SecurityScorecard vs UpGuard: 2025 Comparison

SecurityScorecard vs UpGuard
Category	UpGuard	SecurityScorecard
General summary	UpGuard is an end-to-end third-party risk management platform with best-in-class time-to-value and scalability from initial implementations to beyond. UpGuard delivers powerful, integrated tools for automated third-party monitoring, in-depth risk assessment and remediation, and one-click reporting. By combining actionable insights with built-in risk management workflows, UpGuard helps organizations maintain comprehensive oversight of their supply chain security posture and equips them with the necessary tools to shut down emerging risks rapidly.	SecurityScorecard is a cybersecurity ratings platform that monitors external-facing vendor networks. It aggregates risk signals from various sources to produce vendor security ratings. SecurityScorecard integrates with SIEM and GRC tools and provides insights that mitigate supply chain attacks. However, risk assessment workflows are managed separately via the Atlas module, which can lead to fragmented processes that could delay vendor assessment delivery and impact program efficiency.
Key strengths	UpGuard excels by completing full vendor scans every 24 hours, which provides near real-time visibility into vendor security postures while seamlessly integrating native end-to-end AI-powered vendor assessment workflows. UpGuard's licensing model and efficient learning curve offer best-in-class time to value and program efficiency.	SecurityScorecard covers an extensive range of cyber intelligence, drawing from open, proprietary, and dark web sources to identify vendor security risks and assess IP reputation risks. SecurityScorecard's well-known A-F letter grade system makes it approachable for executives and large enterprises.
Key weaknesses	UpGuard's focus on core frameworks like ISO 27001 and NIST offers robust coverage for most security and compliance needs, though organizations requiring highly specialized or region-specific regulations may choose to augment it with dedicated GRC modules. Its strengths in cybersecurity and continuous monitoring ensure strong TPCRM capabilities, but those seeking an all-encompassing governance solution (e.g., covering environmental or privacy regulations) might benefit from additional integrations.	SecurityScorecard's staggered scan cycles disrupts real-time vendor security posture visibility. IP attribution issues are also cited as common scanning problems. Additionally, vendor monitoring and risk assessments are licensed separately, which may increase purchasing complexity and limit coverage of end-to-end visibility of supply chain vendors.
Usability and learning curve	UpGuard offers best-in-class time to value for initial implementations. UpGuard's platform architecture is designed from the ground up to deliver a quick and shallow adoption curve. UpGuard's clean and intuitive interface ensures ease of ongoing operation and rapid pick-up from new staff members as needed.	SecurityScorecard's dashboards and clear A-F grading help non-technical stakeholders quickly grasp vendor risk exposure. However, some users report multiple drill-down steps required to reach specific risk insights, which could lengthen new user learning curves.
Cyber risk data accuracy	UpGuard's real-time data refresh rate ensures up-to-date and accurate vendor security posture calculations while also allowing users to initiate scans on demand. Threat Monitoring automatically scans the open, deep, and dark web for data leaks and exposed credentials, using AI-powered analysis to reduce false positives and prioritize findings for targeted, timely remediation.	SecurityScorecard offers extensive data collection across public-facing and dark web sources, though users occasionally report inaccurate attribution or misflagged IPs requiring support.
Vendor risk management features	UpGuard offers a natively integrated end-to-end workflow addressing the complete Third-party Risk Management lifecycle—from onboarding to risk management and ongoing monitoring.	SecurityScorecard's VRM workflow requires a separate module named Atlas for security questionnaire and risk assessment processes. This can introduce complexity into this process.
Attack surface management features	UpGuard provides continuous attack surface monitoring, identifying exposed assets, misconfigurations, and vulnerabilities. It maps internet-facing infrastructure, detects risks like expired certificates and open ports, and prioritizes threats for remediation. Clear, actionable insights help organizations reduce exposure and strengthen their external security posture.	SecurityScorecard offers views into an organization's attack surface by leveraging IP scanning and attribution of identified domains and assets. The platform's approach helps users identify potential weaknesses in their digital footprint that an attacker might exploit.
Customer support	Known for world-class support across all tiers and customer-friendly guidance, UpGuard delivers proactive and prompt engagement to resolve customer issues quickly. Dedicated teams assist with both technical and strategic TPRM challenges.	Generally supportive for enterprise levels, with a community of free users. However, customers at lower licensing tiers report slower responses and less personalized support.
Workflow automation	UpGuard's AI-powered Security Profile automatically identifies risks and control gaps, then generates contextualized, point-in-time assessment reports in minutes. It also provides a pre-configured (and adjustable) set of controls for two leading security frameworks: ISO 27001:2022 and NIST CSF 2.0. Custom notifications simplify tracking of critical events and prompting of important follow-up actions. The platform also facilitates automatic vendor tiering, labeling, and custom attributes based on questionnaire responses for faster vendor onboarding and improved TPRM scalability.	SecurityScorecard's workflow automation features let users create rule-based triggers that automatically respond to security events, such as score drops, new high-severity issues, or breaches. Users can choose from a range of automated response actions, including alert activation, report sharing, and reassigning scorecards for further review
Artificial intelligence features	UpGuard’s AI-powered platform streamlines the entire vendor assessment process. AI evidence analysis combined with automated scanning immediately uncovers control gaps and risks. Each finding is accompanied by transparent, traceable citations so security teams can quickly verify sources and take action. AI-generated risk assessment reports, which are typically produced in under a minute, help organizations rapidly communicate risks with stakeholders. This results in faster decision-making, more accurate and consistent reporting, and significantly reduced manual workloads.	SecurityScorecard offers a branded AI capability named HEID. HEID’s operational workflows are primarily geared toward SecurityScoreCard's MAX managed service offering, with claims that AI can generate automated remediation and questionnaire requests as risks arise. SecurityScorecard claims that HEID AI is available as a backend capability for customers with non-service plans, and it is used in its algorithms for risk scoring and classification of issue criticality.
API and integrations	UpGuard provides a well-documented API enabling custom integrations, webhooks, and automation across common security and GRC tools. Its extensibility is straightforward, designed for rapid deployment and minimal setup friction. UpGuard also connects with over 4,000+ apps through a dedicated Zapier integration. Streamlines remediation and monitoring by natively integrating with Jira, Service Now, and Slack.	SecurityScoreCard offers an extensive marketplace of integrations with security, GRC, and workflow platforms. However, integrations tend to primarily focus on score visibility in other platforms rather than workflow extensibility. Offers integrations with several third-party platforms, such as RSA Archer, ServiceNow, and more.
Purchasing & licensing transparency	UpGuard offers a freemium package for monitoring up to 5 vendors. Also provides free access to an AI-powered vendor questionnaire management tool, Trust Exchange. Pricing starts at USD 1,750 / month. A 14-day free trial for paid plans is also available.	Public pricing information is not available. Offers a free plan and a 14-day free trial for paid plans.
Customers	Major customers include The New York Stock Exchange (ICE), Morningstar, TDK, PagerDuty, Hopin, and IAG. To learn more, read UpGuard's customer stories.	Major customers include Symantec, Pepsico, Two Sigma, and Stony Brook University.
G2 rating Accurate as of March 2025	4.5, based on 383 reviews. Named a G2 Market Leader for Third Party & Supplier Risk Management Software.	4.2, based on 75 reviews.
Security ratings	943 / 950	791 / 950

