Compare 23 SOC 2 audit firms for AI companies by how they would examine model and prompt changes, training-data access, and the boundary between your application and an LLM provider. Listed Type 2 starting estimates run from $2,500 to $40,000; the shortest listed fieldwork-to-report minimum is 1 week. These directory figures are not scoped quotes or total audit timelines. Ask each finalist to put its proposed evidence sample in writing.
Free and anonymous. 3–10 quotes, usually within 48 hours. One call, not five.
These picks cover different AI compliance needs. Thoropass is the auditor-led SOC 2 option and is not an ISO 42001 certification body. Sensiba LLP is a recorded certification body; the certificate is still a separate output. Zero Day CPA is the economical SOC 2 pick without that certificate. Listed fieldwork-to-report minimums start at 1 week.
Zero Day CPA is the economical pick for an AI startup that needs SOC 1/2/3 and HIPAA from a credentialed boutique rather than a full ISO 42001 bundle. Its managers bring 5+ years at a Big Four or major national firm; ask for a current Type 2 estimate.
Thoropass fits an AI company that wants an auditor-led SOC 2 examination beside Vanta, Drata, Secureframe, or its own platform. The SOC 2 report is issued by Laika Compliance, LLC dba Thoropass Assurance. Its ISO 42001 record is certified-itself and readiness, not a certification-body role, so this pick is not an ISO 42001 certificate. Whether model-change sampling is in scope belongs in the proposal.
Sensiba LLP fits an AI startup that needs both outputs because the directory records it as an ISO 42001 certification body, and its firm-stated fit includes combining SOC 2 with ISO 42001. Named clients include Weaviate. That name is not a published description of how the firm samples model changes. One observation period and one fee are proposal terms, not a result of the credentials. The SOC 2 report and the ISO 42001 certificate stay separate outputs.
Schellman fits when the buyer wants a SOC 2 issuer whose directory record includes an ISO 42001 certification-body role. That role is not a supplemental AICPA AI-criteria package, and it does not by itself show how the firm samples model changes. Ask for that sample, the system boundary around third-party models, and whether the certificate is a separate output from the SOC 2 report.
Consilium Labs is listed for a Drata-compatible AI company because its industries include AI companies and its directory record includes an ISO 42001 certification-body role. The firm record is not marked verified. Confirm the issuing CPA, the certification-body accreditation, and how model changes are sampled before you treat the listing as the reason to hire it.
For an application on someone else’s model, the examination is about your application controls, how customer data is handled, and where the vendor boundary sits. Ask for a proportionate scope: prompts, outputs, and the data you send, not a model-training audit of a provider you do not operate.
The provider’s SOC 2 report covers the provider. Yours covers what you built on top. Section 9561 does not add a separate AI-criteria module to that report.
If you develop or substantially modify models, ask the firm how it will sample the model and data lifecycle: promotion to production, access to training and evaluation data, and incident handling when a model change affects customers. Those are examination questions under the criteria the report already uses.
This page does not have a public, firm-by-firm file of those samples. The shortlist tells you which qualification the firm has. The proposal has to show the sample.
Name the output the buyer asked for before you pick the firm. A SOC 2 report and an ISO 42001 certificate are issued by different kinds of authority. Only a recorded certification body on this page can be the candidate for the certificate, and only a CPA firm can issue the SOC 2 report.
Thoropass is on this page for the SOC 2 examination. Its ISO 42001 roles are not certification-body. Sensiba LLP and Schellman are recorded certification bodies. Budget and first-audit timing for a young company are on the startup auditor page. How AI changes the examination itself is in the SOC 2 guide for AI companies.
Choose SOC 2 first when US enterprise security review is the immediate blocker. Add ISO 42001 when procurement needs a formal AI management system, especially for regulated or European buyers. A combined engagement can reuse evidence, but only a provider with the right CPA and ISO credentials can issue both valid outputs.
SOC 2 covers the security controls around your product and data. ISO 42001 addresses the management system governing how AI risk is identified, owned, measured, and reviewed. If you are still deciding what belongs in the audit boundary, our SOC 2 implementation guide for AI companies maps model workflows and AI infrastructure to the Trust Service Criteria.
A procurement-ready scope names the AI services customers actually rely on, the customer and training data they touch, and the controls governing model changes, access, monitoring, and incidents. It should also make the boundary between your application and external LLM providers explicit, because a provider's SOC 2 report does not cover your implementation.
Ask the auditor how the system description will explain prompts, context stores, embeddings, model registries, evaluation gates, and output handling. The goal is not to stuff every AI practice into SOC 2. It is to make the report understandable to a buyer assessing the risks your product creates.
