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Cybersecurity · head to head

DataGrail vs Varonis Data Security Platform

DataGrail logo

DataGrail

Cybersecurity

Privacy platform that finds shadow data systems and automates data subject requests across them

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Varonis Data Security Platform logo

Varonis Data Security Platform

Cybersecurity

Data security platform that maps effective permissions, content classification and access activity across file shares, Microsoft 365 and SaaS.

From
$100/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: DataGrail no pricing is published, and while benchmarking suggests it undercuts OneTrust for comparable scope, cost still scales with request volume and connected systems, which grow with the business.; Varonis Data Security Platform deployment is a project rather than an installation: collectors, service accounts, the initial crawl of a large file estate and behavioural baselining typically run for weeks to months before the first genuinely useful report, so value arrives well after the invoice does.
  • They diverge on capability: DataGrail covers Live data discovery, Varonis Data Security Platform covers Effective permissions modelling.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DataGrail and Varonis Data Security Platform actually diverge.

Attributes where DataGrail and Varonis Data Security Platform differ
AttributeDataGrailVaronis Data Security Platform
Starting priceOn request$100/year
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, Desktop
FoundedUnknown2005

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in DataGrail

  • Live data discovery
  • Request automation
  • Audit trail
  • Consent management
  • Integration catalogue
  • Risk monitoring
  • Consumer request portal
  • Reporting

Only in Varonis Data Security Platform

  • Effective permissions modelling
  • Content classification
  • Access activity auditing
  • Behavioural alerting
  • Blast radius view
  • Automated remediation
  • Stale data identification
  • Ransomware detection

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

DataGrail

  • A consumer brand whose deletion requests keep missing data in marketing tools the privacy team did not know existednot Varonis Data Security Platform
  • A company processing hundreds of CCPA requests a month where manual fulfilment has become a full-time jobnot Varonis Data Security Platform
  • A privacy team leaving OneTrust because the platform tracked requests but staff still completed them by handnot Varonis Data Security Platform
  • An organisation needing evidence for a regulator that deletion actually occurred in every system, not that a ticket was closednot Varonis Data Security Platform

Varonis Data Security Platform

  • Answering an auditor or a board asking exactly which sensitive files are reachable by every employee and who has opened themnot DataGrail
  • Cleaning up Microsoft 365 sprawl where Teams, SharePoint sites and shared links accumulated faster than governancenot DataGrail
  • Investigating an insider incident where you need a defensible record of what a departing employee accessed and whennot DataGrail
  • Reducing the blast radius of a compromised account before an incident by removing global access groups and broken inheritancenot DataGrail

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

DataGrail

  • No pricing is published, and while benchmarking suggests it undercuts OneTrust for comparable scope, cost still scales with request volume and connected systems, which grow with the business.
  • Automated fulfilment only works for systems with a supported connector, so homegrown applications and legacy databases still need manual handling, and those are usually where the awkward data lives.
  • Discovery works by observing integrations and traffic patterns, so genuinely isolated systems, offline data and files on employee machines remain invisible and outside the data map.
  • It is narrower than the enterprise privacy suites, lacking the assessment, third-party risk and wider GRC modules a large regulated organisation will also need, so it may be one of two platforms rather than the only one.
  • Deletion automation is irreversible and mistakes are unrecoverable, so teams need real confidence in identity verification before enabling it, and that caution often keeps deletion semi-manual for months after purchase.

Varonis Data Security Platform

  • Deployment is a project rather than an installation: collectors, service accounts, the initial crawl of a large file estate and behavioural baselining typically run for weeks to months before the first genuinely useful report, so value arrives well after the invoice does.
  • The collection model requires granting the platform broad read access across the data you are trying to protect, which needs its own approval and creates a high-value target, and some change boards spend longer approving that access than approving the purchase.
  • Findings are produced far faster than remediation capacity: an initial scan routinely surfaces hundreds of thousands of overexposed objects, and fixing them means altering permissions owned by business units, so without an executive mandate it becomes a dashboard nobody acts on.
  • Licensing is driven by identity counts and connected data sources, so a directory full of stale accounts and service principals inflates the bill and every additional platform you connect adds cost, which quietly pushes organisations to leave their least-governed systems uncovered.
  • Coverage is deepest in the Microsoft estate and thinner elsewhere: connectors exist for other SaaS and database platforms but they do not all support the same classification, alerting and automated remediation, so a heterogeneous estate receives uneven protection at a uniform price.