General summary

UpGuard is an end-to-end third-party risk management platform with best-in-class time-to-value and scalability from initial implementations to beyond. UpGuard delivers powerful, integrated tools for automated third-party monitoring, in-depth risk assessment and remediation, and one-click reporting. By combining actionable insights with built-in risk management workflows, UpGuard helps organizations maintain comprehensive oversight of their supply chain security posture and equips them with the necessary tools to shut down emerging risks rapidly.

SecurityScorecard is a cybersecurity ratings platform that monitors external-facing vendor networks. It aggregates risk signals from various sources to produce vendor security ratings. SecurityScorecard integrates with SIEM and GRC tools and provides insights that mitigate supply chain attacks. However, risk assessment workflows are managed separately via the Atlas module, which can lead to fragmented processes that could delay vendor assessment delivery and impact program efficiency.

Key strengths

UpGuard excels by completing full vendor scans every 24 hours, which provides near real-time visibility into vendor security postures while seamlessly integrating native end-to-end AI-powered vendor assessment workflows. UpGuard's licensing model and efficient learning curve offer best-in-class time to value and program efficiency.

SecurityScorecard covers an extensive range of cyber intelligence, drawing from open, proprietary, and dark web sources to identify vendor security risks and assess IP reputation risks. SecurityScorecard's well-known A-F letter grade system makes it approachable for executives and large enterprises.

Key weaknesses

UpGuard's focus on core frameworks like ISO 27001 and NIST offers robust coverage for most security and compliance needs, though organizations requiring highly specialized or region-specific regulations may choose to augment it with dedicated GRC modules. Its strengths in cybersecurity and continuous monitoring ensure strong TPCRM capabilities, but those seeking an all-encompassing governance solution (e.g., covering environmental or privacy regulations) might benefit from additional integrations.

