# Internal controls and SOX: what AI models recommend, September 2026

Gane Index, September 2026 Edition. Asked as "SOX compliance software" and as "internal controls management tool", six framings each, to twelve models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/tax/internal-controls-and-sox/2026-09

This is the permanent record of the September 2026 Edition, published September 17, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/tax/internal-controls-and-sox/index.md

**Standing:** AuditBoard (tied with FloQast) leads with 18% of first choices; verdict contested. 45 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [AuditBoard](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/auditboard/index.md) | 18% | 9% | 33 |
| 2 | [FloQast](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/floqast/index.md) | 18% | 0% | 14 |
| 5 | [Diligent One Platform](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/diligent-one-platform/index.md) | 4% | 5% | 20 |
| 6 | [LogicGate Risk Cloud](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/logicgate-risk-cloud/index.md) | 4% | 6% | 17 |
| 7 | [Hyperproof](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/hyperproof/index.md) | 4% | 12% | 16 |
| 8 | [Optro](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/optro/index.md) | 4% | 0% | 11 |
| 9 | [Workiva](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/workiva/index.md) | 2% | 12% | 33 |
| 10 | [Onspring](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/onspring/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 10 |
| 11 | [Vanta](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/vanta/index.md) | 2% | 14% | 14 |
| 13 | [Archer](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/archer/index.md) | 2% | 27% | 15 |
| 14 | [Drata](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/drata/index.md) | 2% | 20% | 10 |
| 24 | [MetricStream](https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/vendors/metricstream/index.md) | 0% | 30% | 20 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 71 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: AuditBoard; alternatives FloQast, Optro, Scytale
- GPT-5.4 mini: Workiva; alternatives AuditBoard, LogicGate Risk Cloud
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Optro; alternatives FloQast, Hyperproof, Scytale, Workiva
- Perplexity Sonar: FloQast; alternatives AuditBoard, Optro
- Grok 4.20: FloQast; alternatives AuditBoard, Onspring, VComply
- Mistral Small: FloQast; alternatives HighRadius, Optro
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: FloQast; alternatives AuditBoard, Hyperproof, Onspring, Workiva
- Llama 4 Maverick: FloQast; alternatives HighRadius, Onspring
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Onspring; alternatives Hyperproof, Scytale
- Kimi K2: FloQast; alternatives AuditBoard, Onspring, Workiva
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: AuditBoard, FloQast; alternatives Hyperproof, Mitti, NAVEX One, Workiva
- MiniMax M2.5: FloQast; alternatives Diligent One Platform, Optro, VComply

## Sources the answers cite

63 of 72 answers came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- optro.ai: 46 answers, 51 citations
- worldmetrics.org: 33 answers, 59 citations
- netwrix.com: 28 answers, 32 citations
- gartner.com: 25 answers, 30 citations
- riskpublishing.com: 20 answers, 20 citations
- gitnux.org: 19 answers, 33 citations
- zipdo.co: 19 answers, 24 citations
- highradius.com: 19 answers, 22 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://netwrix.com/en/resources/blog/sox-compliance-software (28 answers)
- https://gartner.com/reviews/market/internal-controls-software (24 answers)
- https://optro.ai/blog/best-sox-management-software (23 answers)
- https://optro.ai/blog/best-internal-control-management-software (21 answers)
- https://riskpublishing.com/best-sox-compliance-software-compared (20 answers)
- https://highradius.com/resources/Blog/best-sox-compliance-tools (19 answers)
- https://sprinto.com/blog/internal-control-software (16 answers)
- https://worldmetrics.org/best/internal-control-management-software (14 answers)
- https://mitti.com/apps/sox-compliance-software (12 answers)
- https://pathlock.com/the-19-best-sox-compliance-software-solutions (11 answers)

## Warned against

- ServiceNow Integrated Risk Management: 7 of 15 labels negative. "ServiceNow GRC / OneTrust / MetricStream – $150k+ per year. Not even in the same universe." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)
- Archer: 4 of 15 labels negative. "Avoid legacy enterprise GRC systems (such as RSA Archer or ServiceNow GRC)." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, scale prompt)
- MetricStream: 6 of 20 labels negative. "ServiceNow GRC / OneTrust / MetricStream – $150k+ per year. Not even in the same universe." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)
- Workiva: 4 of 33 labels negative. "Workiva, AuditBoard, LogicGate – Overkill, quote-only, and almost always over $40k/year." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/finance/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, September 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/finance.