What is RealCISO?
RealCISO is a compliance intelligence platform for two audiences: MSPs and MSSPs managing security across multiple clients, and enterprise teams running compliance in-house.
It gives MSPs, MSSPs, consultants, and in-house security teams a single place to run compliance assessments, manage risk, track remediation, and demonstrate security posture to boards and auditors — without the spreadsheet chaos.
Built on NIST CSF and mapped to 30+ frameworks including SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and CMMC, RealCISO turns assessment data into action. Over 3,000 security providers use it to deliver vCISO services at scale.
Founded by Brian Haugli — former DoD, former VP & CSO at The Hanover Insurance Group, and co-author of the NIST CSF book published by Wiley — RealCISO was built by practitioners who ran these programs manually and knew there had to be a better way.
Pricing
GRC Platform: See Pricing Page
Company Facts
Product Details
Product Details
RealCISO Categories and Features
Security Compliance Software
RealCISO transforms the approach to security compliance from a frantic annual process into a seamless, ongoing effort. With the ability to evaluate frameworks such as NIST CSF 2.0, HIPAA, SOC 2, ISO 27001, and CMMC within a single project, users benefit from a unified set of evidence that applies across all these standards, eliminating redundant work. The platform utilizes AI-driven assessments to address inquiries, align controls, and generate remediation recommendations, all subject to human oversight. Features like evidence management, unalterable report versions, and comprehensive audit trails ensure your organization is always prepared for audits, with auditors like A-LIGN directly interfacing with the system. Designed for internal teams, managed service providers (MSPs), managed security service providers (MSSPs), and virtual Chief Information Security Officers (vCISOs), it offers options for white-labeling and multi-tenant management. Over 3,000 organizations currently leverage this innovative solution.
Risk-Based Vulnerability Management Software
RealCISO empowers teams to focus on remediation efforts based on business risk rather than just the sheer number of severity ratings. It connects identified gaps, findings, and vulnerabilities to the relevant assets, controls, and risks, while its AI engine, Cleo, evaluates and ranks each outstanding issue according to its actual impact on your security posture. The platform includes a "what-if" simulation feature that forecasts the benefits of each remediation, ensuring that resources are allocated to actions that mitigate the highest risks effectively. Additionally, it consolidates remediation planning, accountability, documentation, and progress monitoring into a single workflow, providing reports that demonstrate to leadership and auditors the downward trend of risk. RealCISO enhances the output of your security scanners by transforming their results into prioritized and justifiable actions. Trusted by over 3,000 organizations.
IT Risk Management Software
RealCISO offers a centralized solution for IT and security teams to comprehend and mitigate technology risks. Users can keep an organized inventory of assets, establish connections between assets, risks, and controls, and oversee third-party and vendor risks all within a unified platform. The traditional approach of using multiple spreadsheets is replaced with a comprehensive risk register that includes designated owners, treatment strategies, and tracking for remediation efforts. The integrated AI engine, Cleo, evaluates maturity levels, highlights critical gaps, and models the potential impact of various fixes. With integrations like Liongard, real-time environmental data is incorporated, while executive reports provide insights into risk and maturity trends over time. The platform is scalable, accommodating everything from individual organizations to complex multi-tier enterprise structures with consolidated dashboards.
GRC Software
RealCISO is an advanced Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) platform that utilizes a comprehensive compliance data graph to seamlessly integrate controls, risks, evidence, vendors, policies, and personnel. This innovative approach ensures that all assessments, risks, and audit materials remain interconnected, moving away from outdated spreadsheet methods. Teams can evaluate various frameworks, such as NIST CSF 2.0, HIPAA, SOC 2, ISO 27001, and CMMC, all within a single project while utilizing a unified set of evidence. The platform allows for tracking maturity levels from L1 to L5 over time, effectively manages third-party risks, and produces detailed reports suitable for board presentations, complete with thorough audit trails. Its AI component, Cleo, performs tasks such as answering queries, mapping controls, scoring maturity, and drafting remediation plans, all subject to human validation. RealCISO is trusted by over 3,000 organizations, including large enterprises, managed service providers (MSPs), managed security service providers (MSSPs), and virtual Chief Information Security Officers (vCISOs). It was recognized as the leading vCISO platform in SourceForge's Summer 2026 rankings.
