Buyer-side decision tools for defense contractors about to spend $10k–$100k on MSPs, RPOs, C3PAOs, vCISOs, GCC High migration, compliance software, or templates. Estimate your CMMC path and cost. Decode a quote or RFP clause before you sign. Find out which provider type fits your situation. Source-backed, no referral fees.
No CUI uploads, contracts, or system diagrams required. Meridian Compass is not a C3PAO, RPO, or MSP and does not certify, audit, or guarantee compliance. Buyer-side pre-purchase decision support only.
Most paid CMMC mistakes trace back to a buyer answering the wrong question first. Each free tool is built around one specific decision pressure. Start with the one that matches yours.
Estimate your CMMC path, cost, timeline, and provider type before hiring a consultant.
Ten short questions. Likely CMMC level, rough first-year cost band, provider categories to scope first, the quote-risk flags your inputs raise, and the next questions to ask.
Start the free calculatorGot a CMMC quote? Check it before you sign.
Paste sanitized line items. The decoder returns inferred provider role, missing deliverables, conflict-of-interest watchouts, over/underbuild read, seven quote-risk flags, and the vendor questions to put back.
Decode a quote · free previewPaste the CMMC language from your RFP or prime. Understand what it likely means.
Plain-English read of CMMC / DFARS / NIST 800-171 / CUI / SPRS clauses. Likely implications, ambiguities to clarify, questions for the prime or contracting officer, and the provider type you probably need.
Decode an RFP clause · freeFind out whether you need a C3PAO, RPO, MSP, software, templates, GCC High, or scoping help.
Eight short questions. Which categories you need now, which to defer, where the conflict-of-interest lines run between roles, and the source-backed directory entry points.
Match my provider type · freeCMMC buyers don’t need another explainer. They need a defensible next decision before signing a five- or six-figure engagement letter.
Is this $35k / $75k / $150k engagement quote sane, or is the vendor padding scope?
Are we Level 1 self-attest, Level 2 self, or Level 2 C3PAO? And who decides?
Is our CUI footprint really that big, or are we accidentally pulling the whole company into scope?
Is this MSP, RPO, or platform selling us what we need, or what they want to sell?
Do we have a defensible SSP, POA&M, and SPRS score before someone asks?
Can we answer a prime's flowdown questionnaire without looking unserious?
Plain-English readout you can share with a CFO, owner, or contracts lead. No model output. Every claim explained by the inputs you gave and the public rule set we cite.
Level 1 self-attestation, Level 2 self-assessment, or Level 2 C3PAO assessment, with the contract and CUI evidence that pushes you toward each.
Where CUI probably lives in your environment today, what would happen if you enclaved it, and the boundary questions that decide cost.
Which of C3PAO, RPO, MSP/MSSP, vCISO, compliance software, documentation templates, or independent scoping help you need now, and which to defer.
The single most expensive line item in a typical Level 2 engagement. Also the most over-prescribed. The pack walks you through the decision.
What you should have on file before a prime or assessor asks, plus which artifacts are missing, stale, or written in a way that will not hold up.
A realistic range driven by your inputs and public benchmarks, with a 30-day action sequence that names what to do this week and what not to buy yet.
Seven patterns we check in every CMMC quote: scope creep, vague deliverables, retainer lock-in, software bundles, junior staffing, and two more.
Paste sanitized line items from a vendor quote (never CUI or contracts), and the pack flags scope risk, missing deliverables, and benchmark drift.
A typical CMMC Level 2 engagement runs $20k to $150k. The Decision Pack is $249. The decoder exports are $99 each. The math works even if you only run one before signing.
Meridian Compass charges buyers, not providers. No referral fees, no affiliate links, no sponsored placements in the directory. The same listing rules apply to every firm.
You ran the free Quote Decoder or RFP Decoder and want the readout as a PDF you can attach to your response, with the full vendor-question script.
PDF artifact, vendor-question or prime-question script, negotiation worksheet. Credits toward the $249 Decision Pack within 90 days.
See decoder exportsYou want the full picture: path, cost band, provider category fit, source-backed shortlist, quote-risk flags, and a 30-day plan in one packet.
Generated from any of the four entry points. Likely CMMC path, cost band, CUI scope reduction, provider type recommendation, matched shortlist categories, quote/RFP red flags, 30/60/90-day buying roadmap, source URLs.
Get the Decision PackYou stay anonymous until you choose to share an email at the end. The readout is computed from your inputs and a transparent rule set. No black-box model, no CUI uploads.
Self-reported only: company size, suspected level, current MSP situation, timeline, whether a quote has arrived. No CUI or contracts.
A plain-English first cut: likely level, rough cost band, the provider categories to scope first, and the quote-risk flags raised by your inputs.
When the free triage shows you have a real spending decision in the next 90 days, the $249 pack gives you the full packet, scope worksheet, and provider-call script.
A buyer-side sequence: scope first, categories second, shortlist last. The opposite of how providers like the conversation to go.
Two contractors with similar headcounts often pay wildly different amounts. Four scope decisions drive most of the gap.
What each role can do, what it can't, how it's paid, where the conflicts are, and what to put in the engagement contract.
The single most expensive line item in a typical Level 2 engagement, and the most over-prescribed. A short guide to deciding.
Three documents do most of the work in a CMMC engagement. Buyers consistently confuse them.
Patterns that show up in quotes from rushed, junior, or scope-padding shops, with the questions to ask to confirm or rule each one out.
Every provider fact carries a public source URL and a retrieval date. Guides cite the rule text or vendor page they rely on.
The readout comes from a published rule set, not a model. Every claim ties back to one of your inputs.
No paid placement, no referral fees, no listing slots. The directory is ordered alphabetically and unweighted.
A lot of CMMC questions don't have one right answer. Where the answer is genuinely uncertain, we say so instead of guessing.