is a separate program built around a unique code on every unit, and you need Brand Registry to join it.
So it's not really Transparency or Brand Registry. Brand Registry comes first. The real question is whether you also need Transparency.
The short version
- Brand Registry protects your brand at the listing level. It helps you find and report problems, and it gives you more control over your product pages.
- Transparency protects your product at the unit level. Every unit carries a code, and units without a valid one fail Amazon's check before they reach a customer.
Side by side
As of October 2026, here's how Amazon describes the two programs on its Brand Registry and Transparency pages:
| Brand Registry | Transparency | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A program to protect and grow your brand on Amazon | A product serialization program with a unique code on every unit |
| Cost | Free | No enrollment or subscription fee. You pay per code: $0.05 each for the first 1,000,000 a year, less after that |
| Trademark | An active, registered trademark, or in some cases a pending application | An active, registered trademark |
| Other requirements | Your brand name or logo permanently on your product or packaging. You must be the trademark owner | A Brand Registry account with the rights owner role, a GTIN for each enrolled product and the ability to code every unit you make |
| What it protects | Your brand and listings | Each individual unit |
| How it works | You report violations, and Amazon's automated protections learn from accurate reports | Amazon checks codes at FBA receiving and at FBM order confirmation |
| Work for you | Monitoring and reporting | Putting a code on every unit and tracking which codes are used |
| Where it applies | You don't have to sell in the Amazon store to use it | You must be able to code every unit you make, wherever it's sold. Amazon checks codes in its supported stores |
What Brand Registry gives you
Amazon lists these tools and benefits for enrolled brands:
- Report a Violation: one place to report intellectual property infringement and policy problems.
- Automated protections: Amazon uses accurate reports to block violations automatically.
- Project Zero: lets brands remove listings directly.
- Transparency: product authentication, as one of the benefits available to Brand Registry brands.
- Listing accuracy: more control over your brand's product information.
Most of these act on listings. Someone spots a problem, and the tools help you get it fixed. That's valuable, but it starts after the problem exists.
What Transparency adds
Transparency works on units, before they ship.
- Counterfeits are stopped at the unit. A counterfeit unit doesn't have a valid code, so it fails the check. Amazon investigates failed checks and notifies the brand.
- Listings need valid codes. Amazon says fully protected products can't be listed without matching valid codes.
- Wrong versions get caught. Amazon says the checks can catch materially different products, including differences in materials, compatibility, color, language or regulatory compliance.
- Customers can check for themselves. Customers can scan an Amazon-issued code with the Amazon Shopping app or the Transparency app.
- You get a report. The performance report shows blocked units, mismatched scans, rejected listings and suspected counterfeit notices.
That's the real difference. The check happens on every unit, whether or not anyone has noticed a problem yet.
The trade-off
Brand Registry is free and asks very little of your operation once you're enrolled.
Transparency asks a lot. Amazon asks that you be able to code every unit you make, no matter where it's sold, and every unit you sell through Amazon needs a valid code. Someone has to order codes, get them onto units, avoid duplicates, reorder before running out and, for FBM, report codes on every order. Protection only switches on after you pass an operational performance review, which checks that you can actually do all of that.
The code fee is small. The ongoing operational work is the real cost. See what Transparency codes cost for the full budget.
Do you need Transparency?
You need Brand Registry before you can even ask. After that, Transparency is worth a serious look if:
- Counterfeits of your product are showing up, or you've had customer complaints about fakes
- Other sellers keep jumping on your listings with product you can't trace
- Customers get the wrong version of your product, like an older model or a different region's packaging
- Your product is easy to copy and sells well enough to be worth copying
- You can get codes on every unit, either at the factory, at a co-packer or in your own warehouse
It's probably not worth it yet if counterfeits aren't a problem, your volume is small and nobody else is selling your product.
Moving from Brand Registry to Transparency
If you're already in Brand Registry, you're most of the way to eligibility. You'll need a registered trademark (not pending), a GTIN for each product you want to enroll and a plan for coding every unit. The full process is in how to enroll in Amazon Transparency, and what Amazon Transparency codes are covers how the codes themselves work.
Where T-Code Manager fits
Brand Registry doesn't need software from us. Transparency's daily work does. T-Code Manager stores your codes, prints labels on scan, hands out one code per unit on FBM orders and warns you before any product runs low. Each code is marked used the moment it goes out, and every print job and dispense is logged.
Start a free 14-day trial. No credit card required. Or see plans and pricing.