Cyber Risk Management Software
RealCISO transforms cyber risk management into a dynamic, quantifiable process. Its centralized risk register associates each identified risk with relevant controls, evidence, assets, and vendors, providing leaders with clear visibility into vulnerabilities and their underlying causes. Powered by Cleo, its AI engine, the platform prioritizes unresolved gaps based on their potential impact on your security score, and enables what-if simulations to forecast improvements before any time or financial investment is made. Monitor L1-L5 maturity trends, consolidate risk across various business units or client portfolios, and create professional reports with interactive widgets. In contrast to traditional GRC tools or spreadsheets, RealCISO maintains a connected and up-to-date risk context, empowering CISOs, vCISOs, and consultants to make well-informed, prioritized decisions.
More RealCISO Categories
vCISO
RealCISO stands out as the leading vCISO platform on SourceForge for the summer of 2026, specifically designed to cater to vCISOs, MSPs, MSSPs, and consultants who are focused on delivering extensive security leadership. This comprehensive multi-tenant platform allows users to conduct assessments, manage risk registers, create roadmaps, and generate board-ready reports for all clients, all while being customizable with your own branding. Powered by Cleo, an advanced AI engine, the platform efficiently addresses inquiries, organizes controls, evaluates maturity levels, and formulates remediation plans, significantly reducing the time needed for assessments while keeping you firmly in charge. Additionally, a portfolio view highlights potential upsell opportunities and tracks maturity progress from levels 1 to 5 across various clients. Developed by Brian Haugli, a seasoned vCISO practitioner and author of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, RealCISO is already trusted by over 3,000 organizations.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 8 out of 10
Helpful for Managing Security Reviews During Development
5 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 06 2026SummaryRealCISO better visibility into security requirements during development. RealCISO helped us keep track of open issues, policy requirements and review activities without relying on spreadsheets. It has made communication between development and security teams smoother and helped us avoid last minute surprises before releases.
PositiveI like that RealCISO helps us catch security and compliance issues earlier instead of waiting until the end of a project. We connected it with GitHub and Azure Devops and its useful having security related tasks visible alongside our regular work. The dashboards are simple enough to understand without needing a compliance background.
NegativeRealCISO has a lot of options, so finding certain settings can take at first. Some page also lad more information that I need for day to day use.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 9 out of 10
Keeps Policy Reviews and Approvals Much More Organized
4 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 06 2026SummaryOur biggest challenge was keeping security policies updated and making sure everyone was working from the latest version. RealCISO helped us create a more structured process and reduced confusion around approvals. It has made reviews easier to mange, improved accountability and helped keep documentation under control without extra manual work.
PositiveOne feature I use a lot is the policy management section. We connected RealCISO with Okta and SharePoint and it became much easier to handle policy reviews, approvals and version tracking. Instead of chasing documents across folders, everything is available and approval workflow is simple and saves time when multiple teams need to sign off.
NegativeThe document search could be a little faster when there are a lot of records stored. I also wish there were more options for organizing folders and categories.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 9 out of 10
Good Visibility Into Security Tasks Across Projects
5 out of 5 stars Updated: Jul 22 2026SummaryRealCISO biggest benefit for us has been visibility. Security requests and compliance activities are easier to follow and there is less confusion about who is responsible for what. It helped our team stay organized without adding extra process overhead.
PositiveRealCISO has helped us keep track of security reviews during development. The jira integration works well and I can fastest see open findings without switching between multiple tools and interface is straightforward and task ownership is clear.
