SOC 2 compliance software: what these tools do, and whether you need one.
Four questions. You get a straight read on what these platforms actually do, whether one is worth paying for at your size, and the three things to do first.
to the same nine points
no call, no demo
written the same way
Start at the beginning
What GRC software is, what it automates, and the words people will use at you on a demo call.
What is GRC software →Work out what you need
SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA. Which one is being asked for, and whether it is a customer request or a legal duty.
Which framework →Read the profiles
Vanta, Drata, Secureframe and Sprinto. One page each, same structure, so they are comparable.
Start with Vanta →You are earlier in this than the vendors assume
Every compliance platform's website is written for somebody who has already decided to buy one. If that is not you yet, start here instead. These four pages answer the questions that come before a shortlist.
- 01
Who is actually asking, and for what?
SOC 2 is usually a customer's procurement questionnaire, not a law. HIPAA is a legal duty tied to handling health data. The two situations need completely different responses.
- 02
What does this software do?
It connects to the systems you already run, checks them on a schedule, chases people who have not signed things, and hands the result to an auditor.
- 03
What is automated and what is not?
Evidence collection is automated and it works. Judgement is not, and human follow-through is not. That split is why implementations stall.
- 04
Which one suits a company like mine?
Four platforms, four profiles, same nine attributes on each. Read two and the category stops being a blur.
The four names you will hear first
Same structure on every page: a short answer, an at a glance record, what it does, who it suits, who it does not, how it works, and the questions people ask about it.
Vanta
The category's premium baseline. The widest integration library and the trust page enterprise buyers recognise on sight.
Founded 2018
Integrations 400+
Onboarding self serve
Drata
The structured one. A prescriptive control framework and a CSM whose job is knowing where you are stuck.
Founded 2020
Integrations ~200
Onboarding guided, CSM led
Secureframe
The cost conscious pick, and the one with an auditor for an owner. Thoropass has owned it since 2024.
Owner Thoropass, 2024
Integrations ~200
Onboarding assisted
Sprinto
The aggressive entry point, built around step by step guidance for teams who have never done this before.
Onboarding step by step
Auditor portal none
Support primarily India
Ten reasons people land here
Most people arrive with a situation, not a shortlist. Pick the one that sounds like your week and start there instead of at a product page.
Which standard is being asked for
Nine frameworks, one page each. What it is, who asks for it, what it takes, and whether you can run it alongside something you already have.
The answer changes with your size
First framework, first time
One customer is asking, nobody has done this before, and the budget has to cover an audit as well as software. The most common mistake here is buying the platform first.
Start with the basics →25 to 250Scaling, and a second framework coming
SOC 2 is done or nearly done, European buyers are asking about ISO 27001, and headcount growth is quietly moving you up a pricing tier. Cross mapping starts to matter.
Compare the platforms →250 and upSeveral frameworks, a real programme
Multiple frameworks, custom controls, an auditor relationship worth protecting, and a control set that has outgrown anything prescriptive. Usually a people problem now.
Talk it through →Which one suits a company like yours
Six situations people are usually in when they land here. Filled means a strong fit, half means workable, empty means look elsewhere.
| Your situation | Vanta | Drata | Secureframe | Sprinto |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| This is your first SOC 2 | look elsewhere | strong fit | workable | strong fit |
| Nobody internally owns compliance | look elsewhere | strong fit | workable | strong fit |
| More than one framework is coming | strong fit | workable | workable | look elsewhere |
| Unusual stack, long integration list | strong fit | workable | look elsewhere | look elsewhere |
| Budget is the binding constraint | look elsewhere | workable | strong fit | strong fit |
| Enterprise buyers are reviewing you | strong fit | workable | workable | look elsewhere |
Software does not set your date. The evidence window does.
This is the single most expensive misunderstanding in a first compliance project. A Type 2 report covers a period of operating evidence, so the clock starts when your controls are working and it cannot be shortened by spending more.
What all four of them do
Every one of these products does the same four jobs. They differ in how well, how prescriptively, and for whom.
Connects to your systems
AWS, GitHub, Google Workspace, Okta, your HR system. Read only, through an API. This is what people mean by integrations, and the count runs from about 200 to over 400 depending on the vendor.
Checks them on a schedule
Is MFA on for everyone. Is that storage bucket public. Did the person who left in March lose their access. The platform checks hourly or daily and records the answer with a timestamp.
Chases the humans
Policies that need signing, security training nobody finished, laptops missing disk encryption. Unglamorous, and most of the actual value.
Hands a package to the auditor
At audit time the evidence is already collected, dated and filed against the control it supports, instead of living in screenshots in a shared drive.
Roughly the same amount of human work happens with or without a platform. What it removes is the gathering and the chasing. What it does not remove is deciding what your controls are, making them true, and owning the project until it finishes. More on that split →
Do you need one of these yet?
Probably yes, if
- A customer has put a SOC 2 report in front of a signature
- You are past roughly 25 people
- A second framework is likely within a year
- Security questionnaires are already eating your sales cycle
- Somebody internally will own the project by name
Probably not yet, if
- Nobody has actually asked you for a report
- You are under 25 people with one framework
- No one internally is going to own it
- The budget covers the platform but not the audit
- You are buying it because a competitor has one