Plumb vs RIA in a Box vs Smartria vs a compliance consultant

Checked 30 October 2026. A small adviser where the owner is also the chief compliance officer has four broad options: a compliance consultant, a full compliance platform such as Comply for RIA (formerly RIA in a Box) or Smartria, a focused tool such as Plumb, or spreadsheets and a shared drive. Only Plumb's price is published: $249 a month, or $1,990 a year for the first 50 founding firms. For the others we give reported ranges from our own research, which you must confirm with the vendor.

Who owns RIA in a Box now?

ComplySci acquired RIA in a Box in December 2021. In November 2022 ComplySci, RIA in a Box, National Regulatory Services (NRS) and illumis took the parent brand COMPLY. The RIA product is now presented as Comply for RIA (formerly RIA in a Box). Its product page lists a compliance calendar and log, Form ADV and registration support, communications archiving, Rule 206(4)-7 annual review workflows, risk assessments, personal trading and outside business activity oversight, and a cybersecurity module. Comply also sells consulting, regulatory filings, new firm registration and managed services.

What does Smartria offer?

Smartria's site lists compliance management (tasks, deadlines, calendar, policies and manual), trade monitoring with pre-clearance and front-running alerts, employee oversight (code of ethics attestations, outside business activities, personal holdings), marketing review, vendor management, archiving (SmartArchive), regulatory filings, and mock exams and consulting support. Its pricing page describes "customized pricing designed to fit your firm's size, complexity, and growth stage" and does not list figures.

How do they compare on scope?

The reported price ranges come from Plumb's own research before launch, not from the vendors. Treat them as rough orders of magnitude and ask each vendor for a quote. "Not stated on the pages we read" means we did not find it on the public pages listed in the sources, not that the vendor does not offer it.

What about Hadrius and spreadsheets?

Hadrius describes an AI-based platform covering marketing review, communications surveillance, account and trade surveillance, people oversight and testing, for broker-dealers, RIAs, private funds and compliance consultants. It does not publish prices. Spreadsheets and a shared drive cost nothing, and a careful sole CCO can run a sound programme that way. The weak points are that edits leave no trail and the exam request list has to be assembled by hand.

What does Plumb not do?

• No legal or compliance advice. It records the CCO's decisions; it does not make them.
• No drafting of your policies and procedures manual or code of ethics.
• No mock exams and no help responding to a live exam.
• No broker-dealer or FINRA member firm support.
• No client data: no client accounts, custodial feeds or personal information about clients.
• No trade surveillance, personal trading pre-clearance or communications archiving.
• No Form ADV filing. It reminds you of the deadline and stores your evidence that you met it.

What it does: a marketing review log checked against the Marketing Rule, a promoters and ratings register, a compliance calendar, a Reg S-P vendor register, a tamper-evident evidence chain, and a ZIP exam binder.

When is a consultant or a fuller platform the better choice?

• You are registering for the first time and need the manual, Form ADV and Form CRS written.
• You want someone to make or check judgement calls, or to run a mock exam before the real one.
• You have several access persons trading and need pre-clearance and surveillance.
• You must archive email, text and social messages, or you are dually registered with a broker-dealer.
• You have private funds, custody issues or a recent deficiency letter that needs remediation.

Plumb fits best where the programme already exists and the gap is the dated record: what was reviewed, when, by whom, and proof it was not changed later. Many firms will pair it with a consultant.

Plumb publishes this page and is one of the products compared. RIA in a Box, Comply, Smartria, Hadrius and other names are trademarks of their respective owners, and no endorsement is implied. Product details change; check each vendor's current offering before deciding.