The GRC Market Problem
The traditional GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) market has a pricing problem and a usability problem.
Pricing: Most GRC platforms don't publish their prices. "Contact sales" is the industry standard. When you do get pricing, it's typically $50,000-$500,000/year for enterprise deployments. This locks out startups, SMBs, and mid-market companies who need governance but can't justify the spend.
Usability: Traditional GRC tools were designed for large enterprise compliance teams. They're powerful but complex. Setting up a basic compliance program can take months and often requires professional services.
Dictiva takes a different approach to both problems.
Architecture: Statements vs. Controls
Traditional GRC platforms organize governance around controls — abstract categories like "AC-1: Access Control Policy and Procedures." These controls map to frameworks but don't prescribe specific, implementable requirements.
Dictiva organizes governance around statements — concrete, measurable requirements like "All privileged access must be reviewed quarterly and re-approved by the access owner." Statements are the atomic unit of governance.
| Aspect | Traditional GRC | Dictiva |
|---|---|---|
| Atomic unit | Control (abstract category) | Statement (concrete requirement) |
| Policy creation | Write documents from scratch | Assemble from statement library |
| Framework mapping | Control → Framework | Statement → Regulation requirement |
| Compliance measurement | Control effectiveness rating | Statement-level compliance evidence |
| Content source | Customer-authored | 10,000+ pre-written statements + custom |
Pricing: Transparent vs. "Contact Sales"
Dictiva publishes all prices on our pricing page. No sales calls, no negotiation, no multi-year contracts.
| Tier | Price | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Community | Free forever | Full platform, 5 users, 3 assemblies |
| Professional | $299/month | 25 users, unlimited assemblies, advanced features |
| Business | $799/month | 100 users, full library access, priority support |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited everything, SSO, dedicated support |
Compare this to traditional GRC pricing:
| Platform | Typical Annual Cost | Published Pricing? |
|---|---|---|
| ServiceNow GRC | $150,000-$500,000+ | No |
| Archer (RSA) | $100,000-$400,000+ | No |
| LogicGate | $50,000-$200,000+ | No |
| Vanta | $10,000-$50,000+ | Partially |
| Drata | $10,000-$50,000+ | Partially |
| Dictiva | $0-$9,588 | Yes, all tiers |
Library: Open vs. Empty
When you sign up for a traditional GRC platform, you start with an empty canvas. You write every policy, every control description, every risk assessment from scratch — or pay a consultant to do it.
Dictiva starts you with a curated library of 10,000+ governance statements across 32 domains, including:
- Data Governance
- Information Security
- Privacy & Data Protection
- Risk Management
- Business Continuity
- IT Operations
- Human Resources
- Legal & Compliance
- Financial Controls
- Vendor Management
- Environmental & Sustainability
- Quality Management
- Ethics & Conduct
- Physical Security
- AI & Emerging Technology
Each statement has been crafted at multiple maturity levels (foundational, intermediate, advanced) so you can adopt requirements appropriate for your organization's current capabilities.
Acknowledgments: Built-In vs. Bolt-On
Most GRC platforms require a separate tool or integration for policy acknowledgments. Dictiva includes acknowledgment workflows natively:
- Publish an assembly (policy document)
- Send acknowledgment requests to specific users or roles
- Track responses with timestamps and audit trail
- Send reminders and escalations automatically
This eliminates the "I didn't know about that policy" problem without requiring another vendor integration.
When Traditional GRC Makes Sense
Dictiva isn't trying to replace ServiceNow GRC for a Fortune 500 company with 50,000 employees and a 20-person compliance team. Traditional GRC platforms offer:
- Deep workflow automation for complex enterprise processes
- Extensive third-party risk management capabilities
- Integrated audit management with evidence collection
- Massive partner ecosystems and professional services
If you need those capabilities at enterprise scale, traditional GRC tools may be the right choice.
When Dictiva Makes Sense
Dictiva is built for organizations that want:
- Fast time-to-value — deploy a governance program in days, not months
- Statement-level precision — track compliance at the individual requirement level
- Transparent pricing — know what you'll pay before talking to anyone
- Pre-built content — start with a curated library instead of a blank page
- Modern UX — a tool your team will actually use, not fight with
This typically includes:
- Startups preparing for their first compliance audit
- SMBs that need governance but can't justify enterprise GRC costs
- Mid-market companies looking to consolidate governance from spreadsheets
- Teams building compliance programs for SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, or HIPAA
Try It
The best way to understand the difference is to try Dictiva yourself. Create a free account — no credit card required, no time limit, no sales calls. Build your first assembly from our statement library and see how statement-first governance works in practice. For a broader comparison of platforms across all categories, see our best GRC tools ranking.