Vendors.ie Report, GDPR Anniversary Edition
Irish SaaS Sovereignty Report 2026
Eight years on from GDPR, where does the business software Irish SMEs use actually store its data? This report audits 113 verified vendors in the Vendors.ie dataset against the one field that decides whether a transfer to the United States needs supplementary safeguards under Article 44 and the Schrems II ruling: declared GDPR data residency.
The headline finding sits in the AI category. 5 of the 6 AI tools we track for Irish SMEs do not guarantee EU-only data residency (83%). Only Microsoft Copilot offers EU-region processing as the default. Across the full dataset, 52 of 113 vendors (46%) either route data through the US or do not commit to EU-only storage.
Why residency status matters under GDPR
Article 44 of the GDPR requires that any transfer of personal data to a third country - the United States, in practice, for most SaaS vendors - rests on an adequacy decision, appropriate safeguards, or a derogation. The Court of Justice of the European Union struck down the EU-US Privacy Shield in the 2020 Schrems II ruling and required data exporters to verify that supplementary measures cover US surveillance powers. The EU-US Data Privacy Framework, adopted in July 2023, currently provides that adequacy basis for vendors that self-certify. The Framework remains under live legal challenge.
For an Irish SME selecting software, the practical question is simpler. Does the vendor commit to EU-only processing, or does customer data move to US data centres under that adequacy decision? The table below answers that for every vendor we track.
Residency by category
Counts per category across 113 verified vendors. A vendor that serves two categories is counted in each.
| Category | EU only | US only | Both regions | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting Software | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| AI Tools | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Bid Writing Software | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Business Banking | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| CRM Software | 8 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| Customer Support Software | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| dental-practice-management | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ecommerce Platforms | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| Email Marketing Software | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| ERP Software | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| eSignature Software | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Expense Management Software | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Field Service and Trades Software | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Fintech | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| HR Software | 7 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| Inventory Management Software | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Invoicing Software | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| legal-practice-management | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Payroll Software | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Point of Sale Software | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Project Management Software | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
Adjacent finding
Bid-writing software: zero EU-only options
The five AI-assisted bid-writing tools used by Irish suppliers responding to eTenders notices all process data outside the EU as default behaviour or as an unavoidable routing step. None of the five offers EU-only residency at the time of this verification. The underlying data is at /bid-writing-software-ireland.
Full vendor residency table
Every verified vendor with a declared GDPR data residency value. Filter by category, click a column header to sort, or use the residency chips to narrow the view.
Residency
| Irish hosting | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ActiveCampaign | Email Marketing Software | Both regions | No |
| Adobe Acrobat Sign | eSignature Software | Both regions | No |
| AIB Business | Business Banking | EU only | No |
| AIB Business Current Account | Business Banking | EU only | No |
| Airwallex | Fintech | EU only | No |
| Alkimii | HR Software | EU only | No |
| Arphie | Bid Writing Software | US only | Not stated |
| Asana | Project Management Software | Both regions | No |
| AutogenAI | Bid Writing Software | Both regions | Not stated |
| BambooHR | HR Software | Both regions | No |
| Bank of Ireland Business | Business Banking | EU only | No |
| Basecamp | Project Management Software | Both regions | No |
| Big Red Book Payroll | Payroll Software | EU only | No |
| Big Red Cloud | Accounting Software | EU only | No |
| BigCommerce | Ecommerce Platforms | Both regions | No |
| Bizimply | HR Software | EU only | No |
| Brevo | Email Marketing Software | EU only | No |
| BrightBooks | Accounting Software | EU only | No |
| BrightPay | Payroll Software | EU only | No |
| Bunq Business | Business Banking | EU only | No |
| Capsule CRM | CRM Software | EU only | No |
| ChatGPT Enterprise | AI Tools | Both regions | Not stated |
| Cin7 | Inventory Management Software | Both regions | No |
| Claude for Business | AI Tools | US only | No |
| ClickUp | Project Management Software | Both regions | No |
| Clio | CRM Software, Legal Practice Management | EU only | No |
| Collsoft Payroll | Payroll Software | EU only | No |
| Commusoft | Field Service and Trades Software | EU only | No |
| Coupa | ERP Software | EU only | No |
| DEAR Systems (Cin7 Core) | Inventory Management Software | Both regions | No |
| Dentally | CRM Software, Dental Practice Management | EU only | No |
| Dext | Expense Management Software | EU only | No |
| DocuSign | eSignature Software | Both regions | No |
| Dropbox Sign | eSignature Software | Both regions | No |
| Employment Hero | HR Software | Both regions | No |
| Expensify | Expense Management Software | US only | No |
| Fire Business Account | Business Banking | EU only | No |
