3rdRisk vs Drata: Which TPRM Tool Fits Best?

Introduction: Why look for a TPRM tool now?

Third-party risk management by the numbers: According to Deloitte, 84% of organisations experienced a third-party incident in the past three years. Nearly half of companies still rely on spreadsheets for managing third-party risk, and 41% of those suffered a significant vendor-related breach. Meanwhile, about one-third of organisations (32%) admit they de-prioritise third-party risk, with other risk types taking precedence.

These eye-opening stats explain the urgency. Third-party risk management (TPRM) has often been underserved, even as supply chain incidents rise dramatically. New European regulations like NIS2 and DORA are raising the bar on how we manage vendor risk, putting the topic front and centre. Many teams in procurement, compliance, and IT security are now re-evaluating their tools, looking for smarter, more efficient ways to keep tabs on suppliers and meet stricter compliance requirements; without drowning in spreadsheets or endless manual checklists.

That's where platforms like 3rdRisk and Drata come in. Both promise to simplify third-party risk management, but they come from very different backgrounds. 3rdRisk was built in Europe with nuanced vendor risk management in mind, while Drata has roots in security compliance automation (think SOC2 and ISO27001 audits). In our work with risk and procurement teams, we've seen one-size-fits-all compliance tools struggle in complex vendor ecosystems. It's like forcing a square peg in a round hole.

So if you're considering 3rdRisk vs Drata, this comparison functions as an advisor guiding you through the decision. We'll break down each platform's focus, day-to-day workflow, compliance coverage, integrations, reporting, and pricing.. By the end, you'll have a clearer idea which tool fits your third-party risk management needs.

Understanding the Core Focus of 3rdRisk and Drata

Let's start with the basics: what each platform is really designed to do.

3rdRisk's core focus

Third-party risk management and compliance. 3rdRisk is a European platform purpose-built to help organisations stay on top of their supplier and vendor risks. 3rdRisk also has GRC capabilities, which makes it a top choice for organisations that are seeking an easy-to-use, affordable solution for managing risks, compliance and third parties. 3rdRisk was founded after recognising that many companies were struggling to manage a few to thousands of suppliers with manual processes.

Think vendor‑centric: 3rdRisk uses embedded, privacy‑first AI to segment suppliers by criticality, automate tailored due diligence workflows and smart follow‑ups, analyse SOC 2 , contracts and assessments leveraging AI, and continuously monitor cyber, operational, ESG and other risk domains. All in one collaborative platform built for optimal internal stakeholder and supplier engagement.

Drata's core focus

Continuous compliance through automation. Drata started with helping companies with relative straightforward control environments achieve and maintain security certifications like SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR and more. It's known as a compliance automation platform, essentially an autopilot for your internal controls and audits. Drata connects to your systems (cloud platforms, HR systems, GitHub, etc.) and continuously collects evidence that you're following required security practices.

Its origin is in making audits less painful by keeping you "audit-ready" all year round. Only recently has Drata extended into third-party risk, basically adding vendor management as another module in its compliance suite. You could say Drata views third-party risk through a compliance lens (checking that you have vendor policies, that your vendors meet certain standards), whereas 3rdRisk approaches it as a risk manager would (deeply assessing and mitigating the vendor's risks).

Vendor Onboarding and Continuous Monitoring in Practice

Managing third-party risk isn't a one-time event; it's continuous. Let's compare how 3rdRisk and Drata support these day-to-day workflows.

How 3rdRisk simplifies supplier due diligence

With 3rdRisk, onboarding a new supplier feels streamlined rather than stressful. The platform guides you through documenting all relevant supplier details, creating a risk profile for the supplier, determining how critical they are, what data they'll handle, etc. Based on that, you can automatically send out a due diligence questionnaire from within 3rdRisk. No more juggling Word docs, spreadsheets, or Google Forms; everything is in one place. The good news? The platform uses AI in many ways to provide insights, analyse documents and speed up review processes.

