As a startup, achieving SOC 2 compliance demonstrates that you take data security seriously from the start. It helps you differentiate yourself from your competitors and builds trust with potential enterprise clients. Plus, SOC 2 compliance is often a prerequisite for closing larger deals.
Many investors consider SOC 2 a must-have for startups, as it demonstrates that good governance, risk management, and data security practices are in place — key elements of sustainable growth.
And the earlier you implement SOC 2 controls, the smoother your journey to compliance will be — it’s much more difficult (and costly) to retroactively introduce security and compliance later.
Luckily, there are tools designed to make SOC 2 compliance easier for startups from day one. These tools streamline the compliance process, providing support and automation to keep you on track.
Let’s take a look at our list of the top 5 compliance tools for startups.
5 Best SOC 2 Compliance Tools for 2024
1. Scytale
When it comes to SOC 2 compliance, Scytale leads the way among startups.
Designed to provide practical compliance guidance and an easy-to-use interface, Scytale represents the next generation of compliance, catering to the needs of more agile small businesses. Their true strength lies in serving startups, and it shows in everything they do. They have helped hundreds of startups become SOC 2 compliant by simplifying every little bit of this complex process.
With its personalized approach, practical tools, and control oversight, Scytale helps companies achieve SOC 2 compliance with little to no in-house expertise, making it the ideal solution for any startup to provide professional, supportive, and practical compliance.
2. One Trust
OneTrust is a professional platform for securely handling enterprise data, with a vision focused on empowering teams to innovate responsibly while mitigating security, privacy, governance and compliance risks.
OneTrust’s platform offers an end-to-end solution known for its strong integration with your existing technology stack, so data integrity and compliance aren’t compromised in other parts of the system.
However, OneTrust is best suited for large, established enterprises with in-house compliance or security teams. The depth and extensibility of features the platform offers may be too much for small startups. Unnecessary complexity here can lead to increased costs later.
3. Jupiter One
JupiterOne gives you visibility into all your cloud and on-premise assets so you can easily monitor all the connections between your assets and potential vulnerabilities and understand their impact.
It also notifies you of all significant changes so you can stay up to date on potential non-compliance risk events. The platform also automates all evidence collection for SOC 2 audits, which is extremely useful for startups who don’t have the time to do it manually.
But compliance alone isn’t JupiterOne’s main focus: While its asset visibility and vulnerability management features are impressive, its SOC 2 compliance capabilities are relatively less comprehensive compared to other features it offers for startups.
4. Logic Gates
LogicGate provides a holistic view of GRC management, making this a robust platform that is the single source of truth for all compliance efforts today, including SOC 2.
Moreover, the great advantage of a no-code app builder and pre-built templates to customize processes and workflows creates automated GRC tasks without the need for paid consultants or IT experts – a very powerful approach point for compliance tailored to the needs of any startup.
While LogicGate supports SOC 2 compliance, this is not a critical part of the service, so for startups looking for a dedicated SOC 2 tool, relying solely on LogicGate may be short-lived and require them to bring in additional resources and platforms.
5. Audit Board
Finally, AuditBoard is a solution that enables simplification across the entire audit lifecycle, from risk assessments to SOC 2 control testing, allowing companies to perform a wide range of audit tasks, meaning AuditBoard serves as a platform where audit, risk, IT security and ESG tasks are aggregated globally.
This is a useful way for small teams at startups who want to keep everyone on the same page regarding SOC 2 compliance, and it facilitates team communication related to compliance tasks.
Although AuditBoard is useful, it suffers from the same weaknesses as OneTrust, making it particularly suited to large, established enterprises with in-house compliance and security teams: its highly specialized capabilities and thorough approach are too difficult for startups and become less cost-effective over time.
Roundup of SOC 2 Compliance Tools for Startups
So there you have it, a review of the five key SOC 2 compliance tools startups should consider.
SOC 2 compliance may seem out of reach for many resource-limited startups, but the right software can make the process much more manageable. Don’t wait until your customers request SOC 2; leverage the solutions above to deploy best practices early. If done right, you can glide through a SOC 2 audit, earn compliance honors, and demonstrate to your customers that you’re serious about protecting their data.
Find the right software today, implement with confidence, and enjoy the peace of mind of knowing your SOC 2 compliance is secure.
