Vendor comparison
OdySecure and ISMS.online compared
Both build an ISMS. They differ in how far the German layer reaches: BSI IT-Grundschutz, § 30 BSIG and the BSIG annexes, operations and AI processing in Germany. This comparison states for both sides where they are the better choice, with source and recording date.
Book a free demoAll figures on IO recorded on 1 and 2 August 2026 from public sources.
Where OdySecure is the better choice
Five points where we are ahead of IO. Each one appears in the table below with the other side next to it, so it stays verifiable.
The platform derives your ISMS instead of shipping a template
You feed in your documents and your organisational structure, and OdySecure derives from them station by station: from business process through asset, risk, measure, control and policy to security process. Every station produces proposals a human accepts, one by one or per station, with a record of who approved them. IO ships pre-filled policies with HeadStart; that is faster to a first document, but it is a template rather than a result from your own organisation.
German statutory law sits in the catalogue, not just the EU directive
We keep § 30 BSIG and the BSIG annexes as a catalogue, plus BSI IT-Grundschutz with 74 building blocks. IO's framework catalogue did not contain IT-Grundschutz at the recording date, and for NIS-2 it holds the EU directive rather than the German implementing law. Anyone who has to demonstrate compliance to the BSI does not find that layer in IO's published framework catalogue.
Operations and AI processing stay in Germany
We host exclusively in Germany with OVHcloud, a European provider without a US parent. IO names a primary hosting supplier based in the United Kingdom and lists four locations including the USA. On AI processing, IO publishes neither the model nor the location nor its subprocessors; our sovereign mode runs on a model operated in Germany.
The AI names its source and says no
The OdySecure Navigator answers from your tenant's connected data, with source and metric, strictly within read permissions, and questions are logged for audit. If data or the read permission is missing, it says so instead of guessing. IO makes no statements on this in the public sources we evaluated.
The price is public, and there are two routes
Our prices are on a public page, plus a machine-readable pricing file. IO publishes no list prices. With us there are two routes: the vCISO mandate from €3,600 a month, in which a senior CISO fills the security leadership role and OdySecure is included, on a six-month minimum term, or the platform on its own from €12,900 a year. IO delivers software and coaching content, with implementation left to the customer or a partner.
Where the two part ways
Four differences that are not a matter of taste. They follow from IO being a British vendor with a German website, and us being a German vendor with German operations.
The German statutory layer is missing from the catalogue
IO lists NIS-2 as an EU directive. The German implementing act and KRITIS are not in the catalogue, and BSI IT-Grundschutz is absent entirely. Anyone who has to demonstrate compliance against § 30 BSIG and the BSIG annexes will not find that layer in the catalogue.
IEC 62443 only at product level
The catalogue holds 62443-4-1 and 4-2, that is secure product development and components. The operator level 2-1 and the system level 3-x are missing, and those are exactly where plant assessments run. For an industrial company with OT, that is the part that matters.
Operations and where the data sits
IO names a primary hosting supplier based in the United Kingdom and four data centre locations in total across the UK, Europe, the USA and Australia. OdySecure runs exclusively in Germany with OVHcloud, a European provider without a US parent. On top of that: no DACH office at IO, no German phone number, headquarters in Brighton.
AI provenance not documented in the Trust Centre
As of 2 August 2026 IO's Trust Centre names no models, no processing location and no subprocessors for AI features; a selectable operating mode is not documented there either. Whether IO provides this information to customers on request or contractually is something we did not examine. With OdySecure the language model runs in sovereign mode in Germany, every answer carries a source and a metric, and queries are logged for audit.
Side by side
Only figures that can be evidenced. Where a source is uncertain, it says so.
