8 best GRC tools for 2026: Compare features and fit

GRC platforms often look similar in a simple feature list comparison. The real buying challenge is figuring out which tools match your program’s complexity and which will require workarounds as you move beyond a single framework or a small team.

This guide compares leading GRC tools, explains how to evaluate them, and includes an at-a-glance comparison table to help you make a confident, well-informed choice.

Here are the eight GRC solutions we’ll explore:

1. AuditBoard

2. Workiva

3. Diligent One Platform (HighBond)

4. Vanta

5. LogicGate

6. MetricStream

7. Riskonnect

8. ServiceNow GRC

GRC platform comparison table

Each GRC platform takes a different approach to scalability, usability, and execution.

This table highlights where the top tools differ most, so you can quickly narrow options based on how your team operates.

Note: Support varies by package, so confirm the onboarding model and post–go-live support during your evaluation. Data current as of February 2026.

8 best GRC tools for risk and compliance teams

Different GRC tools can look comparable on paper, but they’re optimized for different operating models — reporting and disclosure workflows, audit readiness and control execution, operational risk/event management, or GRC embedded inside an existing enterprise platform.

Each of the following eight tools includes a concise overview, key capabilities, and the use cases it’s typically chosen for.

1. AuditBoard

AuditBoard is purpose-built AI-driven GRC software designed to run audit, risk, and compliance as a single, connected program rather than a collection of separate tools. It gives you one platform to manage audit work, track compliance activity, and understand how risk shows up across the organization.

That shared foundation cuts down rework and prevents compliance and risk management programs from drifting as requirements evolve. It also makes growth easier to manage, as you don’t need to redesign processes each time scope expands.

For organizations under regular regulatory scrutiny, AuditBoard serves as a system of record that supports both daily execution and ongoing oversight. And because it’s built for practitioners, it’s super easy to use.

Features

CrossComply sits at the core of AuditBoard’s compliance architecture, using a shared control and evidence layer across audit, risk, and compliance programs. That structure lets teams apply the same work across frameworks — so when you add new standards, you don’t have to start over or duplicate effort. Progress carries forward as scope expands, which makes regulatory change far easier to manage.

• Connected risk model: Links risks, controls, issues, and evidence so updates flow through the program, with AI helping surface relationships and changes that matter most
• Unlimited framework support: Allows the same controls and evidence to apply across standards without duplicating work
• Microsoft Office integration: Lets you work with familiar tools while keeping AuditBoard as the system of record
• Predictable user-based pricing: Keeps costs stable as programs grow instead of charging per framework or control
• No-code configurability: Enables you to adapt workflows and reporting without relying on IT or developers
• Audit-ready evidence tracking: Centralizes evidence collection and status so audits stay organized and on track
• Dedicated customer success: Provides structured onboarding and ongoing support to help teams mature their programs

Best for

AuditBoard is best for mid-market to enterprise teams managing multiple frameworks with the need for cross-functional audit, risk, and compliance alignment across risk registers, control activities, compliance procedures, and compliance reports.

What they say

“What I like best about AuditBoard is how intuitive and user-friendly the platform is. It brings our SOX and operational audits together in one place, which makes collaboration across teams seamless. The automation features save a lot of time by reducing manual work, and the real-time dashboards give great visibility into audit progress and status. Overall, it helps streamline the entire audit process and improves efficiency.” —Sara, enterprise internal audit manager

2. Workiva

Workiva is best known for enterprise reporting and disclosure workflows, with expanded capabilities that support GRC and ESG reporting. It’s popular for teams that want to connect narrative and numeric reporting, maintain traceability, and support corporate governance requirements that involve finance, legal, and compliance stakeholders.

Features

• Data linking and traceability: Keeps numbers consistent across reports and reduces reconciliation issues
• Collaborative workspaces: Supports multi-user editing with full audit history
• Controls and auditability: Maintains change tracking and documentation for assurance
• ESG reporting support: Supports audit-ready ESG reporting aligned to stakeholder expectations
• Integration with source systems: Pulls data directly from connected systems to reduce manual work

Best for

Workiva is best for public companies and large enterprises where the primary driver is controlled reporting and disclosure — financial reporting, SEC-style governance workflows, and audit-ready documentation across finance, legal, and compliance.

3. Diligent One Platform (HighBond)

Diligent One Platform (formerly HighBond) positions itself as an all-in-one GRC platform that supports governance activities alongside audit, risk, and compliance management. It offers analytics-driven monitoring, workflow automation, and options such as ACL tooling to support continuous monitoring for audit processes and compliance processes.

