Drata streamlines commercial compliance. We go deeper into federal.
- 01Built for growing companies pursuing commercial compliance
- 02Multi-tenant SaaS deployment
- 03Monitors compliance and collects evidence
- 04Trust center for sharing security posture with customers
- 01Built for defense contractors and federal agencies
- 02GovCloud, GCC High, air-gapped, on-prem deployment
- 03Monitors, remediates, and generates compliance artifacts
- 04Includes AI model governance and observability
| CAPABILITY | POLICYCORTEX | DRATA |
|---|---|---|
| CMMC 2.0 compliance | LIMITED | |
| NIST 800-171 (all 110 controls) | PARTIAL | |
| FedRAMP monitoring | ||
| NIST 800-53 | ||
| Autonomous remediation | ||
| SSP/POA&M generation | ||
| ATO workflow automation | ||
| Multi-cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP) | ||
| GovCloud / GCC High deployment | ||
| Air-gapped deployment | ||
| Cost-as-governance signal | ||
| AI model observability | ||
| Rollback capability | ||
| Trust center / security portal | ||
| Risk management workflows |
● BASED ON PUBLIC PRODUCT DOCUMENTATION AS OF MARCH 2026
The biggest difference is what happens after detection.
Drata creates a finding and assigns it to your team. PolicyCortex analyzes the root cause and either fixes it automatically or presents the fix for human approval — gated by policy, scoped per control class.
Every autonomous action includes an approval gate (configurable per control) and a rollback ID. If a remediation doesn't produce the expected result, it can be reversed with one click.
Can Drata handle CMMC compliance?
Drata has limited CMMC support but was designed primarily for commercial compliance. PolicyCortex was built from the ground up for CMMC, with all 110 NIST 800-171 controls mapped, automated evidence collection, and C3PAO assessment preparation workflows.
What does PolicyCortex do that Drata doesn't?
PolicyCortex provides autonomous remediation (fixing violations, not just alerting), AI model observability, GovCloud/air-gapped deployment, SSP/POA&M generation, and ATO workflow automation. Drata focuses on compliance monitoring and evidence collection for commercial frameworks.
Is Drata or PolicyCortex better for startups?
If you're a commercial startup pursuing commercial compliance, Drata is likely a better fit. If you're a defense tech startup that needs CMMC Level 2 certification or handles CUI, PolicyCortex is purpose-built for your requirements.
Does PolicyCortex replace our GRC tool?
For many organizations, yes. PolicyCortex handles compliance monitoring, evidence collection, remediation, and reporting in one platform. Unlike traditional GRC tools that manage documents, PolicyCortex operates directly on your cloud infrastructure.
Connect a cloud. Watch it detect, decide, fix.
30-day pilot, $15K flat. Cleared founder runs the engagement personally.