The Top 12 Governance, Risk, And Compliance (GRC) Platforms
The Top Governance, Risk, and Compliance Tools that offer comprehensive GRC capabilities to manage activities such as risk assessment, policy management, and audit tracking.
Written by Caitlin Harris
Technical Review by Laura Iannini
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Archer Insight
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AuditBoard
Governance, Risk, and Compliance software plays a critical role in helping organizations optimize their governance strategies, streamline their risk management processes, and ensure compliance with industry and government regulations. By consolidating and streamlining these key functions, GRC platforms enable organizations to effectively monitor, assess, and mitigate risks, manage compliance planning and reporting, and ensure that they’re achieving their business goals successfully and ethically.
GRC platforms typically offer an integrated suite of tools and capabilities that cover areas such as enterprise risk management, policy management, audit management, compliance management, internal control management, and incident management. They provide a centralized and holistic view of a company’s risks, controls, and compliance status, enabling organizations to make data-driven decisions and prioritize resources more effectively.
The GRC platform market is thriving, with multiple vendors offering solutions that cater to various industries, company sizes, and risk management needs. In this article, we’ll explore the top GRC platforms. We’ll highlight the key use cases and features of each solution, including compliance templates, policy mapping, managing risk, continuous monitoring, and in-depth reporting.
Hyperproof
Hyperproof is an IT compliance and risk operations platform that streamlines security assurance. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Hyperproof offers real-time reporting on GRC functions through multiple admin dashboards.
Why We Picked Hyperproof: We like Hyperproof’s ability to configure specific programs for various compliance regimes like NIST, SOC2, and FedRAMP, and its comprehensive auditing capabilities that allow detailed evidence collection and external auditor access.
Hyperproof Best Features: Features include real-time GRC reporting, customizable compliance programs for over 110 templates, flexible automation setup, and over 60 integrations with apps like AWS, Salesforce, and Microsoft 365. The platform also supports detailed audits with granular control over data visibility and automated risk assessments based on vendor questionnaires.
What’s great:
- Real-time reporting on GRC functions
- Highly customizable compliance programs
- Comprehensive auditing with external auditor access
- Flexible and simple automation setup
- Over 60 integrations with popular applications
What to consider:
- Best suited for mid-market to large enterprises
Pricing: For detailed pricing, visit Hyperproof directly.
Who it’s for: Hyperproof is best suited for mid-market to large enterprises needing a compliance framework-agnostic platform with customizable programs and comprehensive auditing capabilities.
Hyperproof
Kaseya’s RapidFireTools Compliance Manager GRC is a SaaS-based IT risk management suite designed to streamline governance, risk, and compliance processes. It supports major compliance frameworks like NIST, PCI DSS, SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA, ensuring organizations of all sizes can automate and manage compliance assessments effectively.
Why We Picked Compliance Manager GRC: We appreciate its comprehensive support for multiple compliance frameworks and the ability to automate assessments, significantly reducing manual effort.
Compliance Manager GRC Best Features: Key features include automated compliance assessments, support for major frameworks, customizable compliance templates, third-party vendor assessment portal, end-user security awareness training, and advanced policy controls. Integrations include native compatibility with other Kaseya products, such as Vulscan for vulnerability management.
What’s great:
- Streamlines compliance across multiple frameworks
- Automates assessments to reduce manual work
- Modern, easy-to-navigate admin console
- Offers scalable multi-tenant support for MSPs
- Provides options for full white-labeling
What to consider:
- Advanced features might need additional configuration
Pricing: For detailed pricing, contact Kaseya directly.
Who it’s for: Compliance Manager GRC is ideal for companies and MSPs seeking to automate and manage compliance assessments efficiently, particularly those requiring multi-tenant support and white-labeling options.
Mitratech Alyne is a cloud-based, AI-driven governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) platform that enables CISOs and compliance teams to assess risk, implement compliance requirements, and make data-driven, risk-aware decisions. To achieve this, Alyne delivers continuous enterprise and third-party risk monitoring and management, ESG, cyber security and IT risk management, and information governance.
