By Peter Korpak · Reviewed against our methodology · Last updated
Last verified · how we verify
Coalfire is a specialist SOC 2 audit firm in Chicago, IL, USA that charges $40K–$120K for Type II audits with 4–12 month timelines. Founded in 2001, they hold 7 accreditations and specialize in Cloud Infrastructure, Federal/Government, FinTech & Payments, and 2 more. Their pricing is above average compared to the specialist average of $18.491K–$52.655K.
Free. Anonymous until you pick.
Note: Pricing shown is estimated based on typical engagements. Use our SOC 2 cost calculator for a personalized estimate.
of Specialist firms charge more for Type II
of Specialist firms have longer minimum timelines
certifications (tier avg: 4)
Side-by-side pricing, timeline, and certification counts for the 5 closest-priced peers in the specialist tier.
| Coalfire | Fortreum | Prescient Security | Moore Kingston Smith | Accedere | Audit Advantage Group | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type II Cost | $40K–$120K | $25K–$80K | $20K–$75K | $25K–$70K | $25K–$70K | $25K–$70K |
| Type I Cost | $25K–$60K | $15K–$50K | $12K–$35K | $15K–$50K | $15K–$50K | $15K–$50K |
| Timeline | 4–12 mo | 4–18 mo | 3–9 mo | 3–9 mo | 4–10 mo | 4–10 mo |
| Team Size | 1000-1200 | 25–100 | 300–400 | 5–15 | 20–200 | 20–200 |
| Certifications | 7 | 4 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Founded | 2001 | 2021 | 2018 | 2016 | 2017 | 2015 |
For buyers in Cloud Infrastructure and Federal/Government, Coalfire fits the specialist profile when timeline (4–12 months) and Type II pricing ($40K–$120K) align with what specialist firms typically deliver. Their 7 active accreditations — including FedRAMP 3PAO (A2LA accredited, since 2015), PCI QSA / PA-QSA / P2PE QSA / PFI / Secure Software Assessor, HITRUST Authorized External Assessor & Council Member — extend that fit beyond pure SOC 2 into adjacent compliance frameworks.
Mid-market through enterprise companies needing multi-framework coverage (SOC 2 + FedRAMP, SOC 2 + PCI, SOC 2 + HITRUST). Cloud service providers pursuing FedRAMP authorization (Coalfire is a top-three 3PAO with 121+ FedRAMP assessments). Payment processors needing PCI DSS at Level 1 scale. Healthcare SaaS pursuing HITRUST + HIPAA. DoD contractors needing CMMC Level 2 via Coalfire Federal (operationally independent C3PAO entity).
One of the world's largest specialist compliance assessors, with 1,000+ team members, 1M+ assessment hours, and 600+ framework experts. Top-three FedRAMP 3PAO. 75% of SOC engagements serve cloud service providers (Google, Amazon, IBM, Microsoft trust Coalfire). 500+ SOC reports issued annually. Owned by Apax Partners since 2020. Coalfire Federal runs as an independent C3PAO entity (DIBCAC CMMC Level 2 re-certified with perfect score, July 2025). Brad Little became CEO January 2026 (ex-Google Cloud, ex-Capgemini), replacing 20-year CEO Tom McAndrew. Compliance Essentials platform launched MCP-compatible Audit AI in 2025-2026.
of 6 criteria match. Get a personalized quote
Coalfire is a cybersecurity and compliance firm founded in 2001 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. With roughly 1,000 to 1,200 staff and more than 1,000 enterprise clients, the firm operates at a scale comparable to A-LIGN and Schellman — large enough to serve the top five cloud providers and Fortune-level financial institutions, while running 3,000+ assessments annually across SOC, FedRAMP, PCI, HITRUST, and 100+ other frameworks.
The firm has been backed by Apax Partners (UK private equity) since April 2020. That ownership structure is the reason Coalfire Federal operates as a legally separate entity with its own leadership and board — a distinction that matters specifically for defense and federal work governed by FOCI and CFIUS rules.
Coalfire issues SOC reports through Coalfire Controls, its licensed CPA firm affiliate, giving audits full AICPA standing. ISO certifications are issued through Coalfire ISO Certification Services (coalfirecertification.com), a separate accredited certification body. The result is one firm capable of running SOC, ISO, FedRAMP, PCI, HITRUST, and CMMC under a coordinated engagement model.
