Choosing the Right Compliance Framework: SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and NIST CSF Compared

You're growing fast. Customers are asking about your security posture. A prospect just sent over a vendor security questionnaire that's 300 questions long. Your board wants to know "where we stand on compliance." And you're staring at a list of acronyms — SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, NIST CSF — wondering which one actually matters for your business.

Let's face it: compliance frameworks can feel like alphabet soup. But they don't have to be confusing. This guide breaks down the five major frameworks, compares them side by side, and helps you figure out which one to tackle first — and how to avoid doing the same work twice when you need more than one.

Why Frameworks Exist (And Why You Probably Need One) 🤔

Compliance frameworks exist because trust is hard to scale with handshakes alone.

When your company was five people, your customers trusted you because they knew you. They could see your code, talk to your engineers, and feel confident that their data was safe. But as you grow — 50 employees, 500 customers, enterprise contracts — you need a shared language for trust.

That's what frameworks give you. They're a standardized way to say: "Here's how we protect your data, and here's the proof."

But frameworks aren't just about checking boxes. They serve three very real business purposes:

• Customer demands: Enterprise buyers increasingly require SOC 2 reports or ISO 27001 certificates before signing contracts. No compliance? No deal.
• Investor expectations: VCs and PE firms want to see mature security programs. It signals operational discipline and reduces risk in their portfolio.
• Regulatory requirements: Some frameworks aren't optional. If you handle health data, HIPAA isn't a nice-to-have. If you process credit cards, PCI DSS is mandatory.

Here's the angle most people miss: compliance is a sales accelerator. Companies that get compliant early close enterprise deals faster, reduce sales cycle friction, and command higher contract values. It's not a cost center — it's a competitive advantage.

The question isn't whether you need a framework. It's which one to start with.

The Five Major Frameworks at a Glance 📊

Before we dive deep, here's a quick comparison to orient you:

*NIST CSF itself is voluntary, but federal contracts and certain regulations may require alignment with it.

Now let's break each one down.

SOC 2 (Type I and Type II) 🔒

SOC 2 is probably the framework you've heard about most if you're in SaaS. It's become the de facto standard for demonstrating security to US-based enterprise buyers.

Who It's For

SOC 2 is designed for service organizations — companies that store, process, or handle customer data on behalf of other businesses. If you're a SaaS company, a managed service provider, a cloud infrastructure provider, or really any B2B service that touches customer data, SOC 2 is likely your first stop.

It's not limited to tech companies, but it's most commonly pursued by them. If your sales team keeps hearing "do you have a SOC 2?" during the procurement process, that's your signal.

What It Covers

SOC 2 is built around the Trust Service Criteria (TSC), developed by the AICPA. There are five categories:

• Security (required): Protection against unauthorized access. This is the baseline and the only mandatory category.
• Availability: Systems are available for operation and use as committed.
• Processing Integrity: System processing is complete, valid, accurate, and timely.
• Confidentiality: Information designated as confidential is protected.
• Privacy: Personal information is collected, used, retained, disclosed, and disposed of properly.

Most companies start with Security only, then add Availability and Confidentiality as they mature. You don't have to tackle all five at once.

Type I vs Type II

This is one of the most common questions, and the answer matters for your timeline and credibility:

• Type I: A point-in-time assessment. It says "as of this date, our controls were designed appropriately." Think of it as a snapshot.
• Type II: A period-of-time assessment, typically covering 6–12 months. It says "over this period, our controls were not only designed well but also operating effectively." This is the gold standard.

Pro tip: Many companies start with a Type I to get something in hand quickly, then transition to Type II. That's a perfectly valid strategy. But know that sophisticated buyers will ask for Type II, so plan for it.

Timeline and Cost

• Type I: 3–4 months from kickoff to report, assuming you have reasonable controls in place.
• Type II: Add a 6–12 month observation period on top of that.
• Audit costs: $20K–$80K depending on scope, auditor, and company size. Budget for tooling and remediation on top of that.

