SOC 2 Compliance Cost in 2026: Audit, Software and Pentest, Sourced

The totals are our arithmetic, not a quote. Add the consultant line if you want outside help, and add staff time: Vanta says preparation usually takes one to five months.

SOC 2 audit cost (the CPA fee)

A SOC 2 Type 2 audit costs $12,000–$20,000 for a small or midsize company, according to Drata’s March 2026 guide. A Type 1 audit costs less, $7,500–$15,000, because the auditor checks control design on one date instead of testing controls over a period.

A Type 2 costs more because the auditor tests how controls worked across an observation window, usually three to twelve months according to both Vanta and Drata. Vanta gives one audit range for both types, $10,000–$50,000, and says Big Four firms start in the low six figures. Secureframe puts a Big Four audit at $150,000 or more.

Only a licensed CPA firm can issue the report. The AICPA sets the standards for SOC 2 examinations but not the fees, so every price here is an estimate from a vendor or buyer data. If you’re still choosing which report your customers want, read SOC 1 or SOC 2 first.

What compliance vendors say SOC 2 costs, and why they disagree

Vanta, Drata and Secureframe each publish a SOC 2 cost range, and the top of those ranges differs by more than four times. All three sell compliance software, so treat their numbers as vendor-stated estimates.

Secureframe’s page gives two different totals: one in its introduction and a higher one in its cost breakdown. We print both. Drata’s own worked example for a 25-person company comes to about $28,000 for a first-year Type 2, which sits near the low end of our table.

The ranges disagree mostly because of company size and scope. A 20-person startup that scopes only the Security criteria pays near the bottom of each range; a large company that adds Availability, Confidentiality or Privacy pays more, because the auditor tests more controls.

Compliance software cost

Compliance software for SOC 2 lists at $14,000 a year for Vanta Essentials (1–20 employees) and $15,000 a year for Drata’s Foundation package (1–50 FTEs, one framework), both list prices on AWS Marketplace checked October 24, 2026. Neither vendor prints prices on its own website.

Vendr’s medians come from anonymized buyer contracts, not from the vendors, and they cover every plan size, so they run higher than Vanta’s smallest list price. AWS list prices can also differ from a direct quote; both vendors negotiate. The full plan-by-plan breakdown is on our Vanta pricing page, and the head-to-head is in Vanta vs Drata.

You can run SOC 2 without software. A consultant plus spreadsheets replaces the platform fee with a consultant fee: Drata puts outside consultant support at $5,000–$25,000 or more, and the evidence collection becomes your team’s job.

Penetration test cost for SOC 2

A penetration test for SOC 2 costs $5,000–$15,000 according to Drata, and Secureframe’s cost breakdown budgets $15,000. The SOC 2 criteria don’t name a pentest as a requirement, but auditors and enterprise customers commonly ask for one as evidence for the security criteria.

Scope drives the price: one web app costs less than a web app, an API and a cloud environment. For published prices from individual testing firms, see our penetration testing cost page.

A worked example: SOC 2 for a 20-person SaaS company

A 20-person SaaS company pursuing its first SOC 2 Type 2 should budget $31,000–$50,000 in year one, by our sum of published list prices and vendor-stated ranges. Skipping software for a consultant changes the mix:

Year two costs less than year one because the readiness work is done. Drata estimates ongoing maintenance at $15,000–$40,000 a year, mostly the repeat audit and the software renewal.

How to lower SOC 2 compliance cost

The cheapest SOC 2 covers only the Security criteria, the one category every SOC 2 report must include. Four other levers:

1. Start with Type 1 if a customer will accept it. Drata’s Type 1 range tops out at $15,000, and the readiness work carries over to the Type 2; see Type 1 vs Type 2 cost and timing.
2. Quote more than one auditor. Fees for the same scope vary widely; the vendors’ auditor networks are a starting list, not the only option; we list SOC 2 audit firms compared separately.
3. Sign a multi-year software term only if you are sure. Vendr reports 10%–30% off for two- to three-year Vanta terms, but you lose the option to switch.
4. Get two compliance software quotes. Vendr says Vanta buyers saved 29.83% on average and Drata buyers 23.22%, mostly through competitive bids.

Compliance software doesn’t make you SOC 2 compliant on its own. It collects evidence; your team still has to run the controls, and a CPA firm decides the opinion.

Do you need SOC 2 at all?

SOC 2 is not required by law; customers ask for it. The AICPA describes a SOC 2 report as something customers and business partners request to judge the risk of outsourcing to a service organization. If no customer or prospect has asked, you may not need it yet, and if a customer’s finance team is the one asking, they may want a SOC 1 instead. If a customer asks for ISO 27001 instead, see the ISO 27001 cost breakdown. Our how we review page explains how we source figures like these.