Spid with Posteid could cost 5 euros a year: that’s why and what would change in the sector

The introduction of an annual fee of 5 euros for the users of Posteid enabled to Spid, the digital identity provided by Poste Italiane, is a hypothesis that is becoming increasingly concrete and that, according to what was said by Chorcomcould soon become reality after years of gratuity. Poste Italiane would not be the first provider to become paid: the most recent example is Infocert, which introduced a fee in July 2025. If Posteid also became paid, however, the consequences would be remarkable, given that 72% of the SpID identities in Italy depends on this provider: we are talking about 28.7 million users. The consequences would not be limited to users only, but would fit into a wider revision process that concerns the balance between Spid and CIE (Electronic Identity Card), with the prospect that in the future it is the latter to represent the central pivot of the Italian digital identity, together with it-wallets.

Because Posteid could become paid and what scenarios await us

The central node of the entire story is not so much in the 5 euros per year that Posteid users could be called to pay in the coming months but in the overcoming of a principle that had so far held the system: the gratuity guaranteed by at least a great supplier. If this barrier falls, the Spid in fact could change nature, becoming an increasingly universal service and increasingly conditioned by the ability to support their costs, just as the government is accelerating on the spread of the CIE (Electronic Identity Card) and the IT-WALLET as the future of the concept of digital identity in Italy.

To better understand how we have come to this situation, we must look at the sequence of moves that, in the last two years, have changed the geography of the sector. The first operator to break the taboo of gratuity was Aruba, introducing an annual fee of 4.90 euros + VAT. A few months later, Infocert also announced a cost of 5.98 euros including VAT, with a precise rule: the renewal is not automatic and serves the explicit consent of the user, otherwise the credentials are suspended for two months and then deactivated. More recently, Register has further raised the bar setting an annual rate of 9.90 euros. In all cases, the justification provided was more or less the same: maintaining millions of active digital identities requires significant expenses side of computer security, maintenance and assistance, expenses that are no longer sustainable without public funding.

To make the picture more fragile there was also the problem of conventions with the state. Contracts between Spid’s managers and agid (Agency for digital Italy) expired at the end of 2022 and extended only until April 2023. In the meantime, the contribution provided for by the PNRR – equal to 40 million euros – has only arrived in March 2025, leaving the providers at the most total uncertainty for over two years. Here the companies have decided to move independently, adopting the paid model. And when the funds finally arrived, they clarified that they would not have taken steps back: the free system was not (and is not) more considered sustainable.

The moment we are writing this article, the Posteid of Posteid Italiana is still free and, in fact, allows anyone who wants to use the Spid for free, without annual canons. If even placed a fee, the situation would change radically and this could lead some to contact the “minor” certifiers that still offer the Spid for free (see our comparative table at the bottom of the article), but could push many others to marry the CIE as a preferable alternative, since it represents a solution under public governance and with clear costs (for the record it costs 16.79 euros in addition to any fixed and secretarial rights, provided for by their municipality).

The government, on the other hand, has never hidden its long -term strategy. The stated goal is to progressively reduce dependence on the spid and convey digital services on CIE and IT-Wallet. The numbers show that the road is already traced: in just one year it has gone from 5.5 million cie (May 2024) to 7.3 million (May 2025), with continuous growth which should bring 70% of Italians by 2026 to have a digital identity based on CIE.

How much the spid costs: the comparative table and free providers

Below we provide you with an overview of how much the spid costs. In the table we refer only to the annual fee possibly provided for by certifying bodies and not to the costs to be incurred for the different methods of registration and authentication. In addition, we have only compared the services aimed at private citizens and not those designed for professionals and companies.