The biggest time sink isn't the audit itself — it's getting your controls in shape beforehand. Policy writing, evidence collection, gap remediation. That's where the real work lives.

Want to go deeper? Check out our SOC 2 readiness roadmap for a week-by-week plan, or read about SOC 2 for SaaS companies for industry-specific guidance. You can also explore the SOC 2 framework on episki.

ISO 27001 🌍

If SOC 2 is the American standard for trust, ISO 27001 is the international one. It carries weight everywhere — Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America — and increasingly in the US too.

Who It's For

ISO 27001 is ideal for companies with international customers or ambitions. If you're selling into European enterprises, working with global partners, or operating across borders, ISO 27001 is often the first thing they'll ask about.

It's also popular with larger organizations that want a comprehensive, management-system approach to security rather than a controls-focused audit.

What It Covers

ISO 27001 requires you to build an Information Security Management System (ISMS) — a structured framework for managing information security risks across your entire organization.

The standard has two main parts:

• Clauses 4–10: The management system requirements. These cover context, leadership, planning, support, operations, performance evaluation, and improvement. Think of these as the "how you run your security program" requirements.
• Annex A: 93 controls organized into 4 themes (organizational, people, physical, and technological). These are the specific security measures you implement. The 2022 revision consolidated the old 114 controls down to 93 and added 11 new ones focused on cloud security, threat intelligence, and data masking.

One key difference from SOC 2: ISO 27001 requires a formal risk assessment process. You need to identify risks, evaluate them, and select controls based on that assessment. It's more prescriptive about the methodology.

Certification Process

ISO 27001 certification involves a two-stage audit by an accredited certification body:

• Stage 1 (Documentation Review): The auditor reviews your ISMS documentation — policies, risk assessments, Statement of Applicability — to confirm you're ready for a full audit. This is usually 1–2 days on-site or remote.
• Stage 2 (Certification Audit): The auditor verifies that your ISMS is actually implemented and operating. They'll interview staff, review evidence, and test controls. This is typically 3–5 days depending on scope.

Once certified, your certification is valid for 3 years, with surveillance audits in years 1 and 2 and a full recertification audit in year 3.

Timeline and Cost

• Implementation: 6–12 months for most organizations, depending on current maturity.
• Certification audit: $30K–$100K depending on scope, company size, and certification body.
• Ongoing costs: Annual surveillance audits ($10K–$30K) plus internal audit and management review overhead.

ISO 27001 is a bigger lift than SOC 2 upfront, but many organizations find the management-system approach creates a more sustainable, mature program long-term.

Ready to start? Our ISO 27001 implementation guide walks through the process step by step. You can also explore the ISO 27001 framework for detailed control mapping.

HIPAA 🏥

HIPAA isn't optional. If you handle Protected Health Information (PHI) in the United States, you're subject to HIPAA whether you like it or not.

Who It's For

HIPAA applies to two categories of organizations:

• Covered Entities: Health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and healthcare providers who transmit health information electronically. Hospitals, insurance companies, doctor's offices — the obvious ones.
• Business Associates: Any organization that creates, receives, maintains, or transmits PHI on behalf of a covered entity. This is where most tech companies get pulled in. If you're building software for a hospital, storing patient data in your cloud, or processing claims — you're a Business Associate.

If you're a healthtech startup, pay close attention. You might think HIPAA doesn't apply because you don't deal directly with patients. But if your product touches PHI in any way, it does. And you'll need a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with every covered entity you work with.

What It Covers

HIPAA's security requirements fall into three categories of safeguards:

• Administrative Safeguards: Security management processes, workforce training, access management, contingency planning, and evaluation. This is the policy and process layer — who has access to what, how you train your team, how you respond to incidents.
• Physical Safeguards: Facility access controls, workstation security, and device and media controls. Even in a cloud-first world, physical safeguards matter. Think laptop encryption, secure disposal of hardware, and physical access logs for any on-premise infrastructure.
• Technical Safeguards: Access controls, audit controls, integrity controls, and transmission security. Encryption, unique user IDs, automatic logoff, audit logging — the technical controls you'd expect.

