How much does SOC 2 cost in total?
Published first-year totals for a small SaaS company range widely because they assume different starting points. Take out the outliers and the picture is consistent.
| Where the money goes | Typical range | Every year? |
|---|---|---|
| Audit fee, Type 2 | $7,000 to $25,000 | Yes |
| Compliance platform | $7,500 to $28,000 | Yes |
| Penetration test | $5,000 to $20,000 | Yes, by convention |
| Readiness assessment | $5,000 to $25,000 | No |
| Remediation help | $2,000 to $75,000 | No |
| Security tools | See the bill below | Yes |
| Your team's time | 100 to 500 hours | Less in later years |
You won't pay every line. A platform can replace most of the readiness assessment, and a company with good habits needs little remediation. That's how lean first years land at $20,000 to $35,000.
IT implementation: the tools an auditor expects to see evidence from
SOC 2 names no products. It expects outcomes, such as encrypted laptops, controlled access and trained staff. These are the tools most small companies use to produce them, at published 2026 prices.
| Tool | What it proves | List price |
|---|---|---|
| Device management (MDM) | Encryption, screen lock, patching | $4 to $12.50 per device a month |
| Endpoint protection (EDR) | Anti-malware on every device | $60 to $185 per device a year |
| Single sign-on | Central access control and MFA | $6 to $17 per user a month |
| Password manager | Credential handling | $2 to $8 per user a month |
| Security awareness training | Staff trained at hire and yearly | $20 to $50 per user a year |
| Vulnerability scanner | Regular scans and fixes | $800 to $6,000 a year (our estimate) |
| Background checks | Screening of new hires | $30 to $95 per hire |
If you already pay for Microsoft 365 Business Premium at $22 a user per month, you own device management and endpoint protection already. Check what your existing licenses cover before buying anything.
Work out your tool bill
Work out your tool bill
Untick what you already have:
List prices from the table above, multiplied by headcount. Single sign-on uses Okta's $1,500 annual minimum as a floor. Seat minimums on other tools can push small teams higher.
What are the hidden costs of SOC 2?
- The SSO tax. Many apps only allow single sign-on on their priciest plan. A public tracker lists increases from about 25 percent on Zoom to 500 percent on Airtable, with Slack at about 70 percent and GitHub above 400 percent.
- Seat minimums. Several security products have a minimum order. For a ten-person team, the minimum sets the price.
- Extra criteria. Adding Availability or Confidentiality raises the audit fee. One auditor directory uses multipliers of about 1.15 for two categories and 1.6 for all five.
- Pen test retests. Some firms include one. Others bill up to half the original fee.
- Renewal increases. Platform contracts typically rise 5 to 10 percent a year unless capped.
- Policy writing. $2,000 to $10,000 if you pay someone to do it.
- Your team's hours. At a few hundred hours, this is often the largest cost, and it rarely appears in the budget.
How to keep the bill down
- Scope Security only unless a customer contract demands more.
- Use what you own. Your workspace suite may already include device management and MFA.
- Pick a boutique CPA firm. Firm tier moves the audit fee more than anything else. See how to choose an auditor.
- Fix before you start the clock. Exceptions during a Type 2 period cost more than preparation.
- Get fixed fees. Hourly remediation is how budgets double.
With AccuSights: remediation is in-house and inside the fixed fee, and our endpoint agent collects device evidence without an MDM purchase. Pricing starts at $6,000 a year for a small business, and you'll know your number before the work starts.