Comparing Schellman and Thoropass

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About Schellman

Schellman is an audit firm that specializes in compliance assessments for cloud and SaaS companies. They offer SOC 1/2/3, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HITRUST, and FedRAMP audits, along with readiness services to help prepare for these assessments. The firm works with clients' existing evidence sources and compliance platforms through secure portals. Their pricing is quote-based, though they note that FedRAMP assessments tend to involve substantial costs and timelines.

About Thoropass

Thoropass is a modern alternative to legacy auditors like Schellman, combining enterprise-grade audits with AI-native speed and precision to help companies identify risk, build trust, and reduce the cost of compliance. The platform automates evidence collection from over two hundred integrations and handles multiple frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and PCI in single audit cycles. You get assigned auditors from the start rather than at the end, and they stay with you throughout the process. The service includes policy templates, control mapping, and what they call AI-powered evidence validation.

Comparison

Schellman brings deep specialization as an accredited ISO certification body with extensive government and enterprise credentials, including FedRAMP 3PAO and CMMC C3PAO status. Their traditional audit approach works well for complex regulatory environments, though they lack the comprehensive compliance automation platform that modern security teams often need.

Thoropass combines audit services with a unified compliance platform featuring 100+ integrations, automated evidence collection, and built-in workflow tools. While they excel at streamlining the audit process through technology and offer competitive pricing bundles, they cannot issue accredited ISO certificates directly and lack government authorization credentials like FedRAMP.

Feature	Schellman	Thoropass
ISO Certification	✅	❌
FedRAMP 3PAO	✅	❌
SOC Audits	✅	✅
PCI QSAC	✅	✅
PCI ASV	✅	✅
First Pass AI	❌	✅
HITRUST Assessor	✅	✅
Compliance Platform	❌	✅
200+ Integrations	❌	✅
Trust Center	❌	✅

ISO Certification

Schellman: As an ANAB/UKAS accredited certification body, Schellman can directly issue ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 certificates. This eliminates the need for coordination with third-party certification bodies and ensures a single point of accountability throughout the certification process.

Thoropass: Thoropass provides ISO 27001 readiness and audit orchestration but cannot issue accredited certificates directly. They coordinate with accredited partners for certificate issuance, which may add complexity for organizations requiring formal ISO certification.

FedRAMP 3PAO

Schellman: Holds official FedRAMP Third Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) status and CMMC C3PAO authorization, enabling them to conduct assessments for federal cloud services and defense contractors. They recently gained clearance for classified DoD IL6 assessments.

Thoropass: Does not maintain FedRAMP 3PAO or CMMC authorization, making them unsuitable for government cloud services or defense contractor compliance requirements.

SOC Audits

Schellman: Operates as an established CPA firm with decades of SOC audit experience across all SOC service types. They offer SOC Essentials for smaller organizations and enterprise-grade assessments for complex environments.

Thoropass: Performs SOC audits through their AICPA peer-reviewed CPA firm while embedding the audit process directly into their compliance platform. This integration allows for real-time collaboration and automated evidence collection throughout the audit.

PCI QSAC

Schellman: Maintains Qualified Security Assessor Company (QSAC) status and offers traditional PCI DSS validation services. Their approach focuses on thorough assessment methodology with portal-based evidence submission.

Thoropass: Also holds QSAC status but integrates PCI assessments with their platform's automated evidence collection and continuous monitoring capabilities. This creates a more streamlined experience for organizations managing multiple compliance frameworks simultaneously.

PCI ASV

Schellman: Recently achieved Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) status, adding vulnerability scanning capabilities to their PCI service portfolio. This complements their existing QSAC services under a traditional service delivery model.

Thoropass: Offers ASV scanning as part of their integrated platform, combining vulnerability scanning with PCI assessments and penetration testing in a unified workflow. This consolidation reduces vendor management overhead for PCI compliance.

HITRUST Assessor

Schellman: Maintains authorized HITRUST External Assessor status and provides traditional HITRUST assessments with their established healthcare compliance expertise.

Thoropass: Also serves as an authorized HITRUST External Assessor but differentiates through their direct MyCSF integration, reducing duplicate data entry and streamlining the assessment process for healthcare organizations.

Compliance Platform

Schellman: Provides AuditSource portal with open APIs for integration with existing GRC tools and workflows. While functional for audit management, it's not designed as a comprehensive compliance automation solution.

Thoropass: Built their entire service around a unified compliance platform that automates evidence collection, provides continuous monitoring, and integrates audit workflow directly into the system. This approach significantly reduces manual overhead and audit preparation time.

Integrations

Schellman: Works with client evidence sources through secure portals and can integrate with common compliance platforms, but doesn't offer extensive pre-built integrations for automated evidence collection.

Thoropass: Provides over 100 native integrations with cloud platforms, identity providers, development tools, and business applications. These integrations enable automated, real-time evidence collection and continuous compliance monitoring.

Trust Center

Schellman: Does not advertise public Trust Center capabilities as part of their service offering, focusing instead on audit and assessment services.

Thoropass: Includes Trust Center functionality as part of their platform, enabling organizations to share compliance status, certificates, and security documentation with customers and partners through a branded public portal.

Conclusion

Schellman serves enterprises and government contractors who need accredited ISO certifications, FedRAMP assessments, or CMMC compliance. Their traditional audit firm model works well for organizations with established compliance teams who prefer working with specialized assessors and can manage multiple vendor relationships. The depth of their accreditations and government authorization makes them essential for highly regulated environments.

Thoropass targets startups through mid-market companies seeking to consolidate their compliance stack while accelerating audit cycles. Their platform-first approach appeals to security teams who want automated evidence collection, continuous monitoring, and embedded audit workflow in a single solution. Organizations prioritizing speed, efficiency, and vendor consolidation will find Thoropass's integrated model–enterprise-grade rigor with AI-native speed–more aligned with modern security operations.