There’s a massive shift happening in how companies get through the grunt work. AI automation isn’t some far-off idea anymore; it’s a real tool people are using for everything from customer support to security compliance. But if you’re a founder or manager, you’ve probably felt this frustration: you hear about some cool new tech, but it’s locked behind a "Book a Demo" button and pricing that’s a total mystery. It makes it almost impossible to quickly figure out if a tool is right for you.
One company getting a lot of buzz in this area is Delve, which uses AI to tackle compliance for frameworks like SOC 2.
In this article, we’ll give you a straight-up overview of what Delve does, what we know about its pricing, and what you should really think about when you’re looking at any AI automation platform for your team.
What is Delve?
Okay, first things first, let’s clear up some confusion. If you google "Delve," you’ll bump into a few different companies. We’re talking about Delve from delve.co, the AI compliance automation folks.
Just so you know you’re in the right place, here are the other two you might have stumbled upon:
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delvetool.com: A tool for qualitative data analysis, popular with researchers coding interview notes.
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delve.ai: An AI platform that builds out marketing personas and does market research.
Alright, back to the main event. Delve ("delve.co") calls itself an "agentic compliance" platform. What that means in plain English is that it uses AI agents to do the boring, repetitive tasks needed to get and stay compliant with standards like SOC 2, HIPAA, and GDPR. As
It’s aimed squarely at startups that need that compliance checkmark to start closing bigger deals.
How Delve uses AI to automate compliance
Delve’s big promise is that it can save you hundreds of hours of engineering and operational headaches. It takes the manual "busywork" of compliance and hands it over to smart automation. Here’s a peek at how it works.
AI agents for automated evidence collection
Instead of your team spending weeks hunting for screenshots and filling out spreadsheets, Delve’s AI agents plug directly into your tech stack (think AWS, GitHub, Slack).
These agents automatically pull the proof needed for an audit, like checking if your cloud data is encrypted, and then put together the reports for you. That same Reddit thread had a perfect example: a user’s AWS S3 bucket wasn’t encrypted correctly. Delve didn’t just flag it; it gave them the exact commands to copy, paste, and fix it. That’s a practical, developer-first approach that actually solves the problem, not just points it out.
Real-time infrastructure scanning and risk monitoring
Delve keeps an eye on your cloud setup and apps 24/7, looking for compliance gaps or security holes as they pop up. This is a world away from the old-school scramble to find problems during a stressful quarterly check. It’s a proactive way to handle security that helps you stay compliant all the time, not just during audit season.
White-glove support and audit management
Beyond the software, Delve has a big human component. User reviews mention you get 1:1 support in Slack with security experts who can answer questions and give you advice. They also handle the entire audit process for you, acting more like a partner than just a piece of software. For a small team without a dedicated compliance person, this kind of hands-on service is a huge part of the appeal.
Understanding the Delve pricing model
So, the million-dollar question: what is the Delve pricing? The short answer is, Delve doesn’t publish its pricing on its website.
To get a number, you have to book a demo and talk to their sales team. This is a pretty common playbook for B2B software, but it has some real downsides for anyone trying to buy. It slows everything down and makes it tough to compare costs without sinking a bunch of time into sales calls.
What user reports say about Delve pricing
While there’s no official price list, that Reddit thread gave us a pretty solid clue. The user mentioned they paid $12,000 per year, which covered both the platform and the audit itself.
They compared this to quotes they got from old-school consultants (which were over $50,000) and other platforms like Vanta and Drata, which were also much more expensive. This suggests Delve is aiming to be a competitive option, especially for the startups it’s targeting. And as the user pointed out, the real cost is often the internal engineering time, which is exactly what Delve’s AI is designed to cut down on.
The trade-offs of the demo-gated Delve pricing model
Companies usually hide their pricing when they have a hands-on sales process or sell custom packages. But for customers, it just creates a big wall. You can’t move fast or evaluate tools on your own time.
It’s a clash of philosophies, really. Some companies want to walk you through a controlled sales cycle, while others trust you to figure things out for yourself. If you’re a busy team lead, having to schedule a call just to see if a tool is even in your budget is a serious bottleneck.
| Criteria | Delve (Demo-Gated Model) | A Self-Serve Model (like eesel AI) |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Hidden, requires a sales call | Transparent, published online |
| Onboarding | Guided demo needed | Instant, do-it-yourself setup |
| Time to Value | Days or even weeks | Minutes |
| Best for | Teams needing lots of guidance | Teams that want to test and move fast |
Limitations of Delve pricing and when to look for an alternative
Delve is clearly a solid tool for what it does, but no platform is right for everyone. Based on what we’ve seen, here are a couple of things to keep in mind.