Features

• Continuous monitoring support: Automates recurring monitoring and exception follow-up using analytics tooling
• Centralized GRC workflows: Consolidates audit, risk, and compliance work in one system
• Analytics and reporting: Tracks risk indicators and program performance through dashboards
• Audit and compliance management: Supports audit planning, control testing, and remediation tracking
• Government-aligned options: Offers materials aligned with FedRAMP and DoD requirements

Best for

Diligent One Platform (HighBond) is best for organizations that want analytics-supported GRC workflows — especially teams investing in continuous monitoring, exception tracking, and audit analytics. It’s well suited to programs with dedicated analytics capability and regulated environments where monitoring depth and structured oversight are priority requirements.

4. Vanta

Vanta is a lightweight trust management platform that focuses on fast audit readiness for SOC 2 and ISO 27001. It relies on integrations and automated testing to support cybersecurity compliance requirements, evidence collection, and ongoing visibility, which suits smaller teams that need momentum without building a broad enterprise GRC stack.

Features

• 1,200+ automated tests: Monitors controls continuously to surface issues early
• 400+ integrations: Connects cloud and SaaS tools to automate evidence collection
• Audit readiness workflows: Keeps evidence and tasks organized throughout the year
• ISO 27001 support: Supports ISMS setup and maintenance with structured templates
• AI assistance: Reviews evidence and flags gaps to speed validation

Best for

Vanta is best for startups and smaller security teams that need a fast path to SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audit readiness using guided workflows and integration-based evidence collection. It works well when the scope is a small set of security frameworks and the priority is maintaining audit readiness with limited internal compliance capacity.

5. LogicGate

LogicGate Risk Cloud is a no-code GRC platform with modular applications and configurable workflows. It works well for teams that want to design processes that match their business practices, connect risk and compliance data, and reduce silos without waiting on engineering resources. LogicGate also offers native integrations for systems such as Jira and Microsoft 365 to support a more secure connection between tools and teams.

Features

• No-code workflow building: Configures forms, routing, and automation without code
• 40+ purpose-built applications: Supports cyber, operational, vendor risk, and more
• Spark AI: Reduces manual entry and speeds drafting and linking
• Native integrations: Connects with tools like Jira and Microsoft 365
• Custom dashboards and reporting: Controls how risk and compliance data is shown to different audiences

Best for

LogicGate is best for teams that want a highly configurable GRC environment to model workflows around their existing processes. It’s a strong match for organizations with clear internal standards for risk and compliance, plus the capacity to define, govern, and maintain consistent workflows across teams.

6. MetricStream

MetricStream is an enterprise GRC platform used to run centralized risk and compliance programs across large organizations. It supports structured workflows for areas like policy and control management, compliance activities, risk management, audit management, and issue remediation, with reporting designed for governance and oversight stakeholders.

Features

• Centralized GRC program workflows: Supports structured risk, compliance, audit, and policy workflows across teams and business units
• Policy and control management: Maintains policies, controls, attestations, and related workflow steps in a governed system
• Issue and remediation tracking: Tracks findings, actions, owners, and status changes through defined workflows
• Reporting and dashboards: Provides program reporting for oversight, leadership visibility, and governance stakeholders
• Module-based extensibility: Expands capability based on deployed modules and program scope

Best for

MetricStream is best for large enterprises running mature, centralized GRC programs with formal governance processes and multiple stakeholder groups. It aligns to operating models where workflows are standardized across business units and reporting is oriented around centralized oversight and program administration.

7. Riskonnect

Riskonnect is a risk management platform commonly used for operational risk programs where event, incident, or loss workflows are central to how risk is tracked and reported. It supports configurable risk registers, assessments, and reporting, and is often evaluated in contexts where risk operations want consistent visibility into risk events and exposures.

Features

• Operational risk and risk event tracking: Supports workflows for capturing and managing incidents, events, and related follow-up
• Risk registers and assessments: Maintains risk data and structured assessment workflows for periodic reporting
• Configurable workflows: Allows organizations to configure processes and fields to match internal governance standards
• Reporting and analytics: Provides dashboards and exports for trend analysis and oversight reporting
• Program visibility: Centralizes risk information for stakeholders involved in risk operations and governance

Best for

Riskonnect is best for organizations with risk operations programs centered on risk events, incidents, claims, or loss workflows, and where tracking, trending, and reporting on operational risk activity is the primary requirement. It is most commonly considered when event-driven risk visibility is the core buying driver.