SecurityScorecard's staggered scan cycles disrupts real-time vendor security posture visibility. IP attribution issues are also cited as common scanning problems. Additionally, vendor monitoring and risk assessments are licensed separately, which may increase purchasing complexity and limit coverage of end-to-end visibility of supply chain vendors.

Usability and learning curve

UpGuard offers best-in-class time to value for initial implementations. UpGuard's platform architecture is designed from the ground up to deliver a quick and shallow adoption curve. UpGuard's clean and intuitive interface ensures ease of ongoing operation and rapid pick-up from new staff members as needed.

SecurityScorecard's dashboards and clear A-F grading help non-technical stakeholders quickly grasp vendor risk exposure. However, some users report multiple drill-down steps required to reach specific risk insights, which could lengthen new user learning curves.

Cyber risk data accuracy

UpGuard's real-time data refresh rate ensures up-to-date and accurate vendor security posture calculations while also allowing users to initiate scans on demand. Threat Monitoring automatically scans the open, deep, and dark web for data leaks and exposed credentials, using AI-powered analysis to reduce false positives and prioritize findings for targeted, timely remediation.

SecurityScorecard offers extensive data collection across public-facing and dark web sources, though users occasionally report inaccurate attribution or misflagged IPs requiring support.

Vendor risk management features

UpGuard offers a natively integrated end-to-end workflow addressing the complete Third-party Risk Management lifecycle—from onboarding to risk management and ongoing monitoring.

SecurityScorecard's VRM workflow requires a separate module named Atlas for security questionnaire and risk assessment processes. This can introduce complexity into this process.

Attack surface management features

UpGuard provides continuous attack surface monitoring, identifying exposed assets, misconfigurations, and vulnerabilities. It maps internet-facing infrastructure, detects risks like expired certificates and open ports, and prioritizes threats for remediation. Clear, actionable insights help organizations reduce exposure and strengthen their external security posture.

SecurityScorecard offers views into an organization's attack surface by leveraging IP scanning and attribution of identified domains and assets. The platform's approach helps users identify potential weaknesses in their digital footprint that an attacker might exploit.

Customer support

Known for world-class support across all tiers and customer-friendly guidance, UpGuard delivers proactive and prompt engagement to resolve customer issues quickly. Dedicated teams assist with both technical and strategic TPRM challenges.

Generally supportive for enterprise levels, with a community of free users. However, customers at lower licensing tiers report slower responses and less personalized support.

Workflow automation

UpGuard's AI-powered Security Profile automatically identifies risks and control gaps, then generates contextualized, point-in-time assessment reports in minutes. It also provides a pre-configured (and adjustable) set of controls for two leading security frameworks: ISO 27001:2022 and NIST CSF 2.0. Custom notifications simplify tracking of critical events and prompting of important follow-up actions. The platform also facilitates automatic vendor tiering, labeling, and custom attributes based on questionnaire responses for faster vendor onboarding and improved TPRM scalability.

SecurityScorecard's workflow automation features let users create rule-based triggers that automatically respond to security events, such as score drops, new high-severity issues, or breaches. Users can choose from a range of automated response actions, including alert activation, report sharing, and reassigning scorecards for further review

Artificial intelligence features

UpGuard’s AI-powered platform streamlines the entire vendor assessment process. AI evidence analysis combined with automated scanning immediately uncovers control gaps and risks. Each finding is accompanied by transparent, traceable citations so security teams can quickly verify sources and take action. AI-generated risk assessment reports, which are typically produced in under a minute, help organizations rapidly communicate risks with stakeholders. This results in faster decision-making, more accurate and consistent reporting, and significantly reduced manual workloads.

SecurityScorecard offers a branded AI capability named HEID. HEID’s operational workflows are primarily geared toward SecurityScoreCard's MAX managed service offering, with claims that AI can generate automated remediation and questionnaire requests as risks arise. SecurityScorecard claims that HEID AI is available as a backend capability for customers with non-service plans, and it is used in its algorithms for risk scoring and classification of issue criticality.

API and integrations

UpGuard provides a well-documented API enabling custom integrations, webhooks, and automation across common security and GRC tools. Its extensibility is straightforward, designed for rapid deployment and minimal setup friction. UpGuard also connects with over 4,000+ apps through a dedicated Zapier integration. Streamlines remediation and monitoring by natively integrating with Jira, Service Now, and Slack.