The platform comes with dozens of built-in assessment templates and question sets, aligned to industry standards, so you're not starting from scratch on each vendor. These templates cover different risk areas, from cybersecurity and data protection to financial stability and operational resilience.

Once the vendor submits their questionnaire and documents, 3rdRisk truly shows its smarts. It uses AI tools to analyse the information. If the supplier uploads a 50-page security policy or certificates, 3rdRisk's AI document analyser can scan and summarise those, highlighting key risks or gaps. This means you don't have to read every word to spot issues; the platform gives you an at-a-glance overview of all potential vulnerabilities, issues and risks.

3rdRisk provides a clear workflow and task overview for onboarding. Responsibilities are assigned, so everyone knows who needs to review the security policy or who's waiting on financial info from the vendor. This prevents the common scenario where each department assumes "someone else" checked the vendor's credentials.

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits is saying goodbye to scattered spreadsheets. All your third-party data lives in one platform, with real-time updates and alerts. For continuous monitoring, 3rdRisk integrates with external data feeds, pulling in news about breaches or financial troubles at your third parties. So if a critical supplier suddenly has a cyber incident, you get an alert and can act fast.

As an example, 3rdRisk users save an average of 140 hours per 10 vendor assessments compared to traditional spreadsheet methods, roughly equivalent to saving 7 full-time employees' work when managing over 1000 vendors.

How Drata automates security evidence collection

Drata approaches this as an automation engine for compliance evidence. You connect Drata to your company's tech stack, AWS, Azure, Okta, HR systems, GitHub, and endpoint management. Drata has 270+ integrations available and continuously pulls data to run automated checks. For example, it might check that all employee laptops have disk encryption or that cloud databases aren't publicly accessible.

For third-party risk, Drata provides a Vendor Management section where you can list all your service providers and track their status. You can record which vendors are critical, whether they've signed agreements, if they have security certifications, etc. This is more about checklist compliance than deep risk analysis.

One of Drata's biggest strengths is reducing manual audit work. Without Drata, preparing for compliance audits means weeks of gathering evidence. With Drata, much of that is continuously collected in the background. Drata monitors your controls in real time and shows compliance status on a dashboard.

However, Drata doesn't perform external scans of vendor systems or independent risk scoring of your suppliers' cyber posture. It assumes you have a vendor management process and helps you manage and prove it, but won't automatically read a vendor's contract and warn you of risky clauses.

Compliance Coverage for European Regulations (NIS2, DORA, EBA)

If you operate in Europe, you've probably heard about NIS2 and DORA, the new EU directives shaking up cybersecurity and operational resilience requirements. These regulations put a spotlight on third-party risk.

3rdRisk:

‍This platform was practically made for European rules. It explicitly covers frameworks like NIS2 and DORA, plus niche ones like the German Supply Chain Act and EBA guidelines. 3rdRisk includes ready-to-use templates, control sets, and workflows aligned to these laws.

For NIS2, 3rdRisk provides a pre-mapped checklist, essentially an out-of-the-box content pack, so you can hit the ground running on compliance. For DORA, which mandates strict oversight of ICT third-party providers, 3rdRisk simplifies compliance by guiding you through required steps and automatically compiling the Register of Information.

Drata:

‍Supports many standards, including GDPR and now DORA. Drata provides mapping and tracking mechanisms rather than deep content. You would enable the DORA framework, and the platform shows you the requirements and whether your current controls meet them. However, Drata doesn't provide the process to achieve compliance; it won't walk you step-by-step through conducting third-party risk assessments. One disadvantage: DRATA primarily works with assurance firms outside the EU.

Conclusion: 

‍3rdRisk is more prescriptive and hands-on for EU regulations, whereas Drata is descriptive and evidence-focused. If you need to comply with NIS2 and DORA, 3rdRisk gives you tailored tools and workflows. Drata gives you a structured list of requirements and ways to prove compliance, but you need to execute the compliance activities yourself.

