Pricing
Enterprise-grade compliance without the enterprise price tag
Straight answer
Why there is no price list on this page
Not because we are hiding something. Because a single number would be wrong for almost everyone reading it.
A CMMC programme for a twelve-person enclave and one for a hundred-and-twenty-person company are different undertakings by an order of magnitude. Publishing one figure would either be hedged into meaninglessness, or set high enough to scare off exactly the companies we are best placed to help.
So instead we do this: tell us roughly how many people would be in scope, what kind of data you handle, and what you are running today. You will get a real number quickly, usually on the first call, in writing shortly after. If you already have a quote from someone else, bring it. We will go through it line by line and show you which items are genuinely necessary and which are there because nobody scoped the problem first.
What we will commit to publicly: fixed fees rather than hourly meters, no minimum seat counts, no charge for the initial gap check, and pricing built around companies with roughly ten to a hundred in-scope users.
Send us your numbersWhere the money goes
Five things decide what CMMC costs you
Understanding these is worth more than any quote comparison, because four of the five are things you can actually change.
- 01
How many users and devices are in scope
This is the dominant factor by a wide margin. Every in-scope seat carries licensing, engineering, documentation, and assessor time. Cutting the boundary in half roughly halves the programme.
How we bring it down
We design a CUI enclave first, so you protect the twelve people who touch controlled data rather than all sixty.
- 02
Which level applies to you
Level 1 is fifteen requirements and a self-assessment. Level 2 is a hundred and ten requirements and, usually, a third-party certification. The difference in effort is not incremental.
How we bring it down
We read your actual contract clauses first. Some clients discover they only need Level 1, and we tell them so.
- 03
Which cloud environment you genuinely need
GCC High costs considerably more per seat than GCC or commercial, and is routinely sold to companies whose data does not require it.
How we bring it down
We assess whether GCC or a hardened commercial tenant satisfies your obligations before recommending the expensive option.
- 04
What you already have in place
A company already running Microsoft 365 Business Premium with Intune and Entra ID is much closer than one running an unmanaged workgroup with a NAS in a cupboard.
How we bring it down
We use the licensing you already own wherever it satisfies a requirement, instead of layering on new products.
- 05
How the work is billed
Open-ended hourly consulting is where compliance budgets quietly disappear. Discovery phases stretch. Scope creeps. The invoice arrives anyway.
How we bring it down
Fixed-scope, fixed-fee compliance work and flat monthly managed services. The number you approve is the number you pay.
The difference
How we compare to a typical enterprise compliance firm
This is not a claim that big firms do bad work. It is a claim that their delivery model is built for organisations twenty times your size, and you pay for that.
| Typical enterprise firm | Axonai | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope defined before pricing | ||
| Fixed-fee compliance programme | ||
| Flat monthly managed IT and security | Sometimes | |
| Reuses licensing you already own | ||
| Same team runs IT and compliance | ||
| Evidence captured continuously, not at the end | ||
| Priced for 10-100 in-scope users | ||
| Dedicated named engineers | Sometimes | |
| Minimum seat counts | ||
| Six-figure annual programme minimums |
“Minimum seat counts” and “six-figure minimums” are listed as things the enterprise model has and we do not. A tick in that column is not a good thing for you.
How engagements are structured
Three ways to work with us
Every one is quoted to your actual scope. Mix them if that suits you better. Plenty of clients start with the enclave build and add managed services once it is running.
- Start here
Compliance
You have an IT provider you are happy with, but nobody owns CMMC. We become the compliance layer.
Includes
- CUI scoping and data-flow mapping
- Gap assessment against all 320 objectives
- Weighted SPRS score and remediation roadmap
- System Security Plan, POA&M, and policy set
- Evidence library built and maintained
- SPRS submission and annual affirmation support
- Mock assessment before your C3PAO engagement
Request a quoteFixed fee · no minimum seats
- Most chosen
Managed Compliance
The full programme. We run the compliance work and the IT and security underneath it, so nothing drifts between them.
