How do I choose a GRC platform?

Step by step

1. List your frameworks. Write down the frameworks customers or regulators ask for now, and the ones you expect within a year. A platform that does not cover the later ones leaves you with a migration to plan.
2. Check how controls carry across frameworks. Ask each vendor to show one control and every framework requirement it satisfies. With a real crosswalk, evidence collected once counts toward each of them.
3. Price the whole plan. Add up seats, frameworks, vendors, storage and add-ons at the size you expect next year, and ask whether your auditor needs a paid seat.
4. Test with your own data. Use a trial or free plan to load real vendors, policies and one integration. A sample workspace cannot tell you whether the tool fits how your team works.
5. Check the exit. Ask how you would export controls, policies, evidence files and vendor records, and in what format, before you sign.

Features to compare

Most GRC platforms share a core: a control library mapped to frameworks, evidence collection, policy management, a risk register, vendor risk management, and a trust center or report to show customers. Compare how completely each framework is modelled, whether evidence arrives through integrations or by upload, whether risks link to the controls that treat them, how vendor reviews are scheduled, and whether your auditor can review inside the tool.

Questions to ask each vendor

Is this framework modelled in full, or only the parts most customers use? What does the price become at twice our current size? Can our auditor get a seat, and what does it cost? What happens to our data if we cancel?

Where Keel fits

Keel is a self-serve GRC platform for small teams and MSPs. It authors and scores 27 frameworks on one crosswalked control library, and publishes that crosswalk as open data you can read before you buy. Its plan prices are public (Free $0, Starter $99/mo, Pro $299/mo, Enterprise $1,999/mo; the MSP / Partner plan is quoted per client), and every plan includes a free read-only auditor seat.

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