| Freshdesk | Customer Support Software | Both regions | No |
| Freshsales | CRM Software | EU only | No |
| Gemini Business | AI Tools | Both regions | Not stated |
| Help Scout | Customer Support Software | US only | No |
| HiBob | HR Software | EU only | No |
| HRLocker | HR Software | EU only | No |
| HubSpot CRM | CRM Software | Both regions | No |
| HubSpot Marketing Hub | Email Marketing Software | Both regions | No |
| HubSpot Service Hub | Customer Support Software | Both regions | No |
| Intercom | Customer Support Software | Both regions | No |
| Invoice Ninja | Invoicing Software | Both regions | No |
| Jasper AI | AI Tools | US only | No |
| Jobber | Field Service and Trades Software | US only | No |
| Joblogic | Field Service and Trades Software | EU only | No |
| Klaviyo | Email Marketing Software | US only | No |
| Less Annoying CRM | CRM Software | US only | No |
| Lightspeed POS | Point of Sale Software | EU only | No |
| Loopio | Bid Writing Software | US only | Not stated |
| Mailchimp | Email Marketing Software | US only | No |
| MailerLite | Email Marketing Software | EU only | No |
| Microsoft Copilot | AI Tools | EU only | Yes |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central | ERP Software | EU only | No |
| Monday.com | Project Management Software | EU only | No |
| N26 Business | Business Banking | EU only | No |
| Notion AI | AI Tools | US only | No |
| Odoo | ERP Software | EU only | No |
| Oracle NetSuite | ERP Software | Both regions | No |
| PandaDoc | eSignature Software | US only | No |
| Payhawk | Expense Management Software | EU only | No |
| Payroller | Payroll Software | EU only | No |
| Personio | HR Software | EU only | No |
| Phorest | Point of Sale Software | EU only | No |
| Pipedrive | CRM Software | EU only | No |
| Pleo | Fintech | EU only | No |
| Priority Software | ERP Software | EU only | No |
| QuickBooks Online | Accounting Software | Both regions | No |
| QuickBooks Payroll | Payroll Software | Both regions | No |
| Qvidian | Bid Writing Software | US only | Not stated |
| ResDiary | CRM Software, Point of Sale Software | EU only | No |
| Responsive | Bid Writing Software | Both regions | Not stated |
| Revolut Business | Fintech, Invoicing Software | EU only | No |
| Revolut Business Expenses | Expense Management Software | EU only | No |
| Sage | Accounting Software, Invoicing Software | EU only | No |
| Sage AutoEntry | Expense Management Software | EU only | No |
| Sage HR | HR Software | EU only | No |
| Sage Payroll (Ireland) | Payroll Software | EU only | No |
| Salesflare | CRM Software | EU only | No |
| Salesforce | CRM Software | Both regions | No |
| SAP Business One | ERP Software | EU only | No |
| SAP Concur | Expense Management Software | Both regions | No |
| ServiceM8 | Field Service and Trades Software | US only | No |
| Shopify | Ecommerce Platforms | Both regions | No |
| Shopify POS | Point of Sale Software | Both regions | No |
| SignWell | eSignature Software | US only | No |
| Simpro | Field Service and Trades Software | Both regions | No |
| Soldo | Fintech | EU only | No |
| Spendesk | Expense Management Software | EU only | No |
| Square POS | Point of Sale Software | Both regions | No |
| Squarespace | Ecommerce Platforms | Both regions | No |
| Stripe | Business Banking, Ecommerce Platforms | EU only | No |
| Stripe Invoicing | Invoicing Software, Ecommerce Platforms | EU only | No |
| SumUp POS | Point of Sale Software | EU only | No |
| Surf Payroll (now BrightPay) | Payroll Software | EU only | No |
| Thesaurus Payroll Manager | Payroll Software | EU only | No |
| Tidio | Customer Support Software | EU only | No |
| Tradify | Field Service and Trades Software | Both regions | No |
| Trello | Project Management Software | Both regions | No |
| Unleashed | Inventory Management Software | Both regions | No |
| Wise Business | Fintech | EU only | No |
| WooCommerce | Ecommerce Platforms | Both regions | No |
| Workvivo | HR Software | EU only | No |
| Xero | Accounting Software | EU only | No |
| Zendesk | Customer Support Software | Both regions | No |
| Zoho CRM | CRM Software | EU only | No |
| Zoho Inventory | Inventory Management Software | EU only | No |
| Zoho Invoice | Invoicing Software | EU only | No |
Residency values are pulled from the vendor's public Data Processing Addendum, sub-processor list, or trust centre. Last verified 25 May 2026. Verify your specific configuration with the vendor before signing a Data Processing Agreement.
Methodology
Each vendor we track is classified as EU residency (data stored in EU data centres), US residency (data stored in US data centres), or Both (the vendor offers a regional choice, defaults vary by plan). We source the classification from each vendor's published Data Processing Addendum, sub-processor list, or trust centre, then verify it manually each month. Vendors that have not declared a residency position are excluded; 113 vendors qualified for this report.
The AI-tools headline covers only the 6 vendors in our AI tools category. Bid-writing software is reported separately. A vendor that fits two categories is counted in each, so per-category totals add up to more than 113. The headline percentage covers AI tools only.
"Do not guarantee EU-only data residency" covers the US and Both groups together. A vendor in the Both group may route EU customer data to EU data centres by default, but the routing is not contractually exclusive to the EU. Under Schrems II, you still need to run a supplementary-measures analysis before relying on it for personal data.
Sources
- General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Article 44 General principle for transfers of personal data to third countries.
- CJEU Schrems II ruling, Case C-311/18, 16 July 2020 Struck down EU-US Privacy Shield. Established the supplementary-measures requirement for US transfers.
- EU-US Data Privacy Framework adequacy decision, July 2023 Current adequacy basis for US transfers under GDPR Chapter V. Under live legal challenge.
- Data Protection Commission, "Data transfers" Irish supervisory authority guidance on third-country transfers.
- Vendors.ie machine-readable dataset: /dataset.json (CC BY 4.0).