SOC 2 Compliance Cost 2026: Planning A Comprehensive Compliance Budget

SOC 2 compliance costs can be substantial, especially if you are a small or growing business that’s bootstrapped.  However, that doesn’t make it any less worthwhile – in fact, you should view it as an investment that could bring you invaluable business in the future. With cloud-hosted applications proliferating, SOC 2 Compliance is a sure-fire way for B2B SaaS companies such as yours to tell your customers that you have the security muscle to protect your customers’ data.

Read on to find out how to automate and save big with compliance automation, which can reduce costs by 30-50%.

SOC 2 compliance costs overview: Key variables explored

SOC 2 compliance costs are the sum of the dollars spent, time, resources, and technological investments an organization makes to improve its security stance and comply with the SOC 2 standard. But exactly how much does SOC 2 compliance cost? The answer depends on various factors; hence, the costs will vary accordingly.

• Type of attestation required: SOC 2 Type 1 or SOC 2 Type 2 or both
• Size of the organization: Costs increase with the size of the company
• Audit scope: Costs increase with the number of Trust Service Criteria chosen
• The complexity of organization: Costs spiral up with the complexity of systems & controls
• Type of auditor chosen: CPAs (or firms) come with different price tags
• Security tools: Costs of SOC tools typically needed to ensure compliance add up too
• Readiness assessment: Costs vary based on the type of auditor chosen (optional)

Look at the image below to understand the broad cost in terms of dollars spent:

Apart from the dollar spent on tech and consulting, it includes the following  :

• Cost of not being audit-ready: SOC 2 itself is not a government regulation, so the risk is usually commercial, not statutory. In practice, the cost shows up as delayed deals, longer procurement cycles, repeated security questionnaires, and extra remediation work under pressure. 
• Auditor fees: The third-party auditor will charge the organization for assessing its security controls
• Resources: This includes allocating time, effort, and money for establishing protocols, creating tactical plans, training employees, and managing the costs of monitoring, documenting, etc. If you want to calculate the effort cost to get compliant, we have a compliance effort calculator. You can check the ballpark cost by filling out your details
• Remedial expenditure: This involves the costs of corrective action that may be required in case gaps are identified during readiness assessment or final audit.

So, what does a final SOC 2 attestation look like? The end result of the SOC 2 audit can have 4 possibilities; we’ve covered them below!

How much does a SOC 2 Type 1 audit cost?

We estimate that a SOC 2 Type 1 audit costs $5000 for up to 3 TSCs and can go up to $25000 if the audit covers more than 3 TSCs. For a more thorough estimation, go through our compliance cost calculator.

In a SOC 2 Type 1 audit, the auditor will assess your policies, procedures, and controls to ensure they’re designed to keep your customers’ data safe and secure. As mentioned earlier, the costs will depend on your organization’s size, complexity (of systems & controls), audit readiness, and the type of auditor chosen.

As much as you want to keep the costs down, choose an auditor with established credentials and experience in auditing businesses like yours. A SOC 2 compliance is as much about your security posture and best practices as it is about getting the attestation from an established CPA.

The not-so-good news? These costs don’t include the cost of readiness assessment (optional), additional security tools needed, and the lost productivity costs of involving an in-house team in the run-up to the audit and after that. We have covered these cost overheads in the later part of this article.

How much does a SOC 2 Type 2 audit cost?

SOC 2 Type 2 has a longer evaluation window of 3-12 months, costing significantly more. The SOC 2 compliance cost for Type 2 reports typically ranges between $7000 – $50000. Again, the costs depend on your organization’s size, complexity (of systems & controls), audit readiness, TSCs chosen, and the type of auditor. 
That said, the costs do add up when you include readiness assessments and other overheads. If you’re looking to plan for compliance expenses, our compliance cost calculator is here to assist you.

What does SOC 2 compliance include?

The SOC 2 Compliance evaluates an organization’s internal controls over one or more of the TSCs (as chosen by the organization). The audit efforts and costs vary depending on the type of SOC 2 report needed – Type 1 or Type 2.

Typically, SOC 2 Compliance requires months of preparation to ensure that your internal controls’ design and operating effectiveness are in sync with the compliance requirements.

Here’s a quick SOC 2 Checklist of all you must do before you are compliant and ready.

What can you expect in a SOC Type 2 Compliance?

You can expect the audit to be long and drawn out as you answer the questions, provide evidence, and fix non-conformities your auditor raises during your Type 2 audit. A SOC 2 Type 2 Compliance may typically take up to six months—Type 2 has a mandatory three-month monitoring period.

In comparison, compliance for Type 1 is a shorter affair as it doesn’t need a monitoring period. And since the audit only tests the design of your internal controls at a particular point in time (snapshot), the entire process is less intrusive.

Once you clear your SOC 2 Type 1 Compliance, you must maintain compliance during the three to six months observation before applying for Type 2.

