SOC 2 Software Comparison
Compare Drata and Vanta across SOC 2 workflows, integrations, pricing considerations, and team requirements. Find the questions that matter before committing to a compliance platform.
Reviewed 2026-10-20 from public vendor and marketplace pages. AuditBird did not test either product. SOC 2 is an attestation, not a certification.
Both products sit in the compliance automation market and both describe workflows for organizations preparing for frameworks such as SOC 2. Public information is not enough to name one universal winner.
Each vendor’s entry plan is framed as one framework. Drata Foundation is capped at 50 FTEs on its plans page and lists user access review as an add-on. Vanta lists access management from Plus upward, not in the Essentials summary.
Neither website publishes a subscription price. Marketplace list prices use different headcount bands, so they do not show which product is cheaper.
Both describe auditor portals. An independent CPA firm still performs the SOC 2 examination. A portal does not include that fee unless the quote says so.
Cells summarize public pages reviewed on 2026-10-20. “Not publicly verified” means the pages we reviewed did not confirm the point. It does not mean the product lacks the feature. Plan availability may vary.
Drata. The SOC 2 page describes evidence collection, continuous control monitoring, a policy center, a control library, and a separate auditor workspace. Plan availability may vary.
Vanta. The SOC 2 page describes continuous monitoring, automated evidence, and an auditor portal. Essentials is described as one compliance framework.
Drata. Foundation includes one pre-mapped framework from a list that includes ISO 27001 and SOC 2. Additional frameworks are add-ons.
Vanta. The homepage names ISO 27001 among 35+ frameworks. Essentials is one framework, so confirm whether ISO 27001 is the included framework or a later addition.
Drata. The SOC 2 page says controls are tested continuously. The plans matrix lists automated evidence collection on Foundation, Advanced, and Enterprise.
Vanta. The Essentials summary includes continuous controls monitoring and basic audit workflows.
Drata. Described on the SOC 2 page and marked Included on the plans matrix, including export of raw JSON evidence.
Vanta. Essentials includes automated evidence collection. Whether a full evidence export is included is not publicly verified on the pages reviewed.
Drata. The SOC 2 page names cloud infrastructure as a connection category. A public resource count was not on the pages reviewed.
Vanta. The AWS integration page says 40+ AWS resources. A related card on that page says 30+ Azure resources. Connected does not mean every control is monitored.
Drata. The SOC 2 page names identity providers. Named products and test depth were not listed on the pages reviewed. Confirm your IdP in a demo.
Vanta. The Okta page describes users, MFA, password policy, and deprovisioning tests. Other identity providers should be confirmed against the directory.
Drata. The SOC 2 page names HR systems as a connection category. Named HR products were not verified here.
Vanta. Not publicly verified on the pricing page or the integration articles reviewed. Ask whether your HRIS syncs personnel status or only stores a manual list.
Drata. User Access Review is not included on Foundation or Advanced. It is included on Enterprise and listed as an add-on on the lower plans.
Vanta. Access Management is listed as a Plus addition. Automated access management is listed on Professional. It is not named in the Essentials summary.
Drata. Personnel tracking is included on the plans matrix. The SOC 2 page describes training reminders and completion records.
Vanta. The feature comparison mentions personnel onboarding, offboarding, and security awareness training. Which plan includes them is not stated in the Essentials, Plus, or Professional summaries. Confirm in a demo.
Drata. Policy templates and task and policy management are included on Foundation and above. The SOC 2 page describes a Policy Center with version history.
Vanta. Essentials includes a policy template library, policy generation, and policy control mapping. Plus adds automated policy onboarding.
Drata. The SOC 2 page describes storing, sending, and reviewing security questionnaires. Agentic third-party risk assessment is an Enterprise add-on.
Vanta. AWS Marketplace lists third-party risk management as its own dimension, up to 50 vendors a year on that listing. Whether a lighter vendor workflow is inside Essentials is not stated in the plan summaries.
