Register:Compare/RegScale6 recordsSHA3-256 chainedSealed Amended head sha3:24c81d12cf18485eaf65b72f81206fcef673f7775b90205e3ac900741c3bcb07Intact

Register / Compare / RegScale

PolicyCortex vs RegScale

RegScale digitizes federal compliance documentation: SSPs, POA&Ms, ATO packages, inheritance mapping and review workflows, with one-click OSCAL export. PolicyCortex generates those documents from a hash-chained record of what your cloud was, what changed it, and what machines were allowed to do, kept in your tenant, so the assessor recomputes the record rather than rereading the document.

the eight questionsasked of PolicyCortex and RegScale
01  Where the evidence lives
02  Verifiable by a second party
03  Tamper evidence
04  Gaps declared
05  Remediation model
06  AI agent coverage
07  Federal packaging
08  Evaluation

# one row per question, both answers on the record
REC 0000THE EVIDENCE TABLEsha3-25695ae6ce06e7b210cf50982f8a8335e28733352ce3e706e18a4a1efced0593faeprev:36b8747e0d05

Where the evidence lives, and who can check it.

Both products, asked the same eight questions. PolicyCortex cells restate the register; RegScale cells restate what RegScale states about itself in public documentation, and say so where it does not.

PolicyCortex and RegScale, eight questions
QuestionPolicyCortexRegScale
Where the evidence livesThe customer's tenant. Collectors, policy engine, evidence store, decision layer and export surface all run there. No telemetry pipeline to PolicyCortex servers and no egress of evidence.Not stated by vendor
Verifiable by a second partyBy recomputation. Export the stream, recompute SHA3-256 over each record plus the digest of the record before it, compare: INTACT, or the first sequence number where integrity fails. No PolicyCortex account or API in the loop.Evidence is ingested from connected sources into digital SSPs and POA&Ms. Recomputation by a second party is not stated.
Tamper evidenceHash chained and append-only. There is no update or delete verb in the store; an edit breaks the edited record and every digest after it.Not stated by vendor
Gaps declaredDeclared. When a collector is down or a scope is unobserved, the chain carries a gap record: stream, interval, reason, declared_at.Not stated by vendor
Remediation modelApproval-gated proposals. The reasoning layer proposes and cannot execute. SHADOW executes nothing; GATED, the default, puts a named human on each action; AUTONOMOUS is limited to narrow, well-tested action classes with all three policy gates still run.None. Gaps are tracked in POA&Ms with workflow tools for human-driven remediation.
AI agent coverageProof of agency: the envelope that permitted each autonomous action, the chained record of what it did, and the counterfactual that would have blocked it. Models and agents in scope are inventoried and mapped against 64 MITRE ATLAS techniques, with unbounded techniques recorded as declared gaps.Not stated by vendor
Federal packagingOSCAL 1.1.2 export with SSP, SAR, POA&M, eMASS XML and evidence indexes generated from one implementation record. AWS and Azure boundaries for ATO packaging.Digital SSPs with auto-population, POA&M management, ATO package development, inheritance mapping for cloud service provider controls, and one-click OSCAL export.
EvaluationRequest Access. Our team reviews your requirements and agrees on scope and commercial terms before onboarding in your tenant.Not stated by vendor

PolicyCortex cells restate the register pages. Competitor cells restate the vendor's public product documentation as read in March 2026; where it does not state a fact, the cell says so. Corrections to [email protected]. The register facts are stated on the architecture, the three proof records, and the federal record.

REC 0001WHAT IS ON RECORD ABOUT REGSCALEsha3-256d20c11afb42d335b3ed6585998ca9f1ec99f4823ae7209244f8b858f5f4eaae0prev:95ae6ce06e7b

What is on record about RegScale

RegScale is a GRC platform built to replace legacy federal compliance tools such as XACTA and eMASS: digital System Security Plans with auto-population, POA&M management and tracking, ATO package development, inheritance mapping for cloud service provider controls, integration with compliance evidence sources, and workflow automation for compliance reviews, with one-click OSCAL export. It integrates with cloud environments primarily for evidence collection and inheritance mapping, and it tracks gaps in POA&Ms with workflow tools for human-driven remediation.

