Drata vs Vanta: Comparing Features, Pricing, Pros and Cons
Drata vs Vanta - which one's the right compliance tools for you? In this article we'll compare key features, pricing, pros and cons to figure that out.
Drata and Vanta promise to streamline the compliance process.
But which one is the right choice for your business?
In this article, we'll dissect their key differences to help you decide.
Drata vs. Vanta: Key Differences
When it comes to compliance automation, Drata and Vanta are two prominent players in the market.
Both offer solutions to help businesses achieve and maintain compliance with frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, and HIPAA.
However, key differences set them apart.
Understanding these distinctions is crucial for organizations seeking the right compliance partner.
What Is Drata?
Drata was founded in July 2020 by Adam Markowitz, Daniel Marashlian, and Troy Markowitz. While none of the founders came from an audit or compliance background, they quickly entered the space by focusing on automating SOC 2 workflows — a timely move during a broader surge of interest in security certifications among SaaS companies.
The company raised $3.2 million in seed funding early on, followed by a $25 million Series A round shortly after launching. Their rapid fundraising and marketing momentum helped them reach a $1 billion valuation just 18 months after launch — a pace that’s impressive, though not uncommon during an era when investor enthusiasm often prioritized growth potential over domain depth.
By 2023, Drata had expanded beyond SOC 2 to include frameworks like ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR. While this broadened their market appeal, it also introduced the challenge of maintaining meaningful coverage across a wide range of compliance standards — each with its own nuances and industry expectations.
Today, Drata serves thousands of companies and continues to develop its platform through frequent feature releases and automation enhancements. For teams looking for a well-funded, all-in-one compliance solution, Drata remains an option.
That said, companies with more complex audit requirements or those looking for auditor-aligned workflows may prefer platforms designed with a deeper focus on the audit process itself.
What are Drata's key features?
Centralized Document Management : Easily manage compliance documents with a centralized system.
Customizable Policies : Access pre-canned policies and customize them to fit your organization's needs.
Control Library: Drata has a library of controls for creating custom security protocols for your organization.
Security Reports: Users can generate and share security reports to communicate their security posture to team members, clients, partners, etc.
Extensive Integrations : With over 170 integrations — including AWS, Google Cloud, and GitHub — it connects seamlessly with your tech stack.
Who is Drata's leadership team?
Drata’s leadership team brings a background rooted in tech startups. CEO Adam Markowitz previously founded and sold Portfolium, an edtech platform later acquired by Instructure. He’s familiar with the path to scaling SaaS, though compliance wasn’t the core focus of his earlier ventures.
CTO Daniel Marashlian contributes technical experience from building secure applications, while COO Troy Markowitz supports go-to-market efforts, also with a background at Portfolium.
Their approach to compliance emphasizes automation and integrations, aiming to turn annual audit prep into a continuous background process. While the philosophy resonates with fast-moving teams, some buyers may still prefer platforms built with deeper roots in the audit profession itself.
What is Drata's pricing?
Specific pricing details aren't publicly available, but here's what we've found from our research:
Drata's pricing ranges from $15,000 to $100,000 annually.
The cost depends on company size and the selected compliance frameworks.
What are the pros and cons of Drata?
Pros
Strong Customer Support : Highly rated customer service that assists users throughout the compliance process.
Comprehensive Monitoring : Offers extensive monitoring and evidence collection, simplifying audit preparations. Provides real-time insights and automated alerts for compliance.
Quick Implementation : Some users report setup times as short as 15–30 minutes.
Cons
Limited Customization : Some users desire more customization options within certain features.
Higher Pricing : The cost may be prohibitive for smaller businesses compared to other solutions.
System Reliability Issues : Some users reported concerns about system bugs and unreliable reports affecting audit outcomes.
And on top of all of that, there have been some claims of Drata overselling its offerings and not meeting expectations.
What Is Vanta?
Vanta is a compliance platform that emphasizes continuous monitoring and automation to help businesses stay aligned with industry standards. It automates evidence collection and provides real-time insights — a compelling promise, especially for early-stage teams unfamiliar with audit processes.
Founded in 2018 by Christina Cacioppo after her time at Y Combinator, Vanta initially focused on helping startups meet SOC 2 requirements. The product launched in 2019 and quickly gained traction, particularly among fast-growing SaaS companies looking for a simplified path to compliance.
Backed by $60 million in funding by 2021, Vanta scaled its customer base from a few hundred to over 2,000 companies by 2022. Since then, the platform has expanded to include additional frameworks and integrations.
While automation has its appeal, businesses navigating complex audits often find that true compliance goes beyond dashboards — requiring a deeper understanding of controls, documentation, and auditor expectations. For companies seeking software built with that nuance in mind, there are other platforms worth considering.
What are Vanta's key features?