FedRAMP is where Coalfire is unambiguously in the top tier. Accredited as a 3PAO by A2LA in July 2015, Coalfire has now completed 121+ FedRAMP assessments across Low, Moderate, and High baselines, including DoD IL4-IL6 workloads. The firm describes itself as the “foremost provider of FedRAMP compliance assessments and penetration testing services in the US,” and the marketplace data backs that up.
For cloud service providers (CSPs) pursuing FedRAMP authorization, Coalfire’s scale matters. Their ACE (Accelerated Compliance Experience) service is specifically designed to compress a process that typically runs two or more years:
“Coalfire allowed us to attain Authorization to Operate (ATO) much faster than the typical 2-year process. Coalfire’s ACE service enabled us to deploy a FedRAMP-compliant environment within an impressive timeframe.” — Gartner Peer Insights federal customer, 5.0/5.0
Roughly 75% of Coalfire’s SOC engagements serve cloud service providers (SaaS, IaaS, PaaS). They work with Google, Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft as clients — a client list that functions as its own trust signal.
Coalfire Federal (coalfirefederal.com) became an independent company in April 2020, timed to the Apax acquisition. Because Apax Partners is UK-based, US foreign investment regulations (FOCI and CFIUS) required that work involving sensitive government systems be conducted by a structurally separate entity with its own American leadership and board.
Bill Malone has served as President of Coalfire Federal since its founding. The entity holds its own accreditations:
Dr. Amy Williams, Coalfire Federal’s VP of CMMC, was appointed Vice Chair of the Cyber AB C3PAO Advisory Council in August 2025, reflecting the firm’s standing in the CMMC community.
Coalfire markets 100+ framework coverage. The core service areas:
SOC Attestations
Federal and Defense
Payment and Financial
Healthcare and Privacy
ISO
Cloud and Emerging
Coalfire’s proprietary Compliance Essentials platform is the engine behind their coordinated assessment model. It is AI-assisted, MCP-connected, and built around a 100+ framework control mapping library.
Audit AI automates policy review and control gap detection, reducing manual review cycles. The platform ingests evidence directly from tools clients already use via MCP integrations (Jira, GitHub, Microsoft 365, and hundreds of additional sources), meaning teams are not uploading screenshots and spreadsheets into a portal — evidence flows in from native systems.
The practical output: companies already running PCI DSS or HITRUST programs can reuse mapped evidence for SOC 2, shortening Type 2 timelines considerably.
“Effectual was able to achieve SOC 2 Type 2 report within 6 months using the evidence already gathered for PCI DSS compliance and mapped in Compliance Essentials Platform. Multiple framework compliance was never easy before Compliance Essentials.” — Jon Castaldo, Information Security Manager, Effectual
All three pricing tiers (Foundations, Advanced, Enterprise) include Compliance Essentials. Clients access it through CoalfireOne, the customer portal.
Coalfire also interoperates with Drata, Vanta, and Secureframe for clients already on those platforms.
Coalfire’s “Coordinated Assessments” approach runs multiple frameworks from a single evidence collection. Rather than treating SOC 2, PCI DSS, HITRUST, and ISO 27001 as four separate audit projects, the methodology maps a unified set of controls and evidence once, then generates the required outputs for each framework.
The practical impact is significant for organizations with complex compliance portfolios. The engagement follows a defined sequence: readiness assessment, optional advisory pillars (policy development, risk assessment, governance review, internal audit support), and then the formal examination by Coalfire Controls. Combined-framework reporting (SOC 2 + HIPAA, SOC 2 + CSA STAR, SOC 2 + PCI DSS) is a standard offering, not a custom engagement.
Brad Little became CEO on January 6, 2026. He arrived from Google Cloud, where he served as Global Head of Professional Services, and spent more than two decades at Capgemini leading their global SAP practice. He began his career at Ernst and Young. Tom McAndrew, who built Coalfire over 20 years as CEO, transitioned to Board Member and Senior Advisor.
Bill Malone leads Coalfire Federal as President, a role he has held since the entity was formed in April 2020.
Merri Chandler (CFO) is a CPA and KPMG alumna who previously served as CFO at The Chartis Group. Karen Laughton (EVP, Advisory Services) brings deep federal and cloud compliance expertise across FedRAMP, FISMA, DoD SRG, CMMC, HITRUST, and SOC. Adam Shnider (EVP, Assessment Services) led large public accounting and technology risk practices before joining Coalfire.
Sumit Seth joined as Chief Product Officer from BitSight, where he was VP of Product, bringing product leadership to the Compliance Essentials and CoalfireOne roadmap.