SOC 2 Compliant Costs – why do they vary?

Typically, auditor costs get steeper with an increase in the organization’s employee count and the complexity of the systems and controls involved. For instance, a SaaS firm with under 25 employees will have relatively less complex systems and controls to evaluate during the audit than a firm with more than 200 employees. Therefore, it isn’t uncommon for auditors to charge based on these factors.

You can expect discounts on bundled pricing from auditors for Type 1 and Type 2 reports. Some auditors (or firms) also offer discounts on subsequent audits after the first one.

Then again, auditor costs also vary based on the type of auditor (or audit firm chosen). The Big 4 audit firms (Deloitte, E&Y, KPMG, and PWC) are pricey and likely out of budget for startups or smaller organizations. SOC audit costs also vary between mid-tier and boutique audit firms.

SOC 2 audit cost depends on selecting auditors. SOC 2 auditors charge $12000 for SOC 2 Type 1 audit and $15000 for SOC 2 Type II audit, there are some that charge based on the TSC chosen: $20000 for only Security, $26000 for Security, availability, and Confidentiality (same prices for Type I and II).

In your efforts to keep a lid on costs, don’t choose the cheapest. Look for auditors that have established credibility and relevant experience. Remember, your SOC report is only as good as the auditor who attests it.

Also check out: SOC 2 Type 2 certification

Hidden costs in SOC 2 certification

Are there any unforeseen expenses you can run into? Yes, if you don’t use the right tools and have the right guidance, your SOC 2 costs can run way over budget! Let’s look at these potential cost mines and how you can navigate them.

Cost of Lost Productivity

SOC 2 requirements are extensive work and demand many hours from multiple people within your business. These employees would be busy doing their important work in an ideal world. But not when you are staring at SOC 2 compliance. The cost of lost productivity isn’t easy to quantify, but when you start losing hours of employee productivity to SOC 2 each week, you will notice.

Even if you have managed to prep for the audit with limited hands on-the-job (or with the help of a consultant), the actual audit will need help and support from most departments within your business. People will almost certainly need to be removed from their day-to-day tasks to work on the audit.

For instance, some of your key hires (engineering leads, people ops, and senior management) will need to join meetings and calls with the auditor, liaise with the consultants, spend time on remediation of issues found in the report, and work on implementations, to name a few.

All these are exhaustive in scope and will require substantial time and effort, something which your staff if better off investing in their primary work.

SOC 2 will likely take much time from the people within your teams with the best knowledge of the security controls under assessment.

Staff Training

Your employees are the first line of defence in a security threat or data breach. And SOC 2, therefore, emphasizes the security training of staff. Generally, staff awareness training costs $25 per user, but can cost up to $15,000 per training session (trainer costs) depending on the content, quality, and training company.

New security tools needed to reach compliance could also require staff training. Examples of these could include:

• Background Checking Software
• Backup Software
• Encryption Tools
• Antivirus and Anti-phishing Solutions

Whether you carry out security awareness training in-house or via a third party, there’ll be associated time and monetary costs.

Security Tools

Based on the results of your gap analysis and assessments, you may want to invest in software to improve your overall security posture before requesting an audit.

Is any of the following technical security measures in place at your company?

• Monitoring the security of your staff’s laptops with MDM
• Laptops with antivirus software
• Password manager for your employees
• Vulnerability scanning solutions for codebases or hosting infrastructures
• Incident response and management system for operational and security incidents

Depending on what you need, the costs will add up. MDM, for example, costs about $48 per user annually, while vulnerability scanners range from $6000 to $25000. Password managers and antivirus software, however, are free or available at a nominal cost.

Readiness Assessment

Even though readiness assessment is optional, it helps prepare you for the eventual SOC 2 audit. Here, an external consultant (whom you employ for the job) tests all your SOC 2 controls and highlights the gaps and remediation needed before the SOC audit.

If your organization does decide to carry one out, you’ll get:

• A neutral opinion on your SOC 2 audit readiness
• Help to see weaknesses and points of failure in your existing internal controls
• Share ideas on how to make your processes and procedures stronger

Estimates for a readiness assessment start at around $10000. Of course, if the evaluation reveals many issues that need fixing, those are further costs to consider.

Legal Fees

All the data protection and security policies you’ve signed up for can affect your SOC 2 readiness. Any legal document that involves how data is handled within your organization must be reviewed ahead of the SOC 2 audit – as there’s no use in security controls that put you in breach of client agreements.

You’ll need to consider any legal fees associated with the review of your existing legal agreements.

These could include:

• Contractor Agreements
• Employment Agreements
• Customer Agreements

Bear in mind that legal documents may also need to be revisited at later dates.

What are the total SOC 2 compliance costs?