NegativeSometimes it takes a bit of digging to find older records. I’d also like a few more filtering options when reviewing historical data.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 9 out of 10
Useful for keeping Development and Compliance Teams Aligned
5 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 06 2026SummaryRealCISO we managed most compliance related work through spreadsheet and tickets. It became difficult to track ownership and progress. Having everything in one platform has made coordination much easier. We spend less time following up on status updates and more time actually getting work done.
PositiveAs a Platform Engineer RealCISO gives us a shared place to track security requirements and compliance related work. We connected it with GitHub and Slack and it helps keep discussions, evidence and action items organized and dashboards are easy to understand and the reminders help prevent tasks from getting overlooked.
NegativeRealCISO first setup took some planning, especially when organizing existing processes. Some reports could also be easier to customize for different teams.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 9 out of 10
Masterwork of reliable compliance for surety of accurate vendor risk Assessments.
5 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 04 2026SummaryLove it for clean visibility on vulnerabilities for surety of compliance management across all platforms and accuracy with vendor risk management.
PositiveLove it for clean visibility with vulnerabilities for surety of compliance managment across all our platforms and accuracy with vendor risk management.
NegativeGreat for clear cut results on vulnerability for efficient compliance management.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 10 out of 10
Clear Data for Better Decisions
4 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 06 2026SummaryIt solves the problem of data scattering and the lack of clear metrics. It directly benefits me because it gives me real-time, up-to-date data for making quick decisions, drastically reducing the margin of error in weekly planning.
PositiveThe centralization capabilities it offers are excellent. It allows you to have a panoramic view of company management on a single screen. The responsibility assignment module works wonderfully, facilitating a very transparent work structure where information flows seamlessly.
NegativeThe initial implementation process was slower than we expected, along with configuring user permissions.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 10 out of 10
My RealCISO Review
5 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 06 2026SummaryIn short, RealCISO is a goldmine for startups and small businesses that need to get up to date with their security regulations quickly, systematically, and without going crazy. It works wonderfully as a roadmap to understand where you stand and what you need to fix to close important contracts. It won't replace technical security software or an ethical hacker, but as a risk and compliance management platform, it fulfills its purpose flawlessly.
PositiveThe best thing about this tool is how it simplifies the headache that cybersecurity often represents for companies without a million-dollar budget or an army of engineers. It guides you step-by-step through assessments based on serious standards like NIST or SOC 2 using clear questions, avoiding incomprehensible technical jargon. Furthermore, it automates the creation of security policies and generates visual reports ready to show to clients or investors, saving you weeks of manual work and expensive consulting fees.
NegativeThe main drawback is that, being a platform focused on management and compliance, it depends entirely on the data you manually enter; it doesn't connect to your infrastructure to scan for real vulnerabilities in real time. If your company already has an advanced cybersecurity team, the interface and recommendations will likely fall short or be too basic. It also lacks flexibility to customize the questionnaires if you have very specific internal processes that don't fit their standard templates.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 9 out of 10
Useful for keeping Compliance work organized
5 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 03 2026SummaryRealCISO has helped us stay on top SOC2 and internal compliance requirements without adding extra manual work. Having dashboards, risk monitoring and compliance tracking in one platform makes things much easier to mange. Its been a reliable tool for keeping our security and compliance efforts organized as our environment grows.
PositiveWe’ve been using RealCISO to manage compliance and cloud security checks across AWS. I like that it pulls risk tracking, policies and audit evidence into one place instead of jumping between spreadsheets and different tools and AWS integration was easy to connect, and the automated compliance reports save us a good amount of time during reviews.
NegativeReporting section could offer a few more customization options. Some areas of the platform tool a bit trail and error to learn especially during the first few weeks.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 9 out of 10
Easy way to Keep Client Compliance Work Organized
5 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 06 2026SummaryOur team was spending too much time following up through emails and shared folders. Since moving to RealCISO, its been easier to keep projects organized and track progress. Its not perfect, but is has saved us time and helped us stay more consistent across different client engagement.
PositiveI manage compliance activities for several clients and RealCISO makes it easier to keep documents, action items and review notes together. We connected it with Okta and Slack and it fits nicely into our workflow. I especially like the task because its easy to see whats overdue and what still needs attention.