REC 0002WHERE THE TWO DIFFERsha3-256d85e91671e17d9e980b2ac1b8ee6ba930ce39ed8ae434a16116a73c3839d88bbprev:d20c11afb42d

Where the two differ

RegScale and PolicyCortex both produce the documents a federal program office asks for. The difference is what stands underneath the document.

In RegScale the SSP is the system of record: evidence is ingested into it, and the document is maintained. In PolicyCortex the SSP is a projection: the system of record is the hash chain of state, change and agency records in your tenant, and the SSP, SAR, POA&M, OSCAL 1.1.2 and eMASS XML are generated from that one implementation record, regenerable to any date. An assessor who doubts the document recomputes the chain instead of rereading the narrative.

RegScale documents that you have an encryption policy. The register records, from the provider API, whether the storage account enforced encryption on the date the assessor names, hashes that record, and declares the interval if the collector was down.

REC 0003HOW THEY CAN WORK TOGETHERsha3-256ae959612f8e0e4345de25723e47d2e4c530fb7306aec73d9ac8d8c69a3b96171prev:d85e91671e17

How they can work together

Organizations running RegScale for documentation can point it at the register's exports: the evidence indexes and OSCAL 1.1.2 output are generated from the chain, and RegScale integrates with compliance evidence sources. The register keeps the record; the GRC tool keeps the workflow.

REC 0004QUESTIONSsha3-256fc072806c1596a5ec8c3a22437ef55e9a0b2f5c86c7e8fb0e2131bd616eabc9dprev:ae959612f8e0

Questions buyers ask about the two.

  1. Q-01

    Do RegScale and PolicyCortex do the same thing?

    Both produce the documents a program office asks for. RegScale maintains the documents as the system of record. PolicyCortex generates them from a hash-chained record of state, change and agency in your tenant, regenerable to any date.

  2. Q-02

    Does RegScale verify cloud configurations?

    RegScale integrates with cloud environments primarily for evidence collection and inheritance mapping, and tracks gaps in POA&Ms for human-driven remediation. The register captures configuration from the provider APIs, hashes it, chains it, and declares the interval when a collector is down.

  3. Q-03

    Can they work together?

    RegScale integrates with compliance evidence sources, and the register's evidence indexes and OSCAL 1.1.2 exports are generated from the chain. Point one at the other and the GRC tool keeps the workflow while the register keeps the record.

  4. Q-04

    Does either one certify us?

    No. Neither vendor is a C3PAO or an authorizing official. PolicyCortex produces the records those decisions rest on; the assessor and the authorizing official make the determinations.

REC 0005STATED LIMITsha3-25624c81d12cf18485eaf65b72f81206fcef673f7775b90205e3ac900741c3bcb07prev:fc072806c159

What this comparison is not.

Ask us the same eight questions, in your own tenant.

Request Access
Register colophonRecomputable by a second party
SeqLabelSHA3-256Prev
REC 0000THE EVIDENCE TABLE95ae6ce06e7b36b8747e0d05
REC 0001WHAT IS ON RECORD ABOUT REGSCALEd20c11afb42d95ae6ce06e7b
REC 0002WHERE THE TWO DIFFERd85e91671e17d20c11afb42d
REC 0003HOW THEY CAN WORK TOGETHERae959612f8e0d85e91671e17
REC 0004QUESTIONSfc072806c159ae959612f8e0
REC 0005STATED LIMIT24c81d12cf18fc072806c159

The record headers on this page are SHA3-256 digests of this page's own copy, chained in sequence from a fixed genesis value. Edit one word of any record's copy above and every digest after it changes. Head of chain: sha3:24c81d12cf18. The product does the same thing to your evidence.

Photograph: NASA/JPL-Caltech, Public domain (NASA, 17 U.S.C. 105). Source