Choosing an ISO 27001 toolkit can be challenging. Let me show you how to choose an ISO 27001 toolkit, what to look out for and a list of the top 5 best ISO 27001 toolkits currently on the market.
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What is an ISO 27001 Toolkit?
An ISO 27001 toolkit is a collection of resources designed to fast track your ISO 27001 implementation and simplify the process if ISO 270001 certification.
Toolkits can vary wildly in the resources and support that they offer. So how do you go about choosing the right toolkit for you?
How to choose an ISO 27001 Toolkit
There is no doubt that an ISO 27001 toolkit can significantly streamline the implementation of an Information Security Management System (ISMS). By providing essential templates, guidelines, and resources, these toolkits help ensure your compliance with the ISO 27001 standard and establish effective security practices.
When choosing which toolkit is right for you, consider:
The needs of your organisation
Before considering a toolkit you should consider your size, complexity and compliance requirements. These can play a major role in finding a toolkit that aligns with your needs.
Has the toolkit and resources been designed for an organisation like you and is there evidence of success in similar markets.
Features
The features of toolkits will vary significantly.
They should all come with a common base of the most basic of templates but then consider on top of that what is important to you. Whilst free toolkits can look attractive on a cost basis, do they come with regluar updates, support and the additional features that you require.
Features that will make a toolkit more likely to be successful for you include:
- In person support
- On going support
- Updates and keeping pace with changes to the standard
- Implementation guides and implementation videos
Support
Support varies wildly between toolkits. Many will use the toolkit to upsell additional services so it is important to understand exactly what support you are getting. A good indicator is the willingness of the vendor to meet you for free to answer your questions before you buy. Consider here how much access you are getting to an expert and if that is included or coming at a further cost. What channels of support are they going to provide. The best toolkit vendors will meet you to provide a demo and answer questions and include a free 1 to 1 with you as well as on going in person support.
User Friendliness
This is an area where you want feedback from reviews. Just because someone has a toolkit does not mean that it was designed for all levels of knowledge and experience. A good toolkit should be beginner friendly, using simple language with steps that are easy for follow and implement. There are toolkits designed for practitioners but this doesn’t mean that they have to be complicated or hard to follow. The ISO 27001 standard is not a hard standard to implement and if the toolkit makes it look hard then it is not doing it’s job correctly.
Cost
There is no doubt that cost comes into play if you are looking at getting an ISO 27001 toolkit. For traditional consulting you can be paying £10,000’s. It is against this context that you are comparing the value of the toolkits you are reviewing. My only advice here would be to urge caution on any Free ISO 27001 toolkits. Whilst they are good at what they do it is difficult for people to provide a free resource that is fully supported and updated. Often they are just a gateway to you buying traditional consulting services, especially if they are put together in a way to make the whole process look hard. Your ball park figure should be around the £500 mark. Be sure to look out for any cheeky recurring costs or fees.
What to look for in an ISO 27001 Toolkit Company
It is my experience that the market is wide from sole traders all the way through the ISO 27001 body shops. Each has its place. Working out what is right for you is the key.
It is also my experience that being able to meet the ISO 27001 toolkit author is a great step as it builds the relationship and the trust and can lead to a smoother overall engagement. If they are unwilling to meet you, the question should be, why?
The bait switch conundrum
There are software as a service providers who use the terminology of ISO 27001 toolkits to dominate SEO and rankings and provide the click bait to drive traffic, with the sole intent to offer different products entirely. We call this the bait switch.
As for free toolkits, these are usually well intended but come with no commercial safeguards, are rarely updated, offer little to no support and can be a minefield of other’s intellectual property.
Do your own ISO 27001 toolkit due diligence before engaging any company.
Top 5 ISO 27001 Toolkits
High Table: ISO 27001 Toolkit Business Edition
Launch and manage your small business effortlessly with the High Table Business Edition Toolkit. Perfect for beginners and those with no prior business knowledge, this toolkit simplifies operations.
Forget expensive, complicated online platforms! Our toolkit uses common Microsoft Office documents, cutting down on costs and steep learning curves.
What’s included?
- A complimentary 1-to-1 consultation
- Access to weekly Questions & Answers group sessions
- A single, one-time payment
- Lifetime access and all future standard updates included
High Table: ISO 27001 Toolkit Consultant Edition
The only ISO 27001 toolkit made for consultants. Help your clients achieve ISO 27001 certification with a single, one-time fee. Created by consultants, trusted worldwide.
IT Governance: ISO 27001 Toolkit
IT Governance is a global leader in cyber risk and privacy management. They specialize in helping organizations with cyber resilience, data protection, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, and general cyber security.
While a well-established name in the industry, IT Governance offers a modern approach to their services. For example, their traditional ISO 27001 Toolkit is now available through an annual subscription. This toolkit is fully integrated into their user-friendly DocumentKits platform, an online tool designed to simplify your compliance efforts.
IT Governance: Toolkit Bundles
Looking to streamline your compliance efforts beyond just ISO 27001? IT Governance offers a variety of toolkit bundlesthat combine their popular ISO 27001 toolkit with resources for other essential standards.
These bundles operate on the same convenient subscription pricing model as their individual toolkits and are all accessible through the user-friendly DocumentKits platform. This means you get comprehensive support for multiple standards, all in one place and with a flexible subscription.
Certikit: ISO 27001 Toolkit
Certikit offer a range of consulting services with their entry level product being the ISO 27001 toolkit. This is the most expensive commercially available toolkit we have seen ( at the time of writing ) with additional paid add ons such as a consultation meeting. As a company they are focussed on consultancy services and audits so be prepared for an upsell.
ISO 27001 Toolkit Comparison Table
A comparison of the top 5 ISO 27001 toolkits.
| Pro | Con | |
|---|---|---|
| High Table: ISO 27001 Toolkit Business Edition | One Time Fee Free Support Small Business Focus Beginner Friendly Assumes no prior knowledge | Microsoft Office Documents |
| High Table: ISO 27001 Toolkit Consultant Edition | Commercial consultant toolkit for a 1 time fee | Microsoft Office Documents |
| IT Governance: ISO 27001 Toolkit | Comprehensive, long standing offering. | Documentation is in their online platform Subscription Fees |
| IT Governance: Toolkit Bundles | Comprehensive, long standing offering. | Documentation is in their online platform Subscription Fees |
| Certikit: ISO 27001 Toolkit | Solid toolkit | Expensive Support and additional Services come at a cost |
Best ISO 27001 Company 2026
Taking into account the global adoption, the comprehensive templates, the built in free support, the one time fee making it the most cost effective solution on the market then in conclusion, for the second year running, the best ISO 27001 Toolkit 2026 is High Table: ISO 27001 Toolkit Business Edition.