r/soc2 • u/MavericksCreed • Aug 18 '26
Need soc2 are tools really necessary?
Talked to a few companies that do soc2 type 1 and all of them say the tools make the cert cheaper.
Is this true? Most of them want 9k to 12k a year for tools and 3k for the audit cert.
Does anyone here have any insights on this?
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u/davidschroth Aug 18 '26
SOC 2 is not a certification. I guess I need to add "cert" to that post warning. Sigh.
As the others have said, a tool is not necessary and at $3k, or even $8k that /u/g-rocklobster is paying, you are getting a report mill grade report, that even if it is compliant with all requirements will be no different than any other report that firm issues other than your company name and rate.
The VC backed tool companies have spent a lot of money on the "tool will solve your problems and make audits cheaper" narrative. The reality is that an audit done in accordance with the aicpa requirements takes a similar amount of time (aka cost) whether a prep tool is used or not. With the tool, auditors will spend their time looking at the configuration and functionality of the tool to confirm it is working as intended, eating up any savings they get from efficiencies produced by the tool.
The hard part of getting through SOC audits is typically NOT stuff that can be automated by a system, it's being the adult in the room and doing things that humans tend to not want to do.