Looking for a Vanta alternative?
Vanta brings together compliance, risk and customer trust, and HackRisk monitors your external attack surface, so the answer depends on what you need.
Vanta describes itself as bringing together compliance, risk and customer trust on one automated platform. It lists frameworks including SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, NIS2, DORA and Cyber Essentials.
HackRisk monitors your external attack surface, runs a dark web scan and an external vulnerability scan, and turns the results into an A* to F HackRisk Score and a HackRisk Report.
The two overlap in one place, Cyber Essentials. Vanta helps you prepare and connects you with certification partners. HackRisk's Cyber Essentials Readiness tier, from £77 a month on a 12-month term, includes your CE or CE Plus certification with a dedicated account manager and security consultant sessions.
Why people go looking for an alternative
Vanta and HackRisk do different jobs, so it helps to be clear which one you are looking for.
You do not have an audit to pass. Vanta lists frameworks such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001. If no customer or regulator is asking for one of those, you may be looking for something else.
You want to see your exposure from the outside. Vanta's help centre says it can pull data from vulnerability scanners for servers and containers, such as AWS Inspector, Qualys, Tenable and Snyk. HackRisk runs its own scans: recon, vulnerability scanning and dark web scanning.
Cyber Essentials is your main target. Both Vanta and HackRisk offer help with Cyber Essentials, in different ways, as covered below.
If any of those sound like you, it is worth comparing. If you need SOC 2 or ISO 27001, Vanta lists both.
HackRisk in brief
HackRisk is a cyber risk monitoring platform for UK SMEs, built and run by the security experts at CyberLab. It scans your business from the outside, the way an attacker sees it, and turns everything it finds into one score: your credit score for cyber security.
Behind the score sits continuous monitoring of your external attack surface, dark web monitoring for stolen staff credentials, vulnerability scanning and supply chain checks. The results arrive as a report your board can actually read, with the fixes ranked by what needs attention first. Pricing is published: £49.99 a month for the Core plan on a 12-month commitment (£59.99 a month rolling), with a Cyber Essentials Readiness tier from £77 a month.
It starts with a free report. Enter your domain and you get a board-ready assessment within 24 hours, plus 30 days of full portal access, without handing over card details or sitting through a sales call.
HackRisk vs Vanta at a glance
| HackRisk | Vanta | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | External attack surface monitoring with a HackRisk Score and a HackRisk Report | Brings together compliance, risk and customer trust on one automated platform (vanta.com, checked October 2026) |
| Cyber Essentials | Readiness tier from £77/month on a 12-month term, including CE or CE Plus certification, a dedicated account manager and security consultant sessions | Helps you prepare, automates evidence collection and connects you with certification partners, but does not issue the certificate |
| Vulnerability scanning | Recon, external vulnerability scanning and an external asset map | Can pull data from connected scanners such as Qualys, Tenable, Snyk and AWS Inspector |
| Supplier and vendor risk | Free supply chain security: unlimited supplier invitations, supplier questionnaires and certification sharing | Third party risk management with vendor discovery, customisable risk scoring and automated evidence requests |
| Staff training | Security awareness training and phishing simulations as an add-on at £2 per person per month | Security awareness training included with all plans |
| Pricing | Core £49.99/month on a 12-month commitment or £59.99/month rolling, both billed monthly | Four plans (Essentials, Plus, Professional, Enterprise); personalised pricing after a demo (checked October 2026) |
Where the two really differ
What Vanta lists versus external exposure
Vanta's pricing page lists automated evidence collection for audit readiness on its Essentials plan.
HackRisk looks from the outside. It finds what your organisation exposes to the internet, such as forgotten subdomains, vulnerable services and staff credentials in breach data, and reports it with an A* to F HackRisk Score.
Vulnerability data
Vanta's help centre has a Vulnerabilities page, and says Vanta "can pull data from the following vulnerability scanners for servers and containers", listing tools such as AWS Inspector, Qualys, Tenable, Snyk and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
In HackRisk, enter a domain and it carries out external vulnerability scanning and recon. You can see the output in the example report.