SecurityScoreCard offers an extensive marketplace of integrations with security, GRC, and workflow platforms. However, integrations tend to primarily focus on score visibility in other platforms rather than workflow extensibility. Offers integrations with several third-party platforms, such as RSA Archer, ServiceNow, and more.

Purchasing & licensing transparency

UpGuard offers a freemium package for monitoring up to 5 vendors. Also provides free access to an AI-powered vendor questionnaire management tool, Trust Exchange. Pricing starts at USD 1,750 / month. A 14-day free trial for paid plans is also available.

Public pricing information is not available. Offers a free plan and a 14-day free trial for paid plans.

Customers

Major customers include The New York Stock Exchange (ICE), Morningstar, TDK, PagerDuty, Hopin, and IAG. To learn more, read UpGuard's customer stories.

Major customers include Symantec, Pepsico, Two Sigma, and Stony Brook University.

G2 rating Accurate as of March 2025

4.5, based on 383 reviews. Named a G2 Market Leader for Third Party & Supplier Risk Management Software.

4.2, based on 75 reviews.

Security ratings

943 / 950

791 / 950

SecurityScorecard vs UpGuard product overview

Learn more about the products and how they compare.

This guide compares the functions and capabilities of Security Scorecard and UpGuard to help you decide which Vendor Risk management solution is best for your business.

SecurityScorecard Overview

SecurityScorecard is a New York-based security ratings platform that uses traffic and other publicly accessible data to build security ratings to evaluate vendors and manage cyber risk among other use cases.

SecurityScoreCard also monitors “hacker chatter” and other public data feeds for indicators of compromise.

SecurityScorecard UI

The SecurityScorecard UI. Source: securityscorecard.com.

UpGuard Overview

UpGuard is a third-party risk and attack surface management platform that helps global organizations prevent data breaches, monitor third-party vendors, and improve their security posture. UpGuard’s platform uses proprietary security ratings, data leak detection capabilities, and remediation workflows to proactively identify security exposures. UpGuard’s all-in-one third-party risk and attack surface management software intelligently groups risks into six categories: website risks, email security, network security, phishing & malware, reputation risk, and brand protection.

Usability and the learning curve

The usability, design, and learning curve of a product can play a large role in deciding which solution is right for you. The faster you and your team can get up to speed, the faster your return on investment.

SecurityScorecard and UpGuard offer their services via SaaS and are accessible from any location via a web browser.

SecurityScorecard: Simple interface for quick grade reports and charts.
UpGuard: Clean interface offers intuitive navigation to precise risk insights, workflow management, and reporting. Cloud-based platform provides turnkey deployment with no installation required.

Capabilities

SecurityScorecard and UpGuard help organizations stay informed about their vendors’ information security risks as part of a third-party risk management (TPRM) program.

SecurityScorecard: Provides security ratings that aggregate different risks into a single score, allowing for the comparison of different third-party vendors and service providers.
UpGuard: Offers real-time visibility into any third-party vendor’s risk posture by combining security ratings with risk assessments based on popular cyber frameworks and regulations. Also supports the entire scope of vendor risk management, including due diligence and remediation programs.

A significant point of difference between SecurityScorecard and UpGuard is the amount of time required to perform a non-intrusive scan.

SecurityScorecard takes 10 days to perform a non-intrusive scan across the entire IPv4 web space, whereas UpGuard’s scan is completed in just 24 hours. Shorter scanning times mean open ports and misconfigured services have less chance of being exploited by cybercriminals, Smaller scan frequencies help you discover critical data breach risks, like open ports, faster.

Community support

Both SecurityScorecard and UpGuard offer comprehensive online resources to educate customers about emerging threats and best Vendor Risk Management practices.

SecurityScoreCard offers an Academy for customer users along with a regularly updated company blog, webinar series, and resource center.

UpGuard hosts a quarterly virtual summit to keep the global cybersecurity community updated with the latest VRM developments. UpGuard also publishes regularly updated blogs, however, UpGuard’s blogs are reviewed by industry experts to verify trustworthiness. UpGuard’s VRM blog content has also been regarded as more in-depth and helpful. In addition to in-depth blogs, UpGuard sends a weekly data breach newsletter to keep subscribers informed of the latest global cyberattack events.

SecurityScorecard: Offers a user Academy, along with a regularly updated company blog, webinar series, and resource center.
UpGuard: UpGuard keeps the VRM community continuously updated with the latest industry developments through its blog content, quarterly summit event, and weekly data breach newsletter.

Release rate

The speed at which a security platform can incorporate changes determines how well it can respond to new threats and customer requests. An ideal security solution should continuously update, adjust, and improve its threat detection methodology in response to changes in the threat landscape.