Pay for AI specialization when model behavior changes customer risk, regulated data enters prompts or training pipelines, or buyers ask detailed AI-governance questions. A generalist can still fit a conventional SaaS product with a narrow AI feature, provided the auditor can clearly scope subprocessors, data flows, and change management.
Test the distinction before signing. Give each finalist one real workflow and ask what evidence they would sample, what stays outside the SOC 2 boundary, and which output they can issue: the SOC 2 report, an ISO 42001 certificate, or both as separate deliverables. Concrete answers reveal more than an AI industry badge.
One engagement can produce the outputs the buyer actually asked for, usually a SOC 2 Type 2 report and sometimes a separate ISO 42001 certificate. It cannot turn one credential into another, and section 9561 does not add an AICPA AI-criteria package to the report. Confirm the report type, observation period, issuing entity, and final deliverables in the proposal.
Also ask how exceptions will be explained to customers and whether the firm will support procurement follow-up after issuance. The most useful auditor is not merely familiar with AI terminology; it can produce evidence and language that your security team can defend in a real buyer review.
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13 list AI, ML, or LLM as an industry. 12 are recorded ISO 42001 certification bodies. Those are the only two ways onto this page, and they are different qualifications. Profile pages show pricing, timelines, and framework coverage. Listed prices are directory estimates in USD unless a profile says otherwise. Timelines are fieldwork-to-report weeks.
Type 1 and Type 2 figures reflect a mix of firm-confirmed numbers, public sources, and our own estimates, refreshed periodically. Actual cost depends on company size, scope, and Trust Service Criteria.
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Give each firm a real model or prompt change and ask which approval, access, and provider-boundary evidence it would sample. 13 firms list AI, ML, or LLM as an industry; 12 have a recorded ISO 42001 certification-body role. A firm can qualify for this list under either rule. Neither qualification is a published sample of model changes.
Ask what evidence the firm will sample. An industry tag does not establish that the firm has examined a system like yours.
| Factor | Ask when the firm documents AI work | Confirm either way |
|---|---|---|
| Model changes | How promotion to production is authorized, tested, and logged | That the sample includes model releases, not only application deploys |
| Training and prompt data | Which stores are inside the system description | That access testing covers those stores |
| LLM providers | Where the provider’s report ends and your application begins | That the system description states that boundary |
| ISO 42001 | Whether this firm’s certification-body role is on its profile | A referral or a readiness service is not the certificate |
| Extra criteria | Which criteria the report will use, and the source | Section 9561 does not establish an AICPA AI-criteria package |
Five questions that map AI practices back to a SOC 2 examination. They are not a separate AICPA criteria package.
Model versions, evaluation gates, deployment approvals, rollback procedures, and release logs can all map to change-management evidence.
Auditors need evidence for who can access training data, prompts, context stores, embeddings, logs, and customer data passed to AI providers.
OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, vector databases, and observability tools are subprocessors. Their SOC 2 reports cover their boundary, not your application layer.
Specialist firms may reference OWASP LLM Top 10 or similar practices while still mapping controls to SOC 2 criteria buyers understand.
Ask for ISO 42001 when a buyer wants that certificate, and confirm which entity is accredited to issue it. A SOC 2 report does not certify the management system. AICPA section 9561 addresses how AI use affects the examination. Its public description does not establish a supplemental AI-criteria package, and an ISO 42001 certificate does not by itself discharge a regulatory duty.
Among 23 firms on this page, the median listed Type 2 starting estimate is $15,000. This is the median of directory-listed lower bounds, not a median of fees paid. It excludes readiness, software, penetration testing, internal time, and any ISO 42001 certificate. The lowest listed entry is $2,500. ISO 42001 is a separate output with its own fee. Do not add an AI-criteria line unless the proposal names the criteria and the price.
$2,500
$15,000
$40,000
ISO 42001, readiness, software
Five questions on SOC 2 versus ISO 42001, what the examination samples, dual outputs, LLM provider reports, and AICPA section 9561.
SOC 2 reports must be issued by licensed Certified Public Accountants under AICPA standards. ISO 42001 certification is a separate credential and does not replace SOC 2 attestation.
Confirm both sides of a dual-scope promise: CPA authority for SOC 2 and accreditation or partner coverage for ISO 42001. Shared evidence is useful only when both outputs are valid.
Pricing estimates and timelines are approximations based on public information and submitted data. Actual cost varies by model risk, data scope, buyer requirements, and framework bundle.
Tell us your model workflow, training data boundary, buyer requirements, and ISO 42001 interest. We route it to AI-fluent firms that can scope the real engagement.
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