Matproof vs Tugboat Logic (OneTrust): Mid-Market Focus vs Enterprise Sprawl

Introduction

Tugboat Logic built a solid reputation as a compliance automation tool for small and mid-sized businesses. It was fast to deploy, reasonably priced, and effective at getting companies to their first SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification without hiring a dedicated compliance team. Then OneTrust acquired it in November 2022, and the product's trajectory changed fundamentally.

The acquisition was not unusual. Large GRC platforms routinely acquire smaller competitors to expand their product suites. But for Tugboat Logic's core user base -- compliance teams at companies with 50 to 500 employees -- the consequences have been significant. The product has been folded into OneTrust's enterprise platform. Pricing has shifted to enterprise-tier contracts. The sales process now involves multi-week procurement cycles. And the product roadmap is driven by the needs of OneTrust's Fortune 500 clients, not mid-market compliance teams trying to meet their next audit deadline.

For European financial institutions, the situation is compounded by a regulatory reality that neither Tugboat Logic nor OneTrust was built to address. DORA (Regulation (EU) 2022/2554) imposes specific ICT risk management, incident reporting, and third-party oversight obligations on financial entities. NIS2 (Directive (EU) 2022/2555) broadens cybersecurity requirements across essential services. These are not frameworks you can bolt onto a product designed for US SOC 2 audits. They require purpose-built control structures, evidence workflows, and reporting templates aligned with European supervisory authorities.

This article examines what happened to Tugboat Logic after the OneTrust acquisition, what that means for mid-market compliance teams, and how Matproof addresses the specific needs that Tugboat Logic's original users are now struggling to meet.

Quick Comparison Overview

Framework Coverage

Tugboat Logic's original strength was its efficient approach to SOC 2 and ISO 27001. The platform offered pre-built control libraries, automated evidence collection, and guided workflows that made first-time certifications achievable without deep GRC expertise. For a startup or mid-sized tech company pursuing SOC 2 Type II, it was one of the better options available.

Under OneTrust, the compliance automation capabilities have been integrated into a much larger product suite that spans privacy management, data governance, consent management, third-party risk, and ethics programmes. OneTrust now supports over 100 regulatory frameworks across its platform. This breadth serves enterprise clients managing compliance across multiple jurisdictions and business units. But for a mid-market financial institution that needs DORA, ISO 27001, and GDPR coverage, the vast majority of OneTrust's framework library is irrelevant overhead.

More critically, OneTrust's framework coverage reflects its enterprise privacy roots, not financial services regulation. DORA is not available as a native, pre-mapped framework within the compliance automation module. Financial institutions subject to DORA Article 6(1), which mandates a comprehensive ICT risk management framework, or Article 28, which governs ICT third-party risk management including the mandatory register of information, must configure these requirements manually. This defeats the purpose of using a compliance automation platform.

Matproof covers five frameworks: DORA, ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIS2, and GDPR. Each is mapped at the article and clause level with pre-configured controls, evidence requirements, and audit workflows. DORA coverage includes specific control sets for ICT risk management (Articles 5-15), digital operational resilience testing (Articles 24-27), and the ICT third-party risk register mandated by Article 28(3). NIS2 controls align with the risk management measures specified in Article 21 and the incident notification requirements of Article 23. This focused coverage means compliance teams can start working immediately rather than spending weeks building framework structures.

EU Compliance & Data Residency

The OneTrust acquisition introduced a data residency question that Tugboat Logic's original users never had to consider. OneTrust operates global infrastructure across the US, EU, and other regions. While EU data hosting options exist within the OneTrust platform, the specific availability and configuration depend on the product module, contract terms, and deployment architecture. For compliance teams at European financial institutions, this requires careful due diligence.

Under DORA, financial entities must ensure that their ICT service providers, including compliance platforms, meet specific requirements for data protection and operational resilience. DORA Article 28(2) requires that contractual arrangements with ICT third-party providers include clear provisions on data processing locations. Article 28(7) further specifies that financial entities must assess whether the use of ICT services provided from third countries poses concentration risk. For a compliance platform, this means the tool you use to demonstrate DORA compliance must itself be DORA-compliant -- a requirement that is easier to satisfy when the platform operates entirely within the EU.

Matproof's architecture eliminates this circular problem. All data is processed and stored in German data centres. There is no US-based infrastructure, no international data transfers, and no need to evaluate adequacy decisions or supplementary measures under GDPR Chapter V. When a BaFin examiner or external auditor asks where compliance data is stored, the answer is unambiguous.

OneTrust's global footprint, while advantageous for multinational enterprises that need region-specific deployments, adds complexity for mid-market European firms. Confirming EU-only data residency may require specific contractual provisions, technical verification, and ongoing monitoring -- all of which consume compliance team bandwidth that could be spent on actual compliance work.

The language dimension is also relevant. Many European compliance programmes operate bilingually. Policies may need to exist in both the local language and English. Audit documentation for BaFin submissions is typically in German. Matproof generates policies in both German and English using AI-powered generation aligned to specific regulatory requirements. OneTrust's compliance module, inheriting Tugboat Logic's English-first approach, does not offer equivalent bilingual policy generation.

Pricing & Value

This is where the OneTrust acquisition has had the most visible impact on former Tugboat Logic users. Before the acquisition, Tugboat Logic offered straightforward pricing that mid-market companies could budget for without executive approval cycles. Published pricing started below EUR 1,000 per month for basic plans, with predictable scaling as organisations grew.

