Overview

CISO Assistant is a cybersecurity governance, risk and compliance platform for coordinating framework obligations, risk work and audits. It suits teams managing several standards or supplier reviews; its clearest advantage is breadth, balanced by a choice between community-run hosting and paid deployments.

Its combination of more than 150 frameworks, risk methodologies and audit workflows makes it a stronger fit for a cross-program GRC operation than for a team seeking only a narrow compliance checklist.

Key features

Frameworks and risk

The platform covers more than 150 frameworks, standards and regulations, with support for custom frameworks. Examples include NIS2, DORA, ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, NIST CSF, HIPAA, CMMC, PCI DSS, ISO 27005, EBIOS RM, ISO 22301, ISO 42001, TISAX and IEC 62443. Control mapping, evidence collection, risk assessments and remediation workflows connect requirements to operational follow-up, which is useful when obligations overlap. Teams with only one straightforward framework may find that scope unnecessary.

Risk work supports ISO 27005 and EBIOS RM, cyber risk quantification and business impact analysis. That gives security teams a way to relate compliance activity to business exposure rather than treating audits as the whole program.

Audits, suppliers and automation

Audit campaigns, evidence management, findings tracking, audit logs and reminders cover preparation and follow-up. A separate third-party risk module handles supplier and partner evaluations, ownership and remediation monitoring, making it more relevant to organizations that need repeatable vendor oversight.

Jira and ServiceNow are listed for ticketing and asset synchronization; Kafka supports event streaming, and outgoing webhooks are available. A REST API, CLI and MCP support integration and automation, including connections to compatible AI assistants or agents. SAML and OIDC single sign-on, role-based access control and multi-factor authentication are supported; SCIM provisioning is reserved for Pro.

Deployment and security

Community is self-hosted, while Pro is available as SaaS or on-premises. On-premises deployments can run within a customer perimeter, including air-gapped environments, an important distinction for organizations that cannot use a cloud service. For SaaS, the vendor describes isolated application instances and separate storage volumes per tenant, TLS 1.3 in transit and disk-level encryption at rest. Intuitem says its security program aligns with NIST CSF and OWASP ASVS, uses ISO 27001-certified hosting providers and includes annual independent penetration testing.

Pricing

Community costs 0.00 EUR per free, billed forever. It is self-hosted, supports unlimited users and includes community support under AGPLv3. That is a meaningful no-license-cost starting point for teams able to operate their own instance, but it does not include Pro support.

Pro SaaS starts at 39.00 EUR per month, billed annually, and charges per contributor. It includes 100 readers and 10 GB of storage, with an unlimited-seat option. This is positioned for small teams; reader access is distinct from contributor seats, so the plan is most attractive when a limited working group can serve a larger audience. A Storage Bundle adds 100 GB for 960.00 EUR per year.

Pro On-premises costs 2400.00 EUR per year, billed annually, per instance, for 1–5 seats at the listed price; volume discounts are available. It suits teams wanting deployment within their perimeter, though the listed price is not a per-seat unlimited arrangement. Unlimited Seats SaaS costs 8500.00 EUR per year for unlimited users and standard compute resources. SecNumCloud Instance - Unlimited costs 14500.00 EUR per year for unlimited users, SecNumCloud-certified hosting and a dedicated node. These higher tiers make sense when user scale or hosting requirements justify moving beyond contributor-based pricing.

Custom pricing is by quote for specific deployment needs, customization, proprietary framework integration or professional services. Pro subscriptions include priority support; customer success management is listed from six seats. A free 30-day cloud trial requires no credit card, and trial data can be migrated to production.

Platforms

CISO Assistant supports API, Linux, self-hosted and web use. Community is self-hosted; Pro offers SaaS and on-premises deployment, including air-gapped installation for on-premises customers.

Who it's for

Choose CISO Assistant if a security or GRC team needs a shared system for multiple frameworks, risk assessment, audits and supplier remediation, particularly when deployment control matters. Pro SaaS is described as suited to small teams, while Pro on-premises is aimed at mid-sized and large teams. A team needing only a single audit workflow, or unwilling to manage a self-hosted Community installation and not needing paid deployment choices, should compare narrower options.

Pros and cons

Pros

More than 150 frameworks plus custom-framework support can reduce fragmentation across a multi-standard program.
Risk, audit and third-party workflows sit alongside compliance tracking, supporting follow-through from assessment to remediation.
Self-hosted, SaaS and on-premises choices include an air-gapped option for customers with strict perimeter requirements.
API, CLI, MCP and named integrations give technical teams several routes to connect workflows and systems.

Cons

Community provides community support only, so teams needing priority support must budget for Pro.
Pro SaaS is billed annually and its base price is per contributor, with 10 GB storage; teams with many contributors or larger evidence stores may need higher-cost options.
Pro On-premises at the listed price covers only 1–5 seats per instance, so larger deployments need to account for volume pricing.
SCIM provisioning is a Pro feature, limiting that identity-management option for Community users.

Alternatives

OpenGRC is another freemium, self-hosted option with full source code access in its free Community plan; consider it when that access is the priority rather than CISO Assistant's stated breadth of framework and risk workflows.

Strike Graph offers a free Launch plan centered on SOC 2 security TSC, limited policy templates and specified cloud and office-suite combinations. It is a better match when that bounded SOC 2 starting point is the requirement.

AuditBoard (now Optro) offers flexible plans with unlimited stakeholder licenses and tailored business needs; consider it when that licensing approach is a better fit.

Drata is a paid option whose GRC Foundation plan covers up to 50 FTEs and one pre-mapped framework, with Trust Center Standard and Open API Access. Choose it when that defined starting scope aligns better with the team's needs.

ZenGRC offers custom-quote, flat-rate pricing with unlimited users, frameworks and vendors; it may suit teams that value those unlimited dimensions.

Secureframe starts with a Fundamentals plan at 7500.00 USD per year, including one compliance framework, one custom automated test and one automated asset-scoping rule. It is a fit when that package is a closer match to the program.

Intelex Inspection Management is an alternative for readers comparing inspection-management software.

ComplianceOS has a Community edition described as MIT-licensed open source, with 30+ frameworks and 1000+ pre-built controls; consider it when those attributes are the priority.

For a broader comparison, browse Compliance Management Software and Governance, Risk and Compliance Software.

Verdict

CISO Assistant is a strong choice for teams that need framework breadth, structured risk and audit work, and deployment options ranging from self-hosted to air-gapped on-premises. Its main reason to choose it is the ability to bring those connected GRC tasks into one platform; its main reason to look elsewhere is the annual, contributor- or instance-based cost of Pro when a team needs paid support, more seats or expanded storage.

	CISO Assistant	Ncontracts
Free plan	Yes	No
Free trial	Yes	No
Paid from	€39/mo	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	api, Linux, self-hosted, Web	Web
Free plan	Yes	—
Evidence collection	Yes	—
API access	—	Yes

CISO Assistant vs Ncontracts

CISO Assistant

Ncontracts