Softabase

Pricing

subscription

Best For

SaaS startups pursuing their first SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification

Rating

8.7/10

Last Updated

Mar 2026

TL;DR

Vanta is the market leader in compliance automation for cloud-native companies. Connect your AWS, GCP, Azure, GitHub, and HR tools, and Vanta continuously monitors whether your security controls are working. When audit time comes, 80%+ of the evidence is already collected. First-time SOC 2 that would take 200+ hours manually takes 40-80 hours with Vanta. At $6,000-50,000/year depending on company size and frameworks, it's a serious investment for startups — but the alternative is hiring a compliance analyst at $80K+/year or scrambling before every audit. 25,000+ companies use it, including Atlassian, Quora, and Flo Health.

What is Vanta?

The Compliance Automation Pioneer

Vanta launched in 2018 and quickly became the default compliance tool for SaaS startups. Their insight was simple: most of the work in SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance is evidence collection, and that evidence lives in systems with APIs. By connecting to cloud infrastructure, code repositories, HR platforms, and identity providers, Vanta automates what used to be months of screenshots and spreadsheets.

How Continuous Monitoring Works

You connect Vanta to your cloud providers (AWS, GCP, Azure), identity tools (Okta, Google Workspace), HR systems (Gusto, Rippling, BambooHR), code repositories (GitHub, GitLab), and endpoint management (Jamf, Kandji). Vanta then continuously checks whether your security controls are in place: Are all employees using MFA? Are production servers encrypted at rest? Is access review happening quarterly? When a control fails, you get an alert. When an auditor asks for evidence, you export it directly from Vanta.

Framework Coverage

Vanta supports SOC 2 Type I and Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, and several others. The cross-mapping means controls that satisfy SOC 2 also map to ISO 27001, reducing incremental effort for additional frameworks. Custom frameworks let you map controls to internal policies or customer-specific requirements. For most B2B SaaS companies, starting with SOC 2 and adding ISO 27001 covers 90% of customer security questionnaire requirements.

Trust Center and Vendor Risk

Vanta's Trust Center (formerly Trust Reports) generates a public-facing security profile you can share with prospects instead of filling out security questionnaires individually. The Vendor Risk Management module helps you assess your own vendors' security posture, closing the supply chain risk loop. These features have become increasingly important as enterprise buyers scrutinize vendor security more rigorously.

Honest Assessment

Vanta is excellent for companies pursuing their first SOC 2 or ISO 27001. The time savings are real and significant. Where it's less ideal: very large enterprises with complex multi-entity compliance needs, organizations in heavily regulated industries (banking, government) where traditional GRC platforms like Archer or ServiceNow are expected, and companies with significant on-premises infrastructure that Vanta can't monitor via API.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Reduces first-time SOC 2 preparation from 200+ hours to 40-80 hours with automated evidence collection
  • Continuous monitoring catches control failures in real time instead of during quarterly manual reviews
  • Trust Center replaces individual security questionnaires saving hours per enterprise sales deal
  • Cross-framework mapping means adding ISO 27001 after SOC 2 is significantly less incremental work
  • 25,000+ customers provide extensive benchmarking data and integration coverage

Cons

  • Pricing at $6,000-50,000/year is a significant investment for early-stage startups
  • Primarily designed for cloud-native companies — limited value for on-premises infrastructure
  • Some integrations require manual evidence uploads for tools without API connectors
  • Vendor risk management module is growing but not as mature as dedicated VRM platforms
  • Enterprise GRC use cases (regulatory change tracking, operational risk) aren't covered

Vanta Pricing

Startup

Contact Sales
  • 1 framework
  • Continuous monitoring
  • Evidence collection
  • Employee onboarding
  • Basic integrations
  • Email support
Get Started
Most Popular

Business

Contact Sales
  • Multiple frameworks
  • Trust Center
  • Vendor risk management
  • Custom policies
  • Dedicated CSM
  • Priority support
Get Started

Enterprise

Contact Sales
  • Unlimited frameworks
  • Custom integrations
  • Advanced automation
  • SSO/SCIM
  • SLA guarantees
  • Dedicated team
Get Started

Pricing last verified: March 25, 2026

Who is Vanta Best For?

  • SaaS startups pursuing their first SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification
  • Cloud-native companies wanting continuous compliance monitoring with minimal manual effort
  • Sales teams losing deals due to lack of security certifications or slow questionnaire responses
  • Companies managing compliance across multiple frameworks simultaneously

Technical Details

Platforms
web
Deployment
cloud
Security & Compliance
soc2iso27001gdpr

The Bottom Line

8.7/10Very Good

Vanta scores 8.7/10. It stands out for reduces first-time soc 2 preparation from 200+ hours to 40-80 hours with automated evidence collection Best suited for saas startups pursuing their first soc 2 or iso 27001 certification Keep in mind that pricing at $6,000-50,000/year is a significant investment for early-stage startups

Frequently Asked Questions

Vanta pricing starts around $6,000-10,000/year for startups under 50 employees pursuing a single framework. Mid-market companies (50-500 employees) with multiple frameworks typically pay $15,000-35,000/year. Enterprise pricing is custom. The exact price depends on company size, number of frameworks, and features needed.

For a first-time SOC 2 Type I, most companies using Vanta achieve readiness in 2-4 weeks if they already have basic security practices. The audit itself takes 4-8 weeks through Vanta's auditor network. SOC 2 Type II requires a 3-12 month observation period after Type I. Total timeline: 3-6 months for Type I, 6-15 months for Type II.

Score Breakdown
Ease of Use8.7
Features8.5
Value for Money8.2
Support8.7

Based on editorial analysis