HIPAA also includes the Privacy Rule (how PHI can be used and disclosed) and the Breach Notification Rule (what happens when things go wrong). The penalties for violations are steep — up to $2.13 million per violation category per year, and criminal penalties in extreme cases.

Enforcement

Here's something that trips people up: there is no HIPAA certification. You can't get a "HIPAA Certified" badge from an auditor. Anyone selling you "HIPAA certification" is misleading you.

Compliance is self-assessed. You're expected to conduct your own risk analysis, implement appropriate safeguards, and maintain documentation. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within HHS can audit you at any time — typically triggered by a breach report or a complaint.

That said, many organizations hire third-party assessors to conduct HIPAA readiness assessments. It's not a certification, but it provides assurance and helps identify gaps before the OCR comes knocking.

Building in healthtech? Read our guide on HIPAA for healthtech startups and explore the HIPAA framework for detailed requirements. You can also check out our healthcare industry page for sector-specific guidance.

PCI DSS 💳

If your business processes, stores, or transmits credit card data, PCI DSS is non-negotiable. It's enforced by the payment card brands (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover) through your acquiring bank.

Who It's For

PCI DSS applies to any entity that stores, processes, or transmits cardholder data. That includes:

• Merchants (online and brick-and-mortar)
• Payment processors and gateways
• SaaS platforms that handle payment data
• Any service provider in the payment chain

Even if you use a third-party processor like Stripe or Square, you likely still have some PCI obligations. The scope might be reduced (and you should absolutely work to reduce it), but it doesn't disappear entirely.

What It Covers

PCI DSS is organized into 12 requirements across 6 goals:

1. Build and Maintain a Secure Network: Install and maintain firewalls; don't use vendor-supplied default passwords.
2. Protect Cardholder Data: Protect stored data; encrypt transmission across public networks.
3. Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program: Use and update anti-malware software; develop secure systems and applications.
4. Implement Strong Access Control Measures: Restrict access on a need-to-know basis; authenticate access to system components; restrict physical access.
5. Regularly Monitor and Test Networks: Track and monitor all access; regularly test security systems and processes.
6. Maintain an Information Security Policy: Maintain a policy that addresses information security for all personnel.

How you validate compliance depends on your transaction volume:

• SAQ (Self-Assessment Questionnaire): For smaller merchants and service providers. There are multiple SAQ types depending on how you handle card data.
• ROC (Report on Compliance): For Level 1 merchants and service providers, assessed by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA). This is the full, detailed assessment.

PCI DSS 4.0.1

PCI DSS 4.0 (and the subsequent 4.0.1 clarification release) brought significant changes from version 3.2.1. Here are the key shifts you need to know:

• Customized Approach: Organizations can now design their own controls to meet security objectives, rather than following the prescriptive "defined approach" exclusively. More flexibility, but it requires stronger documentation and risk analysis.
• Expanded MFA Requirements: Multi-factor authentication is now required for all access into the cardholder data environment, not just remote access.
• Enhanced Authentication: Passwords must be at least 12 characters (up from 7). Stricter requirements for service accounts and application credentials.
• Targeted Risk Analysis: Several requirements now mandate formal, documented risk analyses for specific controls (like defining the frequency of log reviews or vulnerability scans).
• Client-Side Security: New requirements for managing payment page scripts and detecting tampering — a response to Magecart-style attacks that skim card data from checkout pages.

Many of the new requirements in 4.0 were "best practices" until March 31, 2025. They're now fully enforceable. If you haven't updated your program for 4.0.1, the clock has already run out.