Alyne offers over 1,500 pre-built templates mapped to compliance regulations and controls, including ISO 27001, SOC 2, PRA SS1/22 & SS2/22, COBIT, NIST CSF, CCAR, SR 11-7, DFAST, SOX, and ECB TRIM. It automatically maps and summarizes documents, and uses AI and machine learning to help users identify and understand the relevant regulations for their business, then mitigate and report on any associated risks. This includes making sure users are storing, using, and managing data in line with corporate policies and regulatory requirements. Alyne also offers integrations with third-party data providers such as Black Kite and Security Scorecard for third-party risk management, and allows users to connect their own Snowflake instance or BI tool to the platform for a more holistic overview of risk across the entire tech stack.
Alyne is quick to deploy and configure without the need for any coding, making it accessible to non-technical users. Once deployed, it’s straightforward to manage, thanks to its intuitive interface and customizable reporting dashboards. Overall, we recommend Mitratech Alyne as a strong solution for midsize to large enterprises looking to streamline their risk identification, qualification, and quantification processes, improve their data governance, and ensure compliance with evolving data privacy and security requirements.
Archer Insight
Archer Insight is a risk management solution that enables decision-makers to analyze the economic impact of risks and the value of potential mitigations. It integrates risk quantification into the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program, offering a standardized approach to understanding enterprise-level risk.
Why We Picked Archer Insight: We appreciate Archer Insight’s ability to convert qualitative risk ratings into quantitative values, facilitating a scalable and consistent approach to risk management.
Archer Insight Best Features: Key features include a built-in methodology for risk quantification, a pre-built mathematical model for analyzing various risk types, cost-benefit analysis capabilities, and detailed risk comparison for prioritization. It also offers the Bowtie method for risk illustration and control mapping for measuring control costs. Archer Insight integrates with existing data and processes, enhancing its user-friendliness.
What’s great:
- Standardizes risk exposure calculations across the enterprise
- Converts qualitative risk ratings into quantitative values
- Facilitates effective risk prioritization and resource allocation
- Supports multiple risk types, including enterprise, operational, cyber, and non-cyber risks
- User-friendly approach to mathematical and statistical quantification
What to consider:
- May require initial training for users unfamiliar with risk quantification methods
Pricing: For specific pricing details, please contact Archer directly.
Who it’s for: Archer Insight is ideal for organizations seeking a comprehensive and standardized approach to risk management, particularly those with diverse risk types and a need for detailed economic analysis.
Archer Insight
AuditBoard
AuditBoard is a comprehensive risk management platform designed to enhance audit, risk, IT security, and ESG programs. It streamlines workflows and connects risk insights across functions, providing real-time reporting and a holistic view of an organization’s risk landscape.
Why We Picked AuditBoard: We appreciate AuditBoard’s AI-driven content generation and recommendations, which significantly enhance efficiency and effectiveness in risk management.
AuditBoard Best Features: Key features include AI-driven content generation, no-code analytics, automated evidence collection and testing, and intuitive reporting through visual dashboards. Integrations include Microsoft Office, Google Drive, Jira, ServiceNow, GitHub, Qualys, Fastpath, Alteryx, Snowflake, PowerBi, and Tableau.
What’s great:
- Streamlines workflows and connects risk insights across functions
- Real-time reporting provides a holistic view of risk
- AI-driven features enhance efficiency and effectiveness
- Seamless integration with workplace systems increases adoption
What to consider:
- May require training to fully leverage advanced features
Pricing: For detailed pricing, contact AuditBoard directly.
Who it’s for: AuditBoard is best suited for organizations looking to enhance their audit, risk, and compliance programs with a comprehensive, AI-driven platform that integrates seamlessly with existing systems.
AuditBoard
Diligent HighBond
Diligent HighBond is a Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) solution that streamlines GRC processes and provides executives with a high level of assurance. It centralizes control over GRC, allowing organizations to design automated, end-to-end workflows that ensure real-time policy adaptation.
Why We Picked Diligent HighBond: We appreciate HighBond’s advanced data analytics, which make in-depth insights accessible to users regardless of technical expertise. Its ability to pull risk data from across the organization and share it through customizable storyboards and one-click reports provides real-time insights to decision-makers.
Diligent HighBond Best Features: Key features include automated workflows for real-time policy adaptation, advanced data analytics, customizable risk and control libraries, and comprehensive visibility through ready-to-use dashboards and reports. Integrations include the ability to pull risk data from across the organization, and it adheres to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and follows ISO/IEC 27001 standards, implementing an Information Security Management System (ISMS).
