DSAR Software Comparison: What Small Businesses Actually Need

The Uncomfortable Truth About DSAR Software

Here is something most privacy software vendors do not want you to hear: if you are a small business handling fewer than a dozen data subject access requests per year, you probably do not need dedicated DSAR software.

That does not mean DSARs are not important. They absolutely are — miss a deadline and you are looking at regulatory fines, reputational damage, and legal headaches. But the solution for a 20-person company is not the same solution that a Fortune 500 company needs.

This guide is an honest comparison of what is out there. We will cover enterprise platforms, mid-market tools, and manual approaches. By the end, you will know exactly which category fits your business and your budget.

What DSAR Software Actually Does

Before we compare products, let us make sure we are on the same page about what DSAR management software is supposed to do.

At its core, DSAR software helps you:

• Receive and log requests — A centralized place where incoming DSARs land, whether they come through email, a web form, or another channel.
• Verify identities — Workflows or integrations to confirm the person making the request is who they claim to be.
• Search for data — Connections to your systems (CRM, email, databases, cloud storage) to find all personal data related to the requester.
• Review and redact — Tools to review what you have found, remove third-party information, and apply any exemptions.
• Generate responses — Templates and formatting to compile a proper response package.
• Track deadlines — Countdown timers and alerts so you do not miss your 30-day (GDPR Article 12(3)) or 45-day (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.130(a)(2)) window.
• Maintain audit trails — Records of everything you did, when you did it, and who was involved, in case a regulator asks.

Some platforms do all of this. Some do a few pieces well. Some are overkill for what you actually need. Let us break it down.

Category 1: Enterprise Platforms

These are the big names you will find at the top of every analyst report. They are built for large organizations with complex data ecosystems, dedicated privacy teams, and substantial budgets.

OneTrust

OneTrust is the 800-pound gorilla of privacy management. It offers a full suite that covers DSAR management, consent management, data mapping, vendor risk, cookie compliance, and more.

What it does well:

• Comprehensive DSAR automation with integrations to hundreds of enterprise systems (Salesforce, Workday, ServiceNow, and so on)
• Automated data discovery across connected systems
• Built-in identity verification workflows
• Multi-regulation support (GDPR, CCPA, LGPD, PIPA, and dozens of others)
• Detailed audit trails and reporting

The reality for small businesses: OneTrust is priced for enterprises. We are talking five-figure annual contracts as a starting point, often significantly more depending on modules and data volume. The implementation alone can take months and may require a consultant. If you have a privacy team of three or more people and handle hundreds of DSARs per year, OneTrust makes sense. If you are a 15-person marketing agency that gets two DSARs a year, this is like buying a semi-truck to pick up groceries.

TrustArc

TrustArc (formerly TRUSTe) is another enterprise-grade platform with deep DSAR management capabilities, including automated data discovery, workflow management, and compliance reporting.

What it does well:

• Strong regulatory intelligence (they track law changes and update the platform)
• Decent DSAR workflow engine
• Good reporting for demonstrating compliance to auditors
• Cookie consent management included

The reality for small businesses: Similar to OneTrust in terms of pricing and complexity. TrustArc requires real implementation effort and ongoing administration. The people who get the most out of it are the ones who have dedicated compliance staff to run it. That is probably not you if you are reading this article.

BigID

BigID focuses heavily on data discovery and intelligence. It is particularly strong at finding personal data across complex environments — databases, data lakes, file shares, cloud services.

What it does well:

• Arguably the best data discovery engine on the market
• AI-powered PII classification
• Strong DSAR fulfillment when combined with its discovery capabilities
• Handles unstructured data well

The reality for small businesses: BigID is priced and positioned for mid-to-large enterprises. The data discovery capabilities are impressive but are solving problems that most small businesses do not have. If your data lives in three or four SaaS tools and a shared Google Drive, you do not need AI-powered data intelligence to find it.

The Bottom Line on Enterprise Platforms

These tools are excellent at what they do. They are also expensive, complex, and built for organizations with dedicated privacy teams. If you run a small business, skip this category entirely unless you are handling a genuinely high volume of requests or operating in an extremely regulated industry (healthcare, financial services) where the compliance requirements justify the investment.

Category 2: Mid-Market Tools

This is where it gets more interesting for growing small businesses and mid-market companies. These tools are more affordable, easier to implement, and focused on the core problems without the bloat.

Ketch

Ketch positions itself as a "programmable privacy" platform. It handles consent management, DSAR automation, and data mapping in a more modern, developer-friendly package than the enterprise incumbents.