NegativeThe mobile experience could be better. I mostly use the desktop version some screens feel cramped on smaller devices.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 9 out of 10
Slays as Modern,scalabe and solid Vendor risk assessment product with 5 star Support
5 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 04 2026SummarySlays as Modern, scalable, reliable and solid Vendor Risk assessment solution with 5 Star customer support.
PositiveIt slays as modern, scalable, reliable and solid Vendors Risk assessment product with 5 star customer support.
NegativeLove it as solid, secure solution and am proud to say it does a bang up job.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 9 out of 10
Useful for Tracking Security Requests Across Teams
5 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 06 2026SummaryOur security and compliance activities involved several departments and keeping everyone aligned was becoming difficult. RealCISO helped create a more structured process by keeping requests, approvals and documentation in platform and it has improved communication, reduced follow up work, and made cross team coordination much smoother.
PositiveWhat I found most useful is the workflow management side of RealCISO. We connected it with Jira and Microsoft Teams and it became much easiest to track security related between departments. The task ownership features helps avoid confusion and the status updated give everyone visibility without needing constant meetings.
NegativeThe notification settings could be more flexible. At times we received updated that weren’t relevant to our team, so some filtering options would be helpful.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 8 out of 10
Effective Tool for Security Governance and Risk Management.
5 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 05 2026SummaryOur experience with RealCISO has been very positive. We were searching for a solution that could help us formalize our security program without significantly increasing administrative overhead. The platform provides a practical framework for managing risks, tracking remediation efforts, and maintaining visibility across security initiatives. While there was some effort required during implementation, the long-term benefits have outweighed the initial setup time. It has become a valuable part of our security management process and helps ensure important tasks are not overlooked
PositiveRealCISO has given our organization a much clearer view of cybersecurity risks and compliance obligations. The platform simplifies security planning and makes it easier to track progress against objectives. I particularly like the way it brings different security activities together in one place, reducing the need for multiple spreadsheets and documents. The reporting features have also been useful when communicating security status to management.
NegativeSome areas of the platform can feel overwhelming for users who are new to cybersecurity management. Certain workflows require a bit of training before they become intuitive, and I would like to see additional customization options in some reports.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 9 out of 10
Strong Structure for Managing Compliance Workflows
4 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 02 2026SummaryOverall, my experience has been very positive. Once I got comfortable with the platform, it became a reliable part of my workflow and made managing compliance feel far more manageable and less overwhelming than before.
PositiveI really like how RealCISO brings structure and clarity to what is usually a very complex and scattered compliance process. It helps me stay organized and keeps risk tracking and documentation in one place instead of across multiple tools. I also appreciate how it simplifies framework mapping, making it easier to understand what needs to be done next without overthinking it.
NegativeI think the interface could be a bit more modern and visually intuitive in some areas. It also took me a little time at the beginning to fully understand how everything connects across modules.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 9 out of 10
Makes compliance Tracking Much Easier Across Cloud Environment
5 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 05 2026SummaryRealCISO our compliance work was spread across, tickets and separate security tools. Now everything is centralized which makes audits, risk reviews and evidence collection much easier. We spend less time chasing updates and more time fixing actual issues. The integrations and automated workflows have helped our team stay organized and maintain better visibility into compliance progress throughout the year.
PositiveWe’ve been using RealCISO for managing compliance and security reviews across AWS and Azure. I like that it pulls vulnerabilities, policies, audit evidence and risk tracking into one dashboard. The integration with AWS, Azure and Microsoft tools worked well for us and saved a lot of time compared to managing everything manually. The reporting is straightforward and the compliance mapping for SOC 2 and ISO 27001 helps us fastest see what still needs attention. The automated reminders and continuous monitoring are also useful for keeping projects on track.
