SimpleRisk

Overview

SimpleRisk is a governance, risk and compliance platform for tracking risk and compliance work. It is best suited to teams that want a self-hosted foundation with room to add paid capabilities as requirements grow. The free Core is unusually broad for a starting point, but extras and support can make a fuller deployment a significant annual commitment.

Key features

Core combines governance, risk management, compliance, asset management, self-assessments, dashboards and custom reports. Policy management, a risk register, audit management and evidence collection add practical coverage for teams coordinating risk and compliance work in one place. Unlimited users avoid per-seat pressure, but Core is self-hosted and its support is email-only without an SLA, which is a poor fit for organizations that need managed service or committed response times.

The Secure Controls Framework Extra maps 250-plus frameworks to more than 1,000 common controls, with testing that can cover multiple frameworks. This can reduce duplicated control work for organizations answering to several standards, including NIST CSF, ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, SOX, FedRAMP, CMMC and NERC-CIP. That framework breadth is an Extra, not part of the free Core.

FAIR-based quantification is designed to turn risk into financial estimates for board reporting, giving teams a way to frame exposure in business terms. The Jira Integration Extra syncs risk, mitigation and review data in both directions, while the API Extra enables programmatic creation, reading and updating of risk data and connections to ticketing systems, BI tools and CMDBs. These options matter for teams integrating risk work into existing processes, but require paid access to Extras.

SimpleRisk SaaS runs in the company's AWS cloud environment and uses daily snapshots; the company also says it performs routine code scanning and bug bounty testing. Encrypted Database is a paid Standard Extra for encryption at rest. Those distinctions matter: Core's self-hosted deployment and the hosted SaaS service are not interchangeable security or operations choices.

Pricing

Core costs nothing and includes unlimited users, self-hosting and email support. It is a substantial option for teams able to operate their own deployment and accept email-only support without an SLA. The free trial provides a dedicated hosted instance, every Extra unlocked, unlimited users and 30 days of access without a credit card; it is a useful way to evaluate paid capabilities, not an ongoing hosted free tier.

Starter Package costs $5,000 a year, billed $5k USD/yr. It includes everything in Core, any 3 Standard Extras, support and updates, on-premise or SaaS deployment, and unlimited users. This fits teams that know three paid capabilities will cover their needs and want support, updates or hosted deployment without a per-user ceiling.

Custom Package costs $5,000 a year, billed From $5k USD/yr. It includes everything in Core, any of 14 Standard and 2 Premium Extras, support and updates, on-premise or SaaS deployment, and unlimited users. The starting price matches Starter, but the package is for teams needing a broader selection of Extras; the listed price is a floor rather than a fixed total.

Standard Extras cost $5,000 a year each, billed $5,000 / yr each, and are added to Core. Premium Extras cost $10,000 a year each, billed $10,000 / yr each, for Incident Management and Organizational Hierarchy. Buying individual Extras can suit a narrowly defined need, but annual per-Extra pricing can add up quickly. Paid On-Premise and SaaS include support, unlike the open-source Core deployment.

Platforms

SimpleRisk supports API, Linux, self-hosted and web. Scripted installation support covers Ubuntu 22.04 and 20.04, CentOS 8 and 7, SLES 15, RHEL 9 and 8, and Debian 11. That gives Linux-based teams several supported self-hosting routes; organizations seeking SaaS can choose it through paid packages.

Who it's for

SimpleRisk can suit a small team starting with a free, unlimited-user risk register and organizations with broader compliance programs that need framework mapping, quantification or integrations. The company describes its audience as ranging from teams of one to Fortune 500 security teams. The best fit is an organization prepared to run Core itself or budget for paid deployment and Extras; teams that require included managed service, SLA-backed Core support or paid capabilities at no annual cost should look elsewhere.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Core combines a wide set of risk, compliance and reporting functions with unlimited users at no charge, making it a viable operational starting point rather than just a trial.
• Pros: The 30-day hosted trial unlocks every Extra without a credit card, so teams can assess advanced capabilities before committing to annual pricing.
• Pros: Paid packages retain unlimited users and offer on-premise or SaaS deployment, which avoids tying package cost to headcount.
• Cons: Core is self-hosted with email-only support and no SLA, leaving operation and response expectations with the customer.
• Cons: Standard Extras cost $5,000 / yr each and Premium Extras $10,000 / yr each, so a deployment built around multiple specialized capabilities can become expensive.
• Cons: Framework mapping, Jira integration, API access and encryption at rest are Extras rather than Core capabilities, limiting what the free plan provides for teams with advanced requirements.

Alternatives

Governance, Risk and Compliance Software is the broader category directory for comparing options.

CISO Assistant is another freemium option with a self-hosted Community plan at no cost, unlimited users and community support; choose it if that plan's terms better suit your deployment and support needs.

Eramba offers a free self-hosted Community plan at no cost and an Enterprise On-Premise plan from €2,500 a year; consider it when those plan options align better with your budget or deployment preference.

OpenGRC has a free self-hosted Community plan at no cost with full source code access and community support, making it an option for teams prioritizing those terms.

Origami Risk GRC is a paid alternative with Android, iOS, API and web platforms; its price is available by demo request.

NAVEX EthicsPoint Incident Management is a paid alternative with Android, iOS and web platforms and pricing tailored to organization size, program needs and selected solutions.

Corporater Investment Portfolio Management is a paid alternative with API, self-hosted and web platforms; pricing is by quote.

Mitratech CaseCloud is a paid alternative with Android, iOS and web platforms and no free plan; pricing is provided through a personalized demo.

Ncontracts offers paid risk and compliance solutions on API and web platforms, with pricing through a demo or contact.

Verdict

Choose SimpleRisk if you want a broad, unlimited-user Core that you can self-host and the flexibility to add framework, integration and reporting capabilities later. Its strongest advantage is the capable free foundation; its main reason to look elsewhere is the cost of Extras and the absence of SLA-backed support on Core.