SecurityScorecard: SecurityScoreCard makes releases as needed throughout the year, consistently enabling customer users to access information logs of beneficial changes.
UpGuard: UpGuard has adopted DevOps principles internally to develop, test, and release software continuously, ensuring fast, consistent, and safe releases. UpGuard has a regular release rate every two weeks, with all features, changes, and improvements listed under UpGuard Release Notes.

Pricing and support

Cyber risk platforms can be expensive and the common use of opaque pricing policies often takes power away from the purchaser. With most services offering tiered licensing options and add-ons, finding a solution that fits your needs and budget can prove more difficult without transparent pricing.

SecurityScorecard: Public pricing information is not available. Reports say pricing starts at $16,500 for self-assessment plus five vendors, and additional vendors cost $1,500-$2,000 per vendor per year. For more details, see estimates of SecurityScorecard’s pricing.

UpGuard: UpGuard has a fully transparent and publicly accessible pricing model which you can view here. If you have any questions, please email sales@upguard.com.

API and extensibility

Accessing the information in a cyber risk product outside of its graphical interface is important for integrated business strategies and consolidating data to a preferred system.

Both SecurityScorecard and UpGuard offer APIs.

SecurityScorecard: SecurityScoreCard offers API connections for users seeking greater security rating extensibility
UpGuard: Offers a standard API to pull data from UpGuard’s platform into other enterprise applications.

Third-party integrations

APIs are useful for technical staff, but not all information security teams have access to developers. In this situation, standard third-party integrations are an essential part of decision-making.

Both SecurityScorecard and UpGuard offer integrations into other platforms.

SecurityScorecard: Offers integrations with several third-party platforms such as RSA Archer, ServiceNow, and more.
UpGuard: Integrates with multiple services, including Zapier to enable connections to 3,000+ apps; GRC platforms, ticketing systems like JIRA; VRM solutions like ServiceNow, and more.

Customers

The trust of prestigious companies is a powerful indicator of the effectiveness of a solution, Both UpGuard and SecurityScorecard have an impressive customer base trusting each solution’s vendor risk management capabilities.

SecurityScorecard: Major customers include Symantec, Pepsico, Two Sigma, and Stony Brook University.
UpGuard: Major customers across highly regulated sectors include Accenture, New York Stock Exchange, Tech Mahindra, and Morningstar.

Here’s what a few UpGuard customers had to say about their experience. You can read more on Gartner reviews. “UpGuard has given us a view of our vendor security posture. The ability to launch a questionnaire or ask for a plan of remediation for items that show as vulnerable is also a great added value and a time saver. UpGuard is also very customer-focused. They respond quickly to issues and questions and welcome any input that could improve the product. Overall it is one of the best value add tools we have.""The simplicity of the product is fantastic. My team and I were able to be up and running in minutes. We monitor risks on over 25 vendors in near real-time and use these statistics to report to the C suite and Board of Directors. UpGuard has become part of the critical cybersecurity metrics that we monitor and report upon.""The ease of use and simplicity of the product is excellent. We were able to be up and running with 50 vendors within minutes, not hours. The reporting is used for monthly statistics and is reported to our Senior Management. UpGuard has become an integral part of our critical cybersecurity metrics that we monitor and report upon.”

Security rating

SecurityScorecard: Provides a security rating on a numerical scale from 0-100 with letter scale breakdowns ranged within an A - F report card based scale.
UpGuard: Security rating scale of 0-950, ranked as A: 801-950, B: 601-800, C: 401-600, D: 201-400, F: 0-200. You can request your free security rating by clicking here.

Finally, let’s take a look at how SecurityScorecard and UpGuard compare when assessed with the security rating solution on UpGuard’s platform on July 28, 2020. It’s important to note that UpGuard adheres to the Principles of Fair and Accurate Security Ratings, removing all biases in this analysis.

Accuracy and Validation: UpGuard’s security ratings are empirical, data-driven, and based on independently verifiable and accessible information.
Model Governance: The datasets and methodologies used to calculate our security ratings can change in line with our improving understanding of cybersecurity risk mitigation. When this happens, we provide reasonable notice and explanation to our customers about the impact on their security rating.
Independence: No commercial agreement or lack thereof allows an organization to improve its security rating outside of the unbiased measurements of UpGuard’s security ratings.
Confidentiality: Any information disclosed to UpGuard during a challenged rating or dispute is appropriately protected. Nor do we provide third parties with sensitive or confidential information on rated organizations that could lead to system compromise.