Vanta automates SOC 2 with auditors

Vanta’s edge is that it turns a custom audit into a repeatable software workflow, without crossing the regulatory line into being the auditor. In practice, Vanta plugs into systems like Google Workspace, AWS, GitHub, and employee devices, checks whether controls are actually in place, and packages that evidence so an outside CPA firm can review it faster. That separation lets Vanta sell software at scale while partner auditors still issue the final SOC 2 report.

• Before software, SOC 2 meant consultants, screenshots, office visits, and $50,000 to $100,000 audit bills. Vanta standardized the common controls, then automated evidence collection, which made small startups look more like well prepared enterprise clients to auditors and pushed audit pricing down.
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• This is why Vanta works closely with audit firms instead of replacing them. Auditor rules prevent a firm from auditing its own work, and software that sets up and monitors controls counts as part of that work. The winning model is software plus an independent auditor, not software alone.
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• A useful contrast is Thoropass, which combines automation software with in house audit capabilities. That integrated model captures more service revenue, but it also brings the regulatory overhead of operating an audit firm. Vanta chose the lighter software first model and used partners for the human signoff layer.
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The market is heading toward more automation around the audit, but not the removal of the auditor. The bigger opportunity is to use the same integrations and evidence layer to cover more frameworks, like ISO 27001 and HIPAA, and then expand into always on security workflows that customers use between audit cycles.