What’s great:
- Centralizes control over GRC processes
- Provides real-time insights through customizable storyboards and reports
- Advanced analytics identify risk patterns and predict threats
- Automates monitoring to reveal unaddressed discrepancies and anomalies
What to consider:
- Customization of risk and control libraries may require additional time
Pricing: For pricing details, visit Diligent’s website directly.
Who it’s for: Diligent HighBond is best suited for organizations looking to enhance governance and reduce costs through automation, advanced analytics, and customizable features. It is ideal for businesses that require comprehensive visibility into GRC data and real-time policy adaptation.
Diligent HighBond
Drata
Drata is a compliance automation platform that helps businesses achieve audit-ready status with the support of security and compliance experts. It features over 85 native integrations and the ability to create custom integrations through an open API, allowing seamless evidence collection and control monitoring across various systems.
Why We Picked Drata: We appreciate Drata’s extensive integration capabilities and its ability to automate evidence collection, eliminating manual tasks like screenshot-taking and spreadsheet management.
Drata Best Features: Key features include automation of evidence collection, over 85 native integrations, open API for custom integrations, more than 17 pre-built compliance frameworks, a library of over 500 controls, customizable controls, pre-configured tests, pass/fail thresholds, continuous control monitoring, role-based access, and separate workspaces for different business units.
What’s great:
- Automates evidence collection, reducing manual work
- Extensive integration capabilities with over 85 native integrations
- Supports diverse compliance needs with pre-built and custom frameworks
- Continuous monitoring ensures real-time compliance visibility
- Role-based access protects sensitive data and streamlines workflows
What to consider:
- Custom integrations might need technical expertise
Pricing: For pricing details, visit Drata’s website directly.
Who it’s for: Drata is ideal for businesses seeking to streamline their compliance processes with automation, particularly those with diverse compliance needs and multiple business units.
Drata
IBM OpenPages
IBM OpenPages is an AI-powered Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) platform that integrates risk management functions within a unified environment. It is designed for seamless integration with IBM Cloud Pak for Data, enabling businesses to efficiently identify, manage, monitor, and report on risks and regulatory compliance.
Why We Picked IBM OpenPages: We appreciate its adaptability and full configurability, supporting tens of thousands of users. Its comprehensive dashboards and dimensional reporting provide clear insights into organizational risk.
IBM OpenPages Best Features: Key features include a task-focused user interface that minimizes training, customizable user experiences with favorites, heat-maps, and sibling relationships, dynamic guidance for building key fields, comprehensive dashboards, charts, and dimensional reporting. It also includes GRC-embedded workflows that can run on-demand, scheduled, or upon object creation, drag-and-drop functionality for workflow modification, a calculation engine for automating risk-related calculations, and a single data repository for a consistent view of compliance and risk management.
What’s great:
- Task-focused interface reduces training time
- Comprehensive dashboards provide clear risk insights
- Highly customizable for various organizational needs
- Automates risk-related calculations efficiently
- Supports tens of thousands of users
What to consider:
- Complex setups may require additional configuration
Pricing: For pricing details, please contact IBM directly.
Who it’s for: IBM OpenPages is best suited for large enterprises and organizations that require a scalable, configurable GRC solution to manage extensive risk and compliance needs across multiple levels and departments.
IBM OpenPages
LogicGate Risk Cloud
LogicGate Risk Cloud is a centralized platform designed to enhance business risk management programs. It streamlines operations by reducing redundant controls, automating evidence collection, and facilitating cross-team collaboration.
Why We Picked LogicGate Risk Cloud: We appreciate its no-code interface, which allows businesses to adapt to changing risk environments without technical expertise. The platform’s ability to quantify risk in monetary terms also stands out, aiding clear communication with stakeholders.
LogicGate Risk Cloud Best Features: Key features include a shared risk register, centralized control repository, and platform-wide reporting capabilities. It supports customization of program architecture and workflow streamlining. Additional features include integrated third-party risk intelligence, automated workflows, notifications, and control evidence collection. The platform covers solutions like controls compliance, cyber risk management, operational resiliency, data privacy management, enterprise risk management, environmental/social/governance, internal audit management, policy management, regulatory compliance, and third-party risk management.
What’s great:
- Enables proactive risk management
- User-friendly interface requires no coding
- Quantifies risk in monetary terms
- Facilitates cross-team collaboration
- Supports a wide range of risk management solutions
What to consider:
- Complex setups may require initial time investment
Pricing: For pricing details, visit LogicGate Risk Cloud directly.