Scalability across multiple frameworks
Delve seems great at getting a company its first SOC 2 or HIPAA certification, and doing it quickly. But it might not be the best fit for bigger companies that need to manage several compliance frameworks at once (like SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR all at the same time).
Platforms built for that kind of scale often have "control mapping," which lets you reuse evidence from one framework for another. It saves a ton of duplicate work. Delve’s focus seems to be on getting that first certification done fast, which could be a drawback as your compliance needs grow.
Integration depth and auditor collaboration
Delve connects with the usual suspects in a modern tech stack. But some of its competitors have a much bigger list of integrations, which can be a dealbreaker if your company uses a lot of specialized software.
Also, the audit process comes down to personal preference. Delve’s managed "concierge" service is a dream for teams that want a completely hands-off experience. But if your team prefers to work directly with the auditor in a shared, transparent platform, Delve’s approach might feel a little confining.
For support teams, a better model exists: Meet eesel AI
Just like Delve uses AI to cut through the manual grind of compliance, eesel AI does the same for customer support. The difference? It’s all about transparency and self-service, letting you get started in minutes, not months.
For anyone leading a support team, the problems are probably familiar: the same questions over and over, tickets that need to be manually sorted, and answers buried in a dozen different places. eesel AI solves these problems with a platform that directly challenges the old demo-gated model.
Go live in minutes with a truly self-serve platform
You can forget about mandatory demos and long sales calls. With eesel AI, you can sign up, connect your help desk like Zendesk or Freshdesk, and have a working AI copilot ready to go in minutes. You never have to talk to a salesperson unless you want to.
Best of all, you can try it out completely risk-free. eesel AI has a powerful simulation mode that runs on thousands of your past tickets to show you exactly how the AI will perform. You get a clear picture of your automation rate and ROI before you ever turn it on for your customers.
A screenshot showing the eesel AI simulation mode, which predicts performance and ROI, offering a transparent alternative to unclear Delve pricing.:Get total control and transparent, predictable pricing
The headache of mystery pricing ends here. eesel AI offers clear, public pricing plans based on usage, with no surprise per-resolution fees. This means your bill is always predictable and won’t suddenly jump after a busy month.
A screenshot of eesel AI's public pricing page, contrasting with the hidden Delve pricing model.:That flexibility carries over to contracts, too. You can start on a monthly plan and cancel anytime, so you can try the platform without getting locked into a long-term commitment. Once you’re up and running, you have fine-grained control to decide which tickets the AI handles and customize its tone and actions, making sure it perfectly matches your brand.
Unify all your knowledge, not just one source
While Delve focuses on a company’s tech stack, eesel AI pulls knowledge from every corner of your company. It learns from your past support tickets to get the context and tone right, but it doesn’t stop there.
eesel AI also connects to knowledge bases like Confluence, document hubs like Google Docs, and even your team’s internal chats on Slack. This creates a single source of truth for your AI support agent, which means more accurate, helpful, and context-aware answers for your customers.
An infographic showing how eesel AI unifies knowledge from multiple sources, a key feature to consider when comparing with Delve pricing and capabilities.:Delve pricing: Choose AI partners that help you move faster
Delve is a strong AI tool that’s making the painful process of compliance a lot easier. It provides a quick and effective way to get certifications like SOC 2, especially for startups that need to get things done yesterday.
But its demo-gated, quote-based model feels like an older way of buying software, one that can really slow modern teams down. For companies that want to move fast, transparency, self-service, and predictability are just as important as the tech itself.
For support teams looking to use powerful AI automation without all the friction, eesel AI is built for you. It’s designed from the ground up to show you value immediately, with a platform that’s as open and easy to use as it is powerful.
Ready to see how fast AI automation can really be? Start your free eesel AI trial today and get answers in minutes.
Frequently asked questions
While Delve doesn’t publish official prices, a user reported paying $12,000 per year, which covered both the platform and the compliance audit itself. This suggests it aims to be a competitive option, especially for startups.
Delve uses a demo-gated pricing model, common for B2B software with a hands-on sales process or custom packages. This means you need to book a demo to receive a quote, making it harder to evaluate quickly.
User reports indicate that Delve pricing is generally more competitive than older-school consultants (who can charge over $50,000) and other platforms like Vanta or Drata, which were noted as being more expensive.
Yes, based on user reports, the mentioned Delve pricing of $12,000 per year included both the use of the platform and the cost of the actual compliance audit. This can be a significant cost-saver for companies.
Yes, the demo-gated Delve pricing model can slow down the evaluation process, making it difficult to compare costs and features without engaging in sales calls. This can be a bottleneck for busy teams trying to move quickly.
While suitable for initial certifications, Delve’s current approach might be less ideal for larger companies managing multiple compliance frameworks simultaneously, or those needing deeper integration with a wide array of specialized software.
