The main difference
Complaion is an Italian company based in Milan that helps small and midsize companies get certified and stay certified. By its own description, its platform automates up to 80% of the process and a dedicated Lead Auditor covers the rest: designing the management system, drafting the procedures you approve and coordinating the audit with partner certification bodies. It covers ENS at all three categories, ISO 27001, and quality, environmental and health and safety standards such as ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001. Its customer offer is built around certification. It does not describe penetration testing, vulnerability scanning or security monitoring for customers, so those stay with your team or another provider.
Qalea also combines a platform with expert support and covers ENS at all three categories. In addition, Qalea's own security team runs penetration testing and vulnerability scanning, and monitors your systems with SIEM, EDR and its own SOC, so alerts are triaged and incidents handled between audits. Certification is issued by an accredited certification body, never by Qalea or Complaion.
Who does the work, stage by stage
Both providers put an expert alongside your team. The difference is in how far that work reaches once the documentation is ready.
- Scope and risk assessment. With Complaion, the Lead Auditor runs the initial diagnosis with you. With Qalea, Qalea's team runs this with you.
- Policies and documentation. With Complaion, the Lead Auditor drafts the procedures and your team approves them, from the Full plan. With Qalea, the documents are prepared with you and kept up to date with Qalea's team.
- Controls in place. With Complaion, your team puts the technical controls in place with the Lead Auditor's guidance. With Qalea, Qalea's team helps put them in place and keeps them running.
- Testing your systems. With Complaion, penetration testing and vulnerability scanning are not part of the customer offer. With Qalea, they are included and run by Qalea's team.
- Audit. With Complaion, the Lead Auditor runs the internal audit from the Full plan and supports the external audit in the Premium plan. With Qalea, Qalea's team supports you through the internal and the external audit.
- Between audits. With Complaion, the platform keeps the management system up to date and watching your systems stays with your team or another provider. With Qalea, its SOC watches your systems and Qalea's team works with yours so the controls keep operating for the next audit.
What ENS asks for after the certificate
ENS includes measures that only exist if someone operates them. Annex II of Royal Decree 311/2022 requires system monitoring (op.mon) from the Basic category upwards, together with incident management (op.exp.7) and protection against malicious code (op.exp.6). In a Medium or High audit, the auditor samples logs and incident records from different months. Those records exist only if someone has been producing and reviewing them. Article 11 also requires the Security Officer to be separate from whoever operates the system, which rules out the head of IT in most midsize companies. With Qalea, a vCISO from its own team can take on that role.
If you already have a security team
Many companies that use Qalea have their own security team. In that case Qalea's team works alongside it. Qalea takes on the operational work: penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, continuous monitoring through its SOC, evidence collection and audit preparation. Your team keeps ownership of decisions and priorities, and spends its time on the risks specific to your business instead of on running tools and gathering evidence.
What Qalea includes beyond compliance
Qalea's platform covers three areas under continuous monitoring.
- Processes. ISO 27001, ENS, SOC 2, NIS2 and DORA, with policies, risk management and audit support.
- People. Awareness training, phishing simulations, EDR and device management on laptops, and a password manager.
- Infrastructure. External and internal attack surface, cloud and code, with vulnerabilities prioritised by real risk.
Who each one suits
Complaion is usually the better fit if:
- you need quality, environmental or health and safety certifications such as ISO 9001, 14001 or 45001 alongside ISO 27001 or ENS
- you want one expert to design and drive the management system, and you already have security testing and monitoring covered elsewhere
Qalea is usually the better fit if:
- you need ENS for public sector contracts and want the monitoring and incident measures operated, not only documented
- you need someone to act as Security Officer, separate from IT
- you have a security team and want it focused on decisions, not on running tests, monitoring and evidence
- you want compliance, penetration testing and monitoring with a SOC from one provider
- you also need NIS2, DORA or SOC 2
What Complaion does well
Complaion puts a person at the centre of the offer. Each client has a dedicated Lead Auditor who designs the management system, drafts the procedures and coordinates the final stage with partner certification bodies. The platform organises evidence, procedures, internal audits, risks, assets, suppliers and training, and includes a trust centre for sharing certifications with customers. Its range of management system standards, from quality and environment to health and safety, suits a company that needs several ISO certifications at once and wants one point of contact for all of them.
When Qalea is the better choice
Qalea fits midsize Spanish companies that need to certify and want their security operated, not only documented, whether or not they have their own security team. Compliance, testing and monitoring sit in one platform instead of with several providers, a vCISO can act as Security Officer, and the controls keep operating through every audit.
Moving from Complaion to Qalea
Changing platform does not mean starting again. Qalea migrates what you already have into the Qalea platform: policies and procedures, evidence already collected, the risk register, your controls and their status, and previous audit reports. Qalea's team then reviews it with you, identifies any gaps and plans the work before the next audit.
Comparing the total cost
A certification offer is one line in the budget. To compare like with like, add what it does not include:
- penetration testing engagements
- vulnerability scanning tools
- security monitoring and response, with a SIEM and a SOC
- endpoint protection and device management
- someone to act as Security Officer
- the internal hours your team spends running all of it
Qalea's price covers that whole set. Compare the full stack, not the certification alone. If you are also looking at GlobalSuite, see our three way comparison ENS software 2026: GlobalSuite vs Complaion vs Qalea. For a wider view, see How to choose your security and compliance setup and our comparisons of Qalea with Vanta, Drata, Sprinto, Secfix and Oneleet.
Questions to ask any provider
- After the management system is designed, how much of the work stays with our team?
- Is penetration testing included, or bought separately?
- Who watches for threats, and who responds if something happens?
- Who will be our Security Officer, and how is it kept separate from IT?
- Which plan includes support during the external audit?
FAQ
Is Qalea a Complaion alternative?
Yes. Both combine a compliance platform with expert support and cover Spain's ENS at every category. Qalea adds penetration testing, vulnerability scanning and continuous monitoring with SIEM, EDR and its own SOC.
Does Complaion include penetration testing?
Penetration testing is not part of the customer offer Complaion describes as of October 2026. Its site mentions recurring penetration tests in relation to the security of its own infrastructure. Qalea includes manual penetration testing, run by its own team.
Does Complaion include a SOC?
Security monitoring with a SOC is not part of Complaion's customer offer as of October 2026. Qalea runs SIEM, EDR and its own SOC as part of its platform.
Who acts as Security Officer under ENS with each one?
Article 11 of Royal Decree 311/2022 requires the Security Officer to be separate from whoever operates the system. With Qalea, a vCISO from its own team can take on that role. Complaion's site does not say whether its Lead Auditor can hold it, so it is worth asking on the demo.
Can I move from Complaion to Qalea without starting again?
Yes. Qalea migrates your existing policies, evidence, risk register and controls into its platform, then reviews them with your team before the next audit.
Can Qalea or Complaion certify my company?
No. ENS certification at Medium and High category is issued by a body accredited by ENAC after an audit, and ISO certificates by accredited certification bodies. Complaion and Qalea prepare companies for the audit and help keep the system running afterwards.
