SOC 2 Cost Breakdown

Complete pricing guide for SOC 2 certification in 2025

At a Glance

Type 1 (Point-in-Time)

$20K-$40K
Total Cost (DIY)
$15K-$28K
With LowerPlane
Most Common

Type 2 (6-12 Months)

$65K-$150K
Total Cost (DIY)
$40K-$100K
With LowerPlane

Multi-Framework

$100K-$250K
Total Cost (DIY)
$60K-$150K
With LowerPlane

Detailed Cost Breakdown (Type 2)

External Auditor Fees

DIY Cost
$15,000 - $50,000
With LowerPlane
$15,000 - $50,000

Varies by company size, complexity, and Trust Service Criteria selected. No change with platform.

Cost Factors:

  • Company size (employees, revenue)
  • Number of Trust Service Criteria (Security only vs all 5)
  • System complexity (single product vs multiple services)
  • Multi-site or multi-cloud environments
  • Number of findings from readiness assessment

Compliance Platform

DIY Cost
$0 (manual spreadsheets)
With LowerPlane
$12,000 - $24,000/year

LowerPlane automates evidence collection, provides policy templates, and includes dedicated advisor.

Cost Factors:

  • Number of frameworks (1 vs 3 vs 5+)
  • Number of integrations needed
  • Team size and support level
  • Advanced features (AI questionnaires, multi-framework mapping)

Internal Labor (Pre-Audit Prep)

DIY Cost
$25,000 - $50,000
With LowerPlane
$6,000 - $12,000

Time spent on readiness assessment, control implementation, policy creation. 75% reduction with automation.

Cost Factors:

  • 100-200 hours @ $125-250/hr without platform
  • 25-50 hours @ $125-250/hr with platform
  • Includes security, IT, compliance, legal, HR

Internal Labor (Observation Period)

DIY Cost
$25,000 - $50,000
With LowerPlane
$6,000 - $12,000

Ongoing evidence collection, monitoring, quarterly reviews. 75% time savings with automation.

Cost Factors:

  • 100-200 hours over 6-12 months without platform
  • 25-50 hours with automated evidence collection
  • Monthly/quarterly compliance reviews

Consultant/vCISO (Optional)

DIY Cost
$10,000 - $30,000
With LowerPlane
$0

Not needed with LowerPlane as we include dedicated compliance advisor in all Growth+ plans.

Cost Factors:

  • Gap assessment and remediation
  • Policy writing and implementation
  • Readiness reviews
  • Included in LowerPlane Growth plan

Tools & Software

DIY Cost
$5,000 - $20,000
With LowerPlane
$0

Security tools, monitoring, backup, MFA, etc. Most companies already have these.

Cost Factors:

  • SIEM/logging (Splunk, Datadog)
  • Vulnerability scanning (Snyk, Wiz)
  • MFA (Okta, Duo)
  • Backup solutions

Total Cost (DIY)

$65,000 - $150,000

Manual processes, high labor costs, consultant fees

Total Cost (With LowerPlane)

$39,000 - $98,000

Automated evidence, advisor included, 75% time savings

Savings: $26,000 - $52,000 (40-50% reduction)

Cost by Company Size

Startup (1-50 employees)

Under $10M ARR
Auditor:$15,000 - $25,000
Platform:$12,000/year
Internal Time:$12,000 - $24,000
Total:$39,000 - $61,000

Simpler systems, fewer integrations, Security criteria only

Growth (51-200 employees)

$10M - $50M ARR
Auditor:$25,000 - $40,000
Platform:$24,000/year
Internal Time:$18,000 - $36,000
Total:$67,000 - $100,000

Multiple products, more integrations, 2-3 Trust Service Criteria

Enterprise (200+ employees)

$50M+ ARR
Auditor:$40,000 - $60,000
Platform:Custom
Internal Time:$25,000 - $50,000
Total:$85,000 - $130,000+

Complex environments, all 5 criteria, multi-site, custom integrations

Hidden Costs to Watch For

Opportunity Cost

$50,000 - $100,000

Time your team spends on compliance instead of building product or serving customers. Without automation, compliance can consume 100-200 hours of senior engineering/security time.

Failed Audit Remediation

$10,000 - $30,000

If your audit uncovers significant gaps, you may need to remediate and extend the audit timeline. LowerPlane's readiness assessment prevents this by identifying gaps upfront.

Lost Deals

$100,000 - $500,000+

Revenue lost while waiting for SOC 2 certification. Average deal size for companies requiring SOC 2 is $50K-$100K+. Every month of delay is costly.

Annual Surveillance Audit

$8,000 - $25,000/year

After your initial Type 2, you need annual surveillance audits to maintain certification. Budget for this ongoing cost.

Control Deficiency Remediation

$5,000 - $20,000

Fixing controls that fail during the audit (e.g., incomplete access reviews, missing logs). Proper preparation avoids this.

How to Reduce SOC 2 Costs

Automate Evidence Collection

75% time savings

Connect LowerPlane to your AWS, Okta, GitHub, Jira, and 300+ tools to automatically collect logs, tickets, and reports. Reduces 100+ hours to 25 hours.

Start with Security Criteria Only

$5,000 - $15,000

Add Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy only if customers require them. Security is sufficient for most use cases.

Use Policy Templates

$5,000 - $15,000

Skip expensive consultants for policy writing. LowerPlane provides 15+ SOC 2-compliant policy templates with customization.

Leverage Cloud Provider Controls

$10,000 - $20,000

Use AWS, GCP, or Azure SOC 2 reports to inherit physical and environmental controls. No need to audit data centers yourself.

Multi-Framework Approach

$20,000 - $50,000

If you need multiple frameworks (SOC 2 + ISO 27001 + HIPAA), use control overlap to reduce audit scope by 30-50%.

Readiness Assessment First

$10,000 - $25,000

Complete a readiness assessment before engaging an auditor. Avoid failed audits and costly remediation by fixing gaps upfront.

Calculate Your SOC 2 ROI

See exactly how much time and money you'll save with LowerPlane automation