HITRUST
HITRUST vs SOC 2: Which Does Your Company Need?
The answer is rarely about which framework is stronger. It is about what your buyers will accept, and whether you will eventually maintain both.
The right choice is usually driven by customer expectations, market requirements, risk, and the type of assurance buyers expect, not by which framework is generically better. If a customer has told you which one they need, that is the answer, and further comparison is mostly academic.
When nobody has specified, the question becomes what assurance will satisfy the market you are selling into.
What each one is
SOC 2 is widely used by technology and SaaS companies to provide independent assurance around controls relevant to security and other applicable Trust Services Criteria. The output is a report from an independent licensed CPA firm describing what was examined and found.
HITRUST provides a prescriptive cybersecurity assurance framework and certification program built around the HITRUST CSF. It is particularly prominent in healthcare and other risk-sensitive industries, while also being used more broadly by technology and service organizations. The output is a HITRUST certification when certification requirements are met.
They are not equivalent, and neither is a substitute for the other.
A high-level comparison
| Consideration | SOC 2 | HITRUST |
|---|---|---|
| Common use | B2B technology and service-provider assurance | Cybersecurity assurance across healthcare, technology, and other risk-sensitive environments |
| Structure | Based on applicable Trust Services Criteria | HITRUST CSF-based assurance program |
| Outcome | Independent SOC 2 report | HITRUST certification when certification requirements are met |
| External party | Independent CPA firm | HITRUST Authorized External Assessor and HITRUST |
| Program need | Operating controls and evidence | Operating controls, evidence, and assessment-specific HITRUST requirements |
One thing HITRUST is not
HITRUST is not HIPAA certification, and the two are frequently conflated. HIPAA is a U.S. regulatory framework applicable to certain healthcare organizations and activities. HITRUST is a cybersecurity assurance framework and certification program that can incorporate requirements from multiple authoritative sources.
Whether HIPAA applies to your business is a legal determination for qualified counsel, not something a compliance vendor should be answering for you.
Some companies need one. Some eventually need both.
Maintaining both is not unusual for companies selling across multiple markets, particularly technology vendors whose customer base spans healthcare and general enterprise. It is more work, and the work overlaps more than the frameworks' differences suggest.
Accurate policies, owned controls, consistently generated evidence, tracked remediation, and a functioning risk register support both. The framework-specific requirements sit on top of that foundation rather than replacing it. Companies that build the foundation once tend to find the second program materially cheaper than the first.
Companies that treat each framework as a separate project usually pay twice.
How to decide
- Ask your customers, specifically. Not what they would prefer. What their vendor process actually requires and will accept.
- Look at where your pipeline is heading. If healthcare is becoming a meaningful share of your market, that changes the calculus.
- Assess your program honestly. Either path assumes controls that operate consistently. If they do not, that is the first problem regardless of framework.
- Sequence deliberately. If both are likely eventually, build the shared foundation with that in mind rather than optimizing narrowly for the first one.
What we will not do is tell you one framework is better. That question does not have a general answer, and treating it as though it does is how companies end up with the wrong assurance and a customer who still will not sign.
Questions
Is HITRUST harder than SOC 2?
Can a HITRUST certification replace a SOC 2 report?
Does 22 perform either assessment?
If we might eventually need both, what should we build first?
Next step
If you are weighing both, the first useful step is finding out what your buyers will actually accept. See HITRUST program support, SOC 2 readiness, or talk it through with us.
Related reading
HITRUST
HITRUST e1 vs i1 vs r2: What's the Difference?
Three assessment paths, three different levels of assurance. What separates them, and what actually decides which one you start with.
HITRUST
What Does Preparing for HITRUST Actually Involve?
Nine areas of work, and the one that decides whether the other eight hold together.
HITRUST
Is HITRUST Only for Healthcare Companies?
No. The healthcare association is real and it is not the whole picture, particularly if you sell into companies that sell into healthcare.