What SOC 2 costs, from published figures
| Item | Published figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 audit fee | Usually $10,000–$50,000 | Vanta |
| First SOC 2, all-in | $10,000–$80,000 or more | Vanta |
| Type 1 audit | $7,500–$60,000 | Drata |
| Type 2 audit | $12,000–$100,000+ | Drata |
| Type 2 observation period | Typically 3–12 months; 6 recommended for a first audit | Drata |
Sources: Vanta, How much does a SOC 2 audit cost?; Drata, SOC 2 Type 1 vs Type 2 (updated 13 March 2026). Both checked 5 October 2026.
SOC 2 is about the company, not only the app
The AICPA describes SOC 2 as reporting on “an examination of controls at a service organization relevant to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, or privacy” (AICPA & CIMA). The service organisation is your company. That is why only part of SOC 2 readiness belongs in a development quote.
| Belongs in the development quote | Belongs to your company, not the build |
|---|---|
| Sign-in and access control in the app | Who in your team gets access, and reviewing it |
| A record of who did what in the app | Onboarding and offboarding staff |
| Security testing before launch, and as the app changes | Choosing and reviewing your vendors |
| Hosting set up the way an auditor expects | Your incident response plan and who runs it |
| Evidence documents produced as the work is done | The audit itself, by an independent auditor |
If a quote puts “SOC 2 compliance” in a single line, ask which side of this table it covers.
What to ask before you accept a quote that mentions SOC 2
- Which controls does the build put in place — and which does it leave to you?
- What evidence will you receive for your auditor?
- Will a later change that breaks a control be caught before it ships?
- Is the vendor claiming to make you compliant? Nobody’s vendor can; only your audit can report on your controls.
- Does the vendor hold its own SOC 2 report — and if not, what does it hold instead?
How Pricient quotes SOC 2 work
You do not have to know which framework applies — the project tells us, and the quote carries it. When a project involves payments or money movement, SOC 2 and PCI are spotted, not left to you. QA and security are visible lines in every tier, and the evidence a security reviewer and an auditor ask for — a control-mapping binder, data-flow diagrams and drift checks that fail the build if a later change breaks a control — is produced as the work is done.
Audit-ready by default, never self-certified. We do not make you compliant; we make your auditor’s job faster. IOanyT, which builds what Pricient quotes, holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and ISO 9001:2015 certification.