Coalfire does not publish pricing. The model is tiered: Foundations, Advanced, and Enterprise, with the Compliance Essentials platform included across all tiers. Pricing is available on request.
Market positioning is premium. Coalfire competes with Schellman and Big 4 advisory practices for larger engagements rather than with budget-focused boutiques. Organizations with established compliance programs, multi-framework requirements, and enterprise budgets are the intended buyer.
End-to-end timeline for a full SOC 2 engagement with advisory support runs 6 to 9 months. The Type 2 observation period is a 6-month minimum. Clients already running PCI or HITRUST programs can reduce that timeline by reusing evidence through Compliance Essentials, as the Effectual case demonstrates.
Coalfire’s verified client feedback appears on Gartner Peer Insights (5.0/5.0 on federal engagements) and FeaturedCustomers (4.8/5.0 across 2,469 reference ratings, 16 testimonials, and 43 case studies).
Named clients include Effectual, BigCommerce, Truework, Armis, Albert Invent, AbsoluteCare, Excentus, and IronCore Labs.
“Coalfire is a strategic partner rather than just a third-party vendor. We were able to get to markets faster and gain a competitive advantage by achieving PCI and SOC compliance.” — Michael Parks, CIO, Effectual
“If we want to help the world invent faster, we have to defend faster. We brought in Coalfire’s AI team to test our defenses against real-world AI threats.” — Nick Talken, Co-founder and CEO, Albert Invent
“When prospects learn that our practices have been vetted by Coalfire, there is an increased sense of confidence that our services will provide attention to detail and address their security concerns.” — Richard Dolan, CMO, Effectual
Coalfire earns its position as a top-tier firm on the strength of measurable specialization: 121+ FedRAMP assessments (accredited 2015), Coalfire Federal as a DIBCAC-recertified C3PAO, and a SOC practice that runs 500+ reports annually with 75% of engagements serving cloud service providers. The Compliance Essentials platform with Audit AI and MCP integrations is a genuine operational advantage for organizations with complex, multi-framework compliance portfolios — particularly when PCI, HITRUST, or ISO evidence can be reused for a SOC 2 engagement.
The buyer who gets the most out of Coalfire is already compliance-mature: mid-market to enterprise, multi-framework requirements, and a team that wants a firm with federal credentials and cloud scale behind the work. If your primary question is whether your auditor can handle FedRAMP High or CMMC Level 2 alongside SOC 2, Coalfire is a short list answer. If your primary question is “what is the fastest, cheapest path to a first SOC 2 report,” there are better options.
"Effectual was able to achieve SOC 2 Type 2 report within 6 months using the evidence already gathered for PCI DSS compliance and mapped in Compliance Essentials Platform. Multiple framework compliance was never easy before Compliance Essentials."
"Coalfire is a strategic partner rather than just a third-party vendor. We were able to get to markets faster and gain a competitive advantage by achieving PCI and SOC compliance."
"If we want to help the world invent faster, we have to defend faster. We brought in Coalfire's AI team to test our defenses against real-world AI threats."
"Coalfire allowed us to attain Authorization to Operate (ATO) much faster than the typical 2-year process. Coalfire's ACE service enabled us to deploy a FedRAMP-compliant environment within an impressive timeframe."
5 industries — Specialist average: 5
7 certifications — Specialist average: 4
Compliance Essentials (AI-assisted, MCP-connected, 100+ framework mapping)
Coalfire SOC 2 Type I audits typically range from $25K to $60K. Type II audits range from $40K to $120K. This is above average for specialist firms — the specialist tier average is $18.491K–$52.655K. Final pricing depends on your organization's scope, number of trust service criteria, and system complexity.
A buyer-side checklist. Bring these to your first call — the answers separate firms that have run hundreds of SOC 2 engagements from firms that are bidding on them.
Tell us your scope. Coalfire replies with a price, a timeline, and why they'd be a fit. Anonymous until you pick.
Want to compare first? See 55 similar specialist firms · or have us get 3 quotes instead
HIPAA mapping in a SOC 2 engagement: evidence-file boundaries, bridge-letter cadence, and how auditors structure a combined SOC 2 + HIPAA report.
A complete 2026 guide to SOC 2 for healthcare companies. Learn how SOC 2 maps to HIPAA, prioritize Trust Services Criteria, and prepare for your audit.
The best SOC 2 compliance software for healthcare in 2026. HIPAA + SOC 2 dual coverage, BAA availability, and honest pricing for digital health companies.
Menu