Drata. Foundation includes a risk library, register, custom risks, control mapping, and inherent and residual scoring. The insights dashboard, custom scoring, and risk tasks are not included until Enterprise.
Vanta. Professional adds risk management with customization, a dashboard, and reporting. Risk management is not named in the Essentials or Plus summaries.
Drata. Audit Hub is included on Foundation, Advanced, and Enterprise. The examination remains with an independent CPA firm.
Vanta. The SOC 2 page says independent auditors can review evidence in a portal. Essentials lists an Auditor API. The examination fee is separate.
Drata. Foundation is one framework from a published list. Advanced says any available framework, and additional frameworks remain add-ons. Plan availability may vary.
Vanta. The homepage cites 35+ frameworks. Essentials is one framework. The public pricing page does not publish a price for a second framework.
Drata. Foundation includes Trust Center Standard: a branded hub, knowledge base, and up to 100 approved domains on the matrix.
Vanta. The Essentials summary includes a Trust Center. Professional lists an Advanced Trust Center. AWS Marketplace also prices Trust Center modules separately, so confirm the packaging in your quote.
Drata. Foundation includes AI questionnaire assistance, described as up to 100 questionnaires on the plans page.
Vanta. Plus includes 25 questionnaires a year. Professional includes 144. Questionnaire automation is not named in the Essentials summary. Marketplace modules list other volumes.
Drata. Export of raw JSON evidence is included on Foundation, Advanced, and Enterprise.
Vanta. Not publicly verified on the pricing or SOC 2 pages reviewed. Ask for the export format and whether history is included.
Drata. A support-tier matrix was not on the plans or SOC 2 pages reviewed. Confirm channels and whether expert help is included.
Vanta. Essentials mentions access to expert partners for additional compliance services. A response-time matrix was not on the pricing page.
Drata. drata.com/plans does not publish dollar prices. AWS Marketplace lists a $25,000 platform fee for a 100 FTE capacity and $7,500 per framework dimension, including SOC 2. That is a marketplace contract, not a direct quote.
Vanta. vanta.com/pricing asks for a demo and does not publish dollar prices. AWS Marketplace lists 12-month starting prices for 1–20 employees: Essentials $14,000, Plus $21,500, Professional $23,000. Those bands are not comparable to Drata’s 100 FTE marketplace fee.
Source links are in Sources & Comparison Methodology. For the wider market, see SOC 2 compliance software.
Product overview. Drata presents a compliance automation platform for monitoring controls, collecting evidence, and running programs such as SOC 2. Foundation is described for up to 50 FTEs and one pre-mapped framework.
Verified capabilities. The plans matrix includes automated evidence collection, policy templates, personnel tracking, a risk register on Foundation, Audit Hub, Trust Center Standard, and raw JSON evidence export. The SOC 2 page also describes connections to cloud, identity, HR, code, and ticketing tools, plus a policy center and questionnaire storage.
Potential advantages. The public matrix makes several gates explicit: user access review is not on Foundation or Advanced, and additional frameworks are add-ons. That makes it easier to ask what the first contract actually includes.
What to verify. Named integration depth, support response times, and whether a marketplace line-item quote matches a direct Foundation quote. AuditBird did not operate a Drata workspace.
Pricing approach. drata.com/plans does not publish dollar prices. An AWS Marketplace listing itemizes a $25,000 platform fee for 100 FTE capacity and $7,500 per framework, including SOC 2. Treat that as marketplace packaging, not the price every buyer receives.
Plausible scenarios. A team that wants one framework inside a 50 FTE cap, and is willing to price access reviews and a second framework as add-ons, can evaluate Foundation against that written matrix.
Product overview. Vanta describes a trust platform for compliance automation, monitoring, and customer-trust workflows. The homepage names SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and 35+ frameworks. Essentials is one framework.
