Basenorm vs IsoPlanner
Two Dutch ISMS platforms, two philosophies
IsoPlanner is the Microsoft 365-native ISMS for teams that already live inside SharePoint, Teams and Outlook — with broad ISO-standards coverage at a low entry point because it rides on top of your existing M365 tenant. Basenorm is the platform-agnostic EU online ISMS with an AI-first workflow and a Governance Graph — built for teams who want controls, risks and evidence modelled as linked entities rather than embedded as M365 artefacts.
Why Basenorm
Three things that don't change, whoever we're compared with
Unified Control Framework
Define every control once in the Unified Control Library and map it automatically across ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIS2, DORA, AVG, BIO and the frameworks you will add next. No duplicate evidence, no parallel workbooks.
Map your own frameworks to any standard
Internal policies, supplier standards, vertical regulations — bring them into Basenorm alongside the ISO, SOC and EU catalogues. Your frameworks are first-class citizens, not forced into someone else's taxonomy.
AI-first and MCP-native, no legacy
AskNorman is built on current-generation LLMs connected through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). A modern AI workflow from day one, not a chatbot bolted onto a legacy GRC stack.
When to choose which
Choose IsoPlanner if
- Your organisation is deeply committed to Microsoft 365 and works primarily in SharePoint, Teams and Outlook.
- You want a low entry point that builds on M365 licensing you already have.
- Broad ISO-standards coverage (40+ standards) is a plus for your programme.
- Being a Microsoft Partner solution matters for your procurement or IT approval.
- You value the track record of a Dutch vendor already serving 600+ organisations.
Choose Basenorm if
- ISO 27001 plus NIS2, DORA and EU AI Act is your real scope, not only ISO-standards breadth.
- You want an AI-first workflow (AskNorman) that drafts controls and interprets evidence, not M365-form-driven data entry.
- Platform-agnostic governance matters: you don't want your ISMS welded to your current M365 tenant.
- A Governance Graph with semantic entity relationships fits how you think about controls, risks and assets.
- You prefer publicly listed pricing to evaluation-call pricing.
Feature-by-feature comparison
Supported · Partial · Not available
| Feature | Basenorm | IsoPlanner |
|---|---|---|
ISO 27001 support | ||
SOC 2 support | ||
ISO 9001 support | ||
NIS2 native coverage | ||
DORA native coverage IsoPlanner's 40+ standards list includes broad compliance but DORA depth is less emphasised than ISO standards. | ||
EU AI Act support ISO 42001 overlap; the EU AI Act itself is not explicitly listed in IsoPlanner's standards set. | ||
BIO (Dutch public-sector baseline) | ||
AI-first assistant as primary surface IsoPlanner uses Microsoft Copilot integration; AskNorman is Basenorm's purpose-built primary surface. | ||
Governance Graph (linked entities) | ||
Unified Control Library (define once, map many) | ||
Microsoft 365 native deployment IsoPlanner runs natively inside SharePoint, Outlook, Teams, Power BI, Dynamics. Basenorm integrates with M365 but runs as a standalone platform. | ||
Platform-agnostic (works without M365) IsoPlanner requires a Microsoft 365 tenant. | ||
Continuous audit-readiness model | ||
Statement of Applicability management | ||
Evidence collection automation IsoPlanner collects evidence via M365 artefacts; Basenorm through AI document analysis and integrations. | ||
Multi-framework control mapping | ||
Custom frameworks | ||
EU-headquartered vendor Both are headquartered in the Netherlands. | ||
Publicly listed pricing IsoPlanner pricing is via free trial or demo request; not publicly listed. | ||
Free trial available Both offer free trials. |
Comparison information is based on publicly available sources as of April 2026. Vendor features and pricing change frequently; please verify with each vendor before making a decision.
Microsoft 365-embedded vs platform-agnostic
IsoPlanner's core idea is to work where your team already works — inside SharePoint, Teams, Outlook, Power BI and Dynamics. It's a strong idea if your organisation is deeply committed to M365. Basenorm is platform-agnostic: it integrates with M365 (and Google Workspace, Jira, Confluence, Slack) but runs as a standalone SaaS with its own data model, so your ISMS is not welded to any one productivity suite.
- IsoPlanner: M365-tenant-native; lives inside SharePoint lists, Teams and Outlook.
- Basenorm: standalone SaaS with integrations; no platform dependency.
- If your team lives in Google Workspace or a hybrid stack, IsoPlanner is less of a fit.
EU regulatory depth beyond ISO standards
IsoPlanner's 40+ standards catalogue is broad across ISO families (27001, 9001, 14001, 45001, 27701, etc.) and includes NIS2. Basenorm goes deeper on EU-specific regulation — NIS2, DORA, EU AI Act, AVG and BIO as first-class frameworks — with regulatory updates integrated within 24-48 hours of publication by EU institutions.
- IsoPlanner: broad ISO-standards breadth, strong for multi-ISO programmes.
- Basenorm: deeper EU regulatory modelling for NIS2, DORA, EU AI Act, BIO.
- For public-sector (BIO) and multi-EU-regulation programmes, Basenorm's EU depth is typically the differentiator.
Data model: M365 artefacts vs Governance Graph
IsoPlanner models the ISMS as M365 artefacts — SharePoint lists for controls and risks, documents in document libraries, tasks in Planner or Teams, reports in Power BI. It's familiar to M365 power users. Basenorm uses a Governance Graph: controls, risks, assets, suppliers, policies and evidence are first-class entities with semantic relationships, so a change in one propagates its consequences to all linked entities.
- IsoPlanner: ISMS objects modelled as M365 artefacts.
- Basenorm: ISMS objects as first-class entities with semantic relationships in the Governance Graph.
- The Governance Graph scales better when you have many overlapping frameworks and many interrelated entities.
Pricing transparency
IsoPlanner's entry price is low because it builds on your existing M365 licensing, but IsoPlanner itself requires a free-trial sign-up or demo call to see pricing. Basenorm publishes pricing publicly on basenorm.com/pricing. Both are Dutch vendors; both can be evaluated by Dutch compliance teams in their local language.
- Basenorm: publicly listed pricing; standalone SaaS.
- IsoPlanner: low entry point on top of M365; pricing disclosed after trial or demo.
- Total cost comparison should include M365 tenant and per-user licences for IsoPlanner deployment.
Switching to Basenorm
Switching from IsoPlanner to Basenorm
Organisations move from IsoPlanner to Basenorm when two things converge: their compliance scope grows into EU-specific regulation (NIS2, DORA, EU AI Act, BIO) where native modelling matters, and their ISMS starts feeling constrained by its M365 container. The migration path exports ISMS content from IsoPlanner's SharePoint lists, Word documents and Power BI reports, then uploads it to Basenorm where AskNorman maps each artefact semantically to the Unified Control Library. Your Word policies and Excel risk registers do not need to be rewritten — they become source documents that AskNorman interprets into linked entities in the Governance Graph. Most teams complete the migration inside one quarter. Existing M365 integrations stay useful: Basenorm continues to pull evidence from SharePoint, Teams and OneDrive, even after the ISMS itself moves out of M365.
Frequently asked questions
Disclosure: Basenorm is the platform we build. We aim for accuracy and fairness, cite public sources where possible, and encourage you to verify every claim with the respective vendor.