8. ServiceNow GRC

ServiceNow GRC is a suite of risk and compliance applications built on the broader ServiceNow platform. It’s most often evaluated when teams want GRC work to follow the same operational patterns they already use in ServiceNow — intake, tasking, approvals, and workflow routing — rather than adopting a separate, standalone GRC system.

Features

• Workflow-based GRC execution: Runs risk and compliance tasks through ServiceNow workflows and assignments
• Policy and compliance workflows: Supports policy and compliance activities tied to governed processes
• Operational alignment: Connects GRC tasks to operational records and workflows within the ServiceNow environment
• Issue and task tracking: Uses workflow-driven tasking and assignment models for risk and compliance work
• Role-based visibility and reporting: Provides stakeholder views for tracking status and governance reporting

Best for

ServiceNow GRC is best for organizations already invested in the ServiceNow ecosystem that want GRC activities embedded into existing operational workflows. It aligns to environments where the ServiceNow platform is a primary system for work intake, task routing, and operational process management.

How to choose the right GRC tool

Choosing the right GRC tool is a fit question: Can it support how your program actually runs today and keep working as your frameworks, stakeholders, and audit demands expand?

At a high level, the decision usually comes down to four things:

• Whether the tool is tailored for GRC execution
• Whether your team can configure it without IT
• Whether it scales cleanly across frameworks
• Whether you can get value quickly with the right implementation and support

So rather than getting stuck in feature checklists, it helps to run each option through a few practical “fit” checks. The best practices below are a simple way to narrow the field and spot how well a tool aligns with your planned growth.

Filter out tools that don’t match your operating model

The fastest way to simplify your selection process is to focus on platforms designed around GRC workflows — controls, evidence, issues, and reporting — rather than tools you’d have to retrofit into a GRC system of record. Flexibility matters, but so does having the right core data model and governance workflow support once scrutiny increases.

Look for configurability without complexity

A strong GRC tool should adapt to your processes without turning every change into a technical project. If updates require scripting or constant IT support, ownership drifts away from the teams running the program. No-code configuration helps keep control with practitioners.

Evaluate scalability across frameworks

GRC programs rarely stay static. Make sure the platform can support SOX, ISO, NIST, GDPR, HIPAA, and whatever comes next in a single environment. In practice, scalability is less about how many frameworks a vendor lists and more about whether you can reuse controls and evidence as scope grows.

Assess implementation and support as part of the product

Capabilities only matter if your team can adopt them quickly and maintain them over time. To assess that, look at typical GRC implementation timelines for programs like yours, how onboarding is structured, and what ongoing support looks like once you’re live — especially as requirements change.

Questions to ask GRC vendors

These questions help confirm whether a GRC platform can support governance, risk, and compliance strategy over time.

• How does pricing scale as we add frameworks, entities, controls, and users? This shows whether the platform scales across frameworks without duplicating controls or driving up spend.
• Can business users configure workflows without IT? No-code setup keeps ownership with GRC teams and avoids bottlenecks.
• What does a typical implementation look like for a program like ours? Faster implementation means quicker value and reduces manual follow-ups, status chasing, and rework.
• Which integrations are native vs. custom (Microsoft 365, Jira, ServiceNow)? Integrations keep evidence and issues tied to daily operations.
• How do you handle evidence and testing at scale (collection, mapping, refresh cadence, audit trail)? Automation reduces audit preparation and lowers compliance risk.
• What does ongoing support look like post go-live (CS ownership, SLAs, enablement)? Ongoing support helps programs mature as your requirements change.

What to prioritize in an enterprise-grade GRC tool

An enterprise-grade GRC tool should support execution and oversight, and not just documentation. It should help your team maintain clear ownership, collaborate across stakeholders, and keep programs aligned as requirements change.

As you compare solutions, look for a platform that connects audit, risk, and compliance work in a consistent system, reduces manual effort through automation, and provides reliable reporting as scope expands.

For mid- and enterprise-level organizations that want to run GRC as a connected program, request an AuditBoard demo to see how you can connect controls, evidence, and reporting across audit, risk, and compliance.

About the authors

Tony Luciani is a Strategic Account Executive, EMEA at AuditBoard. Prior to AuditBoard, Tony served as IT Risk and Compliance Lead at Sony Pictures. As a former InfoSec consultant, PCI QSA, and HITRUST Assessor, his experience ranges from performing gap/attestation assessments (i.e. NIST, ISO, CIS, SOC2, PCI, HITRUST, etc.) to facilitating IT risk management programs for customers across multiple industries. Connect with Tony on LinkedIn.