Verified capabilities. Essentials lists automated evidence collection, continuous controls monitoring, a policy template library, an Auditor API, and a Trust Center. Public integration pages describe AWS, GitHub, and Okta tests. Plus adds access management and 25 questionnaires a year. Professional adds risk management and 144 questionnaires.
Potential advantages. Vanta publishes integration articles that name tests for specific tools, which gives a buyer something concrete to check in a demo. That is documentation depth, not a claim that every integration is deeper than Drata’s.
What to verify. Whether Trust Center and third-party risk are inside the website plan or billed like the separate AWS Marketplace modules. Evidence export was not publicly verified on the pages reviewed.
Pricing approach. vanta.com/pricing requests a demo and does not list dollars. AWS Marketplace starting prices for 1–20 employees are Essentials $14,000, Plus $21,500, and Professional $23,000 per 12 months. Larger headcount is a higher band. Modules such as Trust Center and third-party risk have their own list prices.
Plausible scenarios. A team that wants the written Essentials scope — one framework, monitoring, policies, and an auditor API — and will confirm access reviews and risk on higher tiers.
Compliance platform prices are hard to compare because the public websites do not publish them, and marketplace listings package headcount, frameworks, and modules differently.
Drata’s plans page has no dollar amounts. Its AWS Marketplace listing, reviewed the same day, lists a platform fee of $25,000 for 12 months sized to 100 FTEs, plus $7,500 for a SOC 2 framework dimension. That is not the Foundation plan’s 50 FTE description, and it is not a guaranteed direct price.
Vanta’s pricing page has no dollar amounts. Its AWS Marketplace listing lists 12-month starting prices for 1–20 employees: Essentials $14,000, Plus $21,500, Professional $23,000. Trust Center and third-party risk appear there as separate dimensions. A 1–20 employee starting price is not comparable to a 100 FTE platform fee.
Vanta’s SOC 2 cost article discusses auditor fees, often in a $10,000 to $50,000 range in that article, as distinct from software. Do not fold that range into either subscription.
SOC 2 preparation is a sequence of decisions. Software can organize some of them. It does not implement controls for you or issue the report.
Drata’s SOC 2 page maps most clearly onto evidence collection, continuous monitoring, policies, a control library, and an auditor workspace. Vanta’s SOC 2 page and Essentials summary map onto monitoring, automated evidence, policies, and an auditor portal. Scope, criteria, control design, and remediation stay with the company.
Compliance automation is not control implementation, and neither is the examination. Read the SOC 2 requirements guide and what SOC 2 software can and cannot automate.
An integration count is a weak buying signal. A connection can sync accounts, collect a narrow set of tests, or leave the control manual.
The SOC 2 page names cloud infrastructure, identity providers, HR systems, code repositories, and ticketing tools. A current total count was not on the pages reviewed. Foundation includes pre-built integrations; custom connections and tests are described on Advanced.
The help center says Vanta supports hundreds of integrations without giving a single total. The AWS page cites 40+ AWS resources. GitHub and Okta pages name specific tests. A related card cites 30+ Azure resources. Plan limits on those integrations were not stated.
These are evaluation paths, not winners. Suggest one vendor only where a public plan difference is specific enough to check.
Define scope before the contract. Both entry plans are one framework. On Drata, confirm the 50 FTE Foundation cap and that access review is extra. On Vanta, confirm the 1–20 employee marketplace band is not your quote, and that Essentials omits the access-management line.
Headcount, more owners, and more systems matter more than the logo. Ask how price moves when you leave the quoted band, and which reviews stay manual. Neither public page proves the other is easier to operate.
Drata prices additional frameworks as add-ons on Foundation. Vanta’s Essentials is one framework despite a long framework list. Get both numbers in writing before you assume a shared-control discount.
Drata’s Enterprise column is where user access review, risk dashboard, and custom risk scoring are included, with agentic third-party risk as an add-on. Vanta Enterprise is described as a custom package. Compare those quotes. Do not infer the entry plan covers them.
