ISO 27001 Certification Cost: Audit Fees, Tools and 3-Year Total (2026)

Audit figures are estimates published by a certification body and by compliance software vendors, not quotes. Software figures are list prices on AWS Marketplace, not negotiated prices.

What an ISO 27001 certification audit costs

ISO 27001 certification costs $5,000–$8,000 for a company with fewer than 10 staff at one location, according to Amtivo, an ANAB-accredited certification body. Vanta puts a Stage 1 plus Stage 2 audit at $14,000–$16,000, and Secureframe at $15,000 or more.

Certification bodies price an audit as auditor days times a day rate. The days come from Annex C of ISO/IEC 27006-1:2024, the standard accredited bodies follow for ISMS audits, and the main input is the number of people working within the scope of your management system. The 2024 edition changed how to count people who do identical work, according to the accreditation forum’s transition document (IAF MD 29), and every accredited body had to apply it to all clients by March 31, 2026.

The day-count table sits inside the paid standard, so we don’t print day counts. What moves the number:

• People in scope. More staff in scope means more audit days.
• Sites. Annex C has separate rules for multi-site audits.
• Scope. One product and one office costs less than the whole company.

Amtivo says accredited certification bodies don’t charge for a quote, so get two or three before you pick one.

The 3-year certification cycle and what each year costs

An ISO 27001 certificate is valid for three years from the certification decision, with surveillance audits at least once a year in between, according to certification body DQS. Recertification happens at least three months before the certificate expires.

Vanta says a recertification audit costs the same as the original certification audit, and that a failed surveillance audit can trigger a full recertification. Secureframe budgets about $10,000 a year for maintenance and surveillance audits combined.

ISO 27001 software cost

ISO 27001 compliance software lists at $9,500–$32,500 a year on AWS Marketplace, from Sprinto’s starter platform with one framework to Drata’s platform with its ISO 27001 framework, checked October 24, 2026. The table is sorted by list price per year.

Not every product on the market; these four publish list prices. Software collects evidence and tracks controls, but your team still runs the controls and a certification body makes the decision. For more platforms, see our GRC software options, and for Vanta’s full plan list, Vanta pricing.

Consultant, internal audit and pen test costs

Consultants charge $500–$1,500 a day according to Amtivo, while Secureframe cites $1,400–$1,800 a day and an average engagement around $38,000. Vanta’s rough estimate for a consultant is $30,000. None of these is a quote; scope and how much your team does itself decide the bill.

An outsourced internal audit costs up to $6,000 by Vanta’s estimate, or nothing beyond staff time if someone independent inside the company does it. A penetration test isn’t an ISO 27001 line item by name, but buyers and auditors often expect one; Vanta puts it at $5,000–$20,000. Testing firms’ published prices are on our pen test pricing page.

Worked example: a 25-person SaaS company over 3 years

A 25-person SaaS company using compliance software should budget about $54,500–$76,000 for its first 3-year ISO 27001 cycle, by our sums of published prices and vendor estimates.

Vanta Essentials is left out because its listed price covers 1–20 employees. A pen test or a consultant comes on top. Skipping software for a consultant swaps a yearly fee for a project fee of roughly $30,000–$38,000 (Vanta and Secureframe estimates).

How to lower ISO 27001 certification cost

The cheapest ISO 27001 certification has a tight scope, because audit time grows with the people and sites inside it. Four other levers:

1. Quote several certification bodies. Quotes are free; compare the audit days and the day rate on each.
2. Reuse SOC 2 work. Secureframe claims companies that comply with SOC 2 already meet at least 90% of ISO 27001 (a vendor claim, not an independent finding). Compare the budgets on our SOC 2 compliance cost page. If you need both, see ISO 27001 vs SOC 2.
3. Buy one framework, not a bundle. Sprinto and Secureframe price the first framework separately.
4. Ask one body to quote related standards together, for example ISO 27001 with ISO 42001 for AI systems.

If customers are asking for a SOC 2 report rather than a certificate, start with what a SOC 2 report involves instead.

Accredited vs non-accredited certification bodies

ISO doesn’t certify anyone: certificates come from external certification bodies, and ISO says accreditation of those bodies is not compulsory. In the US, ANAB accredits management system certification bodies, ISO/IEC 27001 included, against ISO/IEC 17021-1.

Customers who check your certificate will usually look it up in IAF CertSearch, the database ISO points to for verifying accredited certifications. Global ACI has taken over the former roles of the International Accreditation Forum. A cheaper certificate from a body without accreditation may not pass a customer’s review, so ask the buyer what they accept before you sign. Our how we review page explains how we source figures like these.