How much does SOC 2 cost for a startup?

Updated 25 October 2026

There is no single price, and the published figures disagree. The one cost every startup pays is the CPA firm's fee for the examination: Drata puts it at $7,500 to $15,000 for a Type 1 report and $12,000 to $20,000 for a Type 2 report at small to midsize companies (source). For the first year as a whole, Drata says most startups spend $25,000 to $50,000 (source), Probo says $25,000 to $80,000 (source), and Comp AI says $30,000 to $50,000 (source). Every figure on this page is the named publisher's own estimate, not Policyseed's, and most of those publishers sell a platform or service. This guide splits the bill into lines so you can see which part is fixed and which part you choose.

The short answer

Three kinds of numbers circulate, and they measure different things. Some are audit fees: what the CPA firm charges. Some are first-year totals, which add platforms, testing, tools and help. A few are shares of spending, such as Agency's estimate that first-year cost is 1 to 3 percent of annual operating expenses for a seed-stage company of 10 to 25 employees, with no dollar totals (source). Comparing an audit fee from one article with a total from another makes the second look inflated and the first look too good. Read each figure as the line it describes.

The spread is wide because the scope, the report type, the tools you already own and how much work you do yourself all move the total. Treat these as the range of what is being published, not a forecast for your company. Get your own quotes before you set a budget.

The one cost you cannot avoid: the CPA firm's examination

A SOC 2 report is an attestation by a licensed CPA firm. Software, templates and consultants can prepare you for it, but none of them can issue it, so the firm's fee is the floor of the budget. The sources publish these audit fee ranges:

Drata also says a Type 2 audit typically costs 30 to 50 percent more than a Type 1 (source). The reason is the period: a Type 1 report looks at the design of your controls on one date, and a Type 2 report tests whether they operated over a period. Drata gives that period as typically 3 to 12 months, and the whole process as 1 to 3 months for a Type 1 and 6 to 12 months for a Type 2 (source). See Type I vs Type II for what each report needs from your policies, and the SOC 2 timeline planner for a dated plan whose durations are planning assumptions you can change.

Firms differ in what they quote for, so a lower number is not automatically a better deal. See the section on comparable quotes below.

Costs that depend on your choices

None of the following is required by the criteria. Each is a decision, and each source prices it differently.

• A compliance platform. Comp AI, which sells one, puts mid-tier platforms at roughly $15,000 to $30,000 per year, high-end ones at $25,000 to $40,000 per year, and newer or limited-scope packages at $5,000 to $10,000 per year (source). Drata, another platform vendor, gives no dollar figure for subscriptions on the pages cited here. Ask each vendor for a written quote for your headcount and integrations.
• A consultant or vCISO. Comp AI says $150 to $400 per hour, easily totaling $20,000 to $50,000 for a full preparation engagement (source). Drata lists consultant support at $5,000 to $25,000+ (source).
• A readiness or gap assessment. Drata lists $5,000 to $25,000 for a gap assessment (source), and Comp AI says a readiness assessment typically costs $10,000 to $15,000 (source).
• A penetration test. Drata lists $5,000 to $15,000 (source), Probo says a proper test starts at $5,000 (source), and Comp AI says $10,000 to $20,000 or more depending on scope (source). No SOC 2 criterion names a penetration test, but customers and auditors may ask about one.
• Security tools and remediation. Drata lists security tool upgrades at $5,000 to $50,000+ and control implementation at up to $30,000+ (source). Your bill depends on what you already run: single sign-on, device management, logging and backups you already pay for do not add a new line.
• Internal time. Someone has to write, approve and operate all of this. The sources count it differently, and the hours your team spends rarely appear on an invoice, so write down who owns each task before you compare totals.

Drata says total costs often add $20,000 to $80,000 on top of the audit fee (source). That is Drata's estimate, and it includes the optional lines above.

Work a small team can do with free tools

Several lines on that list pay for preparation work a small team can do itself. These free tools run in your browser, with no signup:

• Policies. The generator renders the 22 policies a SOC 2 examination expects from 23 questions about your company.
• A baseline. The readiness assessment gives a score and gap list, and the gap assessment template keeps a row per criterion.
• Risk assessment. The risk assessment wizard builds a heat map, a Word report and an Excel register from your stack.
• Access reviews. The access review tool builds the workbook you fill in each quarter.
• Vendor reviews. The vendor review template keeps one record per vendor.
• Training. The security awareness training pack has slides, a quiz and a completion tracker.

Doing this yourself replaces paid preparation help on the lines above. It does not replace the CPA firm's examination, and it does not operate the controls for you: access reviews still have to happen on schedule, and training still has to be completed.

Year two and after: what recurs

A SOC 2 report covers a period, so customers often ask for a current one. Drata says maintaining SOC 2 typically costs $15,000 to $40,000 annually (source). Comp AI says the annual renewal audit runs $10,000 to $25,000 for most small companies (source), and Agency says renewal costs are 20 to 40 percent lower than the first year (source). What recurs, in practice:

• The CPA firm's fee for the next examination.
• Any platform or tooling subscription you chose.
• The annual penetration test, if your policies or customers call for one.
• The internal work of operating the controls and collecting evidence on schedule.

How to get auditor quotes you can compare

Quotes only compare when they describe the same engagement. Send the same facts to two or three CPA firms and ask them to answer in writing:

1. Report type. Type 1, Type 2, or both, and whether pricing both together changes the fee.
2. Criteria in scope. Security is the base; say whether you are adding Availability or Confidentiality, because more criteria means more to test.
3. Observation window. The length of the period for a Type 2, and when it would start.
4. System and team. Products, environments, headcount, hosting provider and the vendors that hold customer data.
5. What the fee includes. Fieldwork, report drafting, follow-up questions, and whether the next year's renewal is priced.
6. What you must provide. The evidence they expect and in what form.

For a penetration test, the scope template includes a sheet to compare quotes on the same criteria. The customer-request guide covers what to tell a customer while you gather them.

Where Policyseed fits

The generator and the tools above are free. The Audit Kit costs $59, one time, for one company: it tailors the 22 policies to the tools you named, as editable Word files, and adds audit-prep drafts such as a system description, a gap assessment and a timeline. The Agency license costs $199, one time, for consultants covering up to five companies. Prices are listed on the pricing page, and the free vs paid comparison shows what each option contains.

None of these replaces the CPA firm's fee, the auditor's examination or the work of operating the controls. They give management drafts to review, edit and approve.

Policyseed provides governance policy templates and AI tailoring. It is not legal advice and not a compliance guarantee. Management adopts the policies; the CPA firm performs the SOC 2 examination.