Best GRC software solutions for 2025

The right GRC platform does more than help you check boxes. As compliance requirements grow and security threats become more complex, Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) software is essential for protecting your organization, enabling proactive risk management, and building stronger resilience. 

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In this article, we review five of the best GRC solutions, highlighting their key features, strengths, limitations, and use cases, to help you pick the right tool for your organization.

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Understanding the GRC market

GRC software helps organizations navigate the increasingly complex web of regulatory requirements, risk exposure, and internal policies—ensuring operations stay secure and compliant. The right platform drives efficiency, supports better decision-making, keeps audits on track, avoids costly penalties, builds customer trust, and accelerates revenue growth.

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Key drivers shaping the GRC landscape: 

• Evolving regulatory complexity: Regulatory requirements are increasing and overlapping requirements are driving demand for automation, streamlined evidence collection, and audit fatigue reduction
• Real-time risk management: Static tools fall short—continuous monitoring and integrated systems are now table stakes for staying ahead of risk
• Heightened security exposure: AI-powered threats and internal adoption are pushing organizations to embed compliance earlier in development and security workflows
• Tool and vendor sprawl: Disconnected tools create inefficiencies and risk blind spots, making consolidation key as leaders seek ROI and tighter control over third-party risk
• Board-level accountability: GRC teams must surface real-time insights and quantifiable metrics to inform executive decision-making
• Early AI adoption: Early adopters are gaining an edge through AI-driven automation, faster analysis, and smarter risk mitigation

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Criteria to consider from a GRC solution

We evaluated GRC platforms across a range of criteria focused on automation, flexibility, and enterprise readiness to identify solutions that best support scalable, efficient, and user-friendly compliance programs.

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Here are some of the features and functionalities you should consider when selecting a GRC software: 

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Disclaimer: To help you find the best GRC software, we've researched and ranked a selection of leading platforms. While we may be biased about Vanta being the top option, we aim to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the available options, so you can choose the right fit for your organization.

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Best GRC software

Here are our top picks and a comprehensive breakdown of their features, pros and cons to help you choose the right fit for your organization. 

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#1 Vanta

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Vanta is the #1, most comprehensive, trust management and compliance automation platform, built to simplify and accelerate compliance. By automating the most time-consuming aspects of security audits, Vanta helps organizations quickly achieve and maintain compliance with critical frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and more. It continuously monitors your systems in real time—so you’re always audit-ready and in control of your security posture.

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Trusted by over 10,000 companies, Vanta goes beyond checking the compliance box. The powerful AI-enabled platform empowers businesses to build trust with customers, scale securely, and unlock revenue—faster. With Vanta, compliance becomes a growth driver, not a blocker.

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Vanta is ideal for:

• Early-stage startups preparing for their first audits
• Growth-stage companies expanding into regulated industries
• Mid-sized and mature companies with complex GRC programs

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Key features: 

Extensive framework coverage

• 35+ pre-built frameworks including SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, HITRUST, CIS, and supports custom frameworks
• Automated mapping and cross-mapping controls, policies, and evidence across frameworks for efficient audits

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End-to-end automation and monitoring

• 1,200+ automated tests running hourly, with bi-directional ticketing with productivity tools  to accelerate remediation
• AI-generated code snippets (Terraform, AWS CLI, CloudFormation) to fix failed tests quickly
• AI-powered remediation guidance that suggests relevant controls, documents, and risks, and summarizes vendor responses

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Integrations and ecosystem

• 375+ integrations across cloud, IAM, collaboration, security, HRIS, device management tools and more for automated tests and evidence collection
• Open APIs to build custom integrations 

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Advanced policy builder: 

• ~100 pre-built policy templates to easily craft policies along with workflows for approval, renewal and updates

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Industry-leading Trust Center 

• Customizable, web-based portal to demonstrate security and compliance posture with passing controls
• CRM-integrated workflows for NDAs, access requests, and AI-powered prospect Q&A
• AI interface that allows prospects to self-serve answers and subscribe to get updates

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Streamlined Questionnaire Automation: 

• Centralized knowledge base with support to handle multiple products and browser extension 
• AI-powered security responses to questionnaire received from prospects with an answer coverage rate of 80%+, and an answer acceptance rate of up to 95% 

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Vendor risk management: 