NegativePlatform has a lot functionality so it can take some time to lean where everything is. Some alerts could be grouped better since similar findings sometimes appear more than once. I’d also like a few more options when customizing reports for different stakeholders.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 8 out of 10
Keeps Our Security Tasks From falling Behind
4 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 05 2026SummaryOur team was spending too much time chasing updates and preparing documents for reviews. RealCISO gave us a more organized process and better visibility into what still needs attention. Its helped us stay more consistent and avoid last minute surprises.
PositiveWhat I like most is having policies, risk items and action plan we connected it with Google Workspace and Azure, and it helped us keep track of changes without constantly chenking multiple systems. The reminders are useful and the dashboards makes follows ups easier.
NegativeA few screens feel crowded when there is lot od data. It can also take some time to understand all the available options.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 9 out of 10
Good way to stay on Top Security Reviews
5 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 06 2026SummaryBefore using RealCISO, we spent a lot of time collecting documents and tracking action items manually. Now everything is in one place, which makes reviews much smoother. It has helped us improve visibility across teams, keep compliance activities organized and spend less time on administrative work.
PositiveWhat I like most is that RealCISO gives us one place to manage compliance work, policy reviews and risk tracking. We connected it with Azure AD and jira and it fits well into our existing process. The dashboard is easy to check during the week and the evidence collection tools save a lot of time when preparing for audits. I also like being able to assign tasks anc follow progress without chasing updates through email.
NegativeSome areas could use better filtering when there are a lot of findings. I also wish there were more options for customizing executive level reports.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 9 out of 10
Good for compliance tracking and cloud security
5 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 03 2026SummaryWe were using spreadsheet and different tools to track risks and compliance before RealCISO helped bring everything together and gave us better visibility into security issues. It has reduced manual effort and helped us stay audit ready throughout the year.
PositiveRealCISO makes it easier to mange compliance and security tasks in one place and we use it with AWS and the integration work well and dashboards are simple to follow and the automated reports save a lot of manual work during audits.
NegativeInitial setup tool some time and a few reporting options could be more customizable. There is also a small learning curve for new users.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 10 out of 10
Easy to use.
5 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 05 2026SummaryIt helps our team stay on top of risk assessments, remediation tasks, and compliance activities while providing clear reports on our progress.
PositiveI like that RealCISO is easy to use and it makes it easier to manage compliance and security requirements without relying on spreadsheets and manual tracking.
NegativeThe platform gives us better visibility into our security posture and helps ensure we remain aligned with industry standards and company policies hence no dislike.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 9 out of 10
Helpful for Vendor Reviews and Policy Tracking
4 out of 5 stars Date: Jun 06 2026SummaryWe were relying on spreadsheets and email chains to manage compliance activities, which became difficult as the company grew. RealCISO gave us a much cleaner process. It has helped us keep documentation organized, track progress more easily and spend less time following up on routine tasks. For daily compliance work, its been a solid addition to our toolkit.
PositiveOne thing I like is how easy it is keep to track of vendor reviews, policy updates and compliance tasks from one dashboard. We connected it with Google workspace and Microsoft 365 and it helped us keep everything more organized. The reminders and task assignments are useful because nothing gets forgotten and its easy to see who owns what.
NegativeThe platform work well overall but some reports take a little tweaking before they’re ready to share with management. It would also be nice to have more built in templates.
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Would you Recommend to Others? 9 out of 10
Practical Tool for Managing Third Party Security Reviews
5 out of 5 stars Updated: Jul 02 2026SummaryWe were looking for a better way to handle vendor security reviews and internal compliance requests. RealCISO brought structure to a process that was previously spread across emails and shred folders. It has improved accountability, made reviews easier to track and helped our team stay more organized throughout the year.
PositiveOur team uses RealCISO mainly for vendor assessments and policy tracking. The integration with ServiceNow helped us connect compliance tasks with existing workflows, which reduced a lot of manually tracking follow up. I also like that documents, approvals and review notes stay in one place, making it easier to track progress when multiple teams are involved.
NegativeThe initial setup more planning than expected, especially when organizing existing records. Some dashboards could also offer more customization options.
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