Who it’s for: LogicGate Risk Cloud is ideal for businesses of all sizes looking to enhance their risk management programs, particularly those needing a flexible, comprehensive solution to manage various risk types and compliance requirements.
LogicGate Risk Cloud
Onspring Enterprise
Onspring GRC Management is a comprehensive solution that unifies governance, risk, and compliance practices. It effectively manages frameworks like ISO, NIST, and CMMC, and automates compliance testing and attestations across functional groups.
Why We Picked Onspring GRC Management: We appreciate its robust risk register creation and streamlined risk assessment processes. The platform’s integrated modules automate and prioritize risk assessments effectively.
Onspring GRC Management Best Features: Key features include automation of compliance testing and attestations, risk management for risk assessments, internal audit for audit plans and workpaper management, and compliance for control library and regulatory monitoring. Additional modules cover policy management, third-party vendor risk, environmental, social, and governance issues, incident and asset management, and continuity and recovery. Onspring integrates with live dashboards, key metrics, and audit-ready reports.
What’s great:
- Automates compliance testing and attestations
- Streamlines risk assessment processes
- Offers integrated modules for comprehensive GRC management
- Provides live dashboards and audit-ready reports
- Supports multiple governance frameworks
What to consider:
- Customization might be necessary for specific organizational needs
Pricing: For pricing details, visit Onspring directly.
Who it’s for: Onspring GRC Management is best suited for organizations seeking a unified solution to manage governance, risk, and compliance across various frameworks and operational areas. It is ideal for businesses aiming to improve decision-making and operational resilience.
Onspring Enterprise
Resolver
Resolver is an all-in-one governance, risk, and compliance solution that streamlines processes and enhances risk culture within businesses. It focuses on four key areas to provide valuable insights and automate tasks, helping organizations operate more securely and efficiently.
Why We Picked Resolver: We like that Resolver offers comprehensive enterprise risk management, supporting organizational boards and senior leaders in identifying and managing risks from a strategic perspective.
Resolver Best Features: Features include enterprise risk management, regulatory compliance monitoring, data-informed and risk-based internal audit processes, and vendor risk management. Integrations include workflow management, timed reminders, and user-friendly interfaces for audit clients.
What’s great:
- Streamlines risk management and compliance processes
- Supports strategic risk identification and management
- Improves internal audit efficiency with data-informed approaches
- Enhances vendor risk management to minimize incident impact
What to consider:
- May require initial setup and training for optimal use
Pricing: For pricing details, visit Resolver directly.
Who it’s for: Resolver is best suited for businesses looking to enhance their governance, risk, and compliance processes, particularly those needing comprehensive risk management and regulatory compliance solutions.
Resolver
SAI360
SAI360 is a comprehensive compliance and risk management solution that equips businesses with tools to maintain a culture of compliance and make informed decisions. The platform features unified management systems, real-time dashboards, and automated workflows to identify gaps, detect problems, and respond to risks.
Why We Picked SAI360: We appreciate SAI360’s unified management systems that provide a complete view of risk across an organization, along with its real-time dashboards for immediate risk assessment.
SAI360 Key Features: The platform offers enterprise and operational risk management, risk and control self-assessment, continuous KPI monitoring, and actionable analytics. It also includes ethics and compliance learning with customizable, multilingual training on over 20 risk topics. Additional tools cover digital risk management, vendor risk management, and business continuity, supported by an extensive regulatory content knowledge base. The solution integrates with Evotix, providing end-to-end EHS and sustainability services.
What’s Great:
- Comprehensive view of organizational risk
- Real-time dashboards for immediate risk assessment
- Extensive regulatory content knowledge base
- Customizable ethics and compliance training
- Integration with Evotix for EHS and sustainability
What To Consider:
- Customization of training modules may be necessary for specific industry needs
Pricing: For detailed pricing, contact SAI360 directly.
Best Suited For: SAI360 is ideal for large enterprises and organizations that need robust risk management and compliance solutions across multiple domains, including ethics, digital risk, and sustainability.
SAI360
FAQs
Everything You Need To Know About Governance, Risk, & Compliance Tools (FAQs)
Before we can understand governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) tools, we need to talk about what GRC actually is. GRC is the collective term for aligning IT and business goals, whilst managing risks and ensuring adherence to industry and federal compliance requirements. Implementing a GRC strategy can help organizations to achieve their business goals successfully and ethically, remove uncertainty when it comes to decision-making, and achieve compliance.