• Proactive shadow IT discovery
• Tracks and assesses third-party vendor risks with automated evidence gathering from previous reports and Trust Center
• Centralized vendor portal and workflows for efficient collaboration during security reviews

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Unmatched customer support

• 24/7 AI and human support with published response metrics and global coverage
• Dedicated audit portal, connecting to AICPA accredited auditors or work with customer's auditors for a smooth audit experience
• Dedicated team of in-house customer success managers, GRC experts, and technical support to help organizations achieve compliance and scale securely
• Robust onboarding resources, instructor-led training, free vCISO services, and penetration testing

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Enterprise-grade flexibility

• Custom RBAC, SCIM support, multi-identity providers support, and configurable onboarding/offboarding tasks
• Granular reporting on program status, revenue influence, time savings, 

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Actionable, executive-level reporting

• Pre-built, customizable reports and dashboards with export-ready data
• Tracks time savings, program status, revenue influence, and remediation velocity
• Executive views spanning compliance, risk, and automation impact

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#2 AuditBoard

AuditBoard is a cloud-based connected risk platform that helps organizations manage risk, audit, and compliance programs in one location. Built by practitioners for practitioners, it offers a suite of solutions and aims to streamline workflows across GRC, enhance collaboration and deliver real-time visibility into controls and risks. Through this they reduce manual workloads, elevate audit quality and align GRC efforts with business priorities. 

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AuditBoard is ideal for: 

• Mid-sized to large enterprises managing complex GRC processes and SOX compliance 

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Key features:

Modular platform architecture

• Offers CrossComply which is a centralized hub for IT risk and compliance management
• Purpose-built modules for Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX), audit, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) programs

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Unified control and evidence management

• Map, manage, and test controls across multiple frameworks in one place
• Has automated evidence collection to seamlessly link evidence from integrated systems to controls
• Audit-ready documentation to maintain a centralized, always-current audit trail

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Automation and AI-powered workflows

• Workflow automation: Standardize processes with a common control set and customizable approval flows
• Auto-generate issue descriptions, eliminate duplicates, respond to vendor questionnaires, and recommend control mappings

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Dashboards, reporting, and analytics

• PowerBI-driven dashboards and reporting with exportable, stakeholder-specific views
• Track risk scoring, remediation, program status, and audit readiness

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Robust risk management 

• Structured onboarding, assessments, and monitoring of vendor risk
• Identify IT related risks across systems and processes, risk scoring, quantification and real-time visibility through dashboards and heat maps. 
• Centralized risk registers, assessments and heat maps for continuous risk monitoring

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Special use cases

• Comprehensive SOX compliance management, including control testing, certifications and issue tracking
• Offers OpsAudit with full lifecycle internal audit management—from planning to fieldwork to reporting
• Centralized ESG data collection, framework mapping, workflows and real-time dashboards and reporting

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#3 Drata

Drata is a security and compliance automation platform designed to help organizations achieve and maintain continuous compliance. Drata automatically monitors controls, streamlines evidence collection, accelerates audit readiness, and helps manage risk—with more than 7,000 customers.

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Drata is ideal for: 

• Early-stage startups preparing for their first audits
• Growth-stage companies expanding into regulated industries

Key features:

Support for ample compliance frameworks: 

• 23 pre-built compliance frameworks as well as custom frameworks 
• Map and cross-map controls, tests, documents, and policies across multiple frameworks

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Automated tests and compliance monitoring: 

• 100+ automated tests with support for creating tickets when controls fail
• Continuous monitoring with tests running once a day
  

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Policy builder: 

• ~25 pre-built policy templates to create policies and workflows for approval, renewal and updates

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Library of integrations: 

• 250+ integrations to automate data collection, evidence gathering, and continuous compliance

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Trust Center: 

• Web-based portal to demonstrate security posture and streamline security reviews

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Questionnaire automation: 

• Auto-fill responses to security questionnaire with workflows to enhance collaboration 

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Vendor risk management: 

• Track and assess third-party vendor risks 
• Workflows to conduct security reviews, such as vendor onboarding, evaluation, and compliance

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#4 Secureframe

Secureframe is a compliance automation platform designed to help organizations achieve and stay compliant with security and privacy standards. Secureframe serves over 3,000 customers and offers a comprehensive compliance automation platform designed to streamline the process of achieving and maintaining compliance.

