Qalea vs Vanta

• Vanta and Qalea are both security and compliance platforms that automate evidence collection.
• With Vanta, your team runs the program, and penetration testing and monitoring come through partners.
• With Qalea, Qalea's team guides each stage or works alongside your security team, and penetration testing and continuous monitoring are included.
• Qalea also covers Spain's ENS, and migrates what you already have from another platform.

The main difference

Vanta automates a large part of compliance. Your team uses the platform to collect evidence, track controls and prepare for audits of frameworks such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIS2 and DORA. Vanta also provides policy templates and a roadmap for first time ISO 27001 projects. Work the platform does not perform, such as penetration testing, comes through partners. In 2025, for example, Vanta announced a partnership with XBOW to run autonomous penetration tests inside the platform.

Qalea also automates compliance, and adds guided support from Qalea's team at every step: preparing the documentation, setting up and maintaining the controls, and getting ready for the audit. Penetration testing and continuous monitoring are part of the platform, so security and compliance are managed in one place. Certification is issued by an accredited certification body, never by Qalea or Vanta.

Who does the work, stage by stage

Both platforms collect evidence automatically. What changes is who carries out each stage of the certification and who keeps it running afterwards.

1. Scope and risk assessment. With Vanta, your team defines the scope and assesses risk, guided by the platform. With Qalea, Qalea's team runs this with you.
2. Policies and documentation. With Vanta, your team adapts templates and keeps them current. With Qalea, the documents are prepared with you and kept up to date with Qalea's team.
3. Controls in place. With Vanta, your team implements the controls the platform tracks. With Qalea, Qalea's team helps put them in place and keeps them running.
4. Testing your systems. With Vanta, you hire a partner for penetration testing. With Qalea, the testing is included and run by Qalea's team.
5. Audit. With Vanta, your team works with the auditor. With Qalea, Qalea's team supports you through the audit.
6. Between audits. With Vanta, your team keeps the program running. With Qalea, Qalea's team works with yours so the controls keep operating for the next surveillance audit.

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, 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

Vanta is usually the better fit if:

• you want a compliance tool and prefer to choose and contract pentesting and monitoring providers yourself
• you need frameworks outside Qalea's list, such as HIPAA

Qalea is usually the better fit if:

• you have a security team and want it focused on decisions, not on running tests, monitoring and evidence
• you have an IT lead but no one whose job is security
• you want compliance, penetration testing and monitoring from one provider
• you need Spain's ENS for public sector contracts
• your certification project has stalled or your certificate is at risk

What Vanta does well

Vanta offers a broad library of more than 30 frameworks, including ISO 42001 and the EU AI Act, with controls mapped across frameworks so work done for one is reused for others. It has a large integrations ecosystem and a partner network for auditors, penetration testing and consulting. For a company that wants to choose and manage each provider itself, that flexibility is a real strength.

When Qalea is the better choice

Qalea fits midsize companies that need to certify, whether or not they have their own security team. With a security team, Qalea's team works alongside it and takes on the operational work. Without one, Qalea's team guides each stage. In both cases compliance, testing and monitoring sit in one platform instead of with several providers, and the controls keep operating through yearly surveillance audits.

Moving from Vanta 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 platform licence is one line in the budget. To compare like with like, add what the licence does not include:

• penetration testing engagements
• security monitoring and response
• endpoint protection and device management
• someone in charge of security
• the internal hours your team spends running all of it

Qalea's price covers that whole set. Compare the full stack, not the licence alone. For a wider view of the options, see How to choose your security and compliance setup and what a compliance platform does not do.

Questions to ask any provider

1. After the platform is set up, how much of the work stays with our team?
2. Is penetration testing included, or bought separately from a partner?
3. Who watches for threats, and who responds if something happens?
4. Who helps us keep the controls running between audits?
5. Who is in charge of our security, and who do they answer to?

FAQ

Is Qalea a Vanta alternative?

Yes. Both are security and compliance platforms. Qalea adds guided support from its own team, penetration testing and continuous monitoring, whether your company has its own security team or not.

Does Vanta include penetration testing?

Vanta offers penetration testing through partners, including autonomous testing with XBOW announced in 2025, and a partner marketplace for manual testing. Qalea includes manual penetration testing in its platform.

Does Vanta cover Spain's ENS?

The ENS does not appear in Vanta's published list of frameworks as of October 2026. Qalea covers the ENS in all three categories: basic, medium and high.

Can I move from Vanta 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 Vanta certify my company?

No. Certificates such as ISO 27001 are issued by accredited certification bodies after an audit. Platforms prepare companies for the audit and help keep controls running afterwards.

Does Qalea work with ISO 27001 and SOC 2 at the same time?

Yes. Qalea works with ISO 27001, the ENS, SOC 2, NIS2 and DORA in one platform, so controls shared across frameworks are managed once.