Why Starter Became Prepare: SOC 2 Readiness for $480

Written by JoePublished October 31, 20263 min read

Numbered lanes at the starting line of a red running track

Prepare is SimpleAudit's plan for companies that need policies, evidence and a plan before they book an auditor. It replaced Starter for new customers: $480 one time for 12 months of access, all five SOC 2 areas and up to 5 seats. It starts with a 3-day free trial and no card.

Key takeaways

Prepare is one payment of $480 for 12 months of access. It does not renew.
It covers all five SOC 2 areas, with up to 5 seats.
It starts with a 3-day free trial and no card. Pay once to keep it.
It gets you audit ready. The audit itself is performed by a CPA firm and billed separately.

What Prepare includes

These are the lines on the Prepare card on the pricing page:

AI guided set-up across all five SOC 2 areas: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy
Policies written for how your company actually works
Gap analysis that tells you what is missing, in plain words
Risk register, vendor list, personnel list and asset inventory
Access reviews
Evidence vault and a readiness score that updates as you go
An auditor package
Up to 5 seats

What changed from Starter

Starter was built for a team preparing for its first SOC 2 audit, and so is Prepare. Three things changed: the coverage, the seats and how you pay. Two stayed the same: the $480 price and the 3-day free trial with no card.

	Starter	Prepare
Price	$480, billed every year	$480 one time, 12 months of access, no renewal
Coverage	The Security criterion only	All five SOC 2 areas
Seats	One user	Up to 5 seats
Free trial	3 days, no card	3 days, no card

Existing Starter customers keep what they bought, and the original Starter post stays up with a dated note.

Get audit ready for $480.

Get the next post on pricing your first SOC 2 audit.

When to choose Prove instead

Choose Prove if you are in an audit, or about to start one. It has everything in Prepare and adds audit tracking for Type 1 and Type 2, and flags when a policy and your records disagree or when evidence expires. You can push evidence from your own systems through the API and MCP. It also includes tabletop exercises, the annual policy review, the trust center, security questionnaires and contract reviews, with up to 5 seats.

Prepare is the better fit while you are still writing things down and closing gaps. Prove is the better fit once you are ready to run the audit.

What Prepare does not include

Prepare does not include the audit. A CPA firm performs it and bills you separately, and the SOC 2 cost guide breaks down what that costs. Audit tracking is on Prove, so on Prepare you hand your auditor the package.

Get audit ready for $480 with Prepare

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Written by Joe, founder of SimpleAudit.

Frequently asked questions

What is the SimpleAudit Prepare plan?

Prepare is $480 one time for 12 months of access, with all five SOC 2 areas and up to 5 seats. It is for companies that need policies, evidence and a plan before they book an auditor; see /pricing.

What changed from Starter to Prepare?

Prepare covers all five SOC 2 areas where Starter covered Security only, has up to 5 seats where Starter had one user, and is one payment for 12 months of access with no renewal. The $480 price and the 3-day free trial with no card stayed the same.

When should I choose Prove instead of Prepare?

Choose Prove if you are in an audit or about to start one. It adds audit tracking for Type 1 and Type 2, flags when a policy and your records disagree or when evidence expires, and evidence push from your own systems through the API and MCP.

Does Prepare include the SOC 2 audit?

No. Prepare gets you audit ready, but the audit itself is performed by a CPA firm and billed separately. On Prepare you hand your auditor the package.