Looking for a Vanta alternative? Done-for-you compliance, not another SaaS dashboard.
Vanta is a continuous-monitoring platform for SaaS teams that already have a compliance lead. ComplianceArmor is a done-for-you engagement run by four CMMC Registered Practitioners, with hard-fixed prices, the C3PAO fee disclosed up front, and every artifact owned by you forever.
Eight dimensions buyers ask about. Side by side.
No competitor in the market combines all four pillars: hard fixed prices, two-column scope honesty, total-budget transparency, and document-ownership guarantee. Here is how the two services line up across every dimension a defense or healthcare buyer actually evaluates.
| Dimension | ComplianceArmor | Vanta |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Hard fixed pricePublished per SKU. From $6,997 (CMMC L1) to $24,997 (CMMC L2 Tier 1). | Custom quoteTypical mid-market quote ranges from ~$30K to $60K per year, custom-quoted. |
| Annual renewal escalator | NoneOne-time flat fee. No auto-renewal. No multi-year lock-in. | 10-25% reportedRenewal uplifts of 10-25% have been reported by third-party benchmarks. |
| Two-column scope honesty | Yes, every pageWhat's IN and what's NOT IN, on the same pricing card. | Not standardAudit fees referenced in resource articles, rarely on the pricing page. |
| Total-budget transparency (C3PAO/CPA fee disclosed) | Yes$30K-$50K C3PAO assessment range disclosed on the same pricing card. | Not surfacedAudit fees deep-linked in articles, not in the platform quote. |
| Document ownership | Yours foreverEditable PDF, HTML, CSV, ZIP. No subscription gate. No DRM. | Platform-boundVanta MSA FAQ states accessibility cannot be guaranteed after subscription end. |
| Done-for-you (humans write the SSP, POA&M, policies) | YesRPO-credentialed team writes the documents for you. | Self-serve SaaSYour team still authors narratives. Marketplace partners available at extra cost. |
| CMMC Registered Practitioners in-house | Four RPsCraig Petronella, Blake Rea, Justin Summers, Jonathan Wood. | ZeroVanta partners with third-party RPO firms; no in-house RPs. |
| 24/7 SOC, SIEM, EDR included (Tier 2) | IncludedRequired for several CMMC L2 control families. Bundled at Tier 2. | Separate vendorBuyer must contract a separate MSSP. Two vendors, two contracts. |
| Audit-Ready Promise | YesFix free in 30 days. 50% refund if certification fails because of our work. | No service-level recourseSaaS subscription terms only. |
| Continuous-monitoring SaaS dashboard | Not the productTier 2 managed adds 24/7 SOC + SIEM + EDR for that role. | Core product375+ integrations, real-time evidence collection, well-engineered. |
| Framework breadth | Eight productizedCMMC, NIST 800-171, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOC 2, NIST CSF, FTC Safeguards, CCPA. | 35+ frameworksBroadest in the category. Best for multi-framework SaaS stacks. |
Pricing data sourced from third-party benchmarks (Vendr, ComplyJet, SecureLeap, Spendflo) observed 2026-04-26. Verify your own quote with each vendor before high-stakes decisions. ComplianceArmor is a service of Petronella Technology Group, Inc. Vanta is the trademark of Vanta Inc., not affiliated with Petronella Technology Group. Also compare ComplianceArmor vs Drata and ComplianceArmor vs Secureframe.
Six structural differences for the defense or healthcare SMB buyer.
These are not feature gaps. They are different operating models. If your team needs documents written, total cost disclosed, and an outcome owned by a human, the differences below matter.
Hard fixed prices, no escalators.
ComplianceArmor publishes flat fees per SKU: $6,997 for CMMC Level 1, $24,997 for CMMC Level 2 Tier 1, $7,997 for HIPAA, $9,997 for PCI DSS v4, $14,997 for SOC 2 Type I. One-time engagement fee. No auto-renewal. No multi-year lock-in.
Vanta is custom-quoted in the ~$30K-$60K mid-market range with reported renewal uplifts of 10-25%. By year four, a $20K starting deal can be a $30K renewal with no scope change.
What's in and what's not, on the same card.
Every ComplianceArmor pricing card uses a two-column layout: included artifacts on the left, third-party fees and out-of-scope items on the right. The C3PAO assessment, the CPA SOC 2 examination, and the PCI ROC are all listed where the buyer can see them.
The pattern protects you from the budget surprise of platform-only quotes that omit assessor fees. You go in with the full picture.