Post-acquisition, Tugboat Logic's functionality is sold as part of OneTrust's enterprise compliance module. Pricing is no longer publicly available. Based on market reports and customer feedback, entry-level contracts for the compliance automation module typically start at EUR 3,000-5,000 per month, with annual commitments. Multi-module bundles, which OneTrust's sales team frequently proposes, can push costs significantly higher. The procurement process itself has shifted from a direct SaaS purchase to an enterprise sales cycle involving demos, security reviews, legal negotiations, and multi-level approvals.

For a mid-market European financial institution with 100-500 employees, this pricing and procurement structure creates friction. The budget may exist, but the procurement overhead does not match the urgency of a DORA compliance deadline. A compliance manager who needs to be audit-ready within three months cannot afford a twelve-week enterprise onboarding process.

Matproof's pricing starts at approximately EUR 1,500 per month and includes all five core frameworks, automated evidence collection, endpoint monitoring, and AI-powered policy generation. There are no per-framework surcharges and no separate modules to license. The sales process is direct: organisations can schedule a demo within days and begin implementation within two weeks. For mid-market financial institutions operating under regulatory deadlines, this speed-to-value difference is material.

The total cost comparison should also factor in implementation effort. OneTrust enterprise deployments typically require dedicated implementation resources, often including OneTrust professional services at additional cost. Matproof's focused feature set and pre-built EU frameworks reduce implementation complexity, with most deployments completed within two to four weeks using the organisation's existing compliance team.

Who Should Choose What

Choose OneTrust (Tugboat Logic) if:

• Your organisation is a large enterprise (1,000+ employees) managing compliance across multiple business units and jurisdictions.
• You need OneTrust's broader platform capabilities beyond compliance automation, such as privacy management, consent management, or data governance.
• Your procurement process is already structured for enterprise software purchases with multi-month evaluation cycles.
• You have the budget for enterprise-tier pricing (EUR 3,000+/month) and dedicated implementation resources.
• DORA and NIS2 are not your primary regulatory obligations, or you have internal resources to build custom frameworks.

Choose Matproof if:

• You are a mid-market European financial institution (50-500 employees) subject to DORA.
• You need to be audit-ready within weeks, not months.
• EU data residency is a regulatory requirement from your supervisory authority.
• You need native DORA, NIS2, ISO 27001, SOC 2, and GDPR coverage without custom framework development.
• You want bilingual policy generation (German/English) and audit workflows aligned with BaFin and EBA expectations.
• Your budget and procurement process favour direct SaaS purchases over enterprise negotiations.

There is also a third category to consider: organisations that were satisfied Tugboat Logic customers before the acquisition and are now evaluating alternatives. If Tugboat Logic served you well for SOC 2 and ISO 27001 but the OneTrust transition has introduced pricing, complexity, or feature concerns, Matproof offers a comparable level of automation with the added benefit of native EU regulatory coverage.

The Bottom Line

Tugboat Logic was a good product for its intended audience. It simplified compliance automation for mid-market companies and made SOC 2 and ISO 27001 accessible without enterprise budgets. The OneTrust acquisition changed the equation. The product now lives inside an enterprise platform with enterprise pricing, enterprise procurement processes, and an enterprise roadmap. For the mid-market compliance teams that made Tugboat Logic successful, the fit has deteriorated.

Matproof occupies the space that Tugboat Logic vacated: focused compliance automation for mid-market organisations, with the critical addition of EU-first design. For European financial institutions subject to DORA, NIS2, and GDPR, the combination of native framework coverage, 100% EU data residency, bilingual support, and mid-market pricing addresses a specific and growing need. The compliance automation market does not lack options. What it lacks is options built specifically for the regulatory reality of European financial services. Matproof fills that gap.

For a free assessment of your compliance posture and a demonstration of how Matproof handles DORA and NIS2 requirements, visit matproof.com/contact.

FAQ

Is Tugboat Logic still available as a standalone product?

No. Tugboat Logic was acquired by OneTrust in November 2022 and has been fully integrated into OneTrust's compliance automation module. You cannot purchase Tugboat Logic as a separate product. Existing Tugboat Logic customers have been migrated to the OneTrust platform. The Tugboat Logic brand is no longer actively marketed, and the product roadmap is now determined by OneTrust's broader enterprise strategy.

How does OneTrust's pricing compare to Matproof for a mid-market company?

OneTrust's compliance automation module typically starts at EUR 3,000-5,000 per month with annual commitments, and pricing is not publicly listed. Matproof starts at approximately EUR 1,500 per month with all five core frameworks included. For a mid-market financial institution, the annual cost difference can range from EUR 18,000 to EUR 42,000. Additionally, OneTrust enterprise deployments often require professional services for implementation, adding further cost. Matproof's focused feature set allows most implementations to be completed within two to four weeks without external consulting.

Does OneTrust support DORA compliance natively?

As of early 2026, OneTrust does not offer DORA as a pre-built, article-level compliance framework within its compliance automation module. OneTrust does provide broader GRC capabilities that can be configured for DORA requirements, but this requires manual framework development, control mapping, and evidence workflow configuration. Matproof includes a native DORA framework mapped to all relevant articles, including ICT risk management (Articles 5-15), incident reporting (Articles 17-23), resilience testing (Articles 24-27), and third-party risk management (Articles 28-44).

Can I migrate from Tugboat Logic / OneTrust to Matproof?

Yes. Matproof supports migration from other compliance platforms, including OneTrust. Existing control mappings, evidence documentation, and policy libraries can be imported and mapped to Matproof's framework structures. For organisations that have already completed ISO 27001 or SOC 2 work in Tugboat Logic / OneTrust, this prior work is preserved and extended with DORA, NIS2, and GDPR-specific controls. Migration timelines typically range from two to four weeks depending on the complexity of existing compliance programmes.