Smartly vs Drata vs Scrut: Who Wins the 2025 Compliance Automation Battle
In 2025, compliance is no longer a checkbox exercise. For startups, scale-ups, and digital-first companies, frameworks like ISO 27001 and SOC 2 have become the golden ticket to winning enterprise deals, building trust, and scaling globally. But the challenge remains: how can you get certified without drowning in documentation, consultants, or six-month timelines?
Quick Snapshot: Smartly vs Drata vs Scrut
TLDR Summary
Smartly is the most balanced — delivering the automation depth, transparency, and speed startups need to achieve certification in weeks, not months.
Drata dominates at the enterprise level with comprehensive framework coverage, but comes with high costs and complex configuration.
Scrut bridges security and compliance, offering strong visibility into your security posture but with less certification automation.
1. Platform Overview
Drata
Drata is one of the most recognized names in compliance automation. It connects to cloud providers, HR tools, and development environments to automate evidence collection and track control health.
With hundreds of integrations and partnerships with top auditors, Drata has become the preferred solution for enterprises and high-budget startups. However, its strength is also its limitation. Drata's complexity, high cost, and U.S.-centric setup make it less practical for lean teams or those outside North America.
Scrut
Scrut sits at the intersection of compliance and security posture management. It offers unified risk visibility, cloud misconfiguration scanning, and continuous monitoring, making it ideal for organizations that want to go beyond checklist compliance.
Its core advantage is real-time security tracking across cloud, identity, and endpoint systems. However, Scrut's depth in ISO 27001 documentation and audit preparation is still evolving. It provides strong visibility but often requires manual effort to translate findings into certification-ready outputs.
Smartly
Smartly is built for the next generation of fast-moving startups. It automates ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certification end-to-end, with a guided process that reduces audit prep time from months to weeks.
Unlike Drata and Scrut, Smartly focuses on speed, clarity, and transparency rather than complex enterprise frameworks. Its combination of automation and expert guidance makes it the clear choice for teams that need certification quickly and affordably.
2. Framework Coverage
| Platform | Supported Frameworks | Core Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Smartly | ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, NIST CSF | Precision automation for ISO 27001 and SOC 2 |
| Drata | SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, NIST CSF | Enterprise-grade cross-framework automation |
| Scrut | SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, NIST, CIS Benchmarks | Strong posture management and continuous monitoring |
Verdict: Drata leads in total framework coverage, Scrut specializes in real-time monitoring, and Smartly delivers the fastest and most complete automation for ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certification.
3. Automation and Efficiency
Automation is critical to reducing manual effort and ensuring continuous compliance readiness.
Smartly
Smartly automates evidence collection, control validation, and risk treatment through direct integrations. Every control is continuously updated, ensuring you are always audit-ready.
Drata
Drata provides wide automation coverage but requires considerable configuration and maintenance. It works well once set up, but setup itself can take weeks.
Scrut
Scrut automates technical monitoring — such as misconfiguration detection and vulnerability reporting — but many compliance documentation steps remain manual.
Verdict: Smartly offers the most hands-off experience. Drata is powerful but slower to configure, and Scrut focuses more on continuous monitoring than on audit acceleration.
4. Risk Management
Risk management is central to both ISO 27001 and SOC 2 compliance frameworks.
Smartly
Smartly includes an ISO 27005-aligned risk register. Risks are automatically linked to controls, owners, and treatments, giving leadership instant visibility into exposure and remediation.
Drata
Drata includes a broad risk module, but it is not deeply tied to ISO 27001's risk treatment flow. Manual alignment is often required.
Scrut
Scrut is strong here. Its real-time posture data feeds into dynamic risk scoring, making it useful for continuous monitoring. However, translating that data into ISO 27001-aligned documentation still needs extra work.
Verdict: Scrut leads in live risk tracking, Smartly leads in ISO 27001-aligned risk documentation, and Drata provides generic cross-framework coverage.
5. Evidence Management
| Platform | Evidence Model | Strengths |
|---|---|---|
| Smartly | Real-time automated collection | Direct integration with systems, continuous updates, zero manual uploads |
| Drata | Scheduled sync and evidence mapping | Excellent integration breadth but requires periodic verification |
| Scrut | AI-driven mapping and tagging | Smart organization but limited ISO 27001-specific automation |
Verdict: Smartly provides the most efficient audit-ready evidence management, while Scrut's AI helps organize findings. Drata excels in scale but adds complexity for smaller teams.
6. Onboarding and Speed to Readiness
| Platform | Average Setup Time | Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Smartly | 2–3 weeks | Guided, ISO-focused onboarding with real human support |
| Drata | 2–4 months | Complex setup and framework configuration |
| Scrut | 1–2 months | Hands-on posture setup, slower documentation setup |
Verdict: Smartly is by far the fastest. Scrut offers quick deployment for monitoring but slower certification documentation. Drata's enterprise configuration takes the longest.
7. Audit Preparation
Smartly
Smartly automates pre-audit scoring, generates all ISO 27001-required documents (like SoA and Risk Treatment Plan), and connects directly with accredited auditors in its network.
Drata
Drata offers an auditor marketplace and detailed checklists but relies on teams to manage scheduling and document mapping.
Scrut
Scrut integrates technical readiness dashboards but lacks complete ISO audit documentation automation.
Verdict: Smartly's audit readiness process is the most complete and least manual.
