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Product identifiers

GTIN vs UPC vs EAN: which barcode do you need?

GTIN, UPC and EAN are not three competing systems. GTIN is the family name, and UPC and EAN are two members of it with a different length and a different home region. This guide compares them side by side, explains the check digit, tells you which one to get, and shows what Amazon, bol.com and Google Shopping expect.

Diego Nijboer · WISEPIMLast updated:

Short answer

GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is the GS1 standard for product identifiers. A UPC is a 12-digit GTIN (GTIN-12) used mainly in the US and Canada. An EAN is a 13-digit GTIN (GTIN-13) used in Europe and most other countries. Both come from GS1, end in the same kind of check digit and are accepted by retail scanners worldwide; a UPC becomes a valid EAN-13 by adding a leading zero. Get your codes from the GS1 organization in the country where your company is based.

GTIN, UPC and EAN compared

Every code in this table is a GTIN. The number after GTIN is simply the number of digits. Databases and marketplaces often store all of them as 14 digits by padding zeros on the left, which is why a UPC, its EAN-13 form and its GTIN-14 form point to the same product.

CodeDigitsWhere it is usedIssued byBarcode
UPC (GTIN-12)12US and CanadaGS1 US, GS1 CanadaUPC-A
UPC-E8 (compressed GTIN-12)Small packages in the US and CanadaGS1 USUPC-E
EAN (GTIN-13)13Europe and most other countriesNational GS1 organizations, such as GS1 NederlandEAN-13
EAN-8 (GTIN-8)8Very small packages outside North AmericaNational GS1 organizations, on requestEAN-8
GTIN-1414Cases and cartons in logistics, not single consumer unitsBuilt from the GTIN of the unit insideITF-14 or GS1-128
ISBN-13 and JAN13Books worldwide (prefix 978 or 979) and products in JapanISBN agencies, GS1 JapanEAN-13

UPC vs EAN: the real difference

A UPC has 12 digits and an EAN has 13. The EAN's extra digit sits at the front and widens the number range for the rest of the world. Put a zero in front of a UPC and you have a valid EAN-13 with the same check digit, so the two are interchangeable in most systems.

Retail scanners in North America have read EAN-13 barcodes since 2005, and scanners elsewhere have long read UPC. So the old advice to buy UPCs for the US and EANs for Europe no longer holds for the barcode itself. What matters is the GS1 company prefix inside the number: it shows which GS1 organization licensed it, not where the product was made, and it must be licensed to the brand on the product.

How the check digit works

The last digit of every GTIN is a check digit, calculated from the others with the GS1 modulo 10 method. Starting from the digit next to the check digit and moving left, multiply the digits alternately by 3 and 1, add everything up, and the check digit is the amount needed to reach the next multiple of 10.

Take the EAN-13 4006381333931. The first twelve digits weighted 1, 3, 1, 3 from the left give 4 + 0 + 0 + 18 + 3 + 24 + 1 + 9 + 3 + 9 + 9 + 9 = 89. The next multiple of 10 is 90, so the check digit is 1. One wrong or swapped digit almost always breaks this sum, which is how scanners and marketplaces catch typos.

A correct check digit only proves the number is well formed. It does not prove the code is licensed to your brand or registered with GS1; for that, look the code up in GS1's own Verified by GS1 service.

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Which code do you need?

If you are the brand owner, license a GS1 company prefix from the GS1 organization in the country where your company is based. A US company gets 12-digit UPCs from GS1 US; a Dutch company gets 13-digit EANs from GS1 Nederland. Either works in shops and marketplaces worldwide.

If you resell another brand's products, you do not create codes. Use the GTIN the manufacturer printed on the product and copy it exactly, leading zeros included.

  • One GTIN per sellable variant: every size, color and pack size needs its own code.
  • A new GTIN when the product changes in a way a shopper would notice, following GS1's GTIN management rules.
  • No codes from cheap resellers: marketplaces compare GTINs with GS1 data and remove listings whose code belongs to another company.
  • A GTIN-14 for a case or carton you ship to a retailer, never for the consumer unit itself.

What Amazon, bol.com and Google ask

Each channel accepts GTINs, but they differ in which lengths they take, what happens when a product has none, and how strictly they check ownership.

ChannelAccepted codesWithout a GTINWatch out for
AmazonUPC, EAN, JAN, ISBN and GTIN-14 as the product IDBrand owners can apply for a GTIN exemptionAmazon checks product IDs against GS1 data; a code licensed to another company can get the listing removed
bol.comEAN-13 or EAN-8; a UPC with a leading zero is an EAN-13Not possible: every product needs an EAN, and bol.com has no exemptionEach variant needs its own EAN, and offers attach to the product page with the same EAN
Google ShoppingUPC, EAN, JAN, ISBN-13 and ITF-14 in the gtin attributeSend brand and mpn instead, only for products with no manufacturer GTINMerchant Center flags incorrect, invalid and restricted GTINs; never make one up

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Common GTIN mistakes in product data

Most GTIN problems are not about the code you bought but about what happens to it in spreadsheets and exports. A GTIN is an identifier, not a number, and tools that treat it as a number damage it.

  • Leading zeros dropped because a spreadsheet stored the column as a number, turning a 13-digit EAN into 12 digits.
  • Codes shown as 4.00638E+12 in Excel, then saved that way to CSV.
  • The same GTIN on several variants, so a marketplace merges different sizes into one product.
  • A supplier's GTIN reused for your own-brand or repackaged version of the product.
  • The same product stored once as a UPC and once as an EAN-13, which looks like two different products in your catalog.

Sources

Vendor documentation we read for this guide, as of October 2026. Features and names change, so check the current documentation before you decide.

Frequently asked questions

A UPC is one kind of GTIN: a GTIN-12, with 12 digits. GTIN is the umbrella term for all GS1 product identifiers, including EAN-13 (GTIN-13), EAN-8 (GTIN-8) and GTIN-14.

A UPC has 12 digits and is issued mainly in the US and Canada. An EAN has 13 digits and is issued in Europe and most other countries. Both are GTINs from GS1, and a UPC with a zero in front is a valid EAN-13.

Yes. Retail scanners in North America have read EAN-13 since 2005, and scanners elsewhere read UPC. Marketplaces such as Amazon and Google Shopping accept both. Get your codes from the GS1 organization in the country where your company is based.

Add a zero in front of the 12-digit UPC. The result is a valid 13-digit EAN with the same check digit, and it identifies the same product.

No. Every product on bol.com needs a valid EAN, each variant needs its own, and bol.com has no GTIN exemption like Amazon's.

Check the length (8, 12, 13 or 14 digits) and the check digit, for example with the free WISEPIM EAN and GTIN validator. To see whether the code is registered to a brand, look it up in Verified by GS1.

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