What it does well:

• Clean, modern interface
• Good DSAR workflow management
• Consent management that actually works well
• API-first approach makes it integrable
• More reasonable pricing than enterprise tools

Where it falls short for small businesses: Still requires some technical setup. Pricing, while lower than OneTrust, is not trivial — expect to pay several thousand dollars per year. Best suited for businesses that have a developer on staff or are comfortable with technical tools.

Transcend

Transcend focuses on automated data subject request handling. Its core pitch is that it connects to your tech stack and automates the data retrieval process so DSAR fulfillment takes minutes instead of days.

What it does well:

• Strong integration library (connects to common SaaS tools)
• Genuinely reduces the manual work in DSAR fulfillment
• Privacy-by-design approach to consent management
• Good developer experience

Where it falls short for small businesses: You need integrations to get value from Transcend, which means you need the technical capacity to set them up. If your tech stack is simple (Gmail, Google Sheets, a basic CRM), the setup effort may not be justified. Pricing is typically in the mid-thousands annually.

Osano

Osano started as a cookie consent platform and has expanded into broader privacy compliance, including DSAR management.

What it does well:

• Very easy to set up (the cookie consent part, especially)
• Transparent, published pricing (refreshing in this space)
• Solid consent management
• Vendor monitoring (tracks privacy practices of your third-party tools)
• DSAR management workflows

Where it falls short for small businesses: The DSAR management piece is not as mature as the consent management side. If your primary need is handling data subject requests, Osano might not be the strongest choice. If you need a cookie banner plus basic DSAR tracking, it could work.

Ethyca (Fides)

Ethyca offers Fides, an open-source privacy engineering platform, alongside commercial offerings. It is developer-focused and handles consent management, data mapping, and DSARs.

What it does well:

• Open-source core (you can try before you buy)
• Strong technical approach to privacy
• Good for businesses with developers who want control
• Data mapping capabilities

Where it falls short for small businesses: This is an engineering tool. If you do not have developers, Fides is not for you. The open-source version requires significant technical effort to deploy and maintain. The commercial version is more accessible but still assumes a technical audience.

The Bottom Line on Mid-Market Tools

If you handle 20 to 100+ DSARs per year, have some technical capacity on your team, and want to reduce the manual work involved in responding to requests, mid-market tools are worth evaluating. Budget between $3,000 and $15,000 per year depending on the platform and your needs. The best approach is to request demos from two or three of these and compare them against your specific workflow.

Category 3: Manual and Lightweight Approaches

Here is where most small businesses should start. And honestly, where many should stay.

The Spreadsheet + Templates Approach

This is exactly what it sounds like. You track DSARs in a spreadsheet and use pre-written templates for your responses.

What you need:

• A DSAR tracking spreadsheet (columns for requester name, date received, deadline date, status, assigned to, notes, date completed)
• Response templates for acknowledgment, identity verification, data delivery, and extension notices
• A documented process that anyone on your team can follow
• Calendar reminders for deadlines

What it costs: Free, aside from the time to set it up. If you use our DSAR response templates, even the setup time is minimal.

When it works: This approach works well when you handle fewer than 20 DSARs per year, your data is stored in a manageable number of systems (under 10), and one or two people in your business are responsible for handling requests.

When it breaks down: When volume increases past about 20 requests per year, when you have multiple people handling requests and need coordination, or when the manual data search process starts eating up significant time.

Google Forms + Google Sheets

A step up from pure spreadsheets. Create a Google Form as your DSAR intake mechanism, have it feed into a Google Sheet for tracking, and use Gmail templates for responses.

What it costs: Free with Google Workspace.

Advantages over raw spreadsheets:

• Standardized intake (the form captures the information you need upfront)
• Automatic logging (no manual data entry for incoming requests)
• Shareable tracking (multiple people can view the status)

Trello or Asana as a DSAR Tracker

Some small businesses repurpose a project management tool for DSAR tracking. Create a board with columns for each stage (New, Identity Verification, Data Search, Review, Response Sent) and move cards through the pipeline.

What it costs: Free tiers of Trello or Asana are sufficient for this.

Advantages:

• Visual workflow
• Easy to assign tasks to team members
• Due date reminders built in
• Activity log serves as a basic audit trail

Limitations: No automation, no integrations with your data systems, no built-in response templates. You are essentially using a task manager, which is fine until it is not.

The Bottom Line on Manual Approaches

If you are a small business getting started with DSAR compliance, start here. A good spreadsheet tracker, solid response templates, and a documented process will handle the vast majority of what you need. You can always upgrade later if volume demands it.

For a detailed walkthrough of building a manual DSAR process, see our guide on building a DSAR workflow.