8. Pricing and Transparency
| Platform | Pricing Model | Range | Transparency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smartly | All-inclusive annual subscription | From $4,900 per certification | 100% transparent |
| Drata | Subscription plus add-ons | $10,000 – $25,000 per year | Hidden pricing tiers |
| Scrut | Tiered enterprise plan | $8,000 – $18,000 per year | Semi-transparent |
Verdict: Smartly wins for cost-effectiveness and simplicity. Drata is the most expensive, and Scrut sits in the middle but with unclear pricing tiers.
9. Continuous Compliance
Smartly
Smartly continuously monitors control health and evidence freshness, automatically alerting control owners when something falls out of compliance.
Drata
Drata performs periodic checks, requiring manual confirmation.
Scrut
Scrut continuously scans technical environments, identifying vulnerabilities or misconfigurations in real time.
Verdict: Smartly delivers continuous compliance for audits, while Scrut delivers continuous monitoring for security. Smartly makes certification effortless.
10. Integration Coverage
| Platform | Number of Integrations | Example Systems |
|---|---|---|
| Smartly | 200+ | AWS, Azure, GCP, Jira, Slack, GitHub, Notion, Okta, BambooHR |
| Drata | 300+ | AWS, Azure, Datadog, GitHub, Jira, Okta, Duo, Zoom |
| Scrut | 180+ | AWS, GCP, GitHub, Jira, Slack, Okta, Google Workspace |
Verdict: Drata leads in total number of integrations, Smartly focuses on automation depth and accuracy, and Scrut emphasizes security-first integrations.
11. User Experience
Smartly
Smartly delivers a clean, intuitive interface focused on the ISO 27001 and SOC 2 journey. Its dashboards show exactly where you are in the process and what needs action.
Drata
Drata is visually impressive but dense, reflecting its enterprise focus.
Scrut
Scrut's interface emphasizes security posture visualization with heat maps and risk scores, but its ISO 27001 workflows feel secondary.
Verdict: Smartly provides the most startup-friendly user experience focused on certification speed.
12. Customer Support
Smartly
Smartly offers proactive human guidance, ISO specialist consultations, and one-hour response times during business hours.
Drata
Drata relies on ticket-based support and documentation libraries.
Scrut
Scrut provides responsive support for technical security issues but less expertise in audit preparation.
Verdict: Smartly's combination of automation and expert human support makes it the most accessible and reliable.
13. Scalability
Smartly
Smartly grows seamlessly from a single certification to multi-framework readiness while maintaining simplicity.
Drata
Drata is built for scale but often too heavy for small and mid-size teams.
Scrut
Scrut scales well for organizations focused on expanding security posture monitoring across multiple regions or business units.
Verdict: Smartly scales intelligently. Drata scales broadly. Scrut scales operationally for security teams.
14. Regional Relevance
Smartly
Smartly was designed for Asia-Pacific startups and SaaS companies. It offers localized templates and auditor partnerships that speed up certification in regions like Singapore, India, and Vietnam.
Drata
Drata is U.S.-centric, with most auditor partnerships based in North America.
Scrut
Scrut has strong traction in India and Asia-Pacific with localized support and regional auditor networks.
Verdict: Smartly and Scrut both serve APAC well, while Drata remains U.S.-focused. Smartly provides the best balance of speed and regional alignment.
15. Best Use Cases
Choose Smartly if:
- You are a startup or SaaS company that needs ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certification quickly
- You want predictable, all-inclusive pricing and guided support
- You prefer automation over consultants and spreadsheets
Choose Drata if:
- You are a large enterprise managing multiple frameworks
- You have a dedicated compliance or IT security team
Choose Scrut if:
- You need continuous security posture monitoring beyond compliance
- You want real-time visibility into cloud misconfigurations and vulnerabilities
16. Comparative Summary
| Feature | Smartly | Drata | Scrut |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed to Certification | 2 – 3 weeks | 2 – 4 months | 1 – 2 months |
| Automation Depth | Full real-time | Broad but partial | Security-focused |
| Risk Management | ISO 27005-aligned | Generic | Real-time scoring |
| Evidence Management | Fully automated | Semi-automated | AI-organized |
| Pricing Transparency | Clear and fixed | Hidden | Semi-transparent |
| Continuous Compliance | Yes | Yes, manual check | Security-focused |
| Best Fit | Startups and scale-ups | Enterprises | Security-first teams |
17. Final Verdict
Drata is the enterprise automation engine built for organizations managing multiple frameworks simultaneously.
Scrut is the security posture management tool for teams that want continuous monitoring and real-time risk visibility.
Smartly is the fast, focused automation platform that gets startups certified quickly, without consultants, complexity, or hidden costs.
For teams looking to achieve ISO 27001 certification in weeks — not months — Smartly is the clear winner.
18. Why Smartly Is the Smarter Choice
Smartly transforms compliance from a slow, manual process into an automated, transparent journey. It gives startups everything they need to move from zero to certification confidently.
With Smartly, you get:
- Real-time automation across every control
- Expert human guidance from ISO professionals
- Clear pricing with no hidden fees
- Certification readiness in a matter of weeks
Drata delivers scale. Scrut delivers security visibility. But Smartly delivers speed, simplicity, and certainty.
If your goal is to prove trust, close deals faster, and maintain compliance effortlessly, Smartly is the smartest choice in 2025.
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