Cyber Essentials: the real overlap
Vanta's Cyber Essentials page says it turns Cyber Essentials requirements into prescriptive controls and checks, automates evidence collection and connects you with certification partners, but does not issue the certificate.
HackRisk's Cyber Essentials Readiness tier, from £77 a month on a 12-month term, includes everything in HackRisk Core plus help getting Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus certified, a dedicated account manager and security consultant sessions, and lets you spread the cost of certification.
Trust, questionnaires and suppliers
Vanta's Trust Center page says "Prove trust to customers before they ask". Its third party risk management page describes discovering newly adopted vendors, with automated and customisable inherent risk scoring.
HackRisk's supply chain security is free: invite unlimited suppliers, send questionnaires and share certifications.
Pricing and getting started
Vanta has four plans, Essentials, Plus, Professional and Enterprise, and offers personalised pricing after a demo (checked October 2026).
HackRisk Core is £49.99 a month on a 12-month commitment or £59.99 a month rolling, both billed monthly, covering one domain. Your free report arrives within 24 hours with 30 days of portal access.
Who should choose Vanta
Choose Vanta, or keep it, if:
- A customer, investor or regulator needs SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, NIS2, DORA or another framework Vanta supports
- You want automated evidence collection for audit readiness
- You want a Trust Center
- You want third party risk management with vendor discovery and customisable risk scoring
- You already run vulnerability scanners such as Qualys, Tenable or Snyk that Vanta can pull data from
Nothing on this page is a reason to drop a compliance platform you need.
Who should choose HackRisk
Choose HackRisk if:
- You want to see what attackers can find about your business
- You want dark web credential monitoring and external vulnerability scanning in one place
- Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus is the certification you need, with a dedicated account manager
- You want to start with a free report and no card details
Cyber Essentials Readiness is listed on the pricing page.
Switching, or just comparing?
In most cases this is not a switch. Vanta and HackRisk do different jobs.
If you are moving away from Vanta because Cyber Essentials is the only certification you need, talk to us about Cyber Essentials Readiness. Otherwise, the simplest first step is a free HackRisk report: enter your domain and see your results within 24 hours.
Frequently asked questions
Can HackRisk replace Vanta?
Not for frameworks such as SOC 2 or ISO 27001, which Vanta lists. HackRisk monitors your external attack surface and the dark web and reports on what it finds. The one area where you might choose one instead of the other is Cyber Essentials.
How does Vanta handle vulnerability data?
Vanta's help centre says it can pull data from vulnerability scanners for servers and containers, including AWS Inspector, Qualys, Tenable and Snyk (checked October 2026). HackRisk includes an external vulnerability scan and a recon scan.
Do both help with Cyber Essentials?
Yes, in different ways. Vanta helps you prepare, automates evidence collection and connects you with certification partners. HackRisk's Cyber Essentials Readiness tier, from £77 a month on a 12-month term, includes help getting CE or CE Plus certified, a dedicated account manager and security consultant sessions.
How much does Vanta cost?
Vanta's pricing page lists four plans, Essentials, Plus, Professional and Enterprise, and offers personalised pricing after a demo (checked October 2026).
How much does HackRisk cost?
The free HackRisk report costs nothing and needs no card details. HackRisk Core is £49.99 a month on a 12-month commitment or £59.99 a month rolling, both billed monthly, and covers one domain with continuous monitoring, an internal vulnerability scan for 5 endpoints and up to 10% off cyber insurance. Extra domains are £25 a month each, and security awareness training with phishing simulations is £2 per person a month. Cyber Essentials Readiness starts at £77 a month on a 12-month term.
See your score before you decide anything
The quickest way to compare is to see what HackRisk finds about your own business: your HackRisk Score and a board-ready breakdown of what attackers can see, within 24 hours.
No card details, no sales call. Plans from £49.99 a month on a 12-month commitment, if you decide to keep monitoring.
Information about Vanta on this page was checked against vanta.com on 6 October 2026. If you spot something out of date, tell us and we’ll correct it.