Includes
- Everything in Compliance
- Unlimited US-based helpdesk for your users
- Endpoint management, hardening, and patching
- Microsoft 365 / GCC / GCC High administration
- Identity, conditional access, and MFA management
- Backup and disaster recovery with tested restores
- 24/7 security monitoring with managed EDR
- SIEM with compliant log retention and review evidence
- Quarterly technology and compliance reviews
Request a quoteFixed fee · no minimum seats
- Project-based
Enclave & Migration
A defined build: design and deploy the CUI enclave, migrate to GCC or GCC High, and hand over a documented environment.
Includes
- Environment recommendation (Commercial vs GCC vs GCC High)
- Enclave architecture design with cost comparison
- Tenant provisioning and hardened baseline
- Mail, file, and Teams migration in planned waves
- Sensitivity labelling and DLP configuration
- Endpoint enrolment and conditional access
- Control-coverage mapping for your SSP
Request a quoteFixed fee · no minimum seats
Always included
Things we do not charge extra for
The line items that turn up as surprises on other invoices.
- The initial gap check and written summary
- Reviewing a competitor quote with you
- Reading your contract clauses to confirm your level
- Onboarding documentation and asset inventory
- Quarterly technology and compliance reviews
- Advice on whether you actually need GCC High
- Telling you when you do not need something we sell
- Coordination with your prime on their questionnaires
Software and cloud licensing is passed through at cost, or you buy it directly, whichever you prefer. We do not mark up Microsoft licensing, which removes any incentive for us to put you in a more expensive tenant than you need. More on that in our GCC High migration service.
Straight answers
Cost and pricing questions
If your question is not here, email contact@axonai.us and ask directly. We answer cost questions plainly.
Why do you not publish your prices?
Because any number we published would be wrong for most of the people reading it. The cost of a CMMC programme swings by an order of magnitude depending on how many users are in scope, which level applies, what you already own, and whether an enclave is viable. A price list would either be so hedged as to be useless or so high it would put off the companies we are best placed to help. Tell us your size and we will give you a real number quickly, usually on the first call.
We were quoted well over a hundred thousand a year. Is that normal?
It is common, and it is frequently the result of scoping badly rather than doing anything difficult. Quotes at that level typically assume the whole company is in scope, GCC High for every seat, and open-ended consulting hours. For a contractor with around thirty in-scope users, we would expect to come in at a fraction of that, and we will show you which line items disappear and why.
Is a cheaper provider going to cut corners on compliance?
It would be a fair worry, so here is the distinction. We are not cheaper because we do less of the work. We are cheaper because we do less unnecessary work. A tight enclave, licensing matched to actual need, reusable engineering, and evidence captured as we go. The 320 objectives still get assessed and evidenced properly, because an assessment failure would cost you far more than any saving.
Do you charge hourly?
No. Compliance work is quoted as fixed scope for a fixed fee, and managed services are a flat monthly amount per user or per device. If scope genuinely changes we agree a change in writing before doing the work. There is no meter running in the background.
Do we have to sign a long contract?
We ask for an initial term on managed services to cover onboarding, then continue month to month. Compliance programmes are quoted by phase, so you can stop after the gap assessment if you would rather take the findings elsewhere. We would prefer to keep you because the work is good.
Are there minimum seat counts?
No. We deliberately built our delivery model for small contractors, including companies with fewer than ten people in scope. Minimums are how enterprise firms avoid customers your size; we are not that firm.
What is included in the free gap check?
A structured conversation about your contracts, your data flows, and your current environment, followed by a written summary of what applies to you, the realistic path to compliance, and a cost range. No charge, no obligation, and if the honest answer is that you do not need us, we will say so.
Does the price include the C3PAO assessment itself?
No, and be cautious of anyone who says theirs does. You contract your certification assessment directly with an accredited C3PAO, and independence rules mean the organisation that implemented your controls cannot also certify them. We help you budget for it and prepare so the assessment is as short as possible, which is where the saving is.
Next step
Tell us your scope and we will give you a real number
Roughly how many users would be in scope, what data you handle, and what you run today. That is enough for a genuine figure, usually on the first call.
We reply within one business day.