STARTUPS · SOC 2 · PUBLISHED PRICES
SOC 2 compliance software for startups closing their first enterprise deal
Map the SOC 2 criteria to controls, collect evidence on a schedule and see your readiness score the day you sign up, at a price a seed-stage budget can read before any call.
From $47/mo · Prices published · No sales call · Monthly billing
Audit readiness
0 %
Built for teams of 5 to 200
What SOC 2 compliance software does for a startup
SOC 2 compliance software for a startup turns the audit into a checklist with owners and dates: it lists the controls an auditor will test, attaches the evidence for each one, drafts and tracks the policies, and shows a readiness score so you know how far you are from a Type 1 or Type 2 report. The buyer is usually a founder or first security hire whose enterprise prospect has put a SOC 2 report into the security review.
A startup has three constraints a larger company does not. The deal is waiting, so time matters more than polish. Nobody on the team does compliance full time. And the budget is small enough that a five-figure annual contract has to be justified against the deal it unlocks.
Complies is priced for that. Starter is $47 a month billed yearly for one framework and three seats, which covers a first SOC 2 for a small team. Growth is $119 a month billed yearly and adds all five frameworks cross-mapped, evidence collection, a risk register and user access reviews for 15 seats. Scale is $299 a month. Monthly billing is available at $95, $239 and $599.
The honest limit: Complies does not include an auditor, a managed audit service or a large catalog of pre-built integrations. You hire a licensed CPA firm for the audit itself, and some evidence is uploaded rather than pulled automatically. If you want a bundled auditor and hundreds of connectors, the larger platforms below fit better, at a higher price.
Complies assists with compliance workflows. It is not legal advice, and it does not certify you or guarantee audit outcomes. Your auditor decides; Complies gets you ready.
What a startup has to be able to show an auditor
Controls mapped to the trust services criteria
Security is mandatory in every SOC 2 report. Availability, confidentiality, processing integrity and privacy are optional and chosen by what your customers ask for. Each criterion needs controls with an owner, and the mapping is what tells you what to build first.
control mappingEvidence that exists on the dates the auditor samples
A Type 2 report covers an observation window, and the auditor samples events inside it: access reviews, onboarding records, policy acknowledgements, change approvals. Evidence requests with a due date and an owner are what keep those samples from going missing.
evidence collectionPolicies the team has actually acknowledged
An auditor will ask for the policy set and proof that staff read the current version. Drafted starting points, a named approver, version history and acknowledgement records cover that without a week of document wrangling.
policy managementType 1 or Type 2 for a startup
Most startups do not pick the report by preference. They pick it by what the prospect will accept and how fast the deal moves. Here is how the two compare in practice.
| Question | SOC 2 Type 1 | SOC 2 Type 2 | What Complies does |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the auditor tests | Whether controls are designed correctly on one date | Whether controls operated effectively across an observation window | Tracks controls, owners and gaps for either report |
| How long it takes | Weeks once the controls exist | Months, because the window has to elapse before the report | Shows a readiness score so you can give the prospect a date |
| What buyers think of it | Accepted by some prospects as a stopgap | The report most enterprise security teams actually ask for | Same workspace carries you from one to the other |
| What software helps with | Controls, policies, readiness gaps | All of that plus recurring evidence and reminders across the window | Evidence requests with owners and due dates |
| Common startup path | Type 1 first to unblock a deal, if the prospect allows it | Type 2 next, starting the observation window as early as possible | Exports the audit pack for your CPA firm |
Ask the prospect which report they will accept before you commit. Some will take a Type 1 plus a dated plan for Type 2, others will not, and that answer decides your schedule. If you are weighing the larger automation platforms against a smaller tool, see the detailed comparison on Vanta alternatives, Drata alternatives and Secureframe alternatives.
SOC 2 compliance software for startups compared by published price
Most SOC 2 platforms are quote-led. The table shows what each vendor publishes on its own site, read in September and October 2026, plus a Vendr benchmark where one exists. Where nothing is published it says so. None of these figures include the auditor, whose fee is separate.
