Drata alternative: what a small team actually pays

Every SOC 2 quote is two bills

One bill is for software and the other is for an audit. They come from different kinds of company, they are priced in different ways, and a quote that merges them tells you very little about either one. Pull them apart first, because everything else on this page depends on that split.

Bill one: the platform

Policies, control tracking, evidence collection and the package you hand the auditor. This is what Drata sells, and what we sell. It is also the part of the spend you have the most control over.

Bill two: the examination

A licensed CPA firm tests your controls and issues the report.¹ No software company can do this part, on any plan.

Drata, on the record

We only state what can be checked. Four public sources say something about Drata and money: its own plans page, the listing Drata keeps on AWS Marketplace, a procurement marketplace that tracks completed purchases, and a Drata guide on audit costs. Here they are, each with the date we read it and a link so you can read it yourself.

• Drata lists its plans, Foundation, Advanced and Enterprise, on a plans page with no dollar figure, and each plan button leads to a demo request or a contact-sales form. Source, checked 2026-10-02.
• Drata’s own AWS Marketplace listing prices the Drata Platform Fee, with capacity for a 100 FTE organization, at $25,000 for a 12-month contract, and the SOC 2 framework at $7,500 on a separate line. Source, checked 2026-10-02.
• The same Drata listing prices every other framework it shows, including ISO 27001, HIPAA and PCI DSS, at $7,500 each for 12 months, adds Trust Center and Risk Management modules on separate lines, and has no line for an audit. Source, checked 2026-10-02.
• Vendr, a software buying service, reports that the median buyer pays $25,000 per year for Drata, based on data from 235 purchases. Source, checked 2026-10-02.
• Drata estimates the audit fee for a SOC 2 Type 1 at $7,500 to $15,000 and for a Type 2 at $12,000 to $20,000 for small to midsize companies, and puts the total first-year cost at $25,000 for a small startup. Source, checked 2026-10-02.

Read them against the split above. The AWS listing lines and the marketplace median are bill one alone, and none of the listing lines is an audit. Drata’s audit ranges are bill two. The first-year total in its guide blends both, which is why it sits so much higher than either. None of these tells you what Drata would quote your company. They do tell you the scale these purchases run at for the buyers in that sample.

Drata pricing works through the listing figures with each source named. Every platform that prints its own number, on its website or on a marketplace listing, is in SOC 2 software that publishes its pricing, and the best SOC 2 software for startups weighs nine of them.

Five questions to put to any quote

Send these in writing to every vendor you are considering, us included. The answers let you compare a Drata alternative with Drata on the same terms, before anyone schedules a demo.

1. Which bill is this? Software only, audit only, or both together.
2. Who is the CPA firm? Get the name before you sign, then check the license with the state board.³
3. What does the second year cost? Renewal is where a low first year can stop looking low.
4. How long is the term? Monthly, yearly or multi-year, and what the notice window is.
5. What leaves with you? Ask for a list of export formats.

Our answers, in one table

Here is how the two companies answer those questions today, based on what each one makes public on its own site or its own marketplace listing. The Drata column says Not published wherever nothing public exists, because we do not fill gaps with estimates of our own.

When to stay with Drata

We lose some of these comparisons, and we should. If any of the following describes your company, Drata is likely the better use of your money, and a lower-priced tool would only save you cash while costing you the depth you need.

• You employ a GRC or security lead. A person who lives in the tool all day will use the depth of a larger platform.
• You are juggling frameworks. Several standards mapped across one control set is a job for a product built around it.
• Your evidence sits in dozens of systems. A long connector list is worth paying for then. Ours is short and listed on the integrations page.
• Procurement wants a sales process. Negotiated terms and a named account rep are part of what the larger price buys.

What we charge, and what repeats

Our first bill is small on purpose, because the teams we build for are paying for SOC 2 out of a seed round rather than a security department. The assessment is free. Entry is one payment you pick at checkout: $2,000 one time for onboarding, or $4,000 one time with the SOC 2 Type 1 examination and report, the auditor fee inside that figure rather than on a second invoice. Type 2 then runs $600 per month on a 12-month term, and your first SOC 2 Type 2 audit is included in the term. All in, the first year is $9,200 on the onboarding entry, or $11,200 with Type 1.

Year two is simple. What continues is the subscription, at $600 per month. The first Type 2 audit starts once the 3-month observation window finishes. A later audit is arranged on request: our team negotiates with independent audit firms on your behalf, and it is quoted before it begins. The auditor fee guide explains how firms price that work.

Try the free part first

You do not need to decide today. Take the readiness assessment, which costs nothing and takes about 15 minutes, and read the gap list it gives you before you talk to any vendor. Then put our pricing next to whatever Drata quotes you. If Vanta is on the list too, the Vanta comparison covers it, and the SOC 2 cost page has every line.