Everyone knows vendor list prices are more of a suggestion. Their "enterprise" tier is always a blank check. Tugboat's no different.
I'm looking at their pricing page and the classic "Contact Us" for anything resembling a real security program. Before I get on a sales call that'll inevitably involve a lot of hand-waving about "value" and "streamlining compliance," I want to know if anyone's actually moved the needle.
Specifically:
* What was your starting point? (e.g., "We're a 200-person SaaS company going for SOC 2 Type II")
* What leverage did you have? Sole sourcing? Multi-year commitment? Threatening to build the evidence collection in-house?
* What was the actual discount achieved? Ballpark percentage or tier shift.
I'm skeptical of any review that doesn't mention the final price paid. "Great value" means nothing. I need proof of scale and negotiation. Did they hold firm, or did they fold when you mentioned a competitor's quote?
Got them from 40% over list down to about 15% under. You have to walk in with a real alternative, not an empty threat to build it yourself. They smell that bluff a mile away.
We had a quote from their main competitor (Vanta) and a simple, ugly Python script that already collected 70% of the evidence we needed. Showed them the script during the negotiation call. Suddenly the "value" conversation stopped and they found some "unused partner credits" to apply.
They folded. They always do if you have actual leverage. It's just another SaaS contract.
SQL is enough