Pricing, plan by plan

DataGrail

On request
  • DataGrail Platform$undefined/year
    • Data discovery and mapping
    • Data subject request automation
    • Consent management

Varonis Data Security Platform

$100/year
  • Varonis Essentials$100/year
    • Data classification
    • Access visibility
    • Permission management
  • Varonis Professional$175/year
    • All Essentials features
    • Threat detection
    • User behavior analytics
  • Varonis Enterprise$300/year
    • All Professional features
    • Advanced analytics
    • Incident response

Which should you pick?

Choose DataGrail if

  • You need live data discovery.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want request automation.
DataGrail review

Choose Varonis Data Security Platform if

  • You need effective permissions modelling.
  • You work on Web, Desktop.
  • You also want content classification.
Varonis Data Security Platform review

Questions people ask

Is DataGrail or Varonis Data Security Platform better?
Neither clearly leads. DataGrail starts at On request and Varonis Data Security Platform at $100/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DataGrail or Varonis Data Security Platform?
DataGrail starts at On request and Varonis Data Security Platform at $100/year.
Does DataGrail or Varonis Data Security Platform run on more platforms?
DataGrail runs on Web, API. Varonis Data Security Platform runs on Web, Desktop.
What is DataGrail best used for?
DataGrail is most often used for a consumer brand whose deletion requests keep missing data in marketing tools the privacy team did not know existed, a company processing hundreds of ccpa requests a month where manual fulfilment has become a full-time job, a privacy team leaving onetrust because the platform tracked requests but staff still completed them by hand, an organisation needing evidence for a regulator that deletion actually occurred in every system, not that a ticket was closed. Of those, a consumer brand whose deletion requests keep missing data in marketing tools the privacy team did not know existed and a company processing hundreds of ccpa requests a month where manual fulfilment has become a full-time job are not what Varonis Data Security Platform is typically brought in for.
What can DataGrail do that Varonis Data Security Platform cannot?
DataGrail covers Live data discovery, Request automation, Audit trail, Consent management. Varonis Data Security Platform covers Effective permissions modelling, Content classification, Access activity auditing, Behavioural alerting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

DataGrail: How is DataGrail different from OneTrust?

OneTrust orchestrates the workflow; DataGrail focuses on connecting to systems and completing the request, and benchmark data suggests it prices materially below OneTrust for comparable scope.

Varonis Data Security Platform: Is this data loss prevention?

No, and it is a common confusion. DLP watches data in motion and tries to stop it leaving. Varonis works on data at rest: where it is, who can reach it, and who touched it. They address different halves of the same problem and organisations frequently run both.

DataGrail: Does it find systems we do not know about?

Yes. Continuous discovery of unsanctioned tools processing personal data is its main technical claim.

Varonis Data Security Platform: On-premises or SaaS?

It is now sold principally as SaaS, with edge collectors deployed on your network to reach on-premises file shares and directories. Older on-premises deployments with Windows collectors and SQL Server still exist in the field and are being migrated.

DataGrail: What does it cost?

Not published. Pricing is quoted by request volume and connected systems, with multi-year commitments typically discounted.

Varonis Data Security Platform: Does it need agents on every server?

Generally no. It collects through APIs and network protocols with service accounts, with collectors deployed near the data rather than agents on every host. That is one reason deployment is less invasive than the scale of the data suggests.

DataGrail: Does it cover consent as well as requests?

Yes, it includes consent management, though publishers needing certified advertising consent usually use a specialist CMP.

Varonis Data Security Platform: How long until it is useful?

Expect weeks to a few months depending on the size of the file estate and how quickly the service accounts and access are approved. The classification and behavioural baselining both need time before the alerts mean anything.

Varonis Data Security Platform: Can it fix the problems it finds automatically?

Yes, it can remove global access groups, repair broken inheritance and quarantine exposed files under policy. Most organisations run this in simulation first, because automatically changing permissions on live business data goes wrong loudly.

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