What is the difference between Vanta and Screenata?
How Are Vanta and Screenata Different?
Vanta is the most popular GRC platform for startups. It connects to your cloud providers, monitors infrastructure configurations, stores policies, and tracks employee security training. But Vanta doesn't write your policies, doesn't understand your application code, and still expects you to bring compliance expertise — either your own or a consultant's.
Screenata takes a different approach. Instead of giving you a dashboard to manage compliance yourself, it acts as your AI compliance officer — reading your codebase, generating policies that reference your actual tech stack, and automating evidence collection at the application level.
Feature Comparison
| Capability | Vanta | Screenata |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure monitoring | Yes | Yes |
| Policy generation | Templates | AI-written from your codebase |
| Application-level evidence | Manual | Automated |
| Compliance guidance | Limited — need consultant | Built-in AI compliance officer |
| Annual cost | ~$15K/year | From $299 |
| Consultant still needed? | Usually yes ($5K-$15K) | No |
The Real Cost Difference
Vanta's list price is around $15K/year. But most startups using Vanta also hire a vCISO or compliance consultant at $5K–$15K to configure the platform, write policies, and prepare for the audit. Total first-year cost: $20K–$30K.
Screenata replaces both the platform and the consultant. It starts at $299 for SOC 2 Type I readiness, with the AI handling the compliance expertise that Vanta assumes you already have.
Which Is Right for You?
If you have a dedicated security or compliance person who just needs a monitoring tool, Vanta is a solid choice. If you're a startup founder or CTO going through SOC 2 for the first time without compliance expertise on your team, Screenata was built for that scenario.