A-LIGN's market position
A-LIGN is one of the largest specialist providers of SOC 2 attestations in the United States by engagement volume, comparable to Schellman and ahead of Coalfire and BDO in pure commercial SaaS volume. The firm is headquartered in Tampa, Florida (the same metro as Schellman) with offices across the US and operates as a mid-tier CPA firm specialising in IT audit, FedRAMP assessment, and information security attestation. The firm's positioning is described on the A-LIGN site at a-lign.com and discussed in customer commentary on G2 and similar review platforms.
The defensible differentiator versus Schellman is FedRAMP and StateRAMP capability. A-LIGN operates as a FedRAMP-accredited Third Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) and a StateRAMP 3PAO, which means the firm can deliver both the SOC 2 attestation and the FedRAMP or StateRAMP assessment in a coordinated multi-year programme. For SaaS companies pursuing federal sales or state sales, this dual-capability is materially valuable because the alternative (engaging a separate FedRAMP 3PAO and a separate SOC 2 firm) creates evidence-collection duplication and timeline coordination overhead. Schellman has FedRAMP capability but A-LIGN's positioning is more federal-centric.
The PE-ownership context is worth noting. Warburg Pincus acquired A-LIGN in 2021 and the firm has operated more aggressively on commercial expansion than family-owned or partner-owned competitors since the acquisition. This is not visible to most buyers at the engagement-team level (the audit professionals deliver the same quality of work) but is visible at the procurement level (multi-year contract terms tend to be more aggressive, expansion sales tend to be more proactive).
Pricing by scope, with realistic ranges
A-LIGN SOC 2 audit fees scale on report type, criteria count, and company complexity in the same shape as Schellman's pricing. The firm's pricing tends to land 5 to 15 percent higher on the upper band of the equivalent Schellman range, which reflects the federal-capability premium and the PE-ownership commercial posture. The table below presents realistic engagement fees triangulated from public buyer disclosures.
| Engagement Scope | Typical Fee Range |
|---|---|
| SOC 2 Type 1, Security only | $14K-$22K |
| SOC 2 Type 2, Security only | $20K-$32K |
| SOC 2 Type 2, Security + 1 add-on criterion | $25K-$38K |
| SOC 2 Type 2, Security + 2 add-on criteria | $30K-$45K |
| SOC 2 Type 2 + ISO 27001 combined | $35K-$55K |
| SOC 2 Type 2 + HIPAA combined | $35K-$52K |
| FedRAMP Moderate (3PAO assessment, separate from SOC 2) | $70K-$200K+ |
Three concrete engagement scenarios
Scenario A: 75-employee Series A SaaS, SOC 2 Type 2 plus FedRAMP-track planning
A 75-employee Series A B2B SaaS pursuing SOC 2 Type 2 on Security with a 12-to-24-month roadmap toward FedRAMP Moderate typically receives an A-LIGN quote in the $25,000 to $32,000 range for the SOC 2 engagement, with FedRAMP scoping conversations included as part of the multi-year-relationship setup. The Schellman-equivalent quote at this scope would land $20,000 to $30,000; the A-LIGN premium is justified when the FedRAMP roadmap is real and the buyer wants firm-continuity across SOC 2 and FedRAMP rather than engaging two separate firms later.
Scenario B: 200-employee Series B SaaS, SOC 2 plus ISO 27001 combined
A 200-employee Series B SaaS pursuing SOC 2 Type 2 plus ISO 27001 in a combined engagement typically receives an A-LIGN quote in the $40,000 to $55,000 range. The combined-engagement efficiency reduces total fees by 20 to 35 percent versus running the two audits separately. Schellman's equivalent quote at this scope lands $32,000 to $50,000; A-LIGN is competitive but typically slightly higher. The decision between the two firms at this scale comes down to FedRAMP roadmap (favours A-LIGN) or pure commercial SaaS focus (slight favour to Schellman).
Scenario C: 500-employee Series C SaaS, SOC 2 plus FedRAMP Moderate combined programme
A 500-employee Series C SaaS pursuing SOC 2 Type 2 plus FedRAMP Moderate as a combined multi-year programme typically receives an A-LIGN quote in the $90,000 to $180,000 range across both engagements (SOC 2 at $30,000 to $45,000, FedRAMP at $70,000 to $150,000+ depending on system complexity). At this scope, A-LIGN is typically the preferred firm because the FedRAMP 3PAO capability is the dominant cost driver and the SOC 2 work is layered into the same engagement timeline. Schellman has FedRAMP capability but is competing on the SOC 2 side rather than the FedRAMP side; the firm-continuity value at this scope favours A-LIGN.
Where A-LIGN wins versus Schellman and Coalfire
A-LIGN wins versus Schellman when the buyer has a FedRAMP or StateRAMP roadmap and wants firm-continuity across SOC 2 and federal attestation work, when the buyer values the more aggressive multi-year contract terms that PE-ownership enables (longer commitments at deeper discounts), or when the buyer is in a federal-adjacent vertical (defense tech, public sector SaaS, healthcare with state Medicaid contracts) where A-LIGN has more named-account experience. A-LIGN wins versus Coalfire when the SOC 2 side of the engagement is the larger workload and FedRAMP is the secondary roadmap item; when FedRAMP is the dominant workload and SOC 2 is the secondary, Coalfire is typically the more federal-native choice.
A-LIGN does not win when the buyer is pure commercial SaaS with no federal roadmap and Schellman's slightly lower upper-band pricing is meaningful, when the buyer is genuinely budget-constrained and Linford & Co or Johanson Group boutique alternatives are sufficient, or when the buyer is on an IPO track and Big 4 brand value matters more than mid-tier capability depth.
Negotiation playbook
The PE-ownership context means A-LIGN sales teams are typically responsive to multi-year commitment leverage. Three levers reliably move pricing. First, multi-year engagement contracts (3-year or 5-year commitments) typically yield 10 to 18 percent discount versus single-year quotes. Second, multi-framework bundles negotiated upfront cost less than serial framework additions. Third, bringing competing quotes from Schellman, Coalfire, or BDO increases the discount room measurably. The PE-ownership posture also means A-LIGN sales teams will push hard for expansion sales (additional frameworks, advisory services, FedRAMP roadmap engagement); be deliberate about scoping the year-1 engagement to the actual workload rather than letting the engagement scope expand reactively. Q2 or Q3 scheduling avoids the Q4 financial audit season and gives the engagement partner more flexibility on terms.