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Secureframe is ideal for:

• Early-stage companies preparing for their first certification
• Security and compliance teams are looking to automate some of their manual evidence collection

Key features:

Library of compliance frameworks: 

• Supports 30+ frameworks across security and privacy standards, as well as custom frameworks
• Map controls, tests, policies to frameworks and cross-map against multiple frameworks

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Automated tests and compliance monitoring: 

• Pre-built tests to verify technical controls with tests running once a day
• Automated ticketing in task trackers when specific tests fail and guidance on remediation

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Policy builder:

• Basic policy builder with support for custom policies and a comprehensive workflow to manage them

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Ample integrations:

• 300+ integrations across a variety of tools to automatically collect data and evidence for continuous compliance
• Custom integrations through CDP (in beta) and an API to manually upload evidence

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‍Trust Center:

•  Basic web portal to publicly demonstrate security and compliance

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Questionnaire automation: 

• Automating responses to security questionnaire powered by AI with collaboration workflow

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Vendor risk management:

• Portal to streamline vendor assessments and track third-party compliance
• Uncovers shadow IT via SSO

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#5 OneTrust

OneTrust is a comprehensive trust intelligence platform that helps organizations build and demonstrate trust, manage risk and go beyond compliance requirements. It offers a unified platform that spans across privacy, security, and risks, and helps over 14,000 organizations manage complex regulatory requirements by streamlining compliance efforts, seamless collaboration, risk assessments, and reporting capabilities. 

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OneTrust is ideal for: 

• Global mid-size to large enterprises in regulated industries
• Teams seeking a unified approach to privacy, security, risk and ethics 
• Companies with complex vendor ecosystems

Key features:

‍Compliance framework support: 

• Supports 50+ pre-built security and privacy frameworks, plus custom frameworks and cross-mapped controls

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Policy builder:

• Centralized library of pre-built templates with rich editing, customization, and multilingual support

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Integrations:

• 165+ integrations and open APIs to support broad use cases such as consent and automated data discovery

Trust center:

•  Basic portal to publicly demonstrate security and compliance

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Questionnaire automation: 

• Build an answer library and automate questionnaire responses using AI and logic, with collaborative review and approval workflows

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Vendor risk management:

• Supports vendor identification, centralized assessments, onboarding/offboarding, and risk insights via Vendorpedia’s 6,000+ profiles and integrations with SecurityScorecard and RiskRecon

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Additional uses cases:

• Automates key privacy workflows including data mapping, subject rights requests, impact assessments, and breach response
• Enables effective data governance through discovery, classification, and mapping of sensitive data
• Manages privacy compliance with cross-channel consent capture, customizable forms, user preferences, and cookie tracking
• Supports AI governance by managing AI risk and aligning practices with emerging global regulations

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How to choose the right GRC software for you

Picking the right GRC platform is a key part of a successful security program. It’s important to consider how a GRC software would fit into the work that your team is working on today and how it can scale and grow with your organization as your company’s needs evolve.

When evaluating a solution, make sure to explore more than just features. Consider how it delivers across these critical dimensions:

• Business fit: Does it align with your strategic goals, industry needs, and growth stage? Look for a solution that supports your business now and scales with you into the future.
• Implementation and usability: How quickly can your team get up and running? A solution that’s intuitive, easy to onboard, and user-friendly will drive faster adoption and long-term success.
• Frameworks and adjacent use cases: Does it support your primary compliance framework—and beyond? The best tools grow with you, extending value to new frameworks and use cases as your program matures.
• Integration ecosystem: Will it fit seamlessly into your existing tech stack? Deep, native integrations reduce manual effort and ensure smoother operations across systems.
• Reporting capabilities: Can you easily generate insights and audit-ready reports? Robust, flexible reporting is key to demonstrating trust, tracking progress, and informing stakeholders.
• Support and services: What level of partnership can you expect? Consider the vendor’s customer success, implementation guidance, and community support—not just ticket response times.
• Automation and AI: Does it help you work smarter, not harder? Automation and intelligent recommendations can reduce manual work, improve accuracy, and accelerate compliance outcomes.
• Total cost of ownership: Beyond sticker price, what’s the full picture? Factor in implementation time, ongoing maintenance, team resources, and opportunity costs when comparing solutions.

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Still need more help picking a solution? Our GRC Buyer’s Guide will help you understand continuous compliance and what to look for in a solution as you aim to scale your GRC program.

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