SOC 2 Cost by Company Size
Per-Employee Benchmarks for 2026
Year 1 Per Employee
$400 - $2,000
Decreases with company size due to economies of scale
Year 2+ Per Employee
$150 - $600
30-50% drop after the first year
Stage
Pre-Seed / Seed
5-20 employees
Year 1 Total
$15K - $35K
Year 2+ Annual
$8K - $18K
Per Employee (Y1)
$750 - $1,750
Line-Item Budget
| Audit fee (boutique, Type 1) | $5K - $12K |
| Compliance platform | $4K - $8K/yr |
| Readiness / gap assessment | $0 - $5K |
| Penetration testing | $3K - $8K |
| Engineering time (opportunity cost) | $5K - $15K |
| Policy development | $0 - $3K |
| Tool upgrades | $0 - $5K |
| Training | $500 - $1K |
At this stage, the founder or CTO typically leads the SOC 2 effort. Most pursue Security-only scope with a boutique auditor and Type 1 report. The platform subscription and audit fee dominate the budget. Engineering time is a significant hidden cost because the team is small and every hour matters.
Start SOC 2 when your first enterprise prospect asks for it and the deal exceeds $30K ARR.
Stage
Series A
20-75 employees
Year 1 Total
$30K - $65K
Year 2+ Annual
$15K - $30K
Per Employee (Y1)
$400 - $900
Line-Item Budget
| Audit fee (boutique/mid-tier, Type 2) | $10K - $25K |
| Compliance platform | $8K - $18K/yr |
| Readiness / gap assessment | $3K - $10K |
| Penetration testing | $5K - $12K |
| Engineering time (opportunity cost) | $15K - $35K |
| Policy development | $2K - $5K |
| Tool upgrades | $5K - $15K |
| Training | $1K - $3K |
Most Series A companies go for Type 2 with Security + Availability criteria. The compliance platform is essential at this stage because manual evidence collection across 50+ employees is impractical. Engineering time is the largest hidden cost. A dedicated security hire is usually not yet justified.
This is the most common stage for first SOC 2 certification. The ROI is typically 3-5x in Year 1 from unlocked enterprise deals.
Stage
Series B/C
75-300 employees
Year 1 Total
$55K - $110K
Year 2+ Annual
$25K - $45K
Per Employee (Y1)
$200 - $700
Line-Item Budget
| Audit fee (mid-tier, Type 2) | $18K - $40K |
| Compliance platform | $15K - $30K/yr |
| Readiness / gap assessment | $5K - $15K |
| Penetration testing | $8K - $18K |
| Engineering time (opportunity cost) | $25K - $55K |
| Policy and legal work | $3K - $8K |
| Tool upgrades | $10K - $30K |
| Training | $2K - $5K |
At this stage, you likely have a dedicated security or compliance hire. More systems in scope, more employees for access reviews, and higher platform tiers. Tool upgrades become significant because you need enterprise-grade SIEM, MDM, and vulnerability management. Economies of scale reduce the per-employee cost.
Consider adding ISO 27001 alongside SOC 2 for 30-40% combined savings. Your enterprise customers will increasingly ask for both.
Stage
Enterprise
300+ employees
Year 1 Total
$80K - $200K+
Year 2+ Annual
$40K - $80K
Per Employee (Y1)
$250 - $650
Line-Item Budget
| Audit fee (mid-tier/Big 4, Type 2) | $30K - $80K+ |
| Compliance platform | $25K - $50K/yr |
| Readiness / gap assessment | $8K - $25K |
| Penetration testing | $10K - $25K |
| Engineering time (opportunity cost) | $35K - $75K |
| Policy and legal work | $5K - $15K |
| Tool upgrades | $15K - $50K |
| Training | $3K - $8K |
Enterprise companies face higher absolute costs but benefit from economies of scale. Fixed costs (audit, platform, policies) do not scale linearly with headcount. However, more employees means more access reviews, more training, more systems in scope, and more complex vendor management. Some enterprise customers may require a Big 4 or top-tier audit firm.
At enterprise scale, SOC 2 is table stakes. Focus on multi-framework efficiency (SOC 2 + ISO 27001 + any industry-specific framework) to minimise total compliance spend.
Why Bigger Companies Pay More in Total but Less Per Head
Fixed Costs Stay Flat
Audit fees, platform base pricing, and policy development are largely fixed. A 300-person company pays similar audit fees to a 100-person company for the same scope.
Variable Costs Scale Slowly
Per-seat platform pricing adds $20-$50 per employee. Access reviews take more time but not proportionally. Training is a per-head cost but low per person.
Complexity Drives Real Cost
More systems, more cloud accounts, more third-party vendors, and more Trust Services Criteria are the real cost drivers. Company size is just a proxy for complexity.