Dealing with PCI challenges? Read about what to do when PCI compliance goes off track, or check out our guide on PCI DSS for fintech. Explore the PCI DSS framework for detailed requirement mapping.

NIST CSF 🇺🇸

NIST CSF (Cybersecurity Framework) is different from the others on this list. It's not something you "get certified" in. It's a maturity model — a way to measure and improve your security posture over time.

Who It's For

NIST CSF was originally developed for US critical infrastructure, but it's become widely adopted across industries. It's particularly relevant for:

• US-based organizations wanting a comprehensive, risk-based approach to cybersecurity
• Federal contractors and companies in regulated industries that reference NIST standards
• Organizations early in their security journey looking for a flexible starting framework
• Companies that need to demonstrate maturity without pursuing a formal certification

The framework is free and publicly available, which makes it accessible regardless of budget.

What It Covers

NIST CSF 2.0 (released in February 2024) is organized around 6 core functions:

• Govern: Establish and monitor the organization's cybersecurity risk management strategy, expectations, and policies. This is new in CSF 2.0 and emphasizes that cybersecurity is a governance issue, not just a technical one.
• Identify: Understand your assets, business environment, supply chain, and the cybersecurity risks you face. You can't protect what you don't know about.
• Protect: Implement safeguards to ensure delivery of critical services. Access control, training, data security, maintenance, and protective technology.
• Detect: Develop activities to identify cybersecurity events. Anomaly detection, continuous monitoring, and detection processes.
• Respond: Take action when a cybersecurity incident is detected. Response planning, communications, analysis, mitigation, and improvements.
• Recover: Maintain plans for resilience and restore capabilities impaired during an incident. Recovery planning, improvements, and communications.

Each function breaks down into categories and subcategories, giving you a detailed taxonomy of cybersecurity activities. You assess your current state against each subcategory and define a target state, creating a clear roadmap for improvement.

Why It's Different

NIST CSF stands apart for a few reasons:

• No certification: There's no auditor, no report, no certificate. You use it internally to measure and improve. Some organizations have third parties assess their maturity, but it's entirely voluntary.
• Maturity-based: Instead of pass/fail, you rate your implementation on a maturity scale. This makes it great for tracking progress over time and communicating improvement to leadership.
• Framework of frameworks: NIST CSF maps extensively to other standards — SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, NIST 800-53, CIS Controls. It's often used as the backbone that connects multiple compliance efforts.
• Risk-based: It starts with understanding your specific risks and tailoring your security program accordingly, rather than imposing a fixed set of controls.

Many organizations use NIST CSF as their internal security framework even when they're being assessed against SOC 2 or ISO 27001 externally. It provides the structure; the other frameworks provide the validation.

Explore further: Our guide on NIST CSF for security maturity shows how to use the framework for continuous improvement. Check out the NIST CSF framework page for detailed function and category mapping.

Which Framework Should You Start With? 🧭

This is the question everyone asks. And while the answer depends on your specific situation, here's a practical decision tree:

The Decision Tree

• You're a SaaS company selling to US enterprise → SOC 2. It's what your buyers expect. Start with Type I, then progress to Type II. This is the fastest path to unblocking enterprise deals.
• You have international customers or sell into Europe/APAC → ISO 27001. It's recognized globally and often required for cross-border business. If you also need SOC 2, start with whichever your most urgent deals require and layer the other on quickly — the overlap is significant.
• You handle healthcare data (PHI) → HIPAA. This is mandatory, not optional. If you're a Business Associate, you need to be compliant yesterday. Don't wait for a customer to ask — they'll eventually ask for proof, and the penalties for non-compliance are severe.
• You process, store, or transmit payment card data → PCI DSS. Also mandatory. Work to reduce your scope as much as possible (tokenization, third-party processors), but don't ignore your remaining obligations.
• You work with the US government or federal contractors → NIST CSF (and likely NIST 800-171 or FedRAMP depending on the contract). NIST CSF gives you the foundation; specific contract requirements will layer on top.
• You're not sure where to start? → SOC 2 or NIST CSF as a baseline. SOC 2 is the most commonly requested and gives you a tangible deliverable (the audit report). NIST CSF is free and gives you a comprehensive internal framework. Either one will build a strong foundation for adding other frameworks later.