As the name suggests, there are three key components of GRC:
- Governance is the process of ensuring that business activities are managed ethically and are aligned with approved business goals and strategies. This includes creating policies, rules, or frameworks that an organization uses to: achieve its business goals; create conflict resolution policies; ensure accountability by defining the responsibilities of stakeholders; share information transparently; and securely manage resources.
- Risk management is the process of identifying, categorizing, assessing, and remediating risks that might hinder operations. This includes financial, legal, strategic, and security risks. Managing risks helps organizations to predict potential problems and damages, whilst maximizing potential value and opportunity.
- Compliance is the act of adhering to rules, standards, or regulations set by federal or industrial bodies, or by the business for internal activities. To be compliant, organizations must implement management processes that identify relevant regulations, assess the current state of compliance across the organization, evaluate the risk of non-compliance, and implement measures that will help achieve compliance.
For example, an organization in the healthcare industry must comply with HIPAA, a regulation that protects patients’ privacy. To be non-compliant could result in heavy fines and litigation, so the organization would need to implement measures to ensure patient data is handled and stored securely.
GRC software helps organizations implement and manage their GRC programs; businesses can keep track of their policies, manage risk, and ensure compliance, all via a single platform. This enables organizations to carry out GRC processes with more accuracy and efficiency by allowing them to replace time-consuming and potentially inaccurate manual processes.
Today, most GRC solutions are cloud-based and offer lots of automation to make GRC processes easier to carry out, and more accessible. However, it’s important to remember that an effective GRC program doesn’t just rely on the technology; it also involves implementing an organization-wide GRC strategy that also considers the roles and people involved.
There are a few key benefits to implementing GRC tools:
- Improved decision making. GRC software often offers powerful reporting capabilities that enable organizations to make informed, data-driven decisions.
- Responsible operations. GRC promotes ethical values and activities within an organization, helping to ensure that the business is operating responsibly and sustainably.
- Improved cybersecurity. GRC can help business improve their cybersecurity by helping them to assess cyber risk and ensuring that they’re implementing measures that will help them comply with data protection and privacy standards.
- Improved efficiency and accuracy. By offering a central, unified view of governance, risk, and compliance processes and data, GRC software can help organization eliminate siloes to make activities such as risk assessing, compliance management, and internal audits more efficient and accurate. Some solutions also use automation and AI-driven models to help monitor and improve IT controls.
- Easier, more effective risk assessment. GRC solutions enable organizations to establish, manage, and automate their risk assessing process, as well as make data-driven decision to more effectively allocate resources for risk mitigation. They also allow organizations to monitor and fix redundant or ineffective control sets and frameworks, to help make their assessment of risks more effective.
There are a lot of GRC tools on the market, each designed to help organizations meet specific governance, risk, or compliance goals. As such, each tool is likely to offer a slightly different feature set. However, there are some features that you should look for in any GRC software:
- A central dashboard where admins can monitor high-level key performance indicators and objectives in real-time and dig deeper into threat assessment and compliance reports.
- Risk analytics that measure and quantify current risks and help you to predict future risk. The best tools also offer guidance on how to remediate risk.
- Policy and control mapping that enables you to assess how effectively controls are functioning, and quickly identify areas of non-compliance.
- Workflow management and automation to help you establish and streamline your GRC workflows.
- Audit management tools that help simplify the process of carrying out internal audits and help improve the accuracy of those audits. These should include robust reporting tools.
- A document management system that enables you to track and store digital content, thereby helping to streamline the assessment and auditing of risk.
Written By
Caitlin Harris is Deputy Head of Content at Expert Insights. Caitlin is an experienced writer and journalist, with years of experience producing award-winning technical training materials and journalistic content. Caitlin holds a First Class BA in English Literature and German, and provides our content team with strategic editorial guidance as well as carrying out detailed research to create articles that are accurate, engaging and relevant. Caitlin co-hosts the Expert Insights Podcast, where she interviews world-leading B2B tech experts.
Technical Review
Laura Iannini is an Information Security Engineer. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity from the University of West Florida. Laura has experience with a variety of cybersecurity platforms and leads technical reviews of leading solutions. She conducts thorough product tests to ensure that Expert Insights’ reviews are definitive and insightful.