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PCI DSS compliance software, and who can actually assess you
Several SOC 2 platforms also automate PCI DSS, reusing the access, encryption, and logging evidence you already collect. Only Thoropass is itself on the PCI Security Standards Council list of Qualified Security Assessors, so it can run the assessment as well as the software. Every other platform prepares you and you still bring your own QSA.
This comparison covers core SOC 2 platforms with a documented PCI DSS claim; trust-center and questionnaire-only products are outside its scope.
Which of these can actually assess you, and which just prepare you
This is the fact that decides the purchase, and no other comparison states it. A platform can automate PCI DSS evidence all it likes; unless it is a Qualified Security Assessor Company, it cannot sign your Report on Compliance. We checked each platform against the PCI Security Standards Council assessor database directly rather than against its own marketing.
Featured firms pay to appear first. Every firm here cleared our fit bar first; payment cannot add a firm or change its facts. Sort any column to reorder.
| On the PCI SSC assessor list | Depth of PCI support | Helps with the SAQ | You still need a QSA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comp AI Sponsored Engineering-led teams that value inspectable code or the option to self-host | No | Vendor-claimed | Not stated | Yes |
| Thoropass Teams wanting software and a connected audit process from the same provider | Yes, as Thoropass, Inc. | Native control set | Not stated | No, it is the assessor |
| Vanta Cloud-native SaaS teams on mainstream stacks that value a broad integration catalog | No | Native control set | Yes | Yes |
| Drata Growth-stage SaaS teams on mainstream stacks that expect to add frameworks over time | No | Native control set | Yes | Yes |
| Secureframe Teams seeking expert guidance with a published Fundamentals starting price | No | Native control set | Yes, names SAQ types | Yes |
| Scrut Automation Growth-stage tech teams managing SOC 2 alongside other frameworks | No | Native, mapped to v4.0 clauses | Yes | Yes |
| Carbide Early-stage SaaS companies that want hands-on guidance for a first compliance framework | No | Native control set | Not stated | Yes |
| Sprinto Early- to growth-stage SaaS teams seeking a guided, lower-cost first audit | No | Mapped from other frameworks | Not stated | Yes, and it says so |
| Scytale Startups without compliance expertise: software plus hands-on advisory in Build DFY or Build Stronger | No | Mapped from other frameworks | Not stated | Yes |
| Strike Graph Growth-stage teams wanting plan-based public pricing across several frameworks | No | Mapped, SAQ-oriented | Yes | Yes |
| Oneleet Security-conscious startups wanting compliance, penetration testing, and light vCISO help together | No | Mapped from other frameworks | Not stated | Yes |
| TrustCloud GRC teams handling several frameworks, trust reviews, and security questionnaires together | No | Mapped via a common control framework | Yes | Yes |
| Anecdotes Multi-framework security and GRC teams with a dedicated compliance function and an enterprise budget | No | Vendor-claimed | Not stated | Yes |
| Apptega MSSPs, MSPs, and consultancies running multi-client, multi-framework compliance programs | No | Vendor-claimed | Not stated | Yes |
| ComplyJet Small B2B SaaS teams that want hands-on ownership of a first SOC 2 program | No | Vendor-claimed | Not stated | Yes |
| Trustero Multi-framework GRC teams or MSSPs that want a shared control library | No | Vendor-claimed | Not stated | Yes |
| Delve Very early-stage SaaS startups pursuing a fast, lower-cost first SOC 2 report | No | Vendor-claimed, thin | Not stated | Yes |
| Zania Enterprise GRC teams using AI-assisted evidence testing across several frameworks | No public QSA listing found | Mapped across frameworks; PCI depth not independently established | Not stated | Yes |
Assessor status was checked against the PCI SSC Qualified Security Assessor company database on 2026-07-24, with Zania checked on 2026-08-15. Depth and SAQ columns come from each vendor's own PCI documentation at the retrieval date carried by its directory record. A brand-name search cannot rule out a QSA affiliate trading under an unrelated legal name; none of these vendors publicly claims one.
What SOC 2 evidence actually carries over to PCI DSS
Both frameworks expect the same underlying security practices, so work you have already done is not wasted. Restricted system and physical access, user access reviews, encryption in transit and at rest, endpoint and server hardening, secure development and change management, logging and monitoring, and written information security policies all inform both programs.
What does not carry over is scope, and scope is where second-framework projects actually go wrong. PCI DSS is bounded to the cardholder data environment; SOC 2 covers whatever system you defined. A PCI-scoped vulnerability scan does not satisfy SOC 2, and a SOC 2 access review does not automatically cover the CDE. PCI DSS also demands artifacts SOC 2 has no equivalent for: the SAQ or Report on Compliance, the Attestation of Compliance, and quarterly external scans by an Approved Scanning Vendor.
