SOC 2 or ISO 27001: which does your startup actually need?

At some point, usually right after your first enterprise prospect asks “are you SOC 2 compliant?” or “do you have ISO 27001?”, you’ll need to pick a framework and start the clock. Both are good answers to give a security-conscious buyer. They are not, however, the same thing, and picking the wrong one first can cost you months.

Here’s the plain-English version of how they differ and how to decide which one to pursue first.

SOC 2: the US default

SOC 2 is an attestation report, not a certification. An independent auditor examines your security controls against the AICPA’s Trust Services Criteria (security, availability, confidentiality, processing integrity, privacy — most startups scope to security and availability) and issues a report describing what they found.

A few things that make SOC 2 distinct:

• It’s the default expectation for SaaS companies selling to US enterprises, especially in tech, fintech, and healthcare-adjacent software.
• There are two types: Type I (controls exist, checked at a point in time) and Type II (controls exist and worked over an observation period, typically 3–12 months). Most enterprise buyers want Type II.
• The output is a report, not a badge — you share it under NDA, you don’t publish it.

If most of your pipeline is US-based and your buyers are used to American vendor due diligence, SOC 2 is usually the first framework to tackle. Our SOC 2 readiness page covers what’s involved in getting there.

ISO 27001: the international standard

ISO 27001 is a formal, internationally recognized certification for your Information Security Management System (ISMS) — essentially the process by which you manage security risk on an ongoing basis, not just a snapshot of controls.

Key differences from SOC 2:

• It’s the framework most commonly expected outside the US — Europe, the Middle East, and much of Asia-Pacific in particular, and it’s often a hard requirement in public-sector and regulated-industry RFPs.
• It results in an actual certificate, issued by an accredited certification body, valid for three years with annual surveillance audits.
• It’s broader in scope than SOC 2 — it covers your whole ISMS (policies, risk management, asset management, etc.), not just a defined set of trust criteria.

If your growth is coming from European or international enterprise and government customers, or you’re fielding RFPs that explicitly name ISO 27001, it’s usually the better first investment. See our ISO 27001 readiness page for what the process looks like.

Both expect real security testing, not paperwork

This is the part founders underestimate: neither framework is satisfied by policies alone. Both SOC 2 and ISO 27001 auditors expect evidence that you actually test your own security — vulnerability scanning at minimum, and for most B2B SaaS companies, a documented penetration test as part of your risk management evidence. If you haven’t had one done recently, it’s worth reading why that step alone can also unblock deals on its own: why your startup needs a penetration test before your first enterprise deal.

How to actually decide

A simple way to choose, if you’re starting from zero:

• Most of your customers and pipeline are US-based → start with SOC 2 Type II.
• You’re selling into Europe, government, or regulated industries internationally → start with ISO 27001.
• You’re doing both, or a specific deal is blocked on one right now → let the deal in front of you decide which one you pursue first; you can layer the second framework in later, and a lot of the underlying control work overlaps.

Not sure which applies to you, or want a straight answer instead of a framework comparison chart? Look through our full compliance services or contact us and describe where your customers are — we’ll tell you which framework actually matters for your pipeline, get you audit-ready, and run the security testing your auditor will ask for. The certification or attestation itself is always issued by an independent auditor, not by us — our job is making sure you walk into that audit prepared and pass it the first time.