How to Choose: A Decision Framework

Here is a simple way to think about which approach fits your business.

Start with Manual if:

• You receive fewer than 20 DSARs per year
• Your business has fewer than 50 employees
• Your data lives in fewer than 10 systems
• You have one or two people who can handle requests
• Your budget for privacy tooling is under $1,000 per year

Consider Mid-Market Tools if:

• You receive 20 to 100+ DSARs per year
• Your business is growing and request volume is increasing
• You have data spread across many systems
• Multiple people need to coordinate on responses
• You have some technical capacity on your team
• You can budget $3,000 to $15,000 per year

Consider Enterprise Platforms if:

• You receive hundreds or thousands of DSARs per year
• You operate in multiple jurisdictions with different requirements
• You have a dedicated privacy or compliance team
• Your data environment is complex (many systems, many data types, many locations)
• You can budget $25,000+ per year

What Features Actually Matter

Regardless of which category you are shopping in, here is what to prioritize when evaluating DSAR tools.

Must-Have Features

• Deadline tracking with alerts — Missing a deadline is the fastest way to get in trouble (GDPR and CCPA both impose strict response timelines). Any tool you use must make deadlines visible and unmissable.
• Audit trail — You need a record of what you did and when. If a regulator investigates, "we handled it but did not document anything" is a terrible answer.
• Response templates — Standardized responses ensure you do not miss required information and speed up the process.
• Identity verification workflow — Even if it is just a checklist, you need a step in your process where you confirm the requester is who they say they are.

Nice-to-Have Features

• System integrations — Connections to your CRM, email, cloud storage, and other systems to speed up data retrieval.
• Automated data discovery — The tool searches your connected systems for the requester's data automatically.
• Multi-regulation support — Tracks different requirements and deadlines for GDPR, CCPA, and other laws.
• Requestor portal — A self-service page where people can submit requests and check status.

Features You Probably Do Not Need

• AI-powered data classification — Useful at enterprise scale, not at small business scale.
• Privacy impact assessment modules — Important, but not for DSAR management specifically.
• Cross-border data transfer management — Unless you operate in multiple countries with data flowing between them.
• Advanced analytics and dashboards — Knowing your average response time is useful. A 20-widget dashboard is not, when you handle 10 requests a year.

The Hidden Cost Nobody Talks About

The sticker price of DSAR software is only part of the equation. The real costs include:

• Implementation time — Enterprise tools can take 3 to 6 months to fully implement. Mid-market tools typically take 2 to 8 weeks. Manual approaches can be set up in an afternoon.
• Ongoing administration — Someone has to keep the tool updated, manage integrations, onboard new users, and handle issues. That is time.
• Training — Every new tool requires training. The more complex the tool, the more training needed.
• Integration maintenance — When you update one of your connected systems, the integration may break. Someone has to fix it.
• Vendor lock-in — Once you build your process around a specific tool, switching is painful. Consider this before committing.

For a small business, the manual approach has the lowest total cost of ownership by a wide margin. The question is whether the time savings from automation justify the added cost and complexity.

Our Recommendation

If you have landed on this page looking for DSAR software, here is our honest take:

Most small businesses (under 50 employees, under 20 DSARs per year) should start with a manual approach. A good spreadsheet tracker, well-written response templates, a clear process document, and calendar reminders will get you through 90% of what you need. Spend the money you would have spent on software on employee training instead — that is where the real compliance risk lives.

If you are growing past that — more requests, more systems, more complexity — look at mid-market tools like Ketch, Transcend, or Osano. Get demos, compare pricing, and choose based on how well the tool fits your actual workflow.

If you are reading this and you work at a large company, you probably already know you need an enterprise platform. Talk to OneTrust, TrustArc, and BigID, and evaluate based on your specific tech stack and compliance requirements.

The worst decision is buying software you do not need yet. The second worst decision is not having any process at all. Start simple, build good habits, and upgrade when the manual process genuinely becomes a bottleneck.

References

• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): The GDPR creates the right of access (Article 15) and sets response timelines (Article 12) that DSAR software is designed to help you meet. GDPR full text
• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA): Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.100–1798.199.100 — creates consumer rights that drive the need for DSAR management tools. Full text on the California Legislative Information site
• California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA): Official CPPA website

Get Your DSAR Process Started Today

You do not need expensive software to handle DSARs properly. What you need is a clear process and good templates. Our DSAR Response Templates give you ready-to-use templates for every step of the DSAR process — acknowledgment letters, identity verification requests, response packages, extension notices, and more. All written in plain English, all designed for small businesses.

Download the DSAR Response Templates