You will see a "60 percent overlap" figure quoted in this category. We are not repeating it as fact. It traces back to a compliance vendor's own blog, not to the PCI Security Standards Council or any audit-standards body, and we found no independent source that quantifies the overlap at all. The overlap is real and substantial. The number is marketing.
Do you need a QSA, or can you self-assess
Most companies buying compliance software can self-assess. The Self-Assessment Questionnaire is available to merchants below Level 1, which is roughly anything under six million card transactions a year, and to service providers under 300,000 transactions a year. Above those lines you are generally into a Report on Compliance signed by a Qualified Security Assessor.
One thing worth knowing before a vendor tells you otherwise: the PCI Security Standards Council writes the standard and publishes the SAQ instruments, but it does not set your validation level. That is determined by the individual card brands, and only your acquiring bank can assign it. So the honest answer to "which SAQ am I" is that your acquirer decides, and any platform promising certainty before you have asked them is overselling.
Both paths still require quarterly external vulnerability scans by an Approved Scanning Vendor for in-scope internet-facing systems, and both end in an Attestation of Compliance. Software does not remove either.
What PCI DSS costs on top of the platform fee
Platform pricing and assessment pricing are separate budgets, and the second is usually the larger one. The Council publishes no fee schedule for what a QSA charges a client. The only figure it does publish is what assessor firms pay the Council to stay qualified, around $20,000 a year regionally or $40,000 for global coverage, which is a cost to the assessor and not to you.
Client-facing fees are set by the private market and the reported bands are wide. Self-assessment support runs from almost nothing to a few thousand dollars depending on SAQ type and whether a consultant helps. A mid-market QSA engagement is commonly reported in the tens of thousands. A full QSA-led Report on Compliance for a complex cloud environment is reported from around $30,000 into six figures. Treat all of those as secondary-source ranges rather than quotes, because that is what they are.
The practical consequence for platform selection: if you are heading for a ROC, the bundled-assessor option removes a procurement cycle and a second vendor relationship. If you are self-assessing, it buys you nothing and you should pick on evidence automation instead.
What it means when the same vendor sells the software and the assessment
One vendor selling you both the compliance software and the assessment removes a procurement cycle and a handoff, which is worth real money when you are running two frameworks with a small team. It is also a structure worth understanding before you sign, the same way you would with any bundled provider.
The safeguards here are external, not self-declared. Qualified Security Assessor companies are qualified and re-listed by the PCI Security Standards Council itself, and the list is public, so you can check current status before you engage anyone. Thoropass runs its attestation work through Laika Compliance, LLC, a legally separate CPA entity, which passed its most recent AICPA peer review with a rating of pass, accepted 12 December 2025. We read that from the AICPA public file rather than from a vendor page.
The trade that is actually worth weighing is portability, not assessment quality. A bundled engagement is harder to take to a different assessor next year without exporting and re-mapping. Thoropass also sells the other way round: it states its audit platform works with any GRC platform and systems of record, so you can keep the compliance software you already run and engage it purely as the assessor. Price both paths rather than assuming the bundle is the only shape on offer.
We list independent assessors separately from software so the two decisions stay separable, and we are not an assessor ourselves.
Frequently asked.
Can I do PCI compliance myself?
If you are a merchant below Level 1 or a service provider under 300,000 transactions a year, you can generally complete a Self-Assessment Questionnaire yourself. Your acquiring bank assigns the validation level, not the PCI Council and not your software vendor, so confirm with them before you plan around it. You will still need quarterly external scans from an Approved Scanning Vendor.
Can I be PCI compliant for free?
The SAQ itself costs nothing to download and complete, so a small merchant with a simple environment can validate at close to zero direct cost. What is not free is the quarterly Approved Scanning Vendor scan, and neither is the engineering work behind the controls. Compliance software reduces the effort, not the requirements.
Which compliance platforms are a PCI QSA?
Of the platforms in our GRC software directory that claim PCI DSS support, Thoropass is the only one on the PCI Security Standards Council assessor list, as Thoropass, Inc. Every other platform automates evidence and hands off to a QSA you engage separately. We checked this against the Council database directly on 2026-07-24, not against vendor marketing.
Will my SOC 2 evidence count toward PCI DSS?
Some of it, and less than vendors imply. Access control, encryption, hardening, change management, logging, and policies inform both. The scopes differ, though: PCI DSS is bounded to the cardholder data environment while SOC 2 covers your defined system, so neither set of evidence automatically satisfies the other. Plan for real additional work rather than a rebadge.
What is PCI DSS in software terms?
It is a prescriptive standard: more than 300 sub-requirements across 12 requirements, scoped to wherever card data is stored, processed, or transmitted. That prescriptiveness is why platform support varies so much. A platform with a native PCI control set tests against the numbered requirements; one that maps PCI off its SOC 2 controls gives you a crosswalk and leaves the gaps to you.