Integration and Workflow Fit

3rdRisk integrations:

Offers 40+ out-of-the-box integrations connecting with procurement systems, GRC tools, and external data sources. Provides ready-to-use APIs for automation. Implementation takes under 10 days. Integrates with Microsoft Teams for collaboration with internal stakeholders. So business stakeholders don't have log in on a daily basis; rather they will be alarmed by Microsoft Teams (using the mascot of the organisation) in a seperate channel including a direct link to the issue, risk, third-party or other element that needs attention.

Drata integrations:

Over 270 integrations covering IT and cloud systems. These perform automated checks and feed results into control monitoring. However, its API is mainly for querying data rather than deep workflow customisation. Drata focuses on integrating with your internal tech stack rather than external vendor data sources.

3rdRisk slots into your vendor management processes, enabling collaboration across teams. Drata slots into your IT and compliance processes, automating evidence gathering from your internal systems.

Reporting, Dashboards and Stakeholder Alignment

3rdRisk's reporting:

Dashboards show your third-party risk landscape, vendor risk levels, assessment progress, and outstanding issues. Provides real-time insights and alerts. Makes it straightforward to create reports on third-party risks and compliance levels. Reports can be tailored to different audiences, technical deep-dives for IT or executive summaries for the Board. Emphasises visual clarity with charts, heatmaps, and trend lines.

Drata's reporting:

Dashboard shows compliance status and control health for each framework you're tracking. Uses visual indicators (green checks, red Xs, progress bars) to show where you stand. Very auditor-friendly -- you can export evidence reports or let auditors view evidence directly. However, it might not automatically rank vendor risks or provide risk narratives.

3rdRisk's reporting focuses on risk, showcasing supplier risks and compliance per vendor. Drata's dashboards, on the other hand, focus on compliance, displaying control completion and audit readiness.

Pricing Models and Scalability Considerations

3rdRisk pricing:

This varies depending on your business needs when it comes to risk management. The cheapest option is below €6,000 per year. This plan provides an overview of all third-party relations, issues and actions. For more details, you can check our pricing page or schedule a demo to get a quote directly.

Drata pricing:

‍Based on company size and frameworks covered. Ranges from $15,000 to $100,000+ per year, depending on factors like employee count and compliance scope. Scales with your organisational complexity; more employees, systems, and frameworks mean higher costs.

Scalability:

3rdRisk handles scale in vendor volume and risk domains. AI and automation ensure that managing 5000 vendors doesn't linearly increase workload compared to 50. Drata scales breadth of coverage across IT systems and compliance requirements, handling thousands of endpoints and users as you grow.

Conclusion: Choosing the right platform for your risk management needs

So, 3rdRisk vs Drata, which one wins for you? The honest answer: it depends on your context. Both platforms are powerful in their domains, but your decision should hinge on your team's priorities and growth plans.

If third-party risk management is your primary concern, juggling hundreds of suppliers, worried about vendor-caused breaches, or scrambling to meet NIS2/DORA, then 3rdRisk is purpose-built for vendor risk workflows. It acts like that savvy colleague with the organised spreadsheet (except it's automated and intelligent). It simplifies complex vendor management: sending assessments, analysing documents with AI, calculating risk scores, and keeping you compliant with European regulations in a user-friendly way.

If you have a relatively small and straightforward control environment and your challenge is maintaining continuous compliance across various standards and being audit-ready, Drata excels as an automated compliance co-pilot. For lean security teams, it saves time by collecting evidence automatically and spotting control gaps. If you're pursuing multiple certifications or managing fast-growing tech environments, Drata keeps you audit-ready year-round.

Key takeaways:

Match the tool to your needs: 3rdRisk for comprehensive vendor due diligence with EU compliance built in; Drata for compliance automation that covers vendors at a high level

Consider your team: 3rdRisk offers approachable interfaces for diverse users and quick implementation; Drata provides clarity and automation for compliance practitioners

Think long-term: European regulations are tightening, and 3rdRisk can be your strategic ally. Customer security requirements are rising, and Drata can demonstrate continuous compliance

If 3rdRisk sounds like the supportive sidekick you need for vendor risk and compliance management, we'd happily show you more. Book a demo for your personalised tour now.