The C3PAO fee is on the same pricing card.
For CMMC Level 2, the C3PAO assessment by an independent assessor typically runs $30,000 to $50,000. ComplianceArmor surfaces that range on the same card as the documentation tier so your total program cost is visible from minute one.
Defense buyers who budgeted only for a "platform line item" and discovered a separate $30K-$50K assessor invoice late in the process know how the alternative feels.
Yours forever. No subscription. No DRM.
Every ComplianceArmor artifact ships in editable native formats: PDF, HTML, CSV, and ZIP, plus source files for the policies. Cancel any annual support arrangement and the documents stay yours, unaltered.
Vanta's MSA FAQ states the company "cannot guarantee customer information will be accessible after the end of a subscription" — export-during-term yes, post-cancel ownership no. Different model, different risk profile.
Four CMMC-RPs write the documents. Not your team.
ComplianceArmor is a done-for-you engagement. Petronella Technology Group writes the SSP, POA&M, 14 policies, 14 procedures, gap analysis, evidence checklist, and CUI boundary documentation. Your team supplies scope inputs and reviews drafts.
Vanta is self-serve SaaS. Your team still writes the SSP narratives, gathers artifacts, and manages POA&Ms. The platform tracks tasks; the platform does not author your documents.
If we miss something, we fix it free.
Every ComplianceArmor engagement carries the Audit-Ready Promise: if any artifact has a gap, we fix it at no charge within 30 days. If a certification fails because of our work, we refund 50% of our fee.
SaaS subscription terms do not include service-level recourse for assessment outcomes. The promise is a service feature, not a software feature.
Sometimes the answer is Vanta. We'll tell you when.
Vanta has a real product, a strong install base, and 375+ integrations that work. For the right buyer, it is the right answer, and we have referred prospects there ourselves. Sales integrity compounds. Here is the profile where Vanta typically beats ComplianceArmor.
- You are a SaaS company primarily pursuing SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001, not CMMC or HIPAA-first.
- Your stack is already integrated — AWS, Okta, GitHub, Microsoft 365, Jira — and continuous evidence collection is genuinely valuable to you.
- You have a compliance or security lead with 10+ hours per week of bandwidth to operate the platform, write narratives, and review controls.
- You are stacking 5+ frameworks year-over-year and want crosswalk automation built into the workspace.
- You are 100+ employees and need year-round audit posture, not a point-in-time engagement to clear a contract requirement.
- You have already negotiated a CPA audit firm familiar with the Vanta workflow and want evidence reuse across audits.
If that profile fits you, Vanta is genuinely a defensible choice. We will tell you the same in a discovery call, save you the demo time, and point you to the right Vanta partner. The fastest way to lose a smart buyer is to pretend ComplianceArmor is the answer when it is not.
If the profile does not fit you — if you are a 25-person aerospace machine shop racing toward a DoD prime-contract deadline, a 40-person specialty clinic with HIPAA pressure from a payer audit, or a 60-person service provider whose IT lead is also the helpdesk — read on. That is exactly who ComplianceArmor was built for.
Switching from a SaaS platform to a done-for-you service.
If you are mid-engagement on Vanta and your timeline is slipping because the team can't keep up with narrative writing, here is the migration path. Most teams complete the switch in two weeks of calendar time.
Export your evidence
Pull your existing controls, policies, and evidence library from Vanta while your subscription is active. Native exports are available during the term.
Scope the engagement
One 60-minute discovery call. We map your environment, CUI or PHI scope, locations, and target framework. Pricing is fixed once scope is set.
We author the package
The RP-credentialed team writes the SSP, POA&M, 14 policies, 14 procedures, and supporting artifacts. You review drafts and sign off.
Cancel Vanta on your terms
Once you hold the editable artifacts, end your Vanta subscription at the next renewal. Your documents stay yours, unaltered, in native formats.
Whatever progress your team made inside Vanta — completed controls, drafted policies, evidence collected — comes with you. We treat your prior work as inputs, not write-offs.
Three flat fees most defense and healthcare buyers compare against Vanta.
Pricing is published per SKU. Third-party assessor and auditor fees are listed beside the platform fee so total program cost is visible from the start. No multi-year lock-in. No auto-renewal.
We did this 240 times by hand for our own clients. Then we built ComplianceArmor.Craig Petronella, Founder & CEO, Petronella Technology Group
Four CMMC Registered Practitioners on staff. Two decades of CMMC, HIPAA, and SOC 2 engagements. Every piece of language in the platform was written, reviewed, and assessor-tested before a single customer used it.