The key insight: Don't try to boil the ocean. Pick one framework, get it right, and expand from there. The controls you implement for your first framework will carry over to the next — if you plan for it.

Managing Multiple Frameworks 🔗

Here's where things get interesting — and where most companies waste enormous amounts of time and money.

If you need both SOC 2 and ISO 27001 (increasingly common for global SaaS companies), you might think you need to do everything twice. You don't.

The Overlap Opportunity

The overlap between major frameworks is significant:

• SOC 2 and ISO 27001: Roughly 40–60% control overlap. Access controls, encryption, incident response, vendor management, change management — these map across both frameworks with minimal modification.
• HIPAA and SOC 2: HIPAA's technical safeguards align closely with SOC 2's Security criteria. If you're SOC 2 compliant with the right scope, you're well on your way to HIPAA compliance.
• PCI DSS and ISO 27001: PCI DSS's 12 requirements map to many ISO 27001 Annex A controls, especially around access control, cryptography, and network security.
• NIST CSF and everything: NIST CSF was designed to be a Rosetta Stone for security frameworks. Its categories and subcategories map to SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and dozens of other standards.

The Control Mapping Approach

The smart way to manage multiple frameworks is through control mapping:

1. Identify your controls: Document every security control you have in place.
2. Map controls to requirements: For each control, identify which framework requirements it satisfies. One control often maps to multiple requirements across multiple frameworks.
3. Find the gaps: Once you've mapped your existing controls, the gaps become obvious. You know exactly what you need to add — and only what you need to add.
4. Collect evidence once, use it everywhere: A single piece of evidence (an access review, a penetration test report, a policy document) can satisfy requirements across multiple frameworks simultaneously.

This is where most spreadsheet-based compliance programs fall apart. Tracking which controls map to which requirements across five frameworks in a spreadsheet is a nightmare that gets worse every quarter.

This is exactly the problem episki was built to solve. Our control graph lets you map a control once and see exactly which requirements it satisfies across every framework you're managing. When you collect evidence for that control, it automatically flows to all the relevant requirements. No duplicate work, no chasing the same artifact five different times.

Want to dive deeper into control mapping? Read our guide on control mapping across frameworks and our complete GRC guide for growing companies.

Key Takeaways 📝

Let's bring it all together:

• Frameworks are a trust language, not a bureaucratic exercise. They help you prove to customers, investors, and regulators that you take security seriously.
• SOC 2 is the go-to for US SaaS companies. Start with Type I, progress to Type II. It's your enterprise sales unlock.
• ISO 27001 is the global gold standard. The ISMS approach creates a sustainable, mature program. Worth the investment if you have international ambitions.
• HIPAA is mandatory if you touch PHI. There's no certification — self-assess rigorously and be ready for OCR scrutiny.
• PCI DSS is mandatory if you touch card data. Version 4.0.1 raised the bar significantly. Reduce scope where you can, but don't ignore what's left.
• NIST CSF is the most flexible option. It's free, risk-based, and maps to everything else. Great as a starting point or internal backbone.
• Pick one framework and start. Don't wait until you need three simultaneously. Build the foundation with one and expand.
• Control reuse is your biggest efficiency lever. Map controls once, satisfy multiple frameworks. This is where tooling matters — doing this manually doesn't scale.

Choosing a compliance framework doesn't have to feel like picking a lock in the dark. Start with the one your customers or regulators are asking for, build a strong control foundation, and expand from there.

episki comes with pre-built templates for SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and NIST CSF — with control reuse built in from day one. See how it works →