Continuous Compliance Monitoring : Ensures your business remains compliant at all times with automated checks.
Extensive Integrations : Offers over 300 native integrations, enhancing connectivity with various tools.
Automated Evidence Collection : Reduces manual workload by automating the gathering of audit evidence.
Risk Management Module : Includes tools to identify, prioritize, and assess potential risks within your organization.
Who is Vanta's leadership team?
Vanta is led by founder and CEO Christina Cacioppo, who recognized the growing compliance burden while working at Y Combinator. Observing early-stage startups struggle with security assessments during enterprise sales cycles helped shape Vanta’s direction. Her prior experience at First Round Capital and in product management influenced the platform’s pragmatic, startup-friendly approach.
CTO Erik Goldman, formerly at Dropbox, brings technical leadership and a background in security. Their combined philosophy centers on embedding compliance and security into a company’s foundation, rather than treating them as afterthoughts.
Vanta’s product and support model reflect this mindset — guiding customers through the process with built-in recommendations and automation. While this approach works well for startups new to compliance, companies with more complex needs or those preparing for their first real audit may still find gaps where hands-on expertise matters most.
What is Vanta's pricing?
Precise pricing figure are not available, but here's what different review sites say:
Vanta's pricing starts at $7,500 for companies with 1–20 employees, but with all the add-ons, you’ll usually pay at least $15,000 annually.
They offer customizable packages to fit the needs of different organizations.
According to a G2 review, Vanta can be 80-100% more expensive than competitors, because costs rise as you add more integrations or require additional services.
What are the pros and cons of Vanta?
Pros
User-Friendly Interface : Designed for ease of use, catering to both technical and non-technical users.
Extensive Integrations : Over 300 integrations that enhance operational efficiency.
Strong Customer Support : Known for providing tailored guidance and assistance to users.
Cons
Higher Price Point : The cost may be a barrier for smaller businesses or startups with limited budgets.
Specific Customer Service Challenges : Although, most have said that Vanta's customer service is excellent, some users reported issues with customer service responsiveness and billing processes.
Manual Processes : Some users noted that the platform requires more manual input than expected, reducing perceived automation benefits.
Key considerations for choosing a compliance platform
A reliable compliance platform is essential for managing your organization’s compliance journey and aligning with regulatory standards. Tools that support SOC 2 and other compliance frameworks simplify the process of building effective compliance programs by automating tasks like security program management, risk management, and vendor risk management.
Platforms with advanced features, such as trust management and automated security questionnaires, can further enhance efficiency. Embedding strong security practices into daily operations, businesses can maintain compliance while strengthening their overall security posture.
Market Strategy and Positioning
While both Drata and Vanta aim to simplify compliance, they’ve taken slightly different angles in how they present themselves to the market.
Vanta positions itself as a “trust management platform,” focusing on helping startups build credibility with customers.
The positioning emphasizes approachability — ideal for teams pursuing their first SOC 2 without a dedicated compliance resource. Their wide range of integrations supports this lightweight, plug-and-play experience.
Drata, meanwhile, emphasizes real-time monitoring and automation. Their platform tends to attract scaling companies managing multiple frameworks, with deeper integrations into existing enterprise security tooling.
The promise is efficiency through automation — particularly around evidence collection and maintaining continuous compliance.
While the branding and messaging differ, both platforms ultimately offer variations of the same playbook: integrations, dashboards, and alerts.
For teams navigating a real audit — not just checking boxes — the key differentiator often isn’t the interface or feature set, but how well the platform aligns with auditor expectations and supports real outcomes.
Features comparison table
When comparing Drata and Vanta, it's essential to consider their key features, integrations, and overall suitability for your organization's compliance needs. The table below highlights the main differences and similarities between the two platforms.
Feature | Drata | Vanta |
|---|---|---|
Compliance Frameworks | Supports SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and more. | Supports SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and more. |
Centralized Document Management | Yes, offers a centralized system for managing compliance documents. | Vanta has integrations to manage documents in one central location. |
Customizable Policies | Provides pre-built policies that can be customized to fit your organization's needs. | Offers pre-built security policies or the option to create new ones.
|
Control Library | Offers a library of controls for creating custom security protocols tailored to your organization. | Not specifically mentioned.
|
Security Reports | Users can generate and share security reports to communicate their security posture to team members, clients, and partners. | Vanta offers reporting features, including dashboards and detailed reports.
|
Automated Evidence Collection | Yes, automates evidence collection to simplify audit preparations. | Yes, reduces manual workload by automating the gathering of audit evidence.
|
Risk Management Module | An add-on that centralizes the identification, assessment, and treatment of risks. | Includes tools to identify, prioritize, and assess potential risks within your organization.
|
Integrations | Over 170 integrations, including AWS, Google Cloud, and GitHub. | Over 300 native integrations, enhancing connectivity with various tools.
|
Pricing comparison table
Drata | Vanta |
|---|---|
Ranges from $12,000 to $100,000 annually. | Starts at $7,500 for companies with 1–20 employees ($15,000 after add-ons).
|
Cost depends on company size and selected compliance frameworks. | Costs may rise with additional integrations or services.
|
Pros and cons recap
Drata | Vanta | |
|---|---|---|
Pros |
|
|
Cons |
|
|
Drata and Vanta both provide adequate solutions for compliance automation, each with its unique strengths and weaknesses.
