There are four practical ways a business handles AI governance today: an enterprise governance platform, a compliance consultant, doing it yourself with a spreadsheet, or a self-serve tool built for smaller teams. None is universally "best" — the right choice depends on company size, how many AI tools you run, and whether you already have a compliance function.
The four options
Enterprise governance platforms
e.g. OneTrust, Vanta, Credo AI, CloudEagle, Reco, Wiz
Where it's strong: Built for large organizations with dedicated compliance/security teams. Deep integrations, SSO, broad framework coverage across many regulations at once.
Where it falls short: Priced and scoped for enterprise procurement — typically require a sales call rather than self-serve pricing, and configuration assumes a security team exists to run them. Overkill if you have a handful of AI tools and no compliance headcount.
Best fit: Companies with 500+ employees, an existing GRC (governance, risk, compliance) function, or multiple overlapping regulatory regimes beyond AI.
Compliance consultants
law firms, boutique AI-compliance advisories
Where it's strong: A human who can give you a legal opinion, not just a rules-engine verdict, and can represent you in a dispute.
Where it falls short: A one-time assessment commonly runs $2,500–4,500 and reflects a point in time — it doesn't stay current as you add new tools or as the law itself evolves (the EU AI Act's own obligations phase in over several dates through 2027).
Best fit: A specific, high-stakes decision — e.g. before deploying a high-risk hiring AI system — where you need signed legal advice, not an ongoing inventory tool.
DIY (spreadsheet + reading the regulation yourself)
a shared spreadsheet, a Notion doc, tribal knowledge
Where it's strong: Free, and forces someone to actually think about each tool rather than trusting a black-box score.
Where it falls short: Goes stale immediately — nobody updates it when a vendor quietly adds an AI feature to a tool you already use. Interpreting Article 5 / Annex III yourself without a rules engine or legal background risks both under- and over-claiming compliance.
Best fit: A very early-stage company with one or two AI tools and someone willing to own it as an ongoing habit, not a one-off exercise.
DiscloseAI
self-serve, EU AI Act focused
Where it's strong: Free guided assessment builds the inventory and scores each tool automatically from your own answers — never inferred, so it never claims more certainty than you've confirmed. Monthly plans from €29 for the findings, PDF export and document pack, cancel any time. No SSO setup, no sales call required to start.
Where it falls short: EU AI Act is the only fully live ruleset today (NYC LL144 and Colorado SB 26-189 exist in the rules engine but aren't yet offered to new assessments). Not a substitute for signed legal advice on a specific high-stakes decision.
Best fit: Small and mid-size businesses that need a structured, current AI inventory and EU AI Act scoring without enterprise procurement overhead or consultant fees.
How to choose
- If you have a dedicated compliance or security team and multiple overlapping regulatory regimes, an enterprise platform's breadth is worth its procurement overhead.
- If you're about to make one specific, high-stakes AI deployment decision, get a consultant's signed opinion for that decision — don't try to make software substitute for legal advice.
- If you're a small or mid-size business that needs an ongoing, current AI inventory scored against the EU AI Act without enterprise procurement or consultant fees, start with a free self-serve assessment and add a consultant only if a specific finding needs a legal opinion.
Frequently asked questions
What's the cheapest way to get AI governance in place?
A spreadsheet costs nothing but requires ongoing discipline nobody usually maintains. A free tool that structures the inventory and scores it against the actual law — like DiscloseAI's free assessment — costs nothing to start and removes the guesswork of interpreting the regulation yourself.
When should a small business use a consultant instead of software?
When a single decision carries enough risk that you want a signed legal opinion — for example, before deploying a high-risk hiring or credit-scoring AI system. Software is better suited to the ongoing job of tracking every tool and re-checking it as your inventory and the law both change.
Do enterprise platforms like OneTrust or Vanta work for a 10-person company?
Technically often yes, but they're priced and configured around enterprise procurement, SSO, and multi-framework compliance programs run by a dedicated team. A small business without that team usually gets a better fit from a self-serve, EU-AI-Act-specific tool built for a non-technical, non-legal user.
See where DiscloseAI fits
Start the free assessment and see your own AI inventory scored against the EU AI Act in one sitting — no sales call. Free EU AI Act check →