What compliance and security audits cost in India
Honest cost guidance per framework, the drivers that actually move the number, and calculators to size your own programme before you ask anyone for a quote.
Why nobody publishes a single price
Any firm quoting a flat figure for PCI DSS or ISO 27001 before seeing your environment is quoting a number that will change. Two organisations in the same industry, with the same headcount, can differ by a factor of four on the same framework — because cost tracks scope, not size. What follows is the honest version: what drives the number, what each framework typically involves, and tools to model it yourself.
If you would rather skip the modelling, a scoping questionnaire takes a few minutes and produces a real figure instead of a range.
What actually drives the number
Scope size
The number of in-scope systems, applications, locations and people. For PCI DSS this is the dominant factor — segmentation and tokenisation move the number more than negotiation ever will.
Validation route
A self-assessment and an independent assessment are different products. SAQ vs ROC, ISO readiness vs certification audit, SOC 2 Type I vs Type II.
Current maturity
A first-time programme carries remediation the second cycle does not. Organisations with an existing ISMS routinely find a large share of a new framework already satisfied.
Evidence readiness
The expensive part of any audit is entering it unprepared. Assessors bill time; time is spent chasing evidence that was never collected.
Framework overlap
ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS and DPDP share substantial control ground. Testing once and reusing evidence across obligations is the single largest saving available.
Retest and closure
A finding is not closed until it is retested. If retesting sits outside the quote, the quote is not the cost.
Cost by framework
Detailed guidance for each programme, including what is usually excluded from a quote.
PCI DSS assessment cost
Merchant vs service-provider level, SAQ vs ROC, and how CDE size drives the fee.
Read the cost guide →ISO 27001 certification cost
Stage 1 + Stage 2, certification-body fees, and the surveillance audits people forget to budget.
Read the cost guide →SOC 2 cost
Type I vs Type II, observation window, and why the CPA fee is rarely the expensive part.
Read the cost guide →VAPT cost
How application count, roles, APIs and authenticated testing change the number.
Read the cost guide →Web application VAPT cost
Per-application pricing drivers and what a fixed quote before scoping really means.
Read the cost guide →Mobile application VAPT cost
Android and iOS, per-platform effort, and API testing that is usually assumed but not scoped.
Read the cost guide →DPDP compliance cost
Consent, RoPA, rights workflows and DPO requirements — where the effort actually lands.
Read the cost guide →CERT-In audit cost and timeline
Empanelled-auditor engagement, reporting obligations, and realistic timelines.
Read the cost guide →Cost of a data breach in India
The number the budget conversation is really about.
Read the cost guide →Model it yourself
Free calculators — no signup, no email gate on the result.
Compliance cost calculator
Estimate programme cost across frameworks before you request quotes.
Open calculator →VAPT cost calculator
Size a penetration test from assets, roles and environments.
Open calculator →Compliance effort calculator
Internal effort, not just external fees — the half most budgets miss.
Open calculator →Compliance ROI calculator
Build the business case in terms a CFO accepts.
Open calculator →Data breach cost calculator
Model exposure against your record volume and sector.
Open calculator →DPDP penalty risk calculator
Understand penalty exposure under the DPDP Act.
Open calculator →How to reduce what you spend
- Reduce scope before you buy. Segmentation and tokenisation take systems out of scope permanently. This is the largest lever in PCI DSS by a wide margin.
- Map controls across frameworks once. If you hold ISO 27001, a large share of SOC 2 is already evidenced. Test once, report many times.
- Fix the findings you already know about. Entering an audit with open items from last year converts a fixed fee into a time-and-materials one.
- Collect evidence continuously, not in the audit month. This is the entire premise of SigmaTrust, and it is where most of the internal cost sits.
- Insist retest is in the quote. Otherwise closure is a second purchase order.
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