For growing companies without a compliance team

GRC Software for Small Business:
Governance Without the $50k Price Tag

Enterprise GRC platforms are built for 500-person compliance teams. VendorAuditly is built for the COO of a 40-person company who needs vendor risk management, compliance evidence, and audit-readiness — without a dedicated GRC team.

GRC software for small business — the honest version
Most small businesses do not need enterprise GRC. They need to manage vendor risk, track compliance certificates, answer security questionnaires from enterprise customers, and produce evidence when a regulator asks. VendorAuditly delivers exactly those outcomes at $49/month — without the policy library, the control testing module, or the six-figure implementation bill.

The SMB GRC reality

What small businesses actually need from GRC software

Before buying any GRC tool, understand what you actually need. Most SMBs share the same four GRC problems — and enterprise platforms solve none of them efficiently.

Need 1

Vendor risk management without a compliance team

You have 30+ vendors. Some access customer data. An enterprise customer just sent you a security questionnaire asking about your vendor risk programme. You need a real answer — not a spreadsheet. This is the highest-priority GRC need for most SMBs.

Need 2

Compliance certificate tracking that actually works

Your vendors’ SOC2 reports, ISO 27001 certificates, and cyber liability insurance expire. You find out when an enterprise customer asks for current evidence — and you discover the certificate lapsed 3 months ago. You need automated expiry alerts, not a calendar entry.

Need 3

Audit evidence that can be produced in minutes

A regulator or enterprise customer asks for evidence of your compliance programme. Right now that means assembling PDFs, filling gaps, and hoping nothing important is missing. You need one-click export of a complete, dated evidence pack.

Need 4

Security questionnaire response capability

Enterprise customers send you their own vendor security questionnaires. Without a GRC tool, answering them requires hunting down information across Slack, Google Drive, and individual staff. You need a single source of truth for your security and compliance posture.


Enterprise vs SMB GRC

Why enterprise GRC software fails small businesses

The same tool used by a 5,000-person bank is not the right tool for a 40-person fintech. Here is the honest comparison.

🏢
Enterprise GRC (Archer, ServiceNow, OneTrust)
Built for large compliance teams
Annual cost$50,000–$200,000+
Setup time3–12 months
Team requiredDedicated GRC / compliance team
Vendor riskYes (needs configuration)
Evidence exportYes (custom reports)
Target size200+ employees
✓
VendorAuditly
Purpose-built GRC for SMBs
Annual cost$588/year ($49/mo)
Setup timeUnder 1 hour
Team requiredNone — any ops role
Vendor riskYes (pre-built workflows)
Evidence exportOne-click PDF/ZIP
Target size20–200 employees
The GRC vendor trap
Enterprise GRC vendors have spent years convincing SMBs that they need complex platforms to manage governance and risk. The reality: most small businesses need vendor risk management, certificate tracking, and audit evidence. That is a $49/month problem, not a $100,000/year problem.

What’s included

The GRC outcomes VendorAuditly delivers

VendorAuditly is focused on the vendor risk and compliance evidence use case — the GRC priority that matters most to SMBs facing ISO 27001, DORA, HIPAA, and enterprise customer scrutiny.

1

Vendor risk register with live risk scoring

A complete vendor inventory with Critical, High, Medium, and Low risk classification. Risk scores update automatically as vendors respond to questionnaires and upload certificates. The register is always current — never a static spreadsheet from last quarter.

2

Security questionnaire sending and tracking

Send pre-built questionnaires aligned to DORA, ISO 27001, SOC2, and GDPR with one click. VendorAuditly tracks who responded, who is overdue, and sends automated reminders. All responses are stored with timestamps for your audit trail.

3

Compliance certificate management with expiry alerts

Store SOC2 reports, ISO certificates, cyber liability insurance, and GDPR DPAs in one place. VendorAuditly alerts you at 90, 60, 30, and 7 days before each certificate expires. No more discovering gaps when a customer audit triggers a document request.

4

One-click compliance evidence export

When a regulator, auditor, or enterprise customer asks for evidence, click export. VendorAuditly generates a complete evidence pack: vendor register, risk scores, assessment records with dates, certificates on file, and audit trail. No manual assembly required.

5

ISO 27001 and DORA alignment out of the box

VendorAuditly’s workflows are pre-aligned to ISO 27001 Annex A.15 and DORA Article 28. The evidence you generate is structured to answer what ISO 27001 auditors and DORA inspectors look for — no additional configuration needed.


Common questions

Frequently asked questions

What is GRC software for small business?
GRC software for small business helps SMBs manage governance, risk, and compliance without the cost and complexity of enterprise GRC platforms. For most small businesses, the most pressing GRC need is vendor risk management — tracking vendor assessments, compliance certificates, and generating evidence for audits and enterprise customer due diligence. VendorAuditly covers this use case at $49/month.
What does GRC software cost for small businesses?
Enterprise GRC platforms like RSA Archer, ServiceNow IRM, and OneTrust cost $50,000–$200,000/year. Purpose-built SMB GRC tools start much lower. VendorAuditly starts at $49/month and covers the vendor risk and compliance evidence use case that represents 80% of what growing companies actually need GRC software for.
What GRC features do small businesses actually need?
Most small businesses need: a vendor risk register with risk scoring, the ability to send and track security questionnaires, compliance certificate tracking with expiry alerts, and a way to export audit evidence on demand. Enterprise GRC platforms also include policy management, control testing, and board reporting — features most SMBs pay for but never use.
Does VendorAuditly support ISO 27001 and DORA compliance?
Yes. VendorAuditly covers the vendor management requirements of ISO 27001 Annex A.15 (supplier relationships) and DORA Article 28 (ICT third-party risk). It generates the evidence — vendor registers, assessment records, certificate tracking, and audit exports — that ISO 27001 auditors and DORA inspectors look for. See our DORA vendor management guide for specifics.
How is VendorAuditly different from enterprise GRC software?
VendorAuditly is designed specifically for 20–200 person companies that need GRC outcomes without GRC complexity. It focuses on the vendor risk use case — the highest-priority GRC need for most SMBs — and delivers it at $49/month with same-day setup. Enterprise GRC platforms are highly configurable and built for compliance teams of 10+ people. VendorAuditly is built for the COO or operations manager who also owns compliance.
GRC for the other 99%

Vendor risk management and compliance evidence at $49/month

The GRC outcomes your business actually needs — without the enterprise price tag, the dedicated team, or the six-month implementation.

No credit card required. Set up in under an hour.