In each row the objectively stronger value is shaded, whichever side it sits on. Rows without shading do not establish an advantage.
| Feature | OdySecure | IO (ISMS.online) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | public pricing page, platform from €12,900/year | no list prices; Vendr average approx. 6,000 USD/year, Capterra "from £375" (period unclear)1, 2 |
| Frameworks in catalogue | 50 in the catalogue, of which 21 standards and 29 regulatory instruments | over 1003 |
| BSI IT-Grundschutz | Stronger value in this row: included | not in the framework catalogue (as of 2 Aug 2026)3 |
| German NIS-2 act and KRITIS | Stronger value in this row: § 30 BSIG and BSIG annexes | not in the framework catalogue, EU directive only3 |
| IEC 62443 | Stronger value in this row: also 2-1 and the system level | 4-1 and 4-23 |
| Hosting | exclusively Germany, OVHcloud | hosting supplier based in the UK; data centre regions listed: UK, Europe, USA, Australia4 |
| Publicly documented AI transparency | Stronger value in this row: sovereign mode in Germany, answers with source, audit log | no public information on model, location, subprocessors4 |
| Implementation | vCISO mandate from €3,600/month with OdySecure, or your own implementation with the licence | software plus coaching content, implementation stays with client or partner5 |
| DACH presence | German entities, German phone number | German website, no office in the German-speaking region, no German phone number, HQ Brighton5, 6 |
Sources for this comparison
Every table row points here by number. Where we say something is not documented, we name the place we looked; only that makes the statement verifiable.
- 1Vendr, buyer guide ISMS.online, price range and average, retrieved 1 August 2026
- 2Capterra Germany, ISMS.online, starting price, retrieved 1 August 2026
- 3IO, framework catalogue, full catalogue listing, searched for BSI IT-Grundschutz, NIS2UmsuCG, BSIG and IEC 62443, retrieved 2 August 2026
- 4IO, Trust Centre, hosting and data centre regions; searched for models, processing location and AI subprocessors, none of which appear there, retrieved 2 August 2026
- 5IO, German homepage, product description and contact details, retrieved 1 August 2026
- 6IO, company page, registered office in Brighton; searched for an office or phone number in the German-speaking region, neither found, retrieved 2 August 2026
The "Price" row argues against us and stays in for that reason; it carries no shading, because the sources available do not support a reliable price comparison. All figures on IO come from public sources, recorded on 1 and 2 August 2026. Where something is not documented there, the table says so; that is not a claim the product lacks it. All prices named are net of VAT. Our own operating details (hosting, subprocessors, AI operating mode, logging) are documented in the Trust Center at cybervize.de/en/trust-center.
Where IO is the better choice
A comparison that names only its own side is not one. Anyone who recognises themselves in one of these points is better served by IO, and we would rather say so here than in a call three weeks from now.
When price decides
IO publishes no list prices, but third parties do: the Vendr buyer guide states roughly 6,000 US dollars a year on average, Capterra a starting price of 375 pounds. OdySecure starts at 12,900 euros a year. Third-party sources quote lower price indications for IO than our entry price. Different currencies, unclear scopes and unknown contract terms mean these figures do not support a reliable price comparison. If the software budget decides, obtain quotes for both at identical scope.
When you expect a broad international framework collection
IO states over 100 standards and regulatory instruments for its own catalogue. That figure is the vendor's own claim; how it counts is not publicly documented and has not been reconciled with our inventory. Our catalogue holds 50 entries, counted and split into 21 standards and 29 regulatory instruments. ISO 27001, SOC 2, DORA and TISAX are among them. IO advertises the higher catalogue figure; without a reconciled counting method a reliable comparison of volume is not possible. The breadth is verifiable beyond the catalogue: our knowledge section holds 279 openly readable articles across 39 framework tracks.
When you need pre-filled policies to start
IO ships HeadStart with pre-filled policies and controls; user reports speak of around 80 percent of requirements covered at the start. If you need a document set on the table on day one, that is faster. Our derivation needs one run across your documents; in return it produces your actual position rather than a template.
The decision in one sentence
If the software should be cheap, broad and international, take IO. If you have to demonstrate compliance against German statute, operate in Germany, and know which model answers your questions, then you are in the right place here.
See it against your own catalogueSixty minutes, no preparation needed. We show the platform against your requirements, not against our slides.