If we missed something, we fix it free.
Every ComplianceArmor engagement carries the Petronella Technology Group Audit-Ready Promise. If any artifact has a gap, we fix it at no charge within 30 days. If a certification fails because of our work, we refund 50% of our fee. The package is yours forever, in editable native formats, with no subscription and no DRM.
Buyer questions on the Vanta switch.
Is Vanta a bad product?
No. Vanta is a well-engineered continuous-monitoring platform with 375+ integrations and the largest install base in the category. For a SaaS company stacking SOC 2 and ISO 27001 with an in-house compliance lead, it is a defensible choice. ComplianceArmor and Vanta are different operating models for different buyer profiles. The question is not which platform is better in the abstract — it is which one fits how your team actually works.
I'm already on Vanta. What if I just stay?
If your team has the bandwidth to write SSP narratives, draft POA&Ms, manage controls, and your roadmap is SOC 2 / ISO 27001 driven, staying may be the right call. If you are a CMMC or HIPAA-first organization and your timeline is slipping because nobody has time to author the documents, a done-for-you engagement is faster and cheaper through completion. We will run the numbers honestly in a discovery call.
Will ComplianceArmor actually certify me?
Petronella Technology Group, Inc. is a Cyber AB Registered Provider Organization (RPO). The independent CMMC Level 2 assessment required for certification is performed by a Cyber AB Authorized C3PAO under a separate engagement, priced separately from this package. Only the Cyber AB and the Department of Defense issue CMMC certificates. Petronella Technology Group cannot guarantee assessment outcomes. Neither can Vanta — no platform or RPO can. The structure is the same; what differs is what the documentation work looks like leading up to the assessment.
What if my auditor or C3PAO has only seen Vanta artifacts?
ComplianceArmor artifacts are formatted to the structure DIBCAC and C3PAO assessors expect. The SSP follows published NIST SP 800-171 guidance. The POA&M follows the official template. CPA firms running SOC 2 examinations work with control narratives and evidence packages every day, regardless of source. We have not had an assessor or auditor refuse our package, and we will brief your assessor on the deliverables before fieldwork if helpful.
How long does the switch take?
The migration itself is two weeks of calendar time: one 60-minute discovery call, evidence export from Vanta during your active subscription, and the kickoff. The full done-for-you engagement timeline depends on your framework: CMMC Level 1 in 21 days, HIPAA in 30 days, PCI DSS in 45 days, SOC 2 Type I ready in 45 days, CMMC Level 2 in 60 to 75 days. Vanta typically does not need to be cancelled until next renewal, so you are not paying for both at once.
Do I lose my Vanta history when I switch?
Native exports of your evidence library, completed controls, and policy drafts are available while your Vanta subscription is active. We treat that work as inputs, not write-offs. After cancellation, the Vanta MSA FAQ states the company cannot guarantee accessibility, so the practical advice is: export everything before cancellation, hand it to us, and we use it as the foundation of your new package.
What about all those Vanta integrations?
Vanta's 375+ integrations are real and well-engineered. The honest question is how many you actually have running. A 25-person defense contractor with five servers and one Microsoft 365 tenant does not benefit from 375 integrations — that buyer benefits from someone writing the document. If continuous evidence collection across a complex SaaS stack is your primary need, that is a Vanta strength and a reason to stay. If document authoring is your primary need, that is a ComplianceArmor strength.
What does an engagement actually cost compared to Vanta?
ComplianceArmor publishes flat fees per SKU. CMMC Level 1 starts at $6,997. CMMC Level 2 Tier 1 (documentation) is $24,997. HIPAA is $7,997. SOC 2 Type I is $14,997. PCI DSS v4 is $9,997. Vanta is custom-quoted in the ~$30K-$60K mid-market range with reported 10-25% renewal escalators. The C3PAO assessment fee ($30K-$50K) is disclosed on every ComplianceArmor pricing card so the total program cost is visible from the start. Schedule a demo and we will walk through pricing for your scope. Comparing more platforms? See ComplianceArmor vs Drata and ComplianceArmor vs Hyperproof.
Stop authoring inside a dashboard. Start the assessment.
Schedule a 30-minute demo. We will walk through your environment, scope your package live, and show you the deliverables an assessor would see — including the C3PAO fee, on the same pricing card.