Drata offers a highly structured approach with extensive integrations and quick implementation, making it suitable for medium to large enterprises. On the other hand, Vanta excels in user-friendliness and a broader range of integrations, which can be advantageous for startups and smaller businesses.
Pricing structures also differ significantly, with Drata targeting larger organizations and Vanta catering to smaller teams.
When choosing between the two, consider your company's size, budget, desired features, and the level of customer support you require.
However, there's an alternative that combines the strengths of both platforms while addressing common pain points more effectively.
Other Vanta and Drata Alternatives
When you're researching compliance automation solutions, you'll find several great options out there beyond the usual suspects. Here are some platforms worth adding to your list:
EasyAudit leads the way in AI-powered compliance automation. You can use their AI suite to handle the heavy lifting of compliance work—from generating customized policies and controls to creating AI risk assessments. The platform takes care of the time-consuming documentation work so you can focus on implementing actual security measures.
Secureframe gives you robust integration capabilities across SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR frameworks. They'll monitor your cloud, vendor, and HR systems to keep you audit-ready without the headaches.
OneTrust offers you a comprehensive platform for managing privacy, security, and governance. They'll help you automate compliance across multiple regulatory frameworks while keeping your data governance and third-party risk all in one place.
Sprinto is perfect if you're running a SaaS company and need automated compliance for standards like SOC 2 and ISO 27001. You'll get real-time monitoring and automated evidence collection that keeps up with your growing business.
Auditboard provides you with end-to-end compliance management including solid audit planning, fieldwork, and reporting tools. Their cloud-based solution will streamline your compliance workflows and give you real-time visibility into where you stand.
5 Reasons Why Companies Choose EasyAudit Over Drata and Vanta
1. Cuts compliance costs in half
Traditional compliance methods can cost up to $100,000. EasyAudit reduces your SOC 2 compliance expenses by at least 50% , freeing up capital for growth and innovation.
2. Saves you over 100 hours of manual work
EasyAudit automates the heavy lifting. Our platform automates evidence collection, generates documentation, generates controls and keeps track of your compliance process in an intuitive dashboard.
Instead of your team spending over 100 hours on tedious compliance tasks, they can focus on refining products, closing deals and expanding your business.
3. AI-driven custom security controls
Unlike Drata and Vanta, which offer generic compliance templates, EasyAudit leverages AI to understand your unique business operations and generates custom security controls tailored specifically to your needs.
For example, if your company uses a specific tool like Checkr for background checks, EasyAudit will create detailed controls such as: “The Head of Engineering at EasyAudit performs an automated background check using Checkr upon the first job interview.”
This level of detail ensures that each control is relevant and actionable, streamlining the compliance process and eliminating the guesswork that often slows down certification.
4. Transparent, flat-fee pricing with no hidden costs
Unexpected fees can derail budgets. EasyAudit offers a clear, flat-fee pricing model — no surprises , no hidden costs. You know exactly what you're paying from day one.
5. Achieve compliance in half the time
Time is critical when deals are on the line. EasyAudit accelerates your compliance timeline from 6–8 months to just 2–3 months. Secure that big contract sooner and stay ahead of the competition.
With EasyAudit, you get an all-in-one, AI-powered SOC 2 compliance solution that does all the heavy lifting, without compromising on cost, speed, or quality.
Why settle for less when you can have a solution designed to lift the compliance burden off your shoulders?
Get started with EasyAudit today.
FAQs
What does Vanta do?
Vanta is a trust management platform that helps companies simplify and centralize their compliance and security workflows. This allows them to build, maintain, and demonstrate trust with customers by automating compliance tasks and ensuring transparency. Their most commonly advertised features include continuous monitoring, trust center, and questionnaire automation.
What does Drata do?
Drata is a security and compliance automation platform founded in 2020 that helps companies streamline their compliance efforts, automate evidence collection, and maintain a strong security posture, ultimately building trust with customers and partners.
Who are Vanta and Drata's competitors?
Some of their main competitors include EasyAudit, Secureframe, Sprinto, and OneTrust. Based on our research, we've discovered that more companies are looking to use AI to do the heavy lifting of typical compliance work, which is why many are choosing EasyAudit as the leader in AI-powered compliance.