| Platform | What it is | Published pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complies | Compliance management platform for 5 to 200 person teams | Starter $47 a month, Growth $119, Scale $299, billed yearly. Monthly $95, $239, $599 | Startups that want a readable price and the same-day start |
| Secureframe | Compliance automation with guided frameworks | Fundamentals starting at $7,000 a year for one framework. Higher tiers not published | Funded startups that want a guided rollout and broad integrations |
| Hicomply | ISO 27001 and SOC 2 platform from the UK | Essentials $6,995 a year, Professional $13,995 a year, with a 10% renewal uplift | Teams that want published annual tiers |
| Sprinto | Compliance automation aimed at fast growing SaaS | No figures. Vendr median around $15,000 a year, February 2026 | SaaS teams that want a sales-led SOC 2 rollout |
| Vanta | Market leading compliance automation platform | No figures. Vendr median around $20,000 a year across 372 purchases, February 2026 | Funded startups with a security hire and the widest integration catalog |
| Drata | Compliance automation with continuous monitoring | No figures. Vendr median $24,868 a year, from $9,649 to $60,000, February 2026 | Teams that want deep automation and can budget for it |
Vendr medians come from a company that brokers real software contracts. They are budgeting anchors, not quotes. Every other figure was read off the vendor's own page. Re-check before you build a business case.
What a startup gets without a compliance hire
A readiness score from day one
See which criteria have controls, which have evidence and what is overdue, so the founder can answer a prospect with a date instead of a guess.
Evidence requests with owners and dates
Each control carries an evidence request that fires before it is due, which is what keeps a Type 2 window from developing gaps.
Policies drafted, approved and acknowledged
AI-drafted starting points, a named approver, version history and acknowledgement records for the whole team.
Access reviews and vendor reviews included from Growth
The two controls auditors sample most often live next to the rest of your program, with a decision recorded on every account and vendor.
A second framework without doubling the work
When the next prospect asks for ISO 27001, controls already mapped count toward it, so the second certificate is mostly the delta.
An audit pack your CPA firm can use
Policies, evidence and control status export in one pack, so the audit starts from a clean file.
Getting ready for a first SOC 2 in four steps
Confirm scope with the prospect
Ask which report and which criteria they need. Security alone is enough for most first requests.
Load controls, owners and policies
Map the criteria to controls, name an owner for each and approve the policy set.
Start collecting evidence
Assign evidence requests and let reminders run. If you are heading for Type 2, the earlier the window opens, the earlier the report lands.
Hand the pack to your auditor
Export policies, evidence and control status for the CPA firm and close the gaps the readiness score flagged.
Who this is for, and who it is not
A GOOD FIT WHEN
- An enterprise prospect has put a SOC 2 report into their security review.
- You have no full-time compliance person and the founder or an engineer is doing this on the side.
- You want to see the price before a sales call.
- You expect ISO 27001 or HIPAA to follow and want the work mapped once.
- You want controls, evidence, policies and vendor reviews in one system.
LOOK ELSEWHERE WHEN
- You want the auditor bundled into the contract.
- You need a managed service that runs the program for you.
- You need hundreds of pre-built integrations pulling evidence automatically.
- You need a FedRAMP environment or CMMC support.
Questions startups ask about SOC 2 compliance software
It depends on budget and team. For a small team that wants a published price and a same-day start, Complies is built for it. For a funded startup with a security hire that wants hundreds of integrations, Vanta, Drata or Secureframe offer more automation at a much higher price.
Complies lists $47, $119 and $299 a month billed yearly. Secureframe starts at $7,000 a year, Hicomply Essentials is $6,995 a year, and Vendr medians for Vanta and Drata run about $20,000 and $24,868 a year. The auditor is a separate cost.
Yes. A small team with one framework can use spreadsheets and shared folders. It gets painful when a Type 2 window needs recurring evidence, or when a second framework arrives, which is when software starts paying for itself.
No. Complies does not include an auditor. SOC 2 reports are issued by a licensed CPA firm that you hire separately. The software prepares the controls, evidence and policies the auditor will test.
Ask your prospect. Many enterprise security teams want Type 2, but some accept a Type 1 plus a dated plan. Type 1 is faster. Type 2 needs an observation window that has to elapse, so starting evidence collection early shortens the wait.
You can sign up and see a readiness score the same day. The audit timeline depends on your controls, your auditor and, for Type 2, the length of the observation window. Software removes the scramble, not the calendar.
Yes. Complies bills monthly at $95, $239 and $599, or yearly at roughly half that rate. Many competitors sell annual contracts only.
No tool certifies you. Your auditor issues the report. Software keeps controls tied to evidence and shows gaps early, which makes a clean report more likely.
Frameworks and guides
SOC 2 compliance software
ISO 27001ISO 27001 compliance software
SOC 2SOC 2 Audit Cost in 2026 With a Real Price Breakdown
SOC 2SOC 2 Type 1 vs Type 2 Costs and Which to Do First
BUYERSCompliance Software for Startups and 6 Best Tools
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Prices published, $47 to $299 a month. Monthly billing. Start today, no sales call.