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Keel vs Drata
Evaluating Drata and looking at the alternatives? Here is an honest look at where Keel fits, and who each one suits best.
Where Drata fits
Drata is a widely used compliance automation platform known for continuous control monitoring and a broad integration catalog.
Where Keel fits
Keel is a self-serve, crosswalk-native GRC platform that also runs ISO 9001 quality on the same graph.
Why teams choose Keel
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Transparent, self-serve pricing
Keel publishes list pricing for all 4 plans and includes a real free tier, with NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 and AI Governance Essentials 1.0 free on every plan. You can see the number before you talk to anyone, and start today without a sales call. The one exception is the MSP / partner plan, where per-client pricing is tailored to the size of your book — that one starts with a conversation.
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One crosswalked control library
Keel is built on a single control library crosswalked across frameworks. Implement a control once and it counts toward every framework it satisfies, so your second framework mostly reuses the work from your first. Collect once, comply everywhere.
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Security and quality on one platform
Keel runs ISO 9001:2015 on the same control-and-evidence graph as your security program, so one internal audit programme and one evidence set serve both. The management-system half is already in your workspace on every plan, including Free: nonconformities and CAPA, the internal audit programme, objectives, competence, documented information and management review. Keel Quality, a $149/mo per workspace add-on, adds the product-quality half — nonconforming outputs (NCR), supplier quality and SCARs, complaints and feedback, change control, and a Quality dashboard over those four. If quality management is in scope for you, ask every platform on your shortlist whether it covers ISO 9001 — we speak for Keel, not for them.
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Own your data
keel-migrate is an open-source (MIT), read-only tool you run on your own machine. It exports your registers and policies through the source platform’s own documented API — Vanta and Drata today, OneTrust in beta, more on the roadmap — and your credentials never leave your computer. Your data is portable, not locked in.
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Check the work before you buy
Keel’s control-to-clause crosswalk is published as an open dataset under CC-BY-4.0, as JSON and CSV, so you can read the mappings your readiness score will be built on without signing anything. Every plan also includes a free read-only auditor seat that never counts against your seat limit, so bringing your auditor in costs nothing.
What you’d actually pay
Keel’s pricing is published and self-serve — you can see the number and start today without a sales call, on every plan except the MSP partner plan, which is priced per client. For Drata, ask them: we don’t publish a figure we’d be guessing at.
Keel — published, self-serve
- $0 — Free plan, no credit card
- $99/mo — Starter ($999/yr)
- $299/mo — Pro ($3,099/yr)
Drata — ask them
We don’t publish a price for Drata. Any number we put here would be a third-party estimate wearing their name, and it would be out of date the week we wrote it. Ask Drata for a quote covering your team size and frameworks, and compare it against the figures on the left, which are exact.
At a glance
| Criterion | Keel | Drata |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Published list pricing for all 4 plans, self-serve, with a genuine free tier (NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 and AI Governance Essentials 1.0 free on every plan). The MSP / partner plan is the exception: per-client partner pricing is tailored to your book | Typically quote-based (contact sales) — check their pricing page for their current position |
| Getting started | Sign up and start in minutes, no sales call required | Varies by vendor — check whether you can start without talking to sales |
| Control model | One crosswalked control library: implement a control once, it counts toward every framework it satisfies | Framework-based control mapping |
| Quality management (ISO 9001) | Yes: ISO 9001:2015 on the same control-and-evidence graph as your ISMS. Nonconformities and CAPA, the internal audit programme, objectives, competence, documented information and management review ship on every plan including Free; Keel Quality, a paid add-on, adds the product-quality modules — nonconforming outputs (NCR), supplier quality and SCARs, complaints and feedback, change control, and a Quality dashboard over them | Ask the vendor whether they cover ISO 9001 quality management |
| MSP / multi-client | Multi-client console, with per-client partner pricing quoted to the size of your book | Varies by plan and partner program |
| Auditor access | Free read-only auditor seat on every plan, including Free — it never counts against your seat limit | Varies by plan |
| Data portability | Open-source, read-only export tool (keel-migrate, MIT) that runs on your machine | Varies |
| Open data | The control-to-clause crosswalk is published as an open dataset (CC-BY-4.0, JSON and CSV) you can download, check, and cite before you buy | Varies |
| AI assistance | Credit-metered AI in every module (policies, vendor profiles, questionnaires) | Varies |
This comparison is based on publicly available information as of 2026 and on Keel’s own product. Drata and other names are trademarks of their respective owners. Keel is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by them. Details on each platform can change; check their site for the latest. See our legal and trademarks page.
Common questions
Is Keel a good Drata alternative?
Keel is a strong fit if you want transparent self-serve pricing with a free tier, one crosswalked control library so a second framework reuses the first, and the option to run ISO 9001 quality management on the same platform as your security program. Teams evaluating Drata for those reasons are exactly who Keel is built for.
Can I migrate from Drata to Keel?
Yes. keel-migrate, our open-source read-only tool, exports your vendors, risks, people, and policies from Drata using its official API, and you import the bundle into Keel. Your credentials never leave your machine.
Which frameworks does Keel support today?
Keel authors and scores content for ISO/IEC 27001:2022, CIS Critical Security Controls v8.1, PCI DSS 4.0.1, SOC 2, SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley) Section 404, NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0, NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2, HIPAA, GDPR, COPPA, Google Play Families, Amazon Appstore Child-Directed Apps, Apple App Store Kids Category, ISO 9001:2015, ESG Essentials 1.1, US Employment Law - Federal Baseline, and the AI governance shelf (AI Governance Essentials 1.0, ISO/IEC 42001:2023, NIST AI Risk Management Framework 1.0, and EU AI Act 2024). NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 and AI Governance Essentials 1.0 are free on every plan.
See it on your own program
Start free, apply a framework, and watch how much of the next one your controls already cover.