What changed on 1 April 2026
The threshold below which a French public buyer may award a contract without publication or competitive tender was raised to €60,000 excl. VAT (article R2122-8 of the public procurement code). Below it, a purchase order is enough. The rule exists so that small purchases do not cost more in procedure than in supply, and a participation platform, a property register or a partner portal, bought as a subscription, sits comfortably under it.
The threshold applies to the whole contract, not to a year of it. A subscription of €2,400 a month over 24 months is €57,600: under. The same subscription over 36 months is not. That is why our public-sector quotes are written for 24 months, with the renewal as a new decision and a new order.
What the rule still asks of you
No tender does not mean no rules. The buyer remains bound to choose a relevant offer, to make good use of public money, and not to contract systematically with the same supplier when others could meet the need. In practice that means a written trace: what was needed, what was looked at, why this offer. A detailed quote does most of that work if it is written for it.
It also means the buyer must not split a need to stay under the threshold. Two modules of the same platform bought as two orders to stay under twice is the textbook case of what the rule forbids. One need, one order, which is why Agora's modules are priced so that the ones you need fit under the threshold together.
What a quote should contain
A quote that lets the buyer meet their obligations names the need in the buyer's words, lists what is delivered and what is not, states the price for the whole duration, and says what happens at the end: what data comes back, in what form, and how long the supplier keeps a copy. It names the hosting location and the sub-processors. It says who to call.
Our quotes also carry the answers to the questions a security or data-protection officer will ask afterwards, one instance per client, data in France, SQL and media returned at the end, a named person for every access, so that the order does not stall on a questionnaire nobody sent.
What it does not solve
The threshold does not remove the accessibility obligation, the data-protection obligation or the need to actually operate what is bought. A platform under €60,000 that nobody in the organisation is named to run will be as unused as one bought through a full tender. The cheapest procedure buys a tool; it does not buy the decision to use it.
It also does not replace the tender for what is genuinely large. When a need exceeds the threshold, we say so, and we help write the specification if asked, including the markers that tell whether the project will go well.