If the gap is “we do not know what is missing,” a readiness pass comes before either contract. Use the free assessment, then take the open items into both demos.
Broader market context sits on SOC 2 software. Pages about leaving one suite are separate: Drata alternative and Vanta alternative.
Select your priorities to generate a practical evaluation checklist for your Drata and Vanta demos.
Select a stage, an objective, priorities, and how much internal help you have. The result is a demo checklist. It does not score Drata or Vanta.
Count the workflows you will run this year. A longer matrix is not a better fit.
Ask for the test list on your cloud and identity accounts. Reject a logo wall as proof.
Ask who maps scope, owners, and policies in the first quarter, and whether that help is billed.
Keep the subscription and the CPA examination on different lines unless the quote merges them.
Ask what the second year costs and what happens when headcount or frameworks change.
Both products still leave manual evidence. Get that remainder in the demo.
Drata documents JSON export. Ask Vanta for the equivalent in writing before you assume it.
Access reviews, extra frameworks, questionnaires, and third-party risk are plan-specific on the pages reviewed.
Write the system, criteria, and Type I or Type II first. Otherwise you compare slogans.
Vendor comparison pages are not independent testing. This page is not either. AuditBird did not use the products.
Early-stage teams often get further by naming requirements, checking readiness, and estimating cost before they pick automation software. AuditBird’s free tools below are usable now. They are not a feature-equivalent replacement for Drata or Vanta.
A planning score from how you operate today. Not an audit.
Trust Services Criteria themes and the evidence buyers ask about.
Separate software, auditor, and internal time instead of one blended number.
Track preparation work without a platform contract.
Starting points you still have to edit for your controls.
Automated evidence collection, a sold integrations catalog, and continuous control monitoring are not claimed as live AuditBird features. The cost calculator link above is the same SOC 2 budget tool.
Public pages do not establish a universal winner. Both describe SOC 2 workflows, continuous monitoring, and a way for an auditor to review evidence. The better fit depends on your stack, the plan that actually includes the workflows you will run, and the quote. Neither product performs the SOC 2 examination.
This comparison was reviewed on 2026-10-20. Claims come from vendor product and pricing pages, Vanta help and integration articles, AWS Marketplace listings, and the AICPA’s description of SOC engagements. AuditBird did not independently test Drata or Vanta, and did not use a customer workspace or a sales demo.
Drata
Plan inclusions, the 50 FTE Foundation cap, add-ons, and the feature matrix. No dollar prices. Reviewed 2026-10-20.
Drata
Evidence collection categories, continuous monitoring, auditor workspace, policies, training, and questionnaire storage.
AWS Marketplace
Marketplace contract dimensions only. Not a direct drata.com quote.
Vanta
Essentials, Plus, Professional, and Enterprise summaries. No dollar prices on this page.
Vanta
Monitoring, evidence, auditor portal, and the statement that audit pricing depends on scope.
Vanta
Names SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and 35+ frameworks.
AWS Marketplace
Starting annual list prices for a 1–20 employee band and separate modules. Not a universal quote.
Vanta
States 40+ AWS resources. A related card on the same page states 30+ Azure resources.
Vanta
Repositories, pull requests, vulnerabilities, and Issues, with example automated tests.
Vanta
Identity, MFA, password policy, and offboarding examples.
Vanta Help Center
Says Vanta supports hundreds of integrations. Does not publish a total count on this article.
Vanta
Vanta's own ranges for auditor fees. Not a Drata or Vanta software price.
AICPA
SOC 2 is an attestation examination by an independent CPA firm, not a certification.
Capabilities and prices change. Marketplace figures are conditional. Where a plan matrix was hard to read as checkmarks, this page follows the written plan summaries and says so. Gaps: no verified Drata integration total, no verified Vanta evidence-export statement, and no named HRIS product confirmed for Vanta.
A short assessment shows gaps you can take into a Drata or Vanta demo. It does not pick a vendor.