The total SOC 2 cost in 2026 averages between $30,000 and $150,000. The final cost to get SOC 2 Compliance typically depends on the following 6 criteria:

• Size of your organization
• The complexity of your operations
• Maturity of your security controls
• Number of Trust Service Criteria chosen
• Type of report—Type 1 or Type 2 report
• Auditor costs

Security compliance can be described as a continuous process that doesn’t stop with certification. The cost of running continuing monitoring programs for your information security management systems depends on how you prefer to operate them on an ongoing basis. You could:

• Use internal expertise and bandwidth to implement this manually
• Hire consultants/external help to run cyclical internal audits
• Purchase a continuous monitoring tool

SOC 2 compliance requires a substantial upfront investment, followed by ongoing maintenance expenses. 

Here’s a break up of one-time costs:

• Readiness assessments ($15,000)
• Consultants or internal project leads ($75,000-$150,000)
• Legal paperwork and documentation ($10,000)
• Infrastructure upgrades ($45,000-$75,000)
• Formal audit ($20,000-$100,000). 

Annual maintenance costs represent approximately 40% of total initial compliance costs, ranging from $10,000 to $40,000 for most organizations. These recurring expenses cover:

• Continuous monitoring ($5,000-$15,000)
• Regular security testing ($3,000-$10,000)
• Annual recertification audits ($20,000-$40,000)

(The above numbers have been sourced from Duplocloud and Bemopro)

How can automation help reduce SOC 2 costs?

Over 60 percent of the organizations surveyed by a global security firm, Coalfire, indicated that automation has greatly reduced their SOC 2 compliance expenses.

As Girish Redekar, Sprinto’s co-founder, explained, “Sprinto replaces the slow, laborious, and error-prone process of obtaining security compliances such as SOC 2 with a swift, hassle-free, tech-enabled experience.”

That being said, here is how automation can bring down compliance costs:

Saves you time

Automated tasks mean less manual work, reducing hours spent preparing for audits. This is because, with automation in place, tasks can be performed more quickly and consistently than manual processes.

Simplifies documentation

Automation tools can generate and maintain compliance documentation automatically. This, in turn, will reduce your audit process and the time spent gathering and organizing a lot of documentation.

Manage risks proactively

Automated risk assessments highlight potential compliance risks so you can tackle them head-on before they become audit issues. This approach simplifies understanding the risks your organization takes on, the ones you delegate or transfer, and the risks you actively work to reduce. 

Grow without growing costs

As your company grows or compliance needs change, automation can adapt right alongside you. Compliance automation platforms are flexible enough to handle more complex tasks without costing you more time or money. 

This means you can grow your operations or adjust to new regulations without a hefty price tag. In the long run, this scalability helps you save money while keeping everything running smoothly.

Sprinto: A better way to control SOC 2 costs

The real hidden cost of SOC 2 isn’t the auditor’s bill. It’s the hours your team loses chasing screenshots, following up on policies, gathering evidence, tracking fixes, and coordinating with other teams.

Sprinto is an Autonomous Trust Platform built for teams running SOC 2 without a full compliance department. The platform connects to your cloud infrastructure, identity systems, and dev tools, then monitors controls and collects evidence continuously against the live system state. When something drifts or needs attention, Sprinto automatically brings it to your team’s attention. They can review, approve, and steer, while Sprinto handles the rest.

This also makes the audit itself smoother. When your evidence is up to date and organized, you cut down on last-minute work and back-and-forth with auditors. The whole process becomes more predictable.

For example, HackerRank needed a partner to help them achieve SOC 2 compliance and generate a Type 1 report without overburdening their engineering team. They chose Sprinto to manage the SOC2 compliance program while maintaining their team’s priorities. Within weeks, HackerRank reached compliance readiness and received their SOC2 Type 1 report soon after.

Here’s how Sprinto helps you save on your SOC 2 compliance costs:

• Continuously monitors your program and keeps evidence current, so you catch drift before it turns into audit cleanup.
• Scopes the program around your environment, identifies risks and policies, assigns training, and gets you moving with minimal internal supervision.
• Uses agents to keep systems connected, close routine gaps, and reduce manual pre-audit work.
• Pre-checks evidence before the audit and reduces back-and-forth with auditors on invalid or incomplete proof.
• Built-in MDM tool Dr. Sprinto helps you set security configurations to meet compliance framework requirements.
• Security Awareness Training and Incident Tracking Software (~$1000+) are bundled into the platform.
• Carries forward the answers, evidence, and supporting details you already maintain for customer questionnaires, vendor due diligence, and trust-center reviews
• Reduces lost productivity by pulling in the right owner only when judgment is needed, with context already attached.

The result? You save hundreds of hours, fix issues quickly with continuous monitoring, and obtain a hassle-free SOC 2 report. Sprinto’s compliance automation platform starts at only $8000 (depending on the organization’s size).

Book a